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Journey to Jubilation


LTusler

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I have been into audio for as long as I can remember.  My first LP was Deep Purple Machine Head played on my Dad's tube based system in the living room many, many years ago.  Over the years I have been through many lo, mid, and hi-fi systems and components.  Started with LP's, had cassettes and a 8 track in the car, traded all of that and moved into CD's.  Went with Carver separates for 2 channel and 5.1 with AL-III speakers.  Moved out of the city to a home that had a shop. 

I began to play with some pro audio since I needed some power to project out of the shop to the fire pit.  Used some JBL and QSC equipment and has some fun.  After 12 years the city encroached on the country and we sold out to a developer and moved to our current location much further from the city. 

Fast forward to 7 years ago in found some Klipsch Heresey's on a auction site and got them for $80.00.  Back then I was only just aware of the Klipsch brand.  The new home and shop allowed me to expand my horizons a bit.  It has a Man Cave Loft where I've installed the Carver AL-III speakers and upgrades to Sunfire Cinema Grand Pre/Pro and power.  Sounds nice up there with the aliveness of the 4' ribbons. 

I also really began like the horn sound of the Heresey's and did the research and re-capped the crossovers and put in Crites tweeters that I installed in the "Assembly Hall" portion of the building.  So after doing more research I found and ordered the Crites Cornscala D hardware and started down the path of DIY audio.  Build a VTA ST-70 tube and and a  PH-16 phono pre and combined those with some various QSC power amps, Sunfire Subs and a MiniDSP DDRC 88A and began to learn about active DSP systems.  Along the way I tried various setups and configurations using REW to get the performance of the drivers, and got the system sounding very good.  I also restored a Klipsch KP-320/480 system bought for $200.00 that was in a church with a blown 18" woofer and 12" passive, replaced the cones and ran them active as well, just for fun.  As I was learning I found this web site and of course I started reading threads about the various Klipsch Heritage speaker systems and that of course lead me to the Jubilees... 

 

 

 

 

Cornscala Final Small.jpg

Heresey  and Sub Small.jpg

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So I was finally able to earn the money to purchase a system,  called up Cory ant Paducah and placed the order.  Many cudos to Cory and Mark, the transaction was simple and the communication excellent.  2 weeks or so later, the UPS truck pulls up and drops 2 very large pallets at the end of the driveway.  Fortunately my skid steer came with forks, so it was easy to move them into the shop.  My neighbor and fellow Klipsch audio nut and wood worker came over on a Saturday morning and we modified the counter tops in the shop to accommodate the Jubilees.  After about 3 hours of measuring(twice), cutting, fastening, and cleaning up the room was ready.  So how do a couple of 60 year old guys unbox and move 250 lb LF cabinets?  Well, you open the box, hold the flaps open, roll it on its side and then to the top leaving the packaging in place.  Pull off the box and there is the speaker on its feet on the packing(the speakers are placed in the box upside down).  I happen to have large long plastic furniture glides, so we put them under the cabinet and pulled/pushed the cabinets in to place.   The placed the horns on top and cabled them up, the cables were already there.  Then some quick reconfiguration to get the Xilica 4080 DSP (pre programmed thankfully) connected to the rest of the components in the head end.

Audio Head End Small.jpg

Jubilee Small.jpg

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So far I only have about 4 hours on the system.  I am very impressed, the sound stage is amazing.  The pics above are from the MLP which is about 15' from them.  The sound stage says correct as you move back and forth across it.  The main thing I didn't like about the Cornscala set up was it was pretty directional.  Bass is no problem for these, I had to knock off a couple of db to tone it down a bit.  I intend to listen for awhile and then begin the process of the last 5% using REW to dial them into the room.  The factory settings are very good.

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Congratulations! I know you will enjoy them.

 

I'm curious about the finish on these factory cabinets with the veneer upgrade.  Are the edges square or have they been rounded over (it looks that way, I think). I am trying to figure out if edge banding or veneer on the tops and sides could be easily applied. 

 

Anyhow enjoy them,

-Tom

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Tom,

The top and sides of the cabinet are rounded over.  The vertical edge of the veneer is square.  The mouths of the cabinet have a slight bend in them.  I'll post up some close ups.  I'm considering grill cloth to keep dust out, but am unsure how to best go about mounting it.

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1 hour ago, LTusler said:

Tom,

The top and sides of the cabinet are rounded over.  The vertical edge of the veneer is square.  The mouths of the cabinet have a slight bend in them.  I'll post up some close ups.  I'm considering grill cloth to keep dust out, but am unsure how to best go about mounting it.

 

The grill cloth issue is an interesting one. There is a photo(s) of how the original Jubilee was dressed up (this was one with a smaller wooden horn on top) and PWK himself was standing next to it. It may give you an idea for one way to approach things. It may take some searching to dig it up 

Good luck,

-Tom

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Or....  

 

I believe this to be the exact same speaker.....as these pictures were taken at Ms. Valerie's home and it wasn't working so some of the guys took it apart to double check the passive which was buried inside)

pwkandjubilee1.jpg

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To me, the takeaway here is, the underlying box here is the *exact* underlying box that the early buyers have.....and they affixed the front beauty panel to it which gave them the 3/4" step up to then make/attach the corner pieces with the grill covering.

 

Also, there was an odd shaped piece of wood on the top to tie all these things together to give a flat surface.

 

With the newer models having the beauty panel integrated into the front plane of the speaker, I don't know if this specific solution would work/look best???

 

 

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If the horn mouth braces are set back from the cabinet itself just make a frame 1/4 to 3/16 smaller than the opening ( depending on grille cloth type ) and mount to the braces.

 

As for the top just miter a frame the same width as the bass bin and attach it behind the horn, mount your new grille to that.

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4 minutes ago, PrestonTom said:

Coytee, Good job finding those photos!

 

Jason, that is the problem. The mouth braces are NOT set back. I suppose one could do some surgery, but who is going to do that a new pair of cabinets. 

-Tom

 

You could make individuals for each mouth opening, just hot glue a small piece of wood in each corner to attach each section.

 

Personally i find front mounted grilles to be an afterthought.

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You're welcome.  I took them when a bunch of us were in Hope and had a chance to visit with Ms. Valerie.  Jumped at the chance to document how it was put together in case I ever tried to duplicate it (I haven't).  So when it was mentioned above, .....I knew exactly where the pictures were.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Coytee said:

Congrats.  Question if I may.....  had you (ever) heard them prior to purchase?  I'm intrigued if  you are a "heard" or not...

I had not heard them. 

 

I used the Cornscala build as a lesson in hearing and tuning along with paying attention at live concert venues.  I attended Mark Knopfler at the State theatre in Minneapolis last year and have been using that concert as my guide. The sound was outstanding.   I bought the concert download as well.

 

I tend to jump in with both feet on these sorts of things.  Haven't had too many failures.  Plus I probably read every thread on the net before jumping in.  Also ChrisA's threads gave me the confidence to go forward knowing he is willing to help if/when needed.

 

I think my favorite part so far are all of the various percussion thwacks that I can hear.  

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11 hours ago, LTusler said:

had not heard them. 

 

Nice!

 

Reason I asked (without getting into some of the original  history), I've got a checkmark on my list for those who've answered and according to that, 18 people said they had NOT heard them prior and 14 said they had.... so according to this (incomplete and admittedly inaccurate) list, 56% of those who answered had not heard them prior to purchase.

 

I think that's cool as beans that someone steps up to the plate to make a financial purchase like that essentially blind.

 

(I had heard them prior to purchase so I don't fit in that group)

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All horn speakers rule the audio world and you made a wise choice to bypass all the intermediary stuff many of us go through before we discover true fidelity. Direct radiators can sound good but they just can't do lifelike visceral impact like horns.

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