S.E.T impressions

[mike stehr]

Kelly,

So dean could use 45 specials in the Apollos?

http://www.vt52.com/

[TBrennan]

Dean---Ah, I was just jaggin' ya a little with the "hornette" thing. No doubt you find the RFs very pleasing but to an old-timer like me a speaker that's only horn-loaded above, what, 2200 cycles don't qualify as a full-bore Big-Hog horn. But then Altec 604s and 605s are considered Big-Hogs and they're only horn-loaded from 1600 cycles up, thats what, only a half octave or so difference? Maybe you should start jaggin me. :-)

And I'm happy that you've found such a satisfying sound, really.

[Deang]

Seriously Tom, I bookmarked that other thread with all the great advice and options open to me -- but it's probably going to be a year before I can finance and tackle a DIY horn project. I definitely want to stay two-way, and the lower I can get the horn the better. I would actually just like to build a nice bass bin with a good 15" driver, and then mount the horn to the top of the cabinet with no baffle. I'm going to need some hand holding with the crossover. Don't worry -- you don't have to kiss me:)

Mike, I haven't had the amps long enough to know what the hell I can do with them. I just read boatloads of crap about the 300BXLS before I bought them. I know about a VV52, but I have no idea if that's the same as a VT52. The amps are setup for the KR300BXLS and KR842HVD. I'm still convinced they'll run on a GE Three Way light bulb.

[TBrennan]

Dean---Well the big 2-way thing is certainly doable, it's tried and true. Don't sweat the crossover, just buy an active crossover and bi-amp. A nice SS amp on the woofs and your SET on the compression drivers. Simple and in my opinion the best of both worlds. And when all you have to worry about with the SS amp is how well is does the bass and lower midrange your options open way up.

And if using an active crossover to bi-amp doesn't fit with your audio philosophy than you can use passive filters between the pre-amp and amps, I can tell you how to make them. They're so simple and small they fit inside an RCA plug housing.

www.chicagohornspeakerclub.org

[TBrennan]

Dean--The attatchment shows the passive filters for bi-amping I was talking about. The filters are inside the hot-glue on the RCA plug housings. They are very accurate and do a first-order crossover right at 500hz, we've measured them. They were designed and built by my buddy Kurt Chang, an astute fellow with a Doctorate in Physics from Wisconsin-Madison.

[mobile homeless]

Mike, I meant the VV52BX... I made a typo with the VT52. I think ye olde VV52BX is an entirely different beast altogether.

kh

[flappycars]

Hi,

Reading with interest your thoughts on SET amps. What is all this about the bass not being so good? Ius a Unison Research Simply Four SET amp and My Chorus speakers are spiked with decent speaker cables and mains cables and making more difference than anything else to the bass, a Kimber mains silencer

[Audio Flynn]

Flappy,

Can you please clarify.

1. Amp description

2."Kimber Silencer"?

3. How did you spike(brand and model) the "riser" base of the Chorus?

I was concerned about drilling a larger diameter hole in the MDF.

[NOSValves]

What is it with most of you guys about people liking higher volumes ?? I love to not only hear my music but also feel it !! The fact that a amp can sound good at 95db is great but for it to take a place permanently in my system it better be able to sound just as good at 105db !! I usually do listen at 90 to 100db but at times ......... 105db is the ticket

Craig

[Chris Robinson]

Jeez, Craig, isn't 105 db something like the pain threshold in torture?

All our ears are different, but be careful with those puppies. Hate to have you like my father-in-law in 20 years. Two tours of Nam in bombers just about creamed his ears. He's got big SS amps behind each of them now.

[Deang]

I used to think I listened to 105 db too, until I finally got another SPL meter.

Just going by a speaker's presumed sensitivity rating doesn't really work all to well.

At my most obnoxious moments, I'm never much above 100 db, and that, I found out -- is loud as hell.

[mobile homeless]

Hey Deaner, did you see your page mods? Also, where are my perks??? heh....

kh

[Deang]

Neato. Could you blast that second picture for me? I don't like it.

Feel like adding some DQ pics for the alternate system?

Perks huh...want me to get you some Multicaps for that Scott

[mobile homeless]

Yeah, well if you want me to add those DQ-10! You could contribute to the amp parts in case it comes your way, which is a 50% chance...then again, you sure got lucky with a seemingly free webpage and hosting! heh...

But I have been lucky from members here as well.

kh

[Randy Bey]

Dean,

tubes all have some microphonics to them, to some degree or another. Some like the additional 'zing' it gives the music.

From the looks of your pictures, the amps are quite close to the speakers. My amps are at least six feet from my speakers, and I have microphonics even then. But to really HEAR them, you need to play loud (80dB or so) and during a very loud passage hit 'pause' on the CD player. Then I can hear a singing/ringing that dies down within a second or so. Not loud, much lower than the music was.

I think tube dampers help, but I wonder about them because it's not the glass that is causing the problem, I believe it is the cathode and anode plates.

Did you get the virbrapods? I was thinking of them until I traded emails with Ron Welborne on the topic. He told me to just lie down with a cold compress on my head until the desire to get rid of microphonics went away.

[mobile homeless]

"Did you get the virbrapods? I was thinking of them until I traded emails with Ron Welborne on the topic. He told me to just lie down with a cold compress on my head until the desire to get rid of microphonics went away."

Randy, if you did get an email from RON saying this, is was someone writing in his place. That is:

1. More amusing than anything I have seen come from Ron in my years of reading "RON"

2. Involves some form of humor and perception of the abstract, again...more than I have seen from ole Rondo.

Good to see you floating about. Did you ever get any of those Cary issues solved? You know you ARE the only one with the original CARY SLP-90 prototype! Only RAndy could locate such a find...heh.

[Deang]

Randy,

Seems we are in some agreement here. I posted several comments regarding the subject: http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=27450&sessionID={BBF14D0E-1EB0-4C21-A356-7F1D22EA16DA}

I agree microphonics stems from the elements within the tube, however -- I believe the envelope acts as the transmission medium.

My Halo tube dampers showed up yesterday while I was at work. I do 12 hour days on both Saturday's and Sunday's -- and so won't be able to play until after work tomorrow.

Word on the street is that the Halos damp the glass without killing the character of the tube. I also went with the 'Tenderfeet' over the Vibrapods. I appreciated the genius in the Halo design, and so decided to give their anti-microphonic pads a shot as well.

[Randy Bey]

Dean, I will be interested in hearing your findings on tube damping. I think the majority of your problem is the proximity to the speakers. My ringing, such as it is, is very faint. It could be (and probably is) that various tube designs have varying degrees of microphonics.

Kelly, those were not Ron's words, I paraphrased. But the sentiment was the same. And the Cary is at Cary now, has been for weeks, but haven't got it back yet. Kirk says it's next on the list of things to do. I'm curious what he will find. I am guessing a bad rail voltage, as those tubes must not be correctly biased, based on what it sounds like. Very low level, like the second stage of amplification isn't there, like plugging the TT into line level inputs. The RIAA filter must be working, cuz it's all bass and no high end, and the line stage has the TT all shrill and raspy. I am mostly worried about the final cost. My company is swirling around the drain right now and cash is at an all time low.

[mobile homeless]

Did you get a loose estimate from ole Kirk? I hope you didnt fire it his way and say, "Kirk! give it the 'magic" treatment...I'm feelin' giddy!" Heh... yeah, well his is pretty honest...but next thing you know, you have the phono stage from a SLP-98 in there!

I hear you on the company aspect. Web stuff is lurking around sewer level as well.... I have had to resort to doing sites for people hawking DOG BOWL STANDS and school department sites.

When you make a sound file with barking and a high pitched voice, you know you have reached the depths of digital hell.

kh

[NOSValves]

Mobile,

was just breazing thru some of these old posts this last one of yours here made me laugh. Your digital hell seems very similar to my business talk about doing things a said I would never do again. I even took on a roof job this year. First one on 15 years !!

Craig