FAQ'S ?

[marksdad]

is there a faq's page, if so that might help to eliminate some of the anger some of the audiophiles here seem to feel towards those of us are on our to way learning what they have already learned. sometimes that is the problem with knowlege, once you learn you are to egotistical to share your knowlege with those around you. instead it is supposed to be a cycle, we learn than we teach, this is how we grow as a society. in my occupation we begin as students, after we have acquired our skills and education, we move to the next level, than we are teachers, most of us teach gladly, remembering our roots, and the 1% who will not give the benefit of thier education, sit alone, they seperate themselvs from the pack, and very soon spend all of thier time alone, unliked. to make a long story short, i very much appreciate the people here in these forums, from the very wise to the very new, i have learned many things i did not know before, and my listening experience has grown immensly, and i know that there is soooo much more to learn, and even though there are those elitist's who are bothered by our simple questions, i am very gratefull for the rest of you who share, and care

[HDBRbuilder]

Sooooo...

what are your questions? Maybe I can be of some help!

[marksdad]

actually the more i learn the more questions i have, i have always loved music, but have only had mediocre systems, including bose, and until i found this board i have only had the word on the street to enlighten me, or salesmen, and we all know about salesmen. and now inch by inch i am building a system that i find it hard to tear myself away from even to go to work, now i guess i will be asking alot of silly questions concerning heritage as a ht system, i have not yet decided if the corns i just bought will be satellites or mains, but i do know 1 thing, it is alot of fun having these simple problems rather than other more serious things to have to worry about, and again it just tickles me to see the controversy, and the enthusiasm everyone has in these boards, from young(justin) to old (me?), there is alot to be gained here, thanks

[mobile homeless]

I hope to hell this post isnt directed toward me after that semi-serious post of the email from my friend and the discussion surrounding it. Frankly, I cant think of one single solitary person in this two channel forum that does not go out of their way to answer questions at length.

Simply, where are the "elitists" that dont answer the questions? While I think a FAQ page would be excellent for many reasons, I dont think there are any people in this entire forum who wouldnt answer these questions, especially in the 2 channel section. Perhaps you are talking about forums in general...still, in most audio forums, the people do bend over backwards to help others.

While this forum can produce the ocasional barb at times, carefully considered information flows all about whether to a newbie who just wandered in referring to a quality amp recommendation or someone here many times looking for a setup tweak or other piece of info.

And if this post WAS referring to that post of the email from my cohort, did you read the thread to the very end?

Good point on the FAQ, but the rest of the post I fail to understand if pertaining to the 2 Channel area.

kh

[HDBRbuilder]

Well,

If you want to know more about Heritage for H/T, then Q-man and HornEd are the ones who can tell you!! HornEd is currently in a health issue struggle, but still somehow manages to find the time and energy to come onto the BB here and there. Q-man is pretty busy in his business, but he spends a decent amount of time here, too! There are others with varying degrees of Heritage H/T, too...You can find some of this stuff in the Odds&Mods section, some of it in the H/T section, and some of it in the updating older speakers section, and a bit more of it scattered throughout all of these sections.

I have pretty much given up on the lousy archive search set-up that this new BB format has, but if YOU can figure it out, then go for it!! LOL! The old BB's archive search was MUCH easier to use, IMHO!!

Yes, some of us ARE hard-headed in our opinions of what is best in any particular venue you will find here on this forum, but even the seemingly most-hard-headed of us seem to aquiesce when we are confronted with something that is OBVIOUSLY worthwhile...LOL!

Myself, I am the kind of person who likes to test others' patience to some extent, in order to see if I can get them to look around and see that the little niche they have settled into may need to be broadened just a bit! LOL! Not everybody who frequents this forum has the wherewithal to drop big bucks on equipment, so I tend to try to bring up a bit of "economy-thinking" here and there! LOL! Most-bang-for-the-buck kinda stuff, ya know? If you think I can be of any help, then just holler!

[fini]

A more intuitive search function for this would be useful. I have had to give up on searches here, when I'm certain I'm using exact word or phrase.

fini

[Deang]

I'm with Kelly here. Jeepers.

[HDBRbuilder]

Yeah, Fini...I TOTALLY AGREE on that search function!! No telling how many times I have made an attempt to drag something up out of its dusty corner, just to be thwarted in my attempts!!

Hell, I sit here, reading posts from new folks who only need an answer that has already been given...sometimes by MYSELF! Then, in order to keep from re-typing my entire previously-posted answer, I attempt to find it for them in the archives...to no damned avail!! Soooooo...I end up re-typing it for them instead!!(often no easy task since I tend to get, shall we say??...a bit long-winded at times?? LOL!) I think this is giving me carpal forum syndrome!! LOL!

[NOSValves]

Well for one thing I would refrain from calling us Audiophiles !!!

[mobile homeless]

The SEARCH function is ALL BUT USELESS! Although I find this hard to believe, the OLD pathetic search function in the old pathetic forum was an order of magnitude more useful and fruitful than our current SEARCH.

I am having a hard time understanding this as I thought the move to this new forum was in a large part an attempt to achieve a better search feature. What we have now is a lesson in frustration. NO matter how specific, I cant make it work with any sense of consistency with a quality/thorough result.

I think this issue really needs to be addressed. I use the seach feature at the audio asylum quite often. ANd I still think it is the superior forum format for exchanging ideas and showing info WITHIN threads. Having posts buried in threads that offer excellent information but not in relation to the title of the thread has been the Achilles heel of this format.

kh

ps- Hey Andy, man...I have been trying to break YOU out of your comfortable niche of HK Twin power supply receivers since Day 1! Heh... Seems you have been there for the long haul without a bevy of amps to compare them to. But I have DEFINITELY decided to get one of these little 430 units for my wife/and upstairs tuner system... and it's a matter of time. You have my curiosity piqued as well! btw, most of the options discussed remain in the best sound for the least money category. But you win the stakes for the lowest $$$ needed. And it seems to have paid off for a few here. Good work!

[HDBRbuilder]

Agreed! The term "audiophile" on this forum tends to connote some snooty self-proclaimed know-it-all who looks up from his comfy position in his listening room, sets his glass of merlot down on the fine-burled end table beside him along with his copy of stereofool magazine from which he was deriving great delight in finding the typos in his recently submitted review of a multi-thousand-dollar piece of equipment(for which he received a nice stipend, not only from the magazine, but also a bit of compensation from the manufacturer of said item), as he looks over his reading glasses at you giving you the look that tells you his thought is: "What the hell is this idiot even doing in here, and why is this moron asking such an obviously stupid question?"

I like to be perceived more as an "audio aficianado", myself!

[mobile homeless]

To be honest, you need to be careful of REVERSE descrimation with that painting of the word "Audiophile" you just gave. Audiophile is not necessarily a bad word but I do admit that its connotations have gotten some deserved heat as the music starts to take a back seat and the gear becomes the tool to hear the bits within the whole.

kh

[justin_tx_16]

here you go, http://www.klipsch.com/index.asp?path=/products/faq/homeaudiofaq.asp?frame=y&id=&line=&1

[HDBRbuilder]

Kelly,

That audiophile definition was tongue in cheek...LOL!...to SOME extent, anyway!! ROFLMAO!!

As for my devotion to all things H/K...that simply isn't so. Neither am I devoted to S/S! Actually, I was raised-up on tubes...one might say. My earliest recollections of music were through a Grundig Majestic radio, that upon our family's return from a tour in Germany(just before I started kindergarten), ended up in my and my brother's shared bedroom...eventually becoming more-or-less mine. We lived in Odenton, MD at the time, and my station of choice was AM radio "six-oh, on the radio, Baltimore!", which put me to sleep every nite, and woke me up each morning when it powered back up for the daytime broadcasting! I am quite surprised that old Grundig didn't squat on me over the years after being left on all nite EVERY nite for over a decade and a half!! I would also play around with the short-wave features on that Grundig all the time...listening to distant voices from around the world, pilots, etc. My parents had purchased a console set-up for the living room, and a TV...but I had "my" Grundig!! I still have it, too! While stationed in Europe, I always salivated over the McIntosh equipment, but it was WAY out of my price range! I was also introduced to many other tube amps and pre-amps, from varying times up to that "present time". While working at Klipsch, I made a few investments of miniscule proportions in some old tube stuff which I still own. An old Crosley Showbox radio from the early 1930's was one of those extremely low-cost investments(beautiful cabinet, BTW). My elderly kinfolk tended to avoid trashing older tube stuff they had and handed it over to me, too. I have numerous pre-war and early post war tube table top radios and such...all in storage.

I have recently given up on finding what I have been looking for in the libraries and bookstores around here, with which knowledge I intended to study-up on tube equipment, and its building in order to build my own amp. Ten to fifteen years ago, the shelves of a library were FULL of references to do that, but not any longer!

BUT, I have "discovered" the local "antique radio club" here, instead. Not only do its members have a humongous wealth of knowledge, but for many years they have been stock-piling vast quantities of spare parts for ANYTHING tube!!... Often rescuing entire inventories of NOS tubes and components from becoming trash bin items over the years as local audio and fix-it shops cleaned out their store-rooms of "no-longer-needed" items!! They don't sell these items beyond the local club membership, and the price they charge for them is EXTREMELY LOW, with the money going back into the club's treasury for purchase of more parts!! The club also has a huge library of schematics, DIY articles, books, and such with which even the most inept person can build him/herself something very nice, with just some good soldering skills! Entire labs of testing equipment are also available to fellow members!!

They are slowly beating into my head the info I need to build something really special(or modify something ALREADY special) for myself in the tube amp/preamp venue! Sitting around with them having a beer and jabbering with these guys(and gals!!)makes reading some of the posts on tube stuff here seem easy!! LOL! You outta see some of the stuff these folks have built!! LOL! And listening to alot of it is sooooooooo damned sweet!!

SO...It is just a matter of time(and available cash), before I end up with a nice tube set-up! Not to worry!

But, I still like those old H/K "x30" series S/S receivers!! LOL!

[mobile homeless]

Nice link, Justin! Actually, to be honest, I dont think I have seen that page. Then again, I dont think I have been in the actual Klipsch site more than 3 or 4 times which is a bit embarrassing to admit. Unfortunately, while this does have some info, this FAQ is really basic and not really relating to many of the ideas/info exchanged within this particular forum.

This forum could actually have its own FAQ relating to getting the best from two channel audio with a variety of subjects addressed, be it amps (both tube and solid state), digital, analog, vinyl, room setup, system setup, system matching, upgrades (crossovers/wire/mods), music recs. High aspirations that will remain there...

kh

EDIT: Andy, just saw your post. Seems you have stumbled on a local network that will prove invaluable! Some of the old salts tend to be a bit "Staid" in their ways and approach to audio, it does provide an amazing resource. Sounds like some nice audio history from your side as well.

[HDBRbuilder]

Yeah, Kelly...you are right about a FEW of the members...but most of them still have "open minds" to things. Alot of them have some very nice "COMPOSITE-build" S/S stuff too!...taking the best idea of this product, combining it with the best idea of another product, etc...makes for some really interesting discussions with a beer in hand!! Lots of things are heard like: "Welbourne Moondogs??, hell that ain't nothing new...let me show you what I built a few years ago...pretty much identical, and for a whole lot less money, too! If you think this sounds good, then you outta hear so-and-so's rig!! It'll really kick some butt!! Hell, you gotta use a stethoscope on a horn at full volume to hear any unwanted noise comin outta it!!"...etc! LOL! These guys are REAL characters!! LOL!

EDIT: Kelly, you may want to peruse the following eBay items: 1944876290 & 1944889483

[mobile homeless]

Not so sure about that "Welbourne Moondogs" comment for a lot cheaper as the transformers, which are air-gapped and VERY expensive are a large part of the price here. If you price a SET Amp, especially monoblocks, to make on your own, you dont save too much money unless you use less quality parts, including the iron (and the iron is the heart of the tube amp). IF they can build the equivalent with a lot less money, have them give you a list of the parts and schematic. Hell, I would be interested.

Most of these antique radio club crowd are not delving into SET audio, however, at least not from my experience. That being said, you have to remember, SET technology is just about THE OLDEST audio technology there is as it dates back to the 20s-30s! To say it's been done before is the understatement of the year. Of course, there have been a lot of twists to the format along with better parts. But to make a pair of monoblocks like the Moondogs on a sufficiently thick copper/brass plate with hardwood chassis, using quality air-gapped outputs for Single-Ended amps combined with quality parts will not be dirt cheap. SET amps can be done for a lot less than many other options however since the parts count is VERY small.

kh

ps- "Hell, you gotta use a stethoscope on a horn at full volume to hear any unwanted noise comin outta it!" UImmmm, almost ALL single-ended amplifiers will have some hum with HE speakers. IF your new cohorts have suddenly hit on a SET amp that needs a "stethoscope" to detect hum in a horn, then he would become a RICH man!

[HDBRbuilder]

Kelly...remember...the club has those dirt cheap parts for the members!! The rig this guy built used the same type circuitry, but many of the parts were old NOS items...and it sounded fabulous...the power transformers were HUGE items from the mid-60's in as-new condition on it!! Their overexuberance of each other's units is understandable...they are proud of em!! The remark about the stethoscope was not exactly true, of course, it was just part of their vernacular!! LOL! As in, "that fish was so big that we had to call in a coast guard cutter to get it back to shore!" LOL! Most of these guys have been retired from their regular jobs for a number of years, but still piddle with building stuff as a hobby. And, though some of their attempts have been pretty crappy...by their own admission, they also have some realy fantastic home-builts!! They even keep the crappy ones around as examples of "what NOT to do!!" LOL!

When I said they had a huge stockpile of stuff...I wasn't just talking about tubes...you can pretty much just grab a soldering pencil, go to their store-rooms, and pull out everything you need to build pretty much anything you want...you name it, they got it!! I even got an ORIGINAL replacement speaker coil assembly for my Crosley showbox...mine's cone, etc, was still good, but the coil portion was shot...aluminum alloy casting cracked all to hell, and those fine wires broken!! It is like a candy store in the members' storage rooms!! LOL! I would venture to say, that they have a SERIOUS fortune in stuff from what I have seen on eBay lately!!

BTW: The prices of stuff on eBay are a major discussion topic with them, ie., "You see what that so-and-so went for on eBay the other day? Jeezus Keerist!! We must have a couple dozen of them in our inventory!! I gotta get you guys another beer!! The sooner all your livers fail, the quicker I become the last surviving member of this club and get all these goodies for myself, sell em on eBay, and head to Tahiti with a lifetime supply of viagra!" ROFLMAO!!

[fini]

When's the next meeting?

fini

[BerndH]

I don't believe a FAQ page would help too much. There are many FAQ pages you find in the internet. They give you the answer for general questions. But answering specific questions with a good following discussion why do that or not and how does it sound, that will be done in this forum.

That is it what bring us klipschees together.

Bernd