jt1stcav

I have no experience either with that particular deck, but it reminds me a lot of the Denon DP-62L I used to own (a superb 'table in its own right that I regret having to sell due to financial woes). It looks to be of the same league (or better) than the 1200 series IMO, and in par with my dad's old SL-1700MK2 I own now but without the wood-style plinth or straight tonearm. My only question is the headshell on the SL-M2...is it a P-mount only, or does it accept standard cartridges as well? I don't know if $225 is high for that model or not, but if the SL-M2 is indeed in excellent condition, then go for it! A few years ago my brother bought a brand new MMF-5 to replace the SL-1700MK2 he was borrowing from my dad, and as much as he wanted to like it, the belt-drive deck did have noticable wow and flutter with steady/sustained piano and organ tones. As slight as it was, it was still noticable nonetheless, so he ended up selling it! I'm not dissing BD 'tables, but I think you'll find the Technics rock-steady as opposed to the Music Hall or Pro-Ject (which require an optional speed box for steady rotation). I'd say go buy it.[Y]

Great pictures of the Onix as well. I wonder if contact cleaner or even WD-40 or something similar can be sprayed into the socket holes? No K-Y lube, thank you! I wonder if there's a small device created especially to be inserted and slightly open up the pins inside each tube socket hole that one can buy to rectify extremely tight sockets? I would think Craig and others in the repair/restoration business would know if such a device exists. I'd ask before sticking a tiny jewler's screwdriver in those holes and possibly damaging them!

I use a discontinued pair of affordable 10" Dayton Audio subs from PartsExpress.com (click on my link below to see the specs and pics). I mostly listen to pipe organ music with their deep, bottom octave bass, and I can't expect the RB-75s to satisfy my listening enjoyment if they're not capable of producing bass frequencies from 30Hz thru the low 20s (and below) that the pipe organ itself can create. Granted, I could only afford subwoofers that were capable of producing only 25Hz at their lowest, so I am missing out somewhat in the extreme lowest octave from the organ's large 32' pedal stops (that can reach down to 16Hz at low C and be felt more than can be heard). In the end, it's about faithfully reproducing all my music as realistically as possible within my budget, and if it means using dual subs to reach the lowest fundamentals (as best they can) from my organ recordings, even if the audio snobs poo-poo sub use in 2-channel listening, then so be it.

I look at your pics and then I look at the recessed output and rectifier sockets on my SET amp and really see no difference. Granted, seeing with your own eyes is different from viewing a photo, but it looks to me like pulling out your 350s from their sockets shouldn't be a major issue. I'm not saying it isn't, natch, but it looks to me like it shouldn't be that hard. Maybe the holes in your sockets are tighter than most, I dunno... I agree, pushing and pulling tubes to and from their sockets by the glass bottles doesn't sit well with me either! With my 300Bs and GZ37 I grasp the top edge of their bases for insertion and removal. Actually, I do that to all my tubes in any component...I never want to pull the glass away from its base (the very thought of that sends chills down my spine)! Can you not grab your output tubes from their bases?

I bought my 6.5Wpc 300B SET stereo amp originally for my '79 Cornwalls, and they were a match made in heaven when I auditioned the combo in my large family room! Unfortunantly, that room was already reserved for my brother's HT setup, so a spare bedroom became my tiny listening room, which was a problem for the massive CWs since they seem to need lots of room to be tuned properly and be able to breath! I regretably went from the Cornwalls to a pair of fabulous sounding Triangle Zephyr 2-way towers (91dB @ 1W/1M into 4 ohms). As much as these floorstanders would sing, at higher volume they'd clip horribly due to their lower sensitivity rating. What I needed was a highly efficient small loudspeaker for my small listening space...hence, my cherry RB-75s! Granted, at 97dB sensitivity, they're not in uber-efficient Klipschorn territory, and with my SET amp being only 6.5 watts per channel, the RB-75s can't be blasted to near-live levels (even with two subwoofers handling bass frequencies from 40Hz on down). Nonetheless, I can listen to my favorite music at higher volume if I want before any major clipping ocurrs, and these RB-75s really do open up with all the niceties SET amps are known for (clear highs and sweet, lush mids). Since I'm running dual subs, I can't remark on how well the RB-75s alone handle SET-powered bass frenquencies, which may very well be a concern for you if you don't use a subwoofer. But IMHO if your music room is small and you don't listen at live stadium rock levels, then a SET power amp of at least 7 watts (more is better if you can afford it) can certainly bring out the best in both your amp and your RB-75s...just my own personal observation, natch. FWIW, YMMV, and all that jazz...[]

Wow, what a choice! I won't be of any help unfortunantly since I've never auditioned any of those amps, but I'm sure you wouldn't go wrong with any one of 'em. I noticed you made the point of adding what amplifier class these amps run on...I assume class-A operation is important to you(?); if so, the Krell may be your first choice. I don't know about SS amps, but I can tell you class-A operation with a low powered, single-ended, zero negative feedback vacuum tube amp is especially sweet sounding with Klipsch horn speakers. Regardless, there are endless possibilities with your Dean-modded RF-7s since they're so efficient and an easy load with whatever amplifier you decide to use, so I don't think you'd go wrong with any amp from your above choices. Hopefully, someone with the proper experience who knows those amps will be able to better serve you than I have. Good luck with whatever choice you make!

That was fun...hadn't seen those pics in quite some time! Too bad there aren't any pics of a pair of RB-75s being put together. It is interesting to see a thing of beauty like those Cornwall IIIs being built from the ground up.

If I wasn't on such a tight budget, I'd love to own another classic McIntosh MC250 power amp...to my less-than-golden ears (with Klipsch), this old SS amp had the purest tone of any transistorized amp I ever owned. It sounded warm, lush and full-bodied like my SET amp, and it hadn't a single fire-bottle on top of it! Once my finances are back in order, I'll purchase another restored MC250, and this time NOT sell it, no matter what the circumstances are!

I never had a preamp hooked up to my MC250 (only a direct connection to my CD player), so naturally the amp's gain controls were also the main volume/balance control for my simple system. With my Cornwalls, it was very satisfying and not the least bit harsh. If I did use a preamp (like I did with my MC7200 connected to a tube pre), then I set the amp's gains wide open, controlling the volume with the preamp. Whether it was right or wrong is moot IMO...it sounded damn good to my ears. I don't think there is a right or wrong way in adjusting the gains, but I could be wrong (which is nothing new)!

Aaaahhh, another happy ending and no harm done to your pCAT.[] Now to give that eBay seller some negative feedback for a false auction description and selling you a dud...[8o|] Just kiddin'...[:S]

Hey Gregg, this tube's gone plum evil...it's even more than quasi-evil!

I've got a '79 SL-1700MKII that my dad bought new back in the day...it's been taken care of all these years and still looks and performs like new. It's no high-end VPI, Rega or SOTA, but as long as its speed is rock steady, I'm quite content. I'll eventually need a new cartridge to replace the old Stanton 981HZS (I'm on my last replacement stylus for this long-discontinued model)...other than that, I can live with this classic turntable! I look at it this way...if you're diggin' your near-mint SL-1600MKII and not missing the Heresys, then it's a deal in my book.[]

Opinions vary on this subject, that's for sure. But to my less-than-golden-ears, older Carver amplification does fare well with horns. Maybe it depends on the room as well... Case in point...my very first interaction with both Klipschorns and Carver happened in '80 when I was introduced to one of my dad's doctor friends who happened to have two pairs of walnut Klipschorns driven with two Carver M-500t power amps, a C-4000 preamp (with the Sonic Hollography disengaged), and two Nakamichi 680ZX 3-head cassette decks as his source. His music room was the size of a small ballroom since his residence also housed a restored Marr & Colten theatre pipe organ! Each Khorn was placed in each corner of this massive room (not a quadraphonic setup) with the organ installation up front and center. Whether this setup was acurate or not is moot IMHO...when he recorded live performances of his pipe organ from visiting organists and played back those Maxell UD/XLII cassettes on his Carver/Klipsch system, the music (although not presented acurately since the organ was located up front only) sounded glorious...lush, full, with body and warmth that virtually rivaled the real thing! I never heard a tape of his organ played on just the front pair of his Khorns (would've been interested to hear if the stereo presentation would've had the same imaging as the organ itself)...the good doctor loved the engulfing, full room soundstage while seated in his room's sweet spot, but only to the recordings of his pipe organ; other prerecorded cassettes he bought from InSync Labs and other audiophile labels were played with just the front M-500t/Klipschorns. As far as I know, he only played his personal organ recordings with all four horn speakers...whatever. He loved it, and it did make for a spectacular aural display for his guests! As for me, I had a Carver M-400t/C-4000 combo years ago (with a later addition of a TFM-35x) driving my '79 Cornwalls. As much as I knew it could sound really good, my tiny music room (12 x 13.5 x 8) is a killer when it comes to fine tuning big loudspeakers, and the CWs never sounded their best simply because they couldn't breath in there. They needed a large room, and I had no way of relocating my system to the family or living rooms of my house. I reluctantly sold the venerable CWs to a forum member here in FL and now use RB-75s which work out perfectly in this room! Never heard any Carver gear thru 'em since I had to sell off my entire system in '03 due to financial woes, but my RB-75s sound phenominal thru my 300B SET power amp! Regardless, I think in the right room (as with any setup), Carver and Klipsch can be a good sonic match. It all depends on your ears, though...some love it, and others hate it. All I can say is try it out in your own system and see what it does for you.

I own an affordable Creative ZEN V Plus 4GB that's the size of a matchbook. Besides its 20Hz - 20kHz frequency response, it too has a lanyard and a velvet pouch, direct USB connection, a line in cord to record direct from a CD player, a good size OLED screen, excellent battery life (up to 15 hours on a charge), plays videos, jpegs, has an FM tuner, and records messages, et al. It also has bass boost and other EQ settings, but I don't use them. And it comes in various sizes, up to 16GB I think (maybe more). I rip my CDs at 128Mbps and synch them to the ZEN via Windows Media Player (their own ZEN V Series Media Explorer is provided) and have over 65 hours of high quality music at my disposal! With my TOTL 16 ohm, 17Hz - 22kHz Sennheiser CX500 earbuds (maybe the Images will come later when they're more affordable and I know what range their frequency response is), sound quality is truely amazing even with compressed MP3s. Its sonics won't come close to my SET stereo system, but for what it is (and used in a noisy work environment), this li'l rig works wonders! Highly recommended for anyone who's looking for an affordable player that sounds extremely well (IMHO)!

I too owned an MC250...had I not gone the tube route (and needed the money as well), I would've kept that mint MC250 it was that nice! Also connected my AMC CD8b disc player directly to this amp with a pair of Cornwalls...what a soundscape! I didn't miss not owning a preamp or the use of any tone controls at all; the amp's gains were good enough even if I had to adjust both for volume and balance. And I assume any Klipsch horn speaker would sound great in this configuration. The MC250 (with its patent autoformers) is to my ears an extremely smooth sounding SS amp, never causing the squawkers on my Cornwalls to sound harsh or shrilly as other transistorized amps I owned had (Carver and SAE). Try your MC250 out with your Heritage and Reference loudspeakers and see for yourself how well this amp interacts with them, and choose accordingly. Enjoy.

I think we all missed out, but we'll get to watch the show in March!

Yeah, and it worked too.[]

I could care less about the NFL anymore, but I sure do love its fans!

I've been throughout Europe but haven't been to Asia, but I know what you mean about seeing things you've only read about...it's quite the experience you'll cherish for a lifetime. Enjoy your visit and have a safe trip back, Trey.

You left out music written for this instrument, so I didn't vote since organ music is what I listen to most.

Ditto...I'll be checking it out on vinyl as well real soon.

My brother owns the XTi-1000, and it too has the same affliction as your 2000. His Crown is powering a DIY subwoofer with dual 15s (I believe in mono mode, but I'm not sure) and DSP off. The LCD display is now also beginning to flicker bright to dim intermittingly, so it seems this XTi series has quality control issues. Soundwise it performs flawlessly!

There's no such thing as having "too much tube" IMO. If my limited budget allowed me, I'd gladly trade in my excellent Cambridge Audio azur 640C for a tube-output JoLida JD-100A or any other quality tubed disc player.

My vote for the Cornwalls as well. Also if found in great condition, the larger models of the Epic, Legend and Reference series, and even KG-5.5s!

I must have 4 well-behaved cats...they've never clawed either the Cornwalls (with grills on) nor my RB-75 (with grills off), nor any other loudspeakers in the house. But I've had over both family and friend's rug-rats (i.e. brats) who've pushed in dome dust covers on various speakers throughout the house![:@] I'll have the cats anyday.