What's left of my audio system!

[jt1stcav]

Thanks, JB...I think so, too. I'm sure they sound even better than they look (got home late again tonight, so they're still not hooked up and mute at the moment...sigh).

[colterphoto1]

They're beauties JT, but why the difference in color and sheen between photos 005 and 008?

Let us know what you think of the sound please!

Merry Merry Christmas to JT!

[ben.]

C'mon, Michael. You know the answer to that question! Look at the shadows. Think cheap borrowed digital.

[ben.]

Geez, hope you didn't take that the wrong way, Michael. That's my dining room table (for a minute I thought Santa brought me RB-75 when I saw the photos here), and I had borrowed a cheap digital cam. One's flash, the others are not. I knew Jim would know more about how they looked if I shot both, as he plays with cameras too.

[jt1stcav]

Ben's correct...one pic's simply with direct flash; the other's without. IMO no camera can do the beauty of the actual cherry wood veneer justice...the grain is simply beautiful on each!

The rechargeable AAs on my bro's digital Fuji went dead (and they're still recharging...sheesh), so no pics yet in their new surroundings. Hopefully tomorrow...

Later in the day I finally cleaned out some of my folk's stuff that's made its way into my room, enough so I could get to my gear and make the connections necessary to finally hear these beauties. Using the 28" Atlantis Pro Series stands I bought for my Loth-X Amaze, I put them strategically in place of my Triangle Zephyr towers (sorry, ol' boys...time to retire). Still gotta fine tune the placement and toe-in...should be interesting. I powered down my Dayton subwoofers so the RB-75s could play awhile fullrange; stupid me, didn't realize the sub's crossovers were still preventing them from playing down to their lowest octave, until I disconnected the two sub's interconnects from my amp/preamp and reconnected my amp to my pre directly. Now the RB-75s play within their rated 42Hz - 20kHz range.

Santa's on his way, so I'm off to bed (yawn). Details comin' shortly.[]

[jt1stcav]

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!

I've waited almost 6 months for this moment, and it was well worth the wait.

[jt1stcav]

Thank you Jeremy, Mark, and Ben for giving me this opportunity to experience true Reference quality![Y][]

Been listening to them for most of the day...still playing full range without both subs. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to "The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King" soundtrack on Reprise Records (48521-2). This music is hauntingly beautiful, and a great audiophile recording to boot (crystal clear, extremely dynamic, with an incredible sense of atmosphere and realistic 3-dimensionality). Voices are floating in space while soloists appear with pinpoint accuracy within the soundstage; Annie Lennox has such a beautiful voice IMO and it's highlighted forward center stage here on this album! Strings are warm with just the right amount of bite during full crescendos, horns are lush and full, and bass, while missing that all-important bottom octave, is still quite convincing and deep without boom or mud (can't wait to hook up my subs again for the fullest effect with my pipe organ recordings)! And those Tractrix horns are absolutely wonderful...I've missed that in-your-face presence that horns project so well with quality recordings, and no harsh, ear-bleeding glare while using my SET amp (so far)! I haven't cranked up the volume just yet (I've kept it under reasonable +80dB levels at peaks); I'm saving that moment for when I connect both subwoofers and let 'er rip with some quality pipe organ recordings!

Looks like my poor ol' Triangles will be retired afterall. I love them 2-way towers too much to ever sell them (boy, have I said that before)...just hoping someday I could have a second system and drive the 91dB sensitive Zephyrs with a little more power than what SET amps provide. A sweet 35 watt PP 6550/KT88 integrated would do nicely...someday!

[jt1stcav]

You may have noticed a little difference in the system pic above...the addition of an all-original '60s vintage H.H. Scott Stereomaster 370-B Wideband FM MPX Stereo Tuner (temporarily in place of the SL-1700MK2). Got this free from Guitar Center's southern regional vintage guitar rep Dave Costner (a former Gibson Guitar employee and former guitar tech for the band Steppenwolf). Dave aquired it years ago with the intention of restoring it, but never got around to doing it and it sat in his garage for years. This past fall he brought it in to our store (along with an EICO preamp, a Hickok tube tester, and a Collins broadcasting amp) and gave them to the store manager, who in turn had no use for the tuner and gave it to me (free is good)!

It works, but needs a good cleaning and alignment, not to mention cap replacement (most likely). When my dad's radio restoration business slows down a bit, he'll give it a good goin' over and make any necessary repairs (for a small fee, natch). Aside from the dust and dirt from years of neglect, and a few light scratches and scuff marks here and there, it's in amazingly good shape for a 40 some-odd year old tube tuner in original condition.

[colterphoto1]

White balance guys!

or use natural window light.

I asked the question to start the discussion about how to photograph your speakers. I do know the difference [^o)]

The flash pix looks almost like Mahogany, they're so red-gold looking

To my eye the natural light ones have a very cold cast to them and look dull and lifeless.

Neither really brings out the true color of the Klipsch cherry veneer.

Take them to the window if you have el cheapo camera- natural light without flash or glare will most accurately show the natural beauty of the wood.

[jt1stcav]

Thanks for the tip, Michael. I think Ben may have used a digital camcorder to take the pics you refer to, but I'm not sure. He snapped them quickly for me before I considered purchasing them.

I'm using one of my brother's digital cameras, a FujiFilm FinePix S5100, and I'm not too familiar with all its controls yet. Not sure how he has the white balance set up, and I haven't screwed around with it too much to know how to make the necessary adjustments. One of these days I'll read the damn owners manual.[]

[jt1stcav]

Here's a quick snapshot of the new Electro Harmonix 300B EH output tubes that replaced the sweet TJ 300B/n mesh plate globes I used previously. The left channel TJ started pulsating brightly and popping through the loudspeakers last month! I quickly killed the power and after the tubes cooled down I switched left to right and threw the switch. Now the right TJ immediately begun the light show, so I shut it all down again, knowing that particular 300B has had it, dammit! Since I gave my original pair of Shuguang 300BC graphite anode tubes to Erik Mandaville as a gift last year, I had to have something to replace the TJs but couldn't afford nearly $300 for another replacement pair! So eBay to the rescue...a new pair of affordable EHs for $150 shipped. They're not the best, natch, but for inexpensive 300Bs they're not that bad. They'll have to do...hope they last longer than a few years!

[jt1stcav]

And here's another quick snapshot taken this Christmas morning...li'l Sammy is sitting on top of one of the Triangle towers imitating Nipper upon hearing his master's voice. In this case, she's digging the Christmas tunes of Nat King Cole emanating from the Tractrix horn.[H]

[jt1stcav]

Another quick pic...I know, no flash. But it was dreary overcast and rain all day long this Christmas day in southwest central Florida. I think I would've rather had snow instead of rain, but we needed it.

[ben.]

White balance guys!

or use natural window light.

I asked the question to start the discussion about how to photograph your speakers. I do know the difference [^o)]

The flash pix looks almost like Mahogany, they're so red-gold looking

To my eye the natural light ones have a very cold cast to them and look dull and lifeless.

Neither really brings out the true color of the Klipsch cherry veneer.

Take them to the window if you have el cheapo camera- natural light without flash or glare will most accurately show the natural beauty of the wood.

Pretty tall order when working 11 hour days with a toddler at home. I tried putting them near the window, but it wasn't helping much. I sat down to watch Letterman a little bit to think about it and decided to just do the best I could with the situation so Jim could assess the condition of the 75s.

[ben.]

I'm glad you're finally enjoying them, Jim. I felt kind of sheepish just playing them in the bedroom over the past couple months - that's why they were packed and ready to go early. I didn't have a place to use them well, other than a space that houses K-horns and I didn't see much of a point to that. Set up carefully as a primary system is how they should be used and I'm glad that's how you're going to enjoy them. I'd bet that they've found a bit longer-term home now.

Any pics of the packaging? It was a really easy (not necessarily quick) and relatively inexpensive way to ship RBs. UPS whacked me after shipping for an extra $20 per box, though - I must have misweighed. So goes parcel shipping...

[jt1stcav]

UPS rates had gone up...go figure!

Ben, here's several pics I just took this evening (excuse the dust, I still have some of my folk's belongings in here and I haven't cleaned the room in weeks...I know, I'm a slob)! As you can see, the cartons are all beat to hell (they're not pretty), but they've survived the journey intact with no holes or gouges.

[chops]

White balance guys!

or use natural window light.

I asked the question to start the discussion about how to photograph your speakers. I do know the difference [^o)]

The flash pix looks almost like Mahogany, they're so red-gold looking

To my eye the natural light ones have a very cold cast to them and look dull and lifeless.

Neither really brings out the true color of the Klipsch cherry veneer.

Take them to the window if you have el cheapo camera- natural light without flash or glare will most accurately show the natural beauty of the wood.

Or instead of disconnecting and moving equipment all over creation, you can just select one of the preset white balance modes or do your own custom white balance to get the correct colors back in the pics, no matter what the lighting conditions are. [8-)]

[jt1stcav]

The beauty of Bens packing abilities lies within the cartons...on both top and bottom are the original styrofoam endcaps. On all three sides are about 3/4" thick styrofoam slabs that fit perfectly all around. The cabinets were inside their protective clear Klipsch bag; the grilles were attached and covered in a plastic bag with extra cardboard protecting the front of the motorboard. Those RB-75s didn't budge an inch inside those boxes!

[chops]

I can certainly attest to the fact that my brother is indeed a slob. LOL []

On a more serious note, I have to admit, his system sounds the best it ever has with those 75's in there. I really didn't think they were going to sound much better than what he's had in there before, but those little RB75's (actually quite large for book shelf speakers) really make the system shine. They're full and smooth, with decent, solid bass output, a natural and full-bodied midrange and crisp, accurate highs without being harsh or bright. I'm really amazed and glad he finally has something that works and sounds good!

Now I don't have to run and hide everytime he turns his stereo on. []

[jt1stcav]

Thanks, chops (I think).[]

And with the top endcap in place and the carton's flaps folded down and taped, the cabinets had nowhere to go (I like my boxes tight)![6] There was no slop and freeplay inside either carton, and both boxes and RB-75s arrived in the same perfect condition as when they left Ben's house (thanks again for the expert packaging...yuz da man, Ben)![Y]