Looking for a great loudspeaker system

Tweaker · « **Reply #340 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 12:25 am »

Frank, post some photos if you can. Also, as good as they sound out of the box wait untill they are broken in. A month from now, or less as it seems you can't stop listening to them, the smile on your face will meet at the back of your head. (Post some photos of that, too).

ajzepp · « **Reply #341 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 12:32 am »

Jack, first of all, the word rationale has an 'e' on the end. Secondly, if it's a 'collective', it's singular. Thus, it would be collective 'face'....not 'faces'. Maybe before you play the high and mighty game, referring to others lack of brain power, you should take the time to check yourself first

toobluvr · « **Reply #342 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 12:51 am »

Quote from: ajzepp

Jack.......Maybe before you play the high and mighty game, referring to others lack of brain power, you should take the time to check yourself first

Amen to that!
And ditto.

Relax will ya, Jackman.

Look....you are making much ado about nothing.
You're acting like you were betrayed or deceived in some way.
Cut the high and mighty crap, and the "I understand stuff so much better than all the other ignorants on this board".

I've been around audio a bit. I understand about comparing things and choosing carefully. I also understand that when something grabs ya....it grabs ya...and you just know when it's right. This is a perfectly valid way to choose gear. Especially when you are as experienced as Frank is. Who are you to say otherwise?

I figured Frank just wanted to listen to some speakers...the objective being to find a pair he liked. I also understood he would pass along his impressions about his listening. If he falls in love with the first pair, stops his search, and you are then deprived of his comments / comparisons, so be it. He owes you absolutely nothing.

Free bit of advise for you Jackman....
Grow up!
Oh....and up the dosage!

avahifi · « **Reply #343 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 02:10 am »

Hey guys, don't be hard on Jackman. He does not bother me, so he should not bother you all. We all get over emphasized once in a while.

No problems.

Me, I am just sooooo mellowed out listening.

Frank

jackman · « **Reply #344 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 02:15 am »

Ajzepp,

You try writing with a sceaming baby in the next room and a wife yelling at you because you never do anything to help out around the house!

I'd like to see your grammar in that situation...

Tooblvr,

I was just about to write more insulting stuff but I hope you realize that I'm just goofing around. I enjoy getting a rise out of people once in a while but I really don't have anything against you guys. if someone posted the comments I posted, I would have probably said the same things you said.

More importantly, how did you build those cool CD racks? Are they angled back to prevent the CD's from falling out? They look very nice. I may try building something similar tomorrow.

No hard feelings, I'm usually laughing when I post some of this stuff...

Cheers,

J

ajzepp · « **Reply #345 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 02:35 am »

Jack....fair enough

I"m glad you meant it in jest, cause I've taken interest in quite a few of your posts since discovering this wonderful forum. Party on

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #346 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 02:59 am »

Quote from: avahifi

Wishy-washy in always being open minded enough to be looking for better?

Yes, I decided to own the Salk speakers, that does not mean they are the end of the world.

Or are you simply just pulling my chain? If so good job.

Besides this way I get to listen to more speakers without being assulted by an audio salon salesman.

Frank

Yep, pulling your chain...and, thank you

Rocket · « **Reply #347 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 03:44 am »

Hi Jackman,

Quote

You try writing with a sceaming baby in the next room and a wife yelling at you because you never do anything to help out around the house!

Yep, i've been guilt of that many many times over.

Rod

toobluvr · « **Reply #348 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 07:15 pm »

Quote from: jackman

Tooblvr,

.........More importantly, how did you build those cool CD racks? Are they angled back to prevent the CD's from falling out? They look very nice. I may try building something similar tomorrow.

No hard feelings, I'm usually laughing when I post some of this stuff... icon_confused.gif

Hey Jackman....
No probs. I didn't take it personally.

On the cd rack I built.....
Yes, back dowel is set just slightly lower than the front one to prevent cd fallout. I think the photos in my Gallery, and all the captions, give you all the info you would need to build it. If not, just PM me and I will be glad to help out.

It was a bit time consuming, but it really was quite simple to build. Trust me....If I could do it, anyone can! I am completely inexperienced...it literally is my first woodworking project. I'm sure a more accomplished builder/woodworker could do it in half the time.....maybe less.

But I am so pleased with how it turned out, I may build another. I like the simplicity and understated looks. And I especially like the wear-and-tear it saves on this old man's back and knees.

And for my tastes, it is nicer than the store-bought stuff I was seeing, and in almost every case, cheaper.

Cheers,
John

ajzepp · « **Reply #349 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 07:54 pm »

I agree.....that whole room you have there is just beautiful, John.....very nice indeed! I'll bet the sound is wonderful, too

toobluvr · « **Reply #350 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 08:23 pm »

Quote from: ajzepp

I agree.....that whole room you have there is just beautiful, John.....very nice indeed! I'll bet the sound is wonderful, too

Thanks!....nice of you to say so.

I recently changed the layout and reconfigured the entire room.
The sound really opened up and improved significantly.
Now it almost sounds as good as it looks.

See pics in my earlier albums for the previous setup.

ajzepp · « **Reply #351 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 08:28 pm »

Oh yeah, the way you have it now looks like a pic from an audio magazine.....just a nice, classy room

I think what I'm most envious of is your music collection

warnerwh · « **Reply #352 on:** 25 Feb 2006, 10:11 pm »

I'd like to know how many people hear went to listen to every single pair of speakers they could before they bought a pair. When I first heard the RM 40's it was at Soundguy3's home. He put on a cd and as I was walking to his listening chair the word "Wow" came out of my mouth while my back was still to the speakers.

The other day the person who I sold a Hafler XL600(another thread here) I had on Ebay came over to pick it up. Bruce is a pro on Pipe organs. I don't have pipe organ music but he's very familiar with piano. He also was in the market for speakers even though that had nothing to do with why he came over. After hearing the RM 40's he was in awe telling me the brands of the piano's that were playing and how you could hear the strings being hit. This guy had been to all our local shops and he and his wife had already decided to buy some Nola's for way more than the RM 40's cost.

Bruce emailed me this morning saying as soon as the addition to his house is over he wants a pair of RM 40's. A speaker he had never even considered!

My point is that you never know when you're going to hear that speaker that does it for you but when you do you should buy it. Just like Frank did. I felt no desire to listen to any other speaker after hearing the RM 40's and there were plenty in town to listen to.

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #353 on:** 26 Feb 2006, 05:21 pm »

Frank when your done with my Pas 4i to T8 upgrade it would be cool if you would set up a comparison between my aluminum cased T8 and the regular T8. Either way I can't wait to have it in my system.

Neal

skrivis · « **Reply #354 on:** 27 Feb 2006, 01:46 am »

Quote from: toobluvr

Hey Jackman....
No probs. I didn't take it personally.

On the cd rack I built.....
Yes, back dowel is set just slightly lower than the front one to prevent cd fallout. I think the photos in my Gallery, and all the captions, give you all the info you would need to build it. If not, just PM me and I will be glad to help out.

It was a bit time consuming, but it really was quite simple to build. Trust me....If I could do it, anyone can! I am completely inexperienced...it literally is my first wood ...

Yeah, you just need two pieces of wood and three dowels per row of CDs. For a small rack you can get away with smaller diameter dowel stock, but go with like 3/4" if the racks are wider than a couple of feet. Otherwise they'll sag and your CDs will slide toward the middle after a while.

Use something like tung oil on the dowels. You just want to lightly apply it to seal it and keep out dirt and stuff. If you put a thick finish or paint on the dowels your CD cases will tend to stick to it.

The sides can be finished most any way you want. I did my first couple of racks in fire engine red enamel. (That was 20 years ago and I had different ideas about decor then. hehe)

Particle board for the sides can be good because it usually weighs more than solid wood and has less tendency to warp. You can get it with veneer already applied on two sides. Then get some veneer tape in 3/4" or whatever thickness particle board you used and apply it to the edges. Finish it the way you want and you'll be all set.

toobluvr · « **Reply #355 on:** 27 Feb 2006, 02:39 am »

Quote from: skrivis

Yeah, you just need two pieces of wood and three dowels per row of CDs. For a small rack you can get away with smaller diameter dowel stock, but go with like 3/4" if the racks are wider than a couple of feet. Otherwise they'll sag and your CDs will slide toward the middle after a while.

Use something like tung oil on the dowels. You just want to lightly apply it to seal it and keep out dirt and stuff. If you put a thick finish or paint on the dowels your CD cases will tend to stick to it.

The sides ...

I didn't use any wood at all for the shelves, only for the uprights. I only used 2 dowels per shelf.....both underneath the cd's...rear one just a bit lower to prevent fallout. Since I hung mine on the wall, the back is completely open....and the wall keeps cd's from falling through.

On the dowel sagging...
If shelves are not very wide it should be fine with just 2 vertical boards, one on each side. To test mine I just snapped everything together in a dry run (no glue) and filled up one of the shelves with cd's. It was sagging from the outset, so I knew that a vertical support in the middle was needed.

I hand sanded and used several coats of tung oil on everything. If you use attractive enough solid wood (in my case, red oak), that's all you need.

So the parts list is quite minimal:
2 (maybe 3) vertical supports
2 dowels per shelf
glue
sandpaper
tungoil, or other finishing product
L brackets for hanging.

Measure accurately, cut, drill and assemble squarely, and you are set.

stryder · « **Reply #356 on:** 27 Feb 2006, 05:26 am »

Quote from: avahifi

I do need a loudspeaker...for full range evaluation of our amplifiers and preamplfiers.

I am really new at this so if what I am about to write seems amateurish - well, you are right. Frank was looking for speakers he could use to evaluate his electronics. He said early on that he hasn't really listened to anything new for some time, and, I think it is his Biros' that have been part of his reference system.

If the HT3s, could, on first listen, convince him that he had found what he was looking for, without a benefit of comparison to other "newer" speakers, what does that tell us about the HT3s synergy with his system? Does that speak well for the speakers or the electronics or both? And what does that tell us about the Biros he has been using all this time? (Reading that sentence makes it sound like a criticism -- it really isn't meant to be).

skrivis · « **Reply #357 on:** 27 Feb 2006, 05:55 pm »

Quote from: toobluvr

I didn't use any wood at all for the shelves, only for the uprights. I only used 2 dowels per shelf.....both underneath the cd's...rear one just a bit lower to prevent fallout. Since I hung mine on the wall, the back is completely open....and the wall keeps cd's from falling through.

On the dowel sagging...
If shelves are not very wide it should be fine with just 2 vertical boards, one on each side. To test mine I just snapped everything together in a dry run (no glue) and filled up one of the shelve ...

The two pieces of wood I was talking about are the uprights, then 3 dowels per row of CDs. (This assumes you are making a free-standing rack. 2 dowels per row is fine for a wall-mounted unit.)

Thicker dowel stock keeps things from sagging, so there shouldn't be any need for another vertical support in the middle.

skrivis · « **Reply #358 on:** 27 Feb 2006, 06:10 pm »

Quote from: stryder

If the HT3s, could, on first listen, convince him that he had found what he was looking for, without a benefit of comparison to other "newer" speakers, what does that tell us about the HT3s synergy with his system? Does that speak well for the speakers or the electronics or both? And what does that tell us about the Biros he has been using all this time? (Reading that sentence makes it sound like a criticism -- it really isn't meant to be).

It would seem to speak well for the speakers, since he did say that he listened to some speakers that didn't impress him as much.

As for the Biros or big B&Ws he was using before, he told us that they were better than anything else he had heard prior to the HT3s.

"Synergy" implies that you're somehow going to correct a flaw with the opposite of the flaw in another piece of equipment. I don't see that this is likely. We should be looking for equipment with the least amount and number of flaws, not equipment that will have flaws that cancel out other flaws in other equipment.

The HT3s appear to be speakers that will perform well with any reasonable ancillary equipment. They're not bandaids to be applied to a broken system.

toobluvr · « **Reply #359 on:** 27 Feb 2006, 06:16 pm »

Quote from: skrivis

The two pieces of wood I was talking about are the uprights, then 3 dowels per row of CDs. (This assumes you are making a free-standing rack. 2 dowels per row is fine for a wall-mounted unit.)

Thicker dowel stock keeps things from sagging, so there shouldn't be any need for another vertical support in the middle.

I don't know about thicker dowels, but just to give those who might be interested a feel for how things might turn out......

I used 5/8 inch solid oak dowels....the thickest I could find at Home Depot.
My shelves are 34 inches wide and there was noticeable bowing right at the outset. That's why I added the drilled-through middle support.

I figure to prevent bowing with 5/8 inch dowels, you would need to keep the shelves no wider than about 24 inches. Thicker dowels probably would suffice for something wider, but I could not find them.