Matt from England Posted September 10, 2005 Author Share Posted September 10, 2005 Okay, Saturday is family day, and I was up most of the night just listening. Actually that's what's great about the klipsch and the Triode amp I have: even at very low listening levels (live in an appartment) there is still the high retreival of detail just a slightly lesser presence in the room. I didn't expect such a warm response, thankyou. Anyway, thankyou all for your welcome: it looks like I'll feel right at home in here. There is a list of interested listeners waiting to swing by and listen to the Klipsch's but with family commitments and a joint lounge listening area and home working environment it is difficult to arrange quality time when levels can be pushed a bit. My system is certainly not of the norm here. There is a small hi end scene in Lisbon (not that I would consider my set up high end, nor do I think of myself as an audiophile) and likewise a dedicated band of vinyl afficianados. But to be honest I'm not into all these meetings where it seems more often than not more time is devoted to discussing the equipment and positioning and leads etc than listening to the music. Someone asked about the normal hifi gear in most houses - well, it's certainly not TTs and valves that's for sure. Most people go to the local electrical superstores and buy something off the shelf, midi systems etc. My system has actually evolved over a period of time and things fall into my lap: the amp came from England 2nd hand for which I paid 500 pounds. (I think it's last RRP in £ was 2000). The Linn was the personal turntable of Luis Pires from the manufacturer Benz (actually the designer of the Benz LP cart). He is the distributor here in Portugal for Basis TTs and had the old Linn mothballed for about 5 years. I paid him 400 pounds which included the Lingo PSU Ittok LVIIIs arm and Tramplinn baseboard (which I'm not totally conviced by). Before the Linn I had rebuilt and restored an old Thorens TD 150 installing a NOS SME 3009 II imp. Luckily I know the distributor for Dynavector so the cart and phono stage came from him. Now the speakers: I am the second owner buying them from a guy who purchased them brand new in 91 in the states - he imported them to Portugal in 92 and has had them in storage for most of the time since. He actually never liked the sound of them but had used them with solid state (Adcom (?) and Naim). When he left the speakers with me (having exchanged 500 pounds) he almost changed his mind hearing them with my amp and wanted to make me an offer to buy the amp and speakers. The cabinets are not mint but almost so, a few scratches and scuffs but the 'hardware' seems perfect. I am a bit limited with room size and my wife isn't a fan of their looks but a chance like this doesn't come up that often at all - he said to the best of his knowledge they were the only pair in Portugal. Apparantly Klispch have no presence here or if so the distributor only sells pro media and not much of that - when he contacted them they had never even seen a Chorus - least that's what he said. Thus it was my luck and kismet that they were to become mine - a week before purchasing (not knowing anything about these ones) I had been looking to perhaps buy from abroad and import a pair, Cornwalls, or La Scalas. But that would have meant high $ purchase shipping and import duties. My wife is Portuguese, I've lived here since 97 and enjoy the weather the wine the food and music. Sorry for the long post, hope I haven't bored you to tears; if I don't stop now I'll keep rambling on forever. Look foward to being a part of this great Klipsch community. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 I have a lovely old Ariston RD80sl which is the equivalent of the first LP12 with an Grace 707 tonearm and a Shure V15 III. It is one great sounding combo!! That was my first "proper" turntable setup, save for the cart. I used the AudioTechnica. Sounded sweet for the $200 I spent on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillmbil Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Welcome to the Forum. Glad to hear you have a system that rocks in Portugal. Here in the states the size of your systems are only hampered by the size of your wallet. This is great place and do not take anyone too seriously. Here no one is safe from criticism, bad advise/or good, jealously, stupidity, , laughter, sarcasm, attacks, worship, oh well.... There is no place like home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Let me put out the welcome Matt! groan[:$] I had to do it, sorry. That is a lovely story. You needn't have cut it short, we were all enjouing the read. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smilin Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Welcome welcome welcome, I too, stop by from time to time, a great bunch of audiophools hear on the board[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scriven Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Welcome welcome welcome, I too, stop by from time to time, a great bunch of audiophools hear on the board[]And I thought I had no taste when it comes to colors! [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 it's the amazing invisible post. do we need decoder rings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 See what member tillmbil means about the joking and kidding around with fellow forum members? We're all one big happy family here with at least one thing in common, our love for all things Klipsch! But from time to time we like to poke fun at one another's idiosyncrasies just for $hits 'n' giggles (as long as no one takes any of it personally...it's all in fun).[] We'd love to see any pics you may have of your system setup (we're all fascinated with eachother's system/room layouts...that's one way we all learn from eachother in capturing the best sound possible). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 Welcome Matt from England living in Portugal. I am Max from England living in Greece. Just as a matter of interest were you in the process of selling the Chorus' on ebay? I bid on this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5805005201&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEDW%3AIT&rd=1 Chorus 2's in black from English guy in Portugal - too much of a coincidence surely.... I noticed the seller has changed his/her mind.....maybe they found the forum....???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt from England Posted September 12, 2005 Author Share Posted September 12, 2005 Shall we just say that those are the ones sitting in my lounge right now... I wasn't the one selling them but just happened to come to an arrangement with him. My apologies to anyone bidding on those but they were destined for me. I probably paid over their worth, esp reading through the archives here but I'd have more chance of finding gold panning in my toilet bowl than finding another pair in Portugal! Actually the guy selling them was American of Portuguese parentage - he'd never assumed that someone in Portugal would want them / even know what they were. How wrong he was... There were a few scuffs on one cabinet and a slight dent in the PR of one approx 2cm in length - in the area of the concertina part. (Sorry, words fail me...) Though I think I'm right in not worrying too much, it shouldn't affect sound right? I'll be taking some photos soon and uploading them. If anyone is interested using home made cable with 20 gauge magnet wire of about 2 meters each side. Equally spaced. Magnet wire seems to be very high quality copper covered in a thin insulation paint that must be sanded off to establish electrical contact. It gives really sparkling highs with harshness and smooth smooth mids. Bass is tight and very defined as well. I think I'm making sense - not so good with the jargon. I'd put it up against any high $ cable: I've a/b'd it against some QED XT400 which I have, silvercoated copper spiral about 20 UK pounds a meter - and it beats it. Cost? 5 cents (european) a meter. I bought 100 metres for 5 euros. Excellent synergy between the triode Unison and Klipsch. Anyway I hope that by my slightly underhand negotiations I have not caused any offence and that I am still welcome... Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 No problems for me - I put in a low ball feeler bid just to see. Hope you got yourself a good deal money-wise. Speaker wise it goes without saying you did. Anyway - even if my lowball bid had been successful God only knows what it would have cost to ship them to Greece... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt from England Posted September 12, 2005 Author Share Posted September 12, 2005 They cost me five hundred quid. (740 euros +/-) No shipping - he delivered them. I was looking at forking out up to a thousand pounds on a new pair of speakers, (not Klipsch, owing a pair was some kind of lustful fancy) so the way I see it I save myself five hundred quid and got myself an awesome set of speakers. I could have paid five times their purchase price and not go something anywhere near as good or as suited for my amp. Or I could have gone DIY and had bits of speaker lying round the house unfinished for months... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 A steal in Europe. Would have been cheaper in the US but I doubt you would better that price anywhere else. Now sit back - pump up the volume and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.