mobile homeless Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 Some good posts here. Nice comments, Chris. Also, that was some nice things said in that other thread. I also agree with Pat's recommendation as a GREAT bang for the buck answer although I think the HF-85 preamp is a bit more sketchy and surely more debatable than the tweaked HF-87 amp. As I said, there is a fully rebuilt HF-87 that was up for auction with new HEXFREDs in the PS and all new coupling caps. It didnt get a bid at $375! That would be QUITE good at this price and practically take your DOORS down via a Khorn. TO me, the answer with SET amps lies somewhere in between. I think most of the time, you can get more than enough volume with a GOOD SET amp and vintage Klipsch. If anything, it makes you NOT HAVE TO TURN IT UP AS MUCH to get satisfaction! This is a major point here. After getting into SET amps, I found myself wanting to listen INTO the music more instead of achieving brute strength. On the other hand, it's nice to have some headroom here. I dont have an SPL meter on hand at the moment but I was reaching some SERIOUS volume yesterday. But it discussing the Cornwalls at @ 100dB, I would have to say that to get that chest pounding volume with rock and indie label material, SET is not the optimum solution. Then again, I think my favorite amp for REALLY bringing the walls down is an old EL-34 amp with some great output iron. With more mediocre or common iron, the EL-34 can get a bit soft, but with better iron, it can sound damn nice and really mates well with 60s garage and heavy rock ala Hendrix, Zeppelin, Clapton, etc. Still, I was getting some GREAT tone with the 2A3 Monos and quite a bit of volume. But yes, if going for CHEST POUNDING volume, the SET is not your idea amp. Then again, to be totally honest, I dont think the Cornwall or Klipsch in general is my favorite rock speaker. It does very nice on most rock but some mediocre recordings can just be very problematic with the vintage Klipsch (and with solid state, all but unlistenable in my view when at full volume). kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 I think my Cornwalls sound pretty awful at high volume blasting Rock, Rap, electric Blues, etc. Shrill is the word I would use. I find it amazing that so many of you on this board listen to Rock through Heritage Klipsch and love it. I didn't fall in love with them with llstening to loud R&R and when for some reason I find(my wife, ususally) this stuff blasting through the Cornwalls I cringe and run for the volume control!! I can, however, listen to Coltrane at the Vanguard at ear splitting volume and NEVER feel assaulted! The Tannoy Monitor Golds, however in my second system sound AWESOME with this sort of thing but can't touch the Cornwalls on vocals or jazz. I drive the Tannoys with an SA-100 7189 Fisher and a Fisher T-100 preamp/tuner (from a CONSOLE of all things!). You can bring the house down with this combo. I walked in last night around 9PM and my wife had the new Snoop Dogg CD blasting away through the Tannoys and it sounded great. The Tannoy is a great Rock speaker. The Cornwall isn't. That's what I think, anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 It does very nice on most rock but some mediocre recordings can just be very problematic with the vintage Klipsch I hear that !! Some LP's or CD's of the same artist can just be plain horrible on klipsch speaker revealing all of the recordings short comings. But when the recording is right I think my Lascalas do a absolutely stunning job with any gender of music I have explored so far. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 "Gender of Music." Wow, that really gets some images pumping through my brain. I guess Coltrane is ABSOULTELY male. And Sinatra too. And Clapton I guess. Sarah Vaughn FOR SURE! Jimmy Smith too!! The Beach Boys would be female? And Lee Konitz? Warne Marsh? probably female Ella and Bille without a doubt! And some artists start out kinda female and then come end up COMPLETELY male. Art Pepper comes to mind. THIS IS FUN!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 I myself love exploring the opposite gender !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 I guess it depends on what genre of gender we speak ... Personally, I prefer the ones with a guy's sense of humor and a very long fuse. NOW personage need not apply. I think my constraint is that I just can't listen to music loudly anymore; call it "drain bamage" or whatever, I just can't do it. Allen, I hear you though ... I can listen to horns at take-off levels, but I can't do poor recordings that drift to the right side of the bell curve, frequency-wise. I just don't have it in me. Don't know why. OTOH, certain amps are friendly this way ... the -81 deals with "thinner" recordings very well; this is not to say it colors them ... it doesn't ... I just hear more balanced music. The Wrights are more defined in the HF section, but because of their balance with the low end, it's not that noticeable to me. To put it another way, the "yield" on CD's I put on (i.e., how many come off on the first two tracks because they're to offensive) is quite good on the Eico and Wrights. My two cents as an aging male with pattern baldness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 ---------------- On 12/13/2002 4:00:26 PM Chris Robinson wrote: Tell you what, next time Jeff Caban drops by with his Mega Death CD, I'll ask him to open it all the way up ... I only want a five second head start to leave the house But I think you and Jeff both like the sound in the chest-pounding range, and his personal review can be posted on this board. I remember being in the first row for a "Mountain" concert in my college gym. The sustained level of sound was close to Tomcat carrier landings It was kind of like that.---------------- I'll stop over with the new Godsmack cd as this cd will really test out a tube amp-quick,tight bass on all tracks. or if Chris prefers.... we'll crank up some Mississippi Queen for old times sake. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 From my experience with the Wright Sound amps, they are not going to be reaching the depths of Hz land with ye olde Godsmack, and maybe that's a good thing! Indeed. They WILL get VERY loud and pretty damn low, but there are limits (and your wife, children, and dog will thank you). IF I were Chris, I would go ahead and purchase a pair of Sovtek for when he wants to push the Wright 2A3 Monos into Class A2, something that are made to do when the going gets tough. Unfortunately, doing this often will put some wear on the vintage RCA black Plate 2A3. The Sovteks are made for some heavy duty use and can be overdriven.... but just dont have the sublime delicacy (with the Godsmack) of the RCA 2A3. The secrets with zero negative feedback SETs like these is an amazing grace in clipping being quite subtle, far unlike PP amps or especially SS amps which sound like a urine soaked pillow if driven into clipping. Tube amps, in general, clip VERY gracefully, with SETs being the absolute best here. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 Kelly, But thats my point...not all on this forum are into "easier listening" music and need or want the extra watts to achieve such higher levels. I had my sights set on some Scott LK-150s but I guess thats wasn't meant to be so I am still on the lookout for something,either vintage or newer if the deal comes up.We have discussed this in past e-mails and you mentioned you were not a big fan of 6550 amplification but like the EL-34. Would the EL-34 be better suited for Klipsch horns? warmer & fuller perhaps? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 I have no idea what a urine soaked pillow sounds like, but it can't be good! Would you have to wring it out to get a squishy noise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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