greg928gts Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 My wife and I just returned from our trip to Moscow Russia for ten days. I made a webpage with the pictures www.dcchomes.com/roberts/2010russia.html The pictures are mostly in order, but there is no commentary yet. If I get time I'll put some words to the pics. I think you'll find them interesting even without. For those who don't know, I sold a pair of restored Khorns on ebay back in 2007, and through email correspondence, became close friends with the buyer Sergei, from Moscow Russia. He invited me for a visit in 2008, and then again last week, this time with my wife. He made it a very nice visit for us and we had a great time in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The weather there was the hottest on record, mid 90's and even 100 degrees one day. About 15 to 20 twenty degrees hotter than normal. If you've got specific questions about Russia, post them here and I'll try to answer them. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Great pics. Looks like a fun time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxx Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Thanks for sharing the pic's. What a great Klipsch connection.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvan Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 High cotton...first class! Whadda a bunch of gear...man, but I didn't see your beautiful Khorns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delicious2 Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Hey Greg, Looks like you 2 had a hot time in old Moscow! Wassup with that unique looking pair of speakers? I think Sergei has need of your veneering talents again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted August 3, 2010 Moderators Share Posted August 3, 2010 Cool looking pictures, it was nice to be able to bring the wife this time, looks like a big city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted August 3, 2010 Share Posted August 3, 2010 Hey Greg, Wassup with that unique looking pair of speakers? I think Sergei has need of your veneering talents again! The ones that look like they were made out of an old piano? I was going to ask about them myself. What's the story behind them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 He's moved his Khorns downstairs to the formal living room, but they are not connected to anything. They look as beautiful as ever. He hired the services of a couple of audio engineering students from Moscow and they designed the bass horn that you see in the pictures. He's loaded them with single 18" Beyma woofers. They are very large cabinets, I don't know if the pictures show it - about 6' tall. The cabinets were built by a couple of workers from his full time construction crew, and they are obviously not finished yet. He's got the veneer, but since the crew is very busy on other projects, they are only working on the speaker cabinets a little at a time, filling and contouring the surfaces to prep for the veneer. For a while, he used just the bass bins and the Beyma TPL150 crossed at 1200Hz in a two-way configuration, then later he added the 8" cone midranges as appendages to the side of the bass cabinets. The bass bins have a large coil attached, I think something like 8mHy, so they are crossed relatively low, but with 6db slope so there are still low mid frequencies coming from them (verified by sticking my head in the cabinet while they were playing). The 8" cone midranges have no crossover components, running full range, and the Beyma tweeters have the very expensive Deulund sp? caps that I brought over to him (3.3uFd I think). It doesn't look it, but this system is highly refined, and the sound doesn't lie. I heard original (mint vinyl) Beatles recordings that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It was very easy to imagine sitting in the recording studio at Abbey Road listening to playback and hearing John and Paul arguing about how loud the ride cymbal should be. Did I have criticisms? Heck yeah! What true audiophile wouldn't?!! LOL. But overall it was a real treat to sit there and listen to music on this system. I enjoyed it for hours, with Sergei putting his rare, mint vinyl collection on, and also with my CD's that I brought. I will have an article about Sergei's system in my next email newsletter. Greg Difficult to describe how big this cathedral is. This is the main Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, rebuilt on the same site as the old one in 1995. There are four outside viewing terraces, one on each side, between each of the four small domes. Hard to make out in this picture, but they are at the top of the square part of the cathedral, before the large round dome starts. That level is about 45 meters up (14th floor). The narrow tall windows that surround the large middle dome are 8 meters tall (25'). This building just goes on and on and on. Absolutely enormous. The views of the city from up there are wonderful. I would recommend that first time visitors make this their first stop to get a great overview of the city before they start their other tours. The largest of the four bells located in each of the four small domes weighs 30 tons, and was put there with a crane. The cross on top of the large middle dome was placed with a helicopter. Standing inside in the middle, you can look all the way up to the underside of the large middle dome, where there is a beautiful painting (sorry no pictures, my camera was not working at the time) of Jesus with his arms stretched out, that I guessed was 8 meters across but was actually 16 meters (50'). I cannot begin to describe the materials and workmanship used to construct this cathedral, it must be seen to be believed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 What a fantastic trip! That's one place I've always wanted to visit. My guess is you found the people (aside from Sergei) to be friendly and welcoming? [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 3, 2010 Author Share Posted September 3, 2010 What a fantastic trip! That's one place I've always wanted to visit. My guess is you found the people (aside from Sergei) to be friendly and welcoming? To be honest, no, not really. Not like I think of "friendly and welcoming" here in the States. I think the language barrier is a big part of it. But also there is a permeative (yes I had to look that one up, but it's a great new word!) seriousness to everyday life. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 I just hope you're not getting in too deep with the russian mafia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JL Sargent Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 The pictures bring up an interesting curiousity. Looks like the power conditioner states 60hz. Isn't his utility providing 50hz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted September 8, 2010 Author Share Posted September 8, 2010 The pictures bring up an interesting curiousity. Looks like the power conditioner states 60hz. Isn't his utility providing 50hz? Yes, but he changed it to 60Hz and claims it sounds better! Who am I to say? Audiophiles are a funny bunch. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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