Engineer Jim and the MCM(1900)

[HDBRbuilder]

Hey Folks, storytime again

Way back in the late 1970's when our beloved Engineer Jim started his long and illustrious career at Klipsch, one of the first projects he was assigned to was research and development of the MCM1900 theater speaker system.

This system originally consisted of three cabinet enclosures, but was very soon expanded to four of them with the addition of a sub-squawker. It was comprised of: The MWM folded-horn woofer fired by two 15" drivers; the MSSM sub-squawker with wooden horn integral to cabinet design and fired by one 10" Cetec driver; the MSM squawker with fiberglass horn lens originally fired by one driver; and the MTM tweeter unit fired by 5 or 6 vertically-stacked horn tweeters per cabinet.

Jim threw himself into this project with his usual gusto. He was heavily involved in the change-over from a single driver pushing the MSM horn to multiple drivers on the same throat assembly being used to accomplish the task. Often he would be in the cabinet shop making fine fit adjustments to multiple-throat prototypes. At least one of these mounted three drivers, and at least one other mounted four drivers. In addition to the MSM unit, Jim was involved in the testing and development of the MSSM sub-squawker unit, modifying the wooden horn that was integral to the cabinet.

The MCM1900 system was BIG...I MEAN BIG!!! It was designed to be used in large theaters and outside concert applications. Since it was relatively new, still in its early development phase, whenever an opportunity arose to show it off, Klipsch jumped at it.

At that time in the company's history, Klipsch was still primarily best-known to audiophiles, but not to the general public...nowhere nearly as well-known as JBL, ALTEC, and others. With the MCM1900 it gave occasion to change that because in large white letters against a black background on the woofer center panel(door) was painted "KLIPSCH". And at outdoor concert events it would DEFINITELY get noticed!!

It was company policy for at least one engineer to accompany each system sold when it was to be installed or used in theaters or outside applications. Jim was chosen on many of these occassions, especially when the MCM1900 was the system.

AMPZILLA MEETS THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL:

There came the opportunity for Klipsch to get a vast amount of exposure to the general public by setting up a huge MCM1900 system at the Hollywood Bowl out in California.

This was brought about because the permanent speaker array that was being installed at the time could not be completed prior to a scheduled multiple-day free concert of many different kinds of music which had been promoted by a movie company so that they could shoot footage for a film using the concert crowds.

When the movie producers called Klipsch and asked if the company could supply and temporarily install a system before the upcoming dates planned for the concert, they were of course told "yes."

We had no systems built at the time, or maybe just one or two, but this concert job was going to require alot of the systems...something like 6-8 complete systems per side!!! Most departments were fairly well caught-up on orders at the time and employees from each department were tasked with getting these systems built and ready to ship.

As the latest possible shipping date approached, it became obvious that these systems, although fully-functional, would not quite be completed before they had to be shipped. The situation was closely evaluated, and it was decided to forego installation of the metal edge and corner trim, and instead concentrate on the finish on the cabinets...with the trim being fabricated and flown out after the systems had been shipped by ground freight. The trim would be installed on site as the systems were being set up by some employees sent out to do this. This way Klipsch could meet the deadline.

The shipping date came, the systems were shipped, and employees were rapidly fabricating the trim to ready it for the flight out to California and the on-site installation.

Jim had been chosen to help ram-rod the onsite operation. He planned everything, got packed and ready to go, and when the date came he grabbed his Ampzilla and other equipment that would be needed, and headed out for the Hollywood Bowl.

One of Engineer Jim's most highly-prized personal possessions was his Ampzilla power amplifier. He just loved that thing!! I don't have any idea just how many watts it put out, but it was alot! Whenever anybody was at his house, and asked about his amplifier, a crazed look would come into his eyes and he would begin going over every last detail about the merits of his beloved Ampzilla. If Becky, his wife, was there and saw the subject of conversation heading toward that amp, she began making futile attempts to sidetrack the conversation beforehand, but rarely had much success at it. (Funny thing is...I am the same way about my old H/K 900+)

I was not one of the lucky ones who got to go out to install trim and set up the systems. We employees who stayed behind anxiously awaited the day-by-day news summary of how things were going out there, patiently awaiting the return of Jim and the others to hear what happened...and to see the pictures that had been taken of the set-up as it had taken place.

Everything went off as planned...just like clockwork. When the folks who went out there returned there were a number of stories told, but Jim's version of some of the events are what I best remember.

I visited him at his home shortly after his return and he related this to me:

As the System cabinets were uncrated, one-by-one, the trim was installed and they were set up on either side of the bowl. They were wired as they were set up. As soon as some of them had been set up, some of the wires were run to Jim's amplifier so that the workers had some music to listen to while they worked.

No sooner had the systems been set up, with all of them wired to Jim's amp, then the inspector arrived. California(being the way it is)had noise pollution laws. Whenever a new sound system was to be used for the public, it had to be checked to ensure that the maximum allowable amount of decibels was not exceeded. So, an inspector had to come out to take sound pressure level (SPL) measurements with an "officially" calibrated SPL meter from different places the public would be listening to the system. The readings he took determined whether or not the system would be approved for use.

Jim had just finished giving a quick SPL meter reading just in front of the systems so that he could determine how far up to turn the volume on his amplifier when the inspector arrived. He and the inspector quickly went over arm signals and such so that they could communicate with each other while Jim remained with the equipment and the inspector went from point to point taking his readings. They both also had bullhorns.

Jim set the Ampzilla at his predetermined volume setting, and the inspector went from point to point taking his readings. After the inspector had taken his last required reading, he was standing dead-center, way out in front of the systems...just past the hedges where the open grass seating area began.

He told Jim everything looked fine as he stood there writing up the certification papers. Jim turned the amplifier down, and they used the bullhorns to talk to each other. Before the inspector began to walk back up to the stage, Jim asked him how the music SOUNDED. The inspector told him it sounded GREAT, and asked just how loud the speakers were capable of playing. Jim said "Well, where you're standing way out there, I can't tell YOU, BUT you CAN tell ME. Get that SPL meter back out!"

The inspector did so and Jim said "Tell me when you're ready!" When the inspector gave the signal as he looked at his SPL meter, Jim cranked up the volume on his Ampzilla. The inspector immediately looked up from the meter and began waving his arms in the air...while kinda ducking, and Jim turned the volume back down.

When the inspector finished hurriedly walking back up to Jim, all the while looking back down at his SPL meter and tapping it, he said with a look of surprise "Those damned speakers PEGGED my meter WAY OUT THERE!!! Hell, I think you BROKE IT!!!"

This was one of those stories best heard as Jim told it, but I hope the reader can picture him getting up from the sofa as he finished it, beating his chest like King Kong, and loudly saying "AMP..ZILLAAAAA!"

"SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T LISTEN!":

Throughout the 1970's, there was a once-a-year concert held over a long weekend in Texas called the "Texas Jam." It was normally sold-out, and featured some of the most popular bands and artists on stage each year. Some promoters in Arkansas were hoping that they could do the same here. The first year the "Arkansas Jam" was held it was a moderate success. For the second "Arkansas Jam," the promoters wanted to have Arkansas-made Klipsch speaker systems.

They contacted the company and made a deal to purchase a number of MCM1900 systems to be delivered just before the concert occurred up in northern Arkansas. The systems were built, and a few days before they were to be installed, were shipped to the concert location way out in the country.

It had been decided that Jim and some others would go up to ensure everything was set up correctly and then test the speakers the day before the concert was to begin. The promoters had already discussed how they wanted THEIR people to set up the speakers before the Klipsch people arrived, saving the wiring and final testing for Klipsch people.

The employees had been promoting this event locally and alot of them and their friends had purchased tickets and were planning to go up there and camp out the night before the concert began. The day before the Klipsch people were to be there, some of us hung around the plant after work to help them finish loading the wire and stuff needed to hook up the systems after they got there.

Just before the van was ready to leave, a large commotion began to spread through those who were to go do the work, with Jim and some of them taking turns on the plant phone and walking away, angrilly yelling "FIVE THOUSAND WATTS!!!"

Well, after they calmed down a bit, I overheard Jim saying "Dammit, we told them not to hook up anything before we got there, it's their own fault!!!! FIVE THOUSAND WATTS!!!!!!"

Come to find out, the people there had gotten over anxious and had wired up the system, and quickly tested it, then cranked it up...with 5,000 watts running into each system on each channel.

When they had called Klipsch shortly afterward, they were frantically screaming that the speakers had blown-up and caught fire!! They finally admitted what they had done.

Well, everybody calmed down at the plant after a bit, unloaded the van and left to go call their friends to tell them there wouldn't be any Arkansas Jam that year, so they may as well not even go up there. Needless to say, the Arkansas Jam died on the vine because of this, never to happen again. There were a few thousand people who ended up being totally disappointed...including over half of the plant employees!!

A few weeks later the MCM1900's from the Arkansas Jam arrived at the plant. All of the cabinets looked like somebody had built a camp fire inside of them, totally ruined!! All the drivers were totally destroyed, too. The promoters were extremely disappointed when they were told that the systems were totally destroyed and that they had voided the warranty by not waiting for the Klipsch people to hook them up and test them prior to the concert. They were also reminded that the warranty is automatically voided when it can be proven that the speakers have been abused by pushing too much power through them.

Those speakers were the focal point of every employee the day they arrived...all of us wanted to see the damage done. I walked over to look during my free time, and Jim just happened to be looking at them with an angry look on his face (something rarely seen on Jim!)

I asked him "Well, Jim...what do you think?" He shook his head and said "Five thousand watts...Some people JUST DON'T LISTEN!!", and he slowly walked away, still shaking his head and muttering "Five Thousand Watts...Five Thousand Watts"...etc.

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This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 04-27-2002 at 11:32 PM

[Deang]

Ampzilla huh?

Great American Sound Co. or GAS as they were known. I believe that amp had 225 wpc.

I had the Son of Ampzilla with a modest 80 wpc.

I used to run that sweet thing on some Old Original Advents.

I have a friend named Scott who used to come over, and we would spend a couple of hours a week together giving my system a proper workout.

Once, we were listening to Genesis 'Seconds Out' on the Thorens's turntable, and had the juice going pretty good.

At one point, I very loud hum begins emitting from the speakers. We look at each other in complete bafflement, and I quickly go over and turn down the volume.

Turning the volume down has no effect, and the hum is EXTREMELY loud. We stand there for a moment, looking at each other with that look -- that look that only hardened, trained audiophiles can exhibit.

While we are looking at each, the right channel makes a horrendous popping sound, and as we turn towards the speaker -- smoke begins protruding from the woofer.

Trained audiophiles do not panic, and we are trained audiophiles. Scott backs away into the kitchen and I open the front door.

The woofer then bursts into flames. Scott immediately goes into the kitchen, and I hear the faucet running. I finally decide to kick out the power cord.

The woofer is really going now, and the flames are lapping up the front of the baffle. Scott comes out with a glass of water and offers to 'douse' the flames. Instead, I opt for unhooking the wires, picking up the speaker, and hurling it into the front yard.

Scott offers backup support by throwing the water on the speaker after it hits, and rolls across the yard.

There's more than one way to get an upgrade.

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Deanf>s>

Cary AE-25f>s>c>Super Ampf>s>c>

Sonic Frontiers Line 1

Sony DVP-S9000ES

Klipsch RF7f>s>c>'s

SVS 20-39PCf>s>c>ic>

MIT/Monsters

Toshiba 36"f>s>c>

Inside every small problem is a large problem struggling to get outf>s>-- 2nd Law of Blissful Ignorancef>s>c>

This message has been edited by deang on 04-28-2002 at 03:22 PM

[Marty65]

Great stories HDBR and Dean,

Dean, You have a good way with words in your story, could really visualize what was happening. You had me laughing.

Dan

[HDBRbuilder]

OOOOOOOOOOOOPS!!!!

Talked to Engineer Jim and he swears I got the hollywood bowl story mixed up with another story where his ampzilla was concerned...said he wasn't there yet when the hollywood bowl thing happened, but it DID happen, just with another engineer in charge...and he can't offhand remember where it was that the ampzilla story occured...but we both distinctly remember the hollywood bowl story and those MCM1900's did have a tendency to peg SPL meters at a distance...at ANY LOCATION...and Jim did like to brag about what those systems did when his ampzilla was hooked up to em...and it WAS Jim I remember doing the mentioned modifications to the system when he first arrived at Klipsch, so....sorry for gettin the stories mixed up!!

He also still stands by his story that the ladder was knocked out from under him by that limb, and that he wasn't actually sittin on the limb when it broke loose(I believe ya Jim!!), but he ended up with a crushed ankle and broken leg and some broken ribs...NOT a broken hip...sorry folks for gettin some of the details mixed up...been a very long time since all of it happened!!!

Hey, Jim...gonna come down and harass you and Becky someday soon!!! Tell her I said "HI!" And thanks for straightening me out on some of the details and for being so cool about me "tellin on ya!" (Does this mean I don't have to stay up all night now, waitin for the "hit-man" to show up here?)

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This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 05-01-2002 at 04:13 PM

[mace]

Thanks for sharing the stories! I've yet to blow up any speaker components and hope I never do.

Mace

[Tony Reed]

HDBRbuilder:

I understand that Jim is moving to Indy. Have you heard about this?

Tony

[lynnm]

NAH - Way I hears it Ole jim's Gonna be Sendin' a Coupla Good Ole Boys down there to 'splain thangs to HDBRbuilder. We all be sartin It don't involve Bandages or Splints -coz - Best we can tell Jimmy ain't thataway,(leastwise they never proved any diffrent in all them tother sitiatshuns!!)

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It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca.1900)

This message has been edited by lynnm on 05-02-2002 at 10:41 PM

[HDBRbuilder]

Yeah, Tony....from what I hear he is goin to Indy...not much choice since he is V.P. of engineering and the R&D is moving up there. Hope he packs his glass collection well...some mighty bumpy interstates between Hope and Indy...been there, done that!

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[Steve Phillips]

Can anyone tell me what this is?

I know,so I'm not looking for the answer

Sorry the picture isn't that clear,was taken at night.

There are 4 K-55-Ms on the squawker.

By the way they are up here now.Whatever that is in the picture.

And they sound wonderful.

HDBR,do you know who they belong to?

[HDBRbuilder]

Steve P,

That is one channel of a Klipsch MCM1900 system, and judging by the construction of the structure they are in, I would say that this is owned by engineer Jim....LOL! He recently told me he had bought an old MCM1900 system...if you have never heard this system cranked up...better stand way back!!! The speaker you speak of is the squawker...it is a horn with 4 drivers pushing it...second one down in the pic(one of Jim's first projects was the multiple throat driver assembly for this part)...below that is the sub-squawker...wooden ramp horn pushed by an 8" cetec cone driver(Jim had to modify that horn at its mouth to reduce possibility of standing waves)...bottom is the woofer section...pushed by two 15" cone woofers (this one has the two-piece horizonatally-split woofer section...not very common)...top is tweeter box...nuff said...hell, I may have built this one!!!

I always called the MCM1900 the ultimate 20 acre outdoor party speaker system!

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This message has been edited by HDBRbuilder on 05-16-2002 at 06:03 PM

[lynnm]

LOL

I just caught on to the joke in the MCM1900 model name.

I won't spoil the joke,(assuming that I am not the only thick-headed one over the age of forty in the crowd who had not spotted it), but I will give a clue:

This is one Great Forum.

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It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca.1900)

[HDBRbuilder]

Yeah, LynnM...PWk thought it was pretty punny...he came up with the "numerical" designation

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[WMcD]

Okay, I see MCM is the Roman / Latin expression for "1900". I'm still working on some more intricate reason for 1900.

You are "pun-ishing" us for lack of insight.

Gil.

[HDBRbuilder]

Gil,

Do you think PWK would give up an opportunity like that for a pun?....LOL!...just look at the names of all his speakers!!!...LOL!

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[Mallette]

Is this Gilliam you are referring to?

Dave

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David A. Mallett

Average system component age: 30 years.

Performance: 21rst Century

[HDBRbuilder]

Nope, NOT Gillum...his first name is Gary. Engineer Jim is still with the company...matter of fact, V.P. of engineering/research&development. Gary Gillum is LONG GONE!! You may have to hunt around to figure it out, but a good hunter shouldn't have any difficulty coming up with the correct answer.

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[Mallette]

I asked because of a nice thing Gillum did for me. As mentioned in an earlier post, PWK me and a friend a good two hours about 1971, one of the most memorable events of my life audio or otherwise. Several years later I was back through with my wife. I wanted her to share the Klipsch experience so we stopped at the plant. By that time, they'd built an anteroom and you couldn't just walk in. I banged or rang or whatever, and eventually someone came to the door. He explained that tours were no longer offered. I explained about my purpose and the previous hospitality...and he let us in and gave us the grand tour. PWK wasn't around that day, but it was still fun, including being closed into the anechoic chamber with the lights off.

Seems to be a lot of fans of the KG series around, but the above and those speakers are all I know of the man.

Best regards,

Dave

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David A. Mallett

Average system component age: 30 years.

Performance: 21rst Century

[HDBRbuilder]

Gary Gillum was a good guy, although not formally trained as an engineer. He got his experience OJT working with PWK. The KG series was a stop-gap measure designed to fill a void in the company's line-up...for small bookshelf speakers more easily adaptable to condos and small apartments...later expanding to some floor models smaller in footprint than the Heresy. Gary later left the company to pursue other interests...even had a small speaker company for awhile according to what I heard.

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[ricktate]

i know im a block head but i just cant figure this MCM1900 pun out is it so easy im just looking to hard.....rick

[HornEd]

Rick, one man's humor is often another's dilemma. This one seems to be a redundancy chuckle. MCM is 1900 in Roman Numerals... so the name becomes 19001900... and thereby probably hangs the tale... -HornED

This message has been edited by HornEd on 05-19-2002 at 10:16 AM