Audio Flynn Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 Dean, Still no vinyl playback in your equipment list? Another vice you can enjoy at the proper time... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnorv Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 I figure that the best of both worlds is a bi-amped system with a SS (high damping factor) on the base and a SET on the high end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 ---------------- On 4/2/2003 12:46:55 AM DeanG wrote: Is it accidental that 99% end up using tubes to run their horns? Not just here either, but the world over. ---------------- I'm not sure I understand this quote. Are you speaking of boutique brand audiophile horn speaker owners? Klipsch owners? or just dedicated 2-channel horn systems by self proclaimed audiophiles? It seems that most of the Klipsch owners in the HT forum use modern SS electronics (HALO, Outlaw, Denon, Rotel, etc.) and I would think that a vast majority of new Klipsch customers don't even know vacuum tube technology is an option. Don't the masses of Klipsch customers buy a multi-channel system for multi-purpose (music and HT) so don't they count as hornies, too? I would agree that 2-channel only horn hobbiests/audiphiles seems to gravitate to tubes and few seem to swear them off after embracing them. I would also tend to agree with most of the pro tube chatter. I recall there was a niche of Klipsch and tubes fans even in the mid 80's when I got my first exposure to Klipsch, however, the local Tweeter in MASS was promoting big Carver amps which now are recalled as a poor match. Many of my EE professors where audio fans but I don't recall their speaker preferences...I do recall using dental/barber chairs for exact head placement and wild jokes about amps in liquid nitrogen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 Here is a pic of my bells after I have adjusted my living room just a tad. Oh and they have two coats of linseed oil on them. Dean, Yeah I know... As I said, I need to wait until I get both new woofers in place. I think I may just be too much new school when it comes to sound. Lots of heavy deep bass with crunchy highs and what ever mids. Perhaps it's time I open up my mind to a different sound qualities. BTW, what is roap caulking? What kind of affect does it have on the squawker? I will do some more research on the Scott. I am really looking for a nice easy door into tubes. It's not a pretty looking preamp/amp but if it sounds great and does a good job. Hmmm, wonder how hard it would be to modify the chassis on the scott. Lets say I went with a scott, you have any recomendations on a tuner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 Tom, no I don't actually work in a Fab. Are you an Intel employee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 nah, I'm a unix/NT admin working for IBM at the AXP data center in Phoenix. about 1200 Solaris boxen and another 2000 or so NT/W2K on CPQ hardware. Too bad, tomorrow is the last day of vacation...... Tom I remember it well, May 18, 1980. I was living in a house on Sandy Blvd around 45th. I woke up, looked out the window of my second floor bedroom and saw Mt. St. Helens blowing her top. Sure was weird looking at the horizon and not seeing that white cone. First and only time I saw a mountain top disappear. Whatta mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 you guys hiring? I may be out of a job soon. We have drivin up to Mt St Helens a couple of times now. but both times it was overcast so you couldn't see the crator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 hiring? I've been on vacation since Sunday 3/23, I'm afraid I'll go back to work Thursday to find out I've been laid off. Don't recall having had that particular worry before. Let me know if you want to test-drive the Scott. My email is tmoble@earthlink.net or tjmobley@us.ibm.com Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 O.K., maybe she won't win a beauty pageant, but I've seen worse. Find one in good shape, buy an aftermarket cheapy cabinet, slide it into a shelf, and they look pretty decent. I actually think they are kind of cool looking, and it's pretty neat having the extra controls -- they DO come in handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike82 Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 m00n: Rope caulking is a type of putty that is available at Home Depot under the name Frost King. It's in the Home Insulation section. It comes in rolls about 1 1/2" wide with 8 strings of caulk arranged next to each other. Another brand is called Mortite. A pack costs $5.00-$6.00. You need about 6 packs do do a pair of Belles. The stuff dampens horn ringing (resonance) and smooths out (for lack of a better explanation) the mids and treble. It will adhere to the horns and is removable (don't worry, when you hear the sonic improvement, you won't remove it). I first used Mortite around 1977 on my Denon DP3000 t-table. It deadened platter resonance and improved the treble extension. I put it on both the squawker and tweeter horns. I did it incrementally and found a bigger difference when I used it on the tweeter. A lot of the Forum members use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 The "rats nest". Never,ever, judge a book by it's cover. Yeah, The Jolida is pretty, but you're not going to see anything like this underneath. Imagine trying to solder all those points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 "...dedicated 2-channel horn systems by self proclaimed audiophiles...I would agree that 2-channel only horn hobbiests/audii philes seems to gravitate to tubes and few seem to swear them off after embracing them." Yes, this is what I was thinking of. Yes, rope caulk everywhere. Caulk everything. I even used it to damp the woofer basket and to add some mass. I even wrap a band around my head while kicked back and listening -- got to damp those resonances you see. The next step is to get a stack of Deflex damping pads and line your bass bin. You can bankrupt yourself with upgrades on the front end -- trying to bring nirvana. The quickest path to satisfaction is putting your time and money into the Belles. On the tube power end -- most of this stuff is just a stone's throw away from each other sound wise. You need richness and warmth behind those Belles, and something like the reasonably priced Scott is just the ticket. Rock-n-Roll, 2-channel movies, and Radio is not going to benefit all that much from the refinement of SET, or other highly refined pieces that will set you back some. The Scott is just a great place to start, and in the end, you may find you could have stopped with it. I KNOW. There is only so much money, and you want to get things up to speed as fast as possible without taking out a 2nd mortgage. There are advantages to using amps that aren't the ultimate in transparency. One of those things is not having to use a $1000 CD player to get the edge off of the digital that transparent amps bring forward. I KNOW. I use my Cornwalls for late night listening. My source is a Marantz DVD player. Last night I put in Korn 'Untouchables', barely turned up the Scott -- and really had great listening session. Now, about those RF-7's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 Dean, That is one mean,clean looking Scott! Congrats on prying it away from Craig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 Dean----What makes a Marshall sound like a Marshall is overdriving the output tubes and using crummy Celestian speakers, not a recipe for good hi-fi, not in my house anyway. And then your tube analogy would leave us unable to hear the sound of CCR and The Doors, both of whom used SS amps (Kustom and Acoustic) or the sound of John Paul Jones mighty SS Acoustic 360 bass amp. :-) And when I saw Led Zeppelin in 1969 Page was using SS Rickenbacker amps, they were in chrome racks like Vox SuperBeatles (another SS guitar amp lots of people used). A hi-fi is supposedly a reproduction device that shouldn't add any character of it's own, it should be nuetral and not "tubey". Of course all hi-fis do add coloration so you must choose the coloration you like, in your case tubeyness. IME of 30+ years as a horny I'm confident stating that far more horns are driven by McIntosh SS amps than by all the tube and SET amps combined. It's just that those guys are contentedly listening to music instead of yakking and obsessing about gear like us nitwits here. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 Hey, Tom, you get my email? fini did you see this post? hello? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 Man, whacked upside the head by Tom again. I don't know, I've had some pretty nice solid state in the house. I'm sure Bryston sounds as least as good as McIntosh. Overdriven tubes through tube amps and Klipsch sounds more like the real deal to me than the same sound through the solid state I've had. I can only go by what I've heard in my house. I wasn't aware so many of those guys used SS on stage. Thank the Lord I'm reproducing that stuff with tubes or I wouldn't be able to deal with it. I guess I do prefer the somewhat fat, rich, and somewhat softer sound of tubes over the power and control SS gives. I do believe the Quicksilvers give most of both, which is why I think I'm so hooked on them. Ed, I didn't pry that one from Craig. I won it off an eBay auction. I had bought Craig's original 299a, and was so impressed with it I decided to upgrade to the 299b. The one pictured on Craig's site is Craig's original 299a that I bought from him. Both of these amps received some major cosmetic treatments. It takes me about 5 hours to go over the chassis with 1500 grit, .000 steel wool, vacuuming, Windex, and ISP. I pretty much cover every inch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 Dean what are Quicksilvers? Also, it's time to put on that happy face, looks like my new drivers will be here today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted April 2, 2003 Share Posted April 2, 2003 Quicksilver M-60's: EL-34 based, 60 wpc monoblocks, designed and built by Mike Sanders of Quicksilver Audio. I use them for my RF-7's. I paid $950 for them off of Audiogon. I would consider these major overkill for the Belles -- in a major way. You only need about 20 to 30 watts max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted April 2, 2003 Author Share Posted April 2, 2003 Now that is sexy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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