Author Topic: Could you imagine if they made bass cabs? (Read 1164 times)

tubeperson · « **Reply #15 on:** July 23, 2012, 08:25:45 AM »

Royale Salute is one of the few blends I enjoy. Keep the bottle in the freezer, freeze shot glasses, then dram away!! Tell the Mrs. to keep the bottle, (empty for your sake I hope), they are very nice ceramic bottles. Just don't make a Mrs. Butterworth lamp out of them!

And Fmmmmm - G-d created single malt. Man ruined them by blending them together.

jacko · « **Reply #16 on:** July 24, 2012, 04:25:48 AM »

Here's me, living in Scotland and really don't like whisky at all. I can just about manage a shot of jim Beam or Jack Daniels if forced. However, all the money I've saved not buying whisky has been spent on high end audio :-)

graeme

terryc · « **Reply #17 on:** July 24, 2012, 07:45:17 AM »

Wonder when you were going to chime in Graeme
Well each to there own I guess

tubeperson · « **Reply #18 on:** July 24, 2012, 07:58:23 AM »

I agree terryc, and no one should judge another's enjoyment of their true loves! Good thing for me I live closer to Alembic (3000 + miles away) than Scotland, where I'd be drinking up all the profits so to speak. Still, I am wrapped up in both plus, audiophile mania (love that vinyl).

Well jacko, I enjoy being an audiophile, single malt lover and an Alembician. It's all in how you save money to enjoy these treats What's your stereo system consist of?

Perhaps you can offer to give some of us here stateside a tour of the fine distilleries near your home, you tease?!

jacko · « **Reply #19 on:** July 24, 2012, 01:48:05 PM »

Steve.
I've not changed my system in the past few years. Front end is an Elite (townsend) Rock mk2 with excalibur arm and Dynavector 10x5 moving coil cartridge into a Moon phono stage and Arcam Alpha 9 integrated amp (soon to be replaced with a Moon 250i). Speakers are living Voice Auditorium.Interconnects are a mish-mash of Chord, Van den Hul and Nordost with the speakers bi-wired using Cable talk 3. Cd player is a marantz CD63 KI signature which is ok for the amount of digital stuff I listen to. Most of my Whisky savings get spent once a month at my favourite used vinyl shop in Edinburgh.

The Glenmorangie bottling plant is less than 2 miles from my house. You're welcome to visit so you can stand outside and sniff :-)

tubeperson · « **Reply #20 on:** July 24, 2012, 02:37:20 PM »

Excellent components. To sniff Glenmorangie but not dram should be a felony!! With respect to vinyl, the wife decided to visit my office, and she was quite surprised at all of the vinyl that is here. G-d bless audiogon and ebay.

mindido · « **Reply #21 on:** July 24, 2012, 08:11:27 PM »

jazzyvee,

I used to be an audiophile and owned my own sound system back in the 70's so I think I may have some ideas for you.

The first thing is that what sounds good to me may not sound so good to you. I watched the company's video and have to say their design worries me a bit. Yes, all speakers are horns. But metallic horns have a tendency of sounding tinny.

Back in the day I had a pretty darn good system that cost me around $5,000 to $8,000 just for the speakers (all professional quality JBL or Cerwin Vega). Although they sounded really good on a concert stage you wouldn't really want to use them at home unless deafness was something you strived for. My horns were top of the line at that time and metal. Again, good for the stage but not so much at home.

I'd be really leary of buying these without hearing them. Their highs and upper mids are probably pretty good but the mids and low end would be suspect. I wouldn't buy them without hearing them.

Since your in the mood, another set of speakers are Klipsch which may interest you (I believe they're a Swiss company and you can find some of their products in local hi-fi shops). I really like them for the home. At least they sound excellent to me.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #22 on:** July 25, 2012, 01:19:19 AM »

I'm no audiophile, but the speakers I've heard that have really impressed me with their sound were these.
http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/sound/loudspeakers/beolab-5

I had a demo in one if the Bang & Olufsen shops a few years back and brought in some of my own CD's (Toys of Men & 1,2 to the bass) and the sound was nothing short of amazing.

The double bass reproduction was incredible, it reproduced all that woodiness I like in the double bass.

But........ they are also out of my price range.
One day when I have more space I will treat myself to a really decent audio system.
Jazzyvee

mindido · « **Reply #23 on:** July 25, 2012, 08:47:07 AM »

Jazzyvee,

Oh man, I've been away from this way too long. The last I knew, B&O mainly made very high quality turntables (remember those?) As I remember they had a very good reputation for quality (Swedish I believe).

Anyway, the most important thing I can tell you is that the speakers must sound good to you! Not me or anyone else.

A brief story. Like you, I can no longer afford my taste. So I rarely ever listen to music anymore. I know, its sad, but I'm damn picky about what sounds good to me. A few years ago I went out and tried to find stuff that I could afford and which sounded at least halfway reasonable. Failed completely. Spent about $1,200 on some Bose speakers and never listen to them. Power amp, pre amp, equalizer all packed away and never listen to them. Want to buy some gear? And before I finally settled on those I probably went through 10 to 12 sets of speakers, amps, etc. before settling on the Bose. One store even banned me.

The long and short of the story is to make sure it sounds good to you.

Now, on the good side, a few years later, I had a desktop computer and a few extra bucks and had started playing around with gaming. Went to a local computer store looking for a good set of speakers and found some 5.1 Klipsch. Cost me $250 to $300 I think. Hooked them up and was blown away. Damn little things just blew away a $4,000 stereo system. I was amazed and thats when the stereo went back into its boxes.

You can see the speakers here:

http://www.klipsch.com/computer-speakers

They only seem to make the 2.1 system now but you might want to give these a try. One warning though. Loved these for about a year and listened to them a lot. But all of a sudden they went poof! Took them to a local guy for a look and, because the subwoofer didn't have whisper fan (the amp is in the subwoofer) a board overheated and snapped. Would have had to order a whole new subwoofer from Switzerland for about $200. Never happened and now I have a laptop so...

So the Klipsch computer speakers may be a way for you to go. Just be forewarned about the heat problem. If that subwoofer doesn't have a fan on it I'd be a bit wary. But they do sound really good for the price!

peoplechipper · « **Reply #24 on:** July 26, 2012, 12:58:20 AM »

I would love to hear those horns, but will never be able to afford them; at home I use a Hafler preamp/DH 500 power amp setup with Heco speakers...I forget the model, but they have the big woofer with a midrange horn and three(!) tweeters...people freak out when they hear it, especially as it pastes them to the back wall...it really does sound incredible though; I've actually heard things that I didn't hear with headphones...I have to say that my cat is not impressed with the volume required though...

Tony

dadabass2001 · « **Reply #25 on:** July 26, 2012, 06:15:20 AM »

Mindido,
Checking the contact link on the Klipsch website you posted, their manufacturing is still located in Arkansas where they were invented. They were famous for bookshelf speakers and Klipschorn folded horn cabinets in the '60s and '70s. Their world headquarters are in Indiana. All the phone numbers are US exchanges.
I used to lust after these back in the day.
Mike

hankster · « **Reply #26 on:** July 26, 2012, 06:31:09 AM »

First time i heard George Benson it was in an audiophile store on Klipschorns so big you could park my car in one (well, not really, but they were each about the size of a large office credenza). It was so loud and so perfectly clear and full it sounded like he was inside my head. I have never heard anything like it, anywhere.

mindido · « **Reply #27 on:** July 26, 2012, 10:11:46 AM »

dadabass2001,

Holy cow you're right! Arkansas? Arkansas? Man, I've thought those were European for a long time. Jeez, had I known that I probably would have driven down there to pick that board up (Arkansas isn't all that far from here). Oh man, I have this sinking feeling in my stomach. I don't think that repairman would have ripped me off for those speakers...... Damn.

I'm not feeling so well right now. But I can say that that I've also heard those Klipschhorns and thought they may be the best home speaker ever made. But they were (are?) really pricey.

If it weren't for the overheating problem I'd get another set of those little speakers though. And I guess I have new respect for manufacturing in Arkansas. I kinda thought all they had was Walmart and good trout fishing in the Ozarks.

and hankster,

That sounds about like my experience. I think if I could afford a set of those they would be the last home speakers I would ever own.

And if I remember correctly, you can power those with a little tube Macintosh. You don't need a big Crown or BGW. Now you're talking some bucks.

Arkansas! Never would have believed it.

edwin · « **Reply #28 on:** July 26, 2012, 11:17:23 PM »

I have two McIntosh MC30s that are the most amazing power amps I've ever heard. 30 incredible watts of warmth and 3 dimensional detail. I'd love to get some of the K-Horns for them but the WAF is exceptionally low. I'm lucky to get away with a pair of Avalon NP2s. Much less efficient but still sound great.

tubeperson · « **Reply #29 on:** July 27, 2012, 05:16:54 AM »

I have pair of Marantz Model 9 mono amps (original issue), a Model 7 preamp, also original, and a 10B tuner. To this day, they are awesome!!!! I have many turntables, a slew of Technics SP-10 Mk 2's and an Empire 698. Looking to upgrade to a Technics SP-10 Mk 3, and get a SME Model 30. But alas my GAS for Alembics comes first.