I love the idea of concentric monitors. It's really the only thing that makes sense, acoustically. But I go nuts over the use of their little metal bird beak like Tweeter. In many ways, it's just as bad as a 604E. I actually bought a pair for my truck but nearly lost my mind with them. Thankfully I was dealing with a terrific long-term music store and they took them back. Yup, it was those passive ones and I tried them with my crown DC 300A-II, my souped-up David Hafler, BGW, Niko, nothin'. I gave up in despair. We had some at NBC-TV and they sounded quite nice and usable in our control rooms but I could always here that metallic trumpet. They just weren't as grating sounding as my control room made them sound. But then again, I'm in a truck.

Hey let me out of here () () () it's bouncing... I'm going to barf.
Mx. Remy Ann David

I have a pair and need to replace the speakers. Do I like them? Not as much as these KH120. I do plan on replacing the speakers for a second room.

I used a high end Denon Amp on them though. I had a few Carver amps but the fans were too noisy. Man they kick ass though.
Byston have always been my favourites.

But Remy, didn't I read you have a McIntosh Amp lying around? oooooew la la. I have always wanted one of those!

Are these the ones Dave? Maybe not?

Attached files

Yeah, I have a Macintosh 30 W tube that I now have up for sale. It's quite sweet sounding especially if you like the sound of output autoformers. Which is basically 1/2 a transformer output. Certainly the polar opposite sounding of my Crown DC 300A II. In our 1978 control room, we utilized the Macintosh 2100 transistor power amplifier. You wouldn't believe how way different the JBL 4311's sounded between the Crown & Macintosh. You might as well have been listening to 2 different sets of monitor speakers with that total difference in amplifiers. We are not talking nuanced differences here but radically different sound. My studio partner enjoyed the Macintosh where as I better enjoyed the Crown. I like the extremely tight damping factor of the Crown where I felt the Macintosh was flabby sounding in the low-end. Of course it was also warmer sounding than the Crown even though it was also transistorized. The Macintosh 30 W tube amplifier actually takes that warm flabby sound to another level of smooth, smooth, smooth. And all of the tubes in my Macintosh 30 were Telefunken. I actually removed the 12 A X series of Telefunken's and replaced those with brand-new Chinese versions as the Telefunken's went into a couple of my tube microphone preamps. And since the Macintosh amplifier is a power amplifier, the swapout was fine sounding. And now my microphone preamps with the Telefunken's are all the sweeter. A big departure in sound from the Chinese equivalents. And that's why I basically hate tubes today. I had actually planned my control room 20 years ago to include " Quad " brand electrostatic speakers because of their large radiation area & single point source. But I realized that deep down inside, that they would have been blown out quite quickly in a control room environment and so... not here. And that's another reason why I would like to develop some electrostatic speakers of a more robust variety. But nobody's bothering and neither can I. That's all based on economic issues since I have no economics to issue. And the same thing is happening to my true digital microphone I have been attempting to develop over the past 10 years. Apparently I've talked too much about this? One of our members here, who I attempted to collaborate on this with just did a patent search. The patent to my microphone has been taking by some guy in Illinois, perhaps because I have run my mouth too much about this? But as everyone here knows, my mouth actually does run too much. C'est la vie. That & the quadraphonic matrix I stumbled upon when I was just 14. At the same time, David Hafler also stumbled upon it. Essentially it was based upon L. minus R., similar to MS in a playback configuration from the speakers. So this is essentially the second patent I missed out on since I don't have a personal patent attorney. Such is life, c'est la vie. Oh well... I guess I'll just try to come up with something else? This time, maybe I could keep my mouth shut?

I'm not talking... that will be the day.
Mx. Remy Ann David

audiokid, post: 379290 wrote: Are these the ones Dave? Maybe not?

 

Thats a slightly newer model than the System 8's. But the idea is the same. I found an old Crown D-150 for $50. This will power them until I get my Hafler back and then it will move to the pair of Celestion Model 3 bookshelfs that were also 'borrowed'. And then I'll have three sets. The Model 3's are every bit as good at mid-range balancing as Ya-Ha Mamas NS10's and not nearly as brutal on the ear-bones after a long day behind the knobs. I'll be adding a monitor control station of some sort soon.

Step by step.

As for the Crown, I'm with Remy about them. I've owned a bunch of em. The slew rate is so good and the damping factor so tight...

However....One of my great friends is a bonafied electronical genius person. Lots of inventions in the digital realm and development of tools in the video world and for many years an engineer at various high-tech companies. His hobbies include steam and ancient diesel tractors and TUBE EQUIPMENT....For many years I used an amp he built as a second or third power section for monitors. Mostly on the Celestions....its a tube 15 watts per side (or so) based on EL84's on a frame that he found in the bargain bin at the dead and dying electronics recycler....THIS thing has the warmth of the old Macintoshes but the damping and slew rate of a Crown. When it died three years back it went back to The Laboratory for repairs....I dont think its a priority, but I wouldnt mind seeing that thing working again. So why did he build it? Because "He could"......This is a man who has invented a digital based bagpipe. No, really..........

Digital bagpipes? Really? Blow it out your ass, no way? Squeeze me, tease me. Would you like paper or plastic?

I produced a group back in 1993 that had a great Irish flair to some of their songs. One song actually featured Digital bagpipes. Or at least it sounded like bagpipes. I'd be happy to post the song if you'd like to hear it? I thought it sounded great but then I'm biased about my own engineering chops, so everything I do sounds great, to me. Although I must admit, I can't envision digital bagpipes at the funeral of a police officer. Some traditions should be kept in place.

Lucky charms are magically delicious
Mx. Remy Ann David

Fed Ex showed up today and all the pre wiring I did last night worked like a charm. The Crown is very adequate as these seem to be decently efficient. I'm very impressed with the mid-range resolution. I dont have a sub on these nor do I think I'm going to want one. They were added primarily as a tracking set of speakers and the highs and mids are places that I feel may become lacking without adequate speaker area and intelligibility. Not to say my Genelecs dont have that....they do....These Tannoys have that also. I've listened to tracks I've recorded as well as pre-recorded stuff and I think we're going to get along well.

They were hung somehow in their past and have some small holes in the finish but other than that these are as new.

A big thumbs up.