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Just because the 'volume' control was turned 'half way up' doesn't mean the amp was putting out half of its power (for instance). A 'volume' control does not determine how many 'watts' the amp will put out. The 'volume' control is actually, more properly called, a 'gain' control and it controls the amount of INPUT gain to the amp/receiver. Any amplifier can be driven beyond its rated power output at the lowest volume control settings, given enough input signal.

Welcome to the World of Vinyl. Andy, are you the original owner of most of your records? If the records all sound noisy with snaps & pops, excessive groove noise, it may not necessarily be the records. Improper or poor TT/arm/pickup set up or even possibly a bad or misaligned stylus/cantilever can cause noise problems. Case in point, I recently relpaced a stylus assembly in a pickup that hadn't been used for years. The records all had more noise (groove noise, ticks & pops), especially from the left channel. Turns out the stylus cantilever was not aligned properly (among other things). Shure replaced it.

Another thing to consider is the RIAA equalization. The RIAA EQ curve was changed around that time. & I believe the USA & Europe specification are different. I'm not sure how you would compensate for it in a practical manner other than possibly using a tone control/eq. Perhaps some of the more (electronically) technically astute among us know. But I suspect it would involve changing the capacitance/impedance characteriscs of the phono input stage (more of a permenant type of thing). But as previously stated, there should be no problem with a stereo pickup being used on a mono LP. 78rpm shellac discs need different styli.

Last night I decided to do some vibration checking again. To make sure I had a good over-exaggerated bass continuously thumping, I used the Insane Clown Posse CD Bizaar. For those of you who are interested in finding out where any low frequency standing wave problems are in your room, this is the CD for it. Bootsy Collins will do too. Anyway, even though my Khorns are literally, physically, bolted to the walls & foundation of my house for mass loading & vibration damping, it was amazing how much vibration was still present. In particular, the top unit that house the squawker & tweeter were vibrating much more than the bass horn. Subjectively, Id say at least twice as much vibration. The Khorns are secured to the walls/foundation via the bass horns rear tail board & a custom made tail board corner plate made from 2x12 wood. Im going to do some experimenting to see if I can decouple the top unit better. At present I do not have the top unit bolted on (wing nuts removed) on one Khorn. The other has the wing nuts on, but not tightly. Just enough so they dont come off. The top units are resting on thin closed cell foam weather striping placed along the edges of the bass horn, primarily to seal the bass horn air tight. And who knows? Maybe coupling (instead of decoupling) them more securely to the bass horn is the thing to do.

Jim, I dont think it matters where/how the cones are placed other than to get the speakers weight balanced. I use 3 cones simply because its the minimum number of cones one can use without doing a balancing act & it puts more mass per square inch on the cones than 4 would, therefore increasing the mass load. I have never see or used the Tekna Sonic vibration absorbers. I did however do a little research on it. I must say Im always a little skeptical of products such as these. I wasnt able to find any patent or REAL engineering information on it. A few things I did find were somewhat disturbing. Such as: http://www.audioreview.com/Others/Tekna+Sonic+C-10+Vibration+Control+Absorbers/PRD_118089_1590crx.aspx#reviews 3 out of 6 reviews are favorable. 3 out of 6 are unfavorable. To me that means no difference. And statements such as the following from http://www.sonic.net/soundscape/teknason.html when the TEKNA SONIC Vibration Absorber was placed on the back panel of the loudspeaker system all of the Harmonics were reduced significantly; the 2nd Harmonic was reduced by 17.3 dB. 17.3Db? Makes me wonder how much total harmonic distortion the speakers this guy was listening to have. That much reduction in harmonic distortion on a Klipschorn should bring it down to zero. LOL Also from the same review: Editor Note: The better braced the cabinet the more dramatic the improvement. This statement is obviously flawed. Gets the yellow button award. I dont see how this product could used in place of something like rope caulk on the horns. It appears to be an alternative to the cone spikes which are 1/5th the price or less.

Under those conditions you'll probably experience an increase in bass response. It probably won't be uniform, with some lower frequencies being reinforced more than others. Just make sure the primary drivers aren't reflecting off of surfaces around the inside of the cabinet. As long as there is a reasonable amount of space around the center speaker, the rear ports should be fine. The ports are basically "resonators" anyway affecting primarily the lower frequencies (longest wavelengths). And the "cabinet within a cabinet" should reinforce this, similar to putting the speaker in close proximity to room boundaries (ie: floor/wall or corner, etc).

In the Klipsch Audio Papers, A New High-Frequency Horn, IEEE Transactions on Audio, Vol. AU-11 No.6 Nov-Dec, 1963, Paul Klipsch describes the design of the K-400 horn used in the Klipschorn & LaScala as follows. Previous experiments with metal horns indicated an undesirable ring or hangover. The K-400 experimental prototype was of sheet iron, coated with damping compound on the outside. This did not prove satisfactory. A further experiment with cast aluminum exhibited the undesired ringing quality, but when the necessary flange was attached in the form of 3/4inch plywood board, the resonances disappeared and no evidence of hangover was detectable by ear or measurement. For what its worth, I have my midrange horns wrapped with several layers of Moretite rope caulk that is used for weather stripping as Gil described above. As a side note: My own experience has found that vibration of the overall speaker structure seems to be of more importance than any ringing that may remain in the metal horns after mounting the horn flange to the wood cabinet structure. The only explanation I can come up with is that the diaphragm excursion on the high & mid horn drivers must be moving such small distances, that vibration in the overall cabinet structure relative to those excursion distances is relatively large. Imagine, for instance, holding a speaker cone in your hand, moving it back & forth, & at the same time moving it up & down & around too. The result is a loss of definition, or blurring of the mid & high frequencies. The only practical (?) way around this is mass loading. That doesnt mean putting a 50LB rock on top of the speaker (the speaker already weighs 240Lbs). You can mass load the speaker by placing it on 3 of those machined speaker isolation cones made from brass or stainless steel. However, do not use the floor discs that often come with these. The idea is to increase the weight (mass) per square inch. This is maximized by having the cones tips resting on the smallest possible area. The floor discs may protect the floor from the very sharp point of these cones, but they defeat the very purpose of using the spikes/cones in the first place. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7 The other method is to literally, physically secure the speaker structure to the building floor/walls, or even foundation. In my case, the Khorns are secured to the foundation of the house & the Belle center speaker is resting on 3 cones that poke thru the heavy carpet/padding to the concrete floor.

There are others I prefer (sometimes). But GE is consistent. About 20-25 years ago, it seemed no one liked RCA & GE. Only Telefunken or Siemans (etc) would do. Now it seems those RCA & GE tubes aren't so bad after all! For what its worth......all the 12AX7 & 12AU7 in both my power amps & preamp have been using GE for years. (And....I still have lots of NOS)

See. I told you Rick would know!

TNR, the first thing you have to do is determine your priorities. It seems to me that your great room is of a much better size & shape to deal with acoustically. Plus, those convex surfaces of the logs should do a great job dealing with sound diffusion & absorption.. Basements can be a problem if you suspect any possibility of potential flooding or continued dampness. And yours, with that low area in the center of the room, is not desirable visually, especially for home theater (IMO) & may be detrimental acoustically to some extent. As Gil mentioned, most of the living goes on around the kitchen to which most great rooms are connected. On the other hand, depending on your priorities, this may or may not be a good place for a sound system (home theater, being a more visual thing, is more compatible with a great room/kitchen area IMO). Kitchens generate lots of noise. Running water, refrigerator, sometimes fluorescent lighting, dishwasher, ice cube maker, etc, as well as more household traffic. For me, it was a priority to eliminate as much noise & interruption as possible. But my room is also a dedicated listening room, not a home theater (although eventually it will become that too). I think in your situation Id try it in the great room first.

A cranked up unloaded output stage can create very high voltage inductive peaks (several thousand volts) sufficient to cause catastrophic arcing in tubes, destroy transistors, and in some cases, punch through the output transformer (when one is present) winding insulation... end of transformer. While a solid state amplifier MAY tolerate running with no load, a valve amplifier is almost certain to sustain damage to its output transformer if run without a speaker or dummy load connected. Sometimes a poorly designed amplifier will oscillate without a load. The electrical energy which is not converted into sound by a speaker is converted onto another form of energy--heat. This heat must be dissipated at two points: the voice coil of the speaker, and at the amplifier. Excessive heat at either point can cause damage to the sound system. If no voice coil (speaker load) is present, this heat can only be dissipated by the amplifier. If no thermal protection is present on the amplifier, and the amp cannot dissipate the heat, POOF! (Technically : With no load connected to an output transformer the transformer appears as a large inductor across the output stage and very large voltages may be produced which will cause transformer or output device breakdown). That being said, lightening is a very strange beast. It can find its way around into most anything. It sounds like in this instance the problem is with the speaker or its internal amp. I would get the receiver checked out too. And get yourself some surge protection. Ground your system at only one location, preferably the main power outlet, and float all the rest of the grounds so that the system grounds seek their own level. This will avoid the possibility of ground loops (hum & noise) or multiple ground paths (paths of least resistance) for something like lightening to find its way through.

Are you saying that you are trying to run the receiver with only one speaker connected to either the right or the left channel? If so, that is usually considered a No No. With no load on one of (or both) the channels, the receiver/amplifier will essentially try to deliver maximum output into nothing, thereby triggering protection circutry to shut the amp down.

Thats the way to do it Doc!

NYC pizza is crap. Not even worthy of the name. The West coast has a similar idea. They think they are eating pizza. No such thing as PIZZA with ranch dressing & grapes on it. And quite frankly, its very difficult to get a REAL PIZZA more than 75-150 miles outside of CHICAGO. NYC & CA pizza=SpeakerLab Khorn LOL

Ray, I feel compelled to fire a shot over your bow! While the Janzen electrostatics were actually quite good sounding transducers, they had similar problems as other electrostatics of the era (& even now). Even McIntosh considered using them but eventually rejected them due to reliability problems. As far as TAS goes..< > & Wilson Audio.another bunch of posers. For people who love lots of comb filter effect. An accurate & true high fidelity transducer is not optimized for anything except faithful reproduction of whatever is put to it. And I believe the Infinity Servo-Static used electrostatic elements made by RTR, not Janzen. And they looked more like waffles. Not like the ones in the pic.

And the seller says: "and I know of only one other original pair in the world that is still working." "There were several design flaws in the built-in matching impendence amplifier used to drive both the electrostatics and woofer system - the main problems being the unreliability of the power supply and matched-pair transistors (Toshiba & NTE), erosion of the liquid capacitors, insufficient relays, corroded soldering, assorted transistorized malfunctions." LOL. Sounds like a quality product to me. Looks like an R2D2 reissue of yet another one of yesterday's "major breakthroughs".

LOL. Damn right I'm serious! If it's safe enough to put in my body, it's safe enough for my records! Honestly, think about it. This stuff is triple distilled. Has a reasonable evaporation rate. It has fewer contaminants in it than so-called purified bottled water. No oils or other impurities like isopropyl alcohol has (which is NOT for internal consumption). It'll clean dem ol' vinyl real good. But it tends to destroy the natural 'lubricants' (for lack of a better word, I've long forgotten what the proper term is, possibly Rick knows)in the vinyl too. Hence the treatment GrooveGlide afterwards. I really don't like washing the records with water & mild detergent. The detergents tend to cling to the vinyl & are actually quite difficult to remove. And even filtered tap water has plenty of impurities in it too. Far more than a quality 100 proof Vodka. I might add, that I occasionally use Discwasher. It would normally be my first choice for general, mild cleaning. Most of my discs are in good enough condition that simply wiping them down with one of the GrooveGlide pads before play is adequate. If the disc is in really bad shape a record cleaning machine with vacuum removal is still the best bet.

I read somewhere way back (possibly in the Klipsch Audio Papers I sent out) that PWK used to do that all the time (re-center record holes). I believe he simply used a small fine round file to remove a small amount of vinyl inside the hole & marked the label so you know which side of the hole to push against the spindle in the future. If you find the record is moving on you during playback just use one of those TT disc clamps.

I forgot to clarify that I don't use GrooveGlide for "cleaning". The record must immaculate in the first place to obtain the best results. Most all of my vinyl is in great shape, as I am the original owner. However, I have aquired some from a few garage & public library sales. These discs generally need extensive cleaning. For that I use Smirnoff Silver on a Discwasher brush. Let the disc dry for an hour, then apply GrooveGlide. As Randy discovered above, GrooveGlide needs to be buffed thoroughly, in both directions. I don't think you need to spray it directly on the record or for 10 seconds. This is one of those situations where "less is more". But you do need to buff GrooveGlide into the grooves for even, uniform application, & to remove the excess. At any rate, after 20+ years I haven't found any adverse results. And to me, the treated discs are more quiet & sound better, with no static problems.

Yeap, those are very cool. However, (see Klispch Audio Papers) PWK abandoned those kind of direct radiator/rear loaded horn type designs early on for many reasons, including just plain old higher levels of distortion. But those are about the coolest looking Lowther/Voight type speakers I've seen.

Leave it alone. Just store it vertically & snuggly (not tightly) between other LP's. The warp might reduce overtime (probably not). Hell, there was time I remember nearly ALL records I bought were warped! Ahhh..........don't you just love that "inaudible" doppler distortion?

Rick....GrooveGlide puts a very thin (aprox. one or a few molecules) layer (IF APPLIED PROPERLY) of protective lubricant on the record. GrooveGlide is inorganic. NASA stuff. Its applied with a soft pad, not a brush. I've used this stuff for over 20 years. Recordings that I treated with this stuff 20+ years ago still sound great. Makes the records are very quiet. Reduces ticks & pops & groove noise & transient distortion & no static. All that is sometimes needed is to use their applicator pad to "buff" the record, without applying more GrooveGlide. Normally, when I first apply this stuff, I put the record on the TT. Leave the table turned off. Spray a small amount (a second or two) onto their pad. And thoroughly buff the record surface (including label) in both directions, and "slap" the pads several times during the process to release any debris the pads have picked up. After that, its simply a matter of using the pad to "sweep" the record while its turning before subsequent plays, similar to using a Discwasher pad. I've tried LAST & some others over the years. I settled on GrooveGlide. On the stylus however I use the LAST products, LAST Stylus Cleaner & Stylast preservative (used for the fulcrum grommet too) I use little black adhesive dots (from Avery Labels) on the inside of the LP cover to designate that I have treated the disc. These can be easily removed without damaging the cardboard.

My favorite cleaning technique coincides with my fav drinking technique (LOL). Any high quality 100 proof Vodka like Smirnoff Silver or better. Followed by a treatment of GrooveGlide. I figure if its pure enough to put into your body, certainly its safe enough for vinyl. Hmmm....never tried GrooveGlide-in-a-glass!!! Might be good for constipation. Come to think of it, might be good lots of other stuff! (LOL) Dave....I'm surprised you like that old DBX stuff. It seemed to ALWAYS take something away from the music IMO.

Ok, here's my 'stupid' question for the day. What kind/make/manufacture are the input side tubes of the Paramours (in the complete system.jpg)? They have really short plates & that over the side getter material like the 12AX7 International Servicemasters I've been looking for. And the RCA clear tops........cool I'm looking for British RCA 7025 or 12AX7 smooth plates

sorry u regulars.........I'm getting tired of it too There is no such thing as an absolute optimum room size for the Klipschorn. Obviously, the larger the room, the fewer acoustical problems you will have, especially at lower frequencies. Klipschorns need some room to breathe, so smaller rooms won't really do the speaker any justice. Klipsch proposed using the Khorn in domestic environments up thru "small theaters". More important than room size, are the rooms proportions. there is a mathematical ratio commonly called the Golden Mean. Also known as the Golden Section or Fibonacci Sequence. As applied to room acoustics, it can predict the Eigenton distribution of a room (the rooms modes where resonant frequencies will occur, and/or overlap). The smaller the room, the more modal problems occur, primarily in the lower frequencies. Also the smaller the room gets, the more (higher) frequencies are affected. The Golden Mean ratios for proper room proportions is: 1:1.26:1.59 (1 to 1.3 to 1.6) (height to width to length). There are a wide range of ratios that are suitable. And certainly good sounding rooms can be found outside of these proportions. Obviously the worst case condition would be cubical where all 3 room dimensions are the same as that of a particular wavelength of sound, causing a substantial room resonance at that frequency. A range from 1 to 1.26 to 1.59, to 1 to 1.6 to 2.5 can be considered good. The old studio 116 at Klipsch in Hope, AK. was 10x16x25, which falls outside of the ideal ratio but was still considered good. Just as important (if not more) are the rooms acoustics. It will do you little good to get the rooms proportions ideal, and then ignore proper BROADBAND diffusion & absorption, and reverberation time relative to frequency. See arttos klipschorn room in the architectural topic area for a more in depth description of construction methods & acoustic techniques.