Mike Lindsey Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 I have been listening to the Scott 299 for a couple of weeks now and it just seems to get better and better. I normally fire it up in the morning and wait about 1 hour before spinning my first record or CD. I have been leaving the Rega Planet on around the clock (based on mobile's rec) but haven't noticed too much of a difference. I also notice no difference between the AR Pro IC that was replaced with the Alpha-Core Goertz TQ2 IC. One thing I have noticed however is that the vocals seem to come from right of center instead of center. My SS rig plays these same CD's and the vocals are spot on dead center. Could this be a difference in the tubes for right and left channels? It doesn't matter if I'm playing CD's or records, which leads to believe it's not the 12AX7's. Anybody have any ideas? Thanks, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted August 25, 2002 Author Share Posted August 25, 2002 I have to turn the balance knob left to 1.5 to get them to center up. Is this the way I want to leave it? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 Gee Mike, your'e lucky - you have a balance control knob. When I had that problem with my AE-3, I had to replace the volume pot, change the biasing on my tubes, order two new power tubes, and move the furniture around Now that you have it "balanced", Mdeneen is saying pull the balance knob off and put the center mark at 12 o'clock and then put the knob back on. This message has been edited by deang on 08-25-2002 at 03:50 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 I agree with mdeneen (a lot of that lately..heh). This could be a number of things including a difference in tubes. Try moving the tubes from channel to channel, in a full switch and see if the balance imbalance switches to the other side. If not, it might be a slight part deviation. Dont worry too much unless, as mdeneen noted, the error is large. I am more worried (dont start a flood of wire debate please) that you didnt hear any difference between the Goertz and the AR wire. This should have been evident. On SET, things like this can REALLY be heard, even more so than average, especially with horns which I find show changes in equipment once you reach a certain resolution. Also, a freshly turned on Planet, in my system at least, does not sound as open and relaxed. Even Audrey notices this. Same with the amps. Although I surely dont think you have to wait anywhere NEAR and hour to play your first disk! 3-5 minutes of warmup should be MORE than fine. The sound will improve over the hour or more but you surely dont need to wait that long to use it. kh This message has been edited by mobile homeless on 08-25-2002 at 03:50 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted August 25, 2002 Author Share Posted August 25, 2002 After further review, it seems I have to move it only one click to the left side to center it. I think I'll do as mdeneen said and just adjust it and re-center it... Mike ------------------ My Music Systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 Mike, This could be a few different things. My first guess would be its that pesky volume pot on your Scott that gave me such fits to get as good as it is now. I litterally spent hours getting it to work this good. The problem with all these old vintage gear is finding new Pots is almost impossible and reworking the amp for newer ones is a major undertaking. Your volume pot was actually cutting one channel completely out at one point while I was cleaning it like I told you before your amp has seen some major usage someone really put the hours on that baby that's why it had so many repairs done to it by previous users. The best way to narrow this down is to play the amp at different volumes. Does it seem to do it all different levels or is it more extreme at one level than the other ?? If it is then we know its the volume pot. You will just have to use the balance control to offset it. If it does it at all different volumes and seems to be about the same degree than maybe I need to get on the phone with you and teach you how to bias and balance the tubes although I don't think this is the problem. I would be amazed if there's a electrical problem inside the amp causing this. I replaced and matched almost every resistor coupling cap in it Although the 12AX7's wouldn't be the culprit I still think there is something you don't understand about the way the 4 of them work in relation to each other. The 2 phono section 12AX7s are used only when using LPs the other 2 are always in use with LP's or CD or a Tuner. What the 2 12AX7's in the phono section do is boost and apply EQ to your weak phono signal before it gets handed to the next preamp tube(12AX7) for further aplification. Let us know what you find out. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted August 25, 2002 Author Share Posted August 25, 2002 I just moved it one to the left and then tightened it down at 12:00 and it is dead center. When I swith the balance from left to right, it seems the volume is the same for both channels. BTW, if I'm not mistaken, this thing is only 17w/ch and I can't even turn the volume above 6. It's right around 100 - 108db at that volume and that is plenty for me. The phono stage is pretty incredible. My vinyl has never sounded this good (or this bad depending on the album) and I am truly impressed. mobile, I will spend some more time playing the Rega and see how I feel about the cable differences. I don't think I have really given it enough time yet... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 MDeneen Your Idea is a good one but won't work ! The scotts have a half moon shaped shaft and only go on one way except for the Bass and treble nobs. I'm positive this is a volume pot itself and he will have to just use the balance to compensate for it. Oh and switching tubes around is going to mess his bias setup up and then it will have to be rebiased ! Well for the output tubes anyway. I garrentee its not the tubes for sure. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 mdeneen I'm sure with your help it could be done ! But the Scott on/off switch is piggy backed to the volume pot ! So it makes it a real pain. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 Mike, Your volume pot wasn't half moon shaped ?? I guess your's is different then all the others I've taken the nob off of. I never removed your nob I never do unless I'm going to clean the face plate. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted August 25, 2002 Author Share Posted August 25, 2002 Guys, Thanks for all the help. It seems to be centered now (it didn't matter what volume by the way) and I'm happy with it. Yeah Craig, I didn't want to start swapping tubes since I know you already had them where you wanted them. One of the new Klipsc Forum members (Erik Johnson) is coming over right now to hear my rig. Maybe he'll have something to say later about it. BTW, he has Khorns up front, Cornwalls in the rear, and Heresy front and rear center channels... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 Mdeneen I believe these are dual 500K pots which I have yet to be able to find myself. Craig ------------------ HH Scott 299 Amp HH Scott LT-110B Tuner HH Scott P-87 Turn Table JVC JL-F50 Turn Table Sony CDP-CA7ES CD Drive 1985 Walnut Heresey I W/Layne Audio Woofers KSW-15 Subs>c> This message has been edited by NOS440 on 08-25-2002 at 05:30 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 Mdeneen, I'm sure that there would be a way to make the Mouser part work but from what I see in the catalog it has 3 solder lugs per pot and the scott has 4 . 3 together and one on the far side of the 3. How much trouble would that be ? Also the treaded shank that you mount it to the chassis would not be enough but that's not a big problem it could be made to work. Craig This message has been edited by NOS440 on 08-25-2002 at 08:09 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikjohn Posted August 26, 2002 Share Posted August 26, 2002 Well I was over at Mike's and saw the system. I thought it sounded great. We listened to some vinyl and some DVD-A which I was thoughly impressed with. I thought that the Scott sounded great. As Mike has said it is very clean throughout. I wouldn't worry about changing anything, it was solid. I was trying to convince Mike that he needs to get his Heresey's back from his girlfriends house and put them on the rear insted of the Chorus. I think they would compliment the LaScala's so much better for 5.1 listening. Any thoughts. We also stated that I thought the Heresy's would sound great running 2 channel with the LaScala's and the Scott. I told him that I didn't think that running two speakers off of one channel is no problem ie quadraphonic 2 channel. I have done it a thousand times back in the days before 2+ channel amps(at least any I had acess to). Just connect +/+ (LaScala/Heresey) and -/- (LaScala/Heresey) into each side of out put on amp (ie conect them in parralel not series). This should not change anything such as ohmage which is probably the most crucial. He will have to crank the volume up to get same decibles out of system due to increased load but you don't get something for nothing. I have two Heresey's connected this way for my HT center channel and have never expirenced a problem. Anyway Mike has a killer system with all of the bells and whistles for HT (Dennon 4800) and 2 channel. The rega sounded great and we never expirienced any of the problems he spoke of in the BB so I guess he got that worked out. The LaScala's looked and sounded great. Q-man did a fantastic job on refinishing them. I can't wait to have Mike over to hear my system which in no way compares to Mike's as far as components go. I am running the system with a Yam 5150 and X-box for CD/DVD audio with the Optical link and heavy zip cord for speaker wire, but in my biased opinion the system rocks. Unfortunatly until the new addition is complete the K-horns arent in corners but we'll make due. ------------------ K-horn's(Main) Cornwall's(Rear) Heresey's(Center) KSW-12(Sub) Yamaha HTR 5150 61" Hitachi WIDESCREEN Dish Net w/Opt Out Xbox w/Comp Out(DVD) JVC S-VHS Pioneer 6 Disk CD Sony Minidisk ------------------------- Can you hear me now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted August 26, 2002 Author Share Posted August 26, 2002 Yeah, it was great meeting Erik yesterday evening. When he moves into his new home (and dedicated HT room), he will only be about 5 minutes from me. We had a great time and tried to jam about 3 hours of listening into 2 hours, since he had to get home and tend to his new baby. He is a true Klipsch head and really knows his stuff. I am not one to mess around with the tone controls but his ears are better than mine, and he immediately turned the bass up a couple notches during the first record we played (Pink Floyd's Welcome to the Machine) and it defintely balanced the lows with the mids and highs. This might not be necessary on Khorns or Cornwalls, but I think my La Scala's sound more balanced and full with this change. He had some interesting ideas with playing the Heresy's with my La Scala's for not only HT, but also 2-channel stereo thru the Scott. I am now tempted to hook up the Heresy's in the rear to see how they sound for 5.1 DVD-A and music. You can definitely tell the timbral (is that a word?) difference between the La Scala's and the Chorus's, and I'm wondering if the Heresy's might not be a better match. They should be since they utilize the same mid and tweeter drivers. Anyway, we'll do this again only over at his house next time, and see how his system compares with mine. All in all it was a fun evening and nice to meet another Klipsch Forum member... Mike This message has been edited by Mike Lindsey on 08-26-2002 at 09:15 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 26, 2002 Share Posted August 26, 2002 Nope I never use the Loudness control muddies up the sound something horrible if you ask me. I would like to install a nice Alps in my unit and just bypass the on/off switch all together or use the slot for the loudness switch for on/off do they make aslide switch that would work for on/off ? So shoot me one of those famous Mdeneen schematics LOL !!! Heck if the Alps cost $20 I could mostly get more than that for the Original Scoctt from someone that want a bone stock collector unit ! I also would like you to look over the Can Cap values on the 299 and see if there is some improvement to be had by upping the values anywhere with small under chassis add on Lytics or maybe higher value new cans ?? Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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