SpeakerTalk

[Karu]

Hi everyone, I am Karu and new to this Forum.
I had a good mate who I met when I was young, I was beginning my adventure into the world of sound and he was more than twice my age then. Bob owned a huge PA business that was very successful on weekends and during the week days he was a highly regarded JVC stereo salesman. He sold me my first amp of high quality, a JVC 4VR 5456, an amp I hope to get hold of again one day. At the present time I own an almost as good 4VR 5446.

Bob had been in the industry for a long time as his father before him, his knowledge was fantastic and much appreciated by me back then in the 70’s and 80’s. He grew up with American products and it was seen as unusual for an Australian to only smoke Lucky Strike (still the best tasting cigarette I have experienced) and he only drank 7UP. So I suppose it was only natural he knew all about American speakers and with my very powerful JVC amp he gave me a pair of JBL designed 4560’s and EV horns. I got complaints from kilometers around during the day for many happy years.

One day many years ago I walked past Bob’s son Robert’s room and heard an amazing sound and stopped and looked. There he had a single speaker that I had not seen amongst the many numerous speakers at Bob’s. It was a strange looking thing, a lot smaller than anything else he had (he even had a pair of W bins, A7’s and horns in his lounge, and sometimes 2 pair.) But back to that night in Robert’s room. I stood there transfixed; here was a speaker with a 15 inch hole with a high fidelity 8 inch speaker hanging in it by one screw at the top and powered by a little 3 in one, you know turntable, cassette and radio and it was thumping. I learned that the speaker was a Karlson and I immediately had 2 pairs built. I tried numerous woofer/horns combinations, JBL, Altec and I brought from a friend who was a storeman who had received a delivery that was destined elsewhere 2 pair of massive and very heavy 15 inch Coral speakers for $50. These were incredible and my favorite of all.

Over the years I never saw Bob shed a tear, even when in a matter of weeks his dog died, his son Robert jumped under a train, his wife left him, his five remaining children all tried to kill themselves and the bank foreclosed his house. One day I saw an ad in the paper for a pair of Coral woofers and went to look at them. They were in this large room with some comfortable seats in the middle of the room. I noticed a speaker in each corner and asked the man selling them “What are those?” He replied “You came to look at the Coral speakers.” “Yes, but I know what they are, but what are those?” It took a long time before he told me to sit on the chair and hang on. “Hang on you say, I heard the best of them” I said laughing. Then all of a sudden there was a huge BOOM of a drum and I was experiencing something totally new. He told me they were Klipsch Horns and the room was built to exact Klipsch specs and we were actually standing in the middle of the speaker because they used the corners to fill the room. I asked if I could bring someone around to experience them and he agreed so I raced off to Bob’s new rented place and told him he had to experience these. It was the only time I saw Bob shed a tear. He told me “Do you know, all my life I worked on sound reproduction and now I realize how far away I was when all the time I thought I had it.”

I never forgot those large corner horns, they were large (great speakers could only be large) but I knew they were out of my price range and to enjoy the full benefits I really had to build a room to specification. I run a pair of pair of 4560’ that I was fortunate to be the only bidder on eBay and bought them loaded with JBL 15 inch for $90 and only a few months earlier I was driving when I saw someone had thrown out a pair of speakers without the woofers, but I jumped on the brakes because I knew what I was looking at, a pair of Realistic Mach One with mid horns, tweeters and crossovers. I do not know which manufacturer produced the Mach One’s for Radio Shack, or Tandy as it is known here, but the horns and tweeters certainly do a commendable job. These large speakers lived in our lounge room until we moved recently where they were too large for the much smaller area. (The truth is they still lived in the new lounge, but none of the family could use the room)

What was I to do? One night I was reading the classifieds in the local paper when I saw an ad for a pair of KEF 104ab’s, not knowing anything about them I Googled and found this site and became hopefully excited that they would still be available when I would ring first thing in the morning. I was successfully the first to ring. I was looking at a very small pair of speakers in comparison to mine and noticed that they were lacking in the bass department. The seller explained to me that he was running a valve amp without bass and treble control. But for $200 and being small enough to fit comfortably in our lounge and immaculate I purchased them.

Connecting them to my JVC amp I was blown away, the bass is solid beyond belief, far better than the Karlson’s and 4560’s. The sound is more natural than any speaker I have ever heard and I love it when I show friends and they search the room for another source of bass. I have never seen faces light up with big broad smiles upon hearing them, including mine. I began my search in 1978 for the perfect sound reproduction and I have found it. Never again will I have to fill my lounge room with big cumbersome speakers. Never again will I think of the Kipsch as the best speaker I have heard. If only Bob was still with us today, I am sure that he would have shed more than a few tears.

[proffski]

Thank you for a most facinating insight into your adventures with sound.
Great read indeed!
_________________
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill

[Karu]

Yesterday I went in to a shop to buy some mineral water. I don't drink fluoride and chlorine if I can help it and our local mineral water spring is under snow. I don't really like buying it either as it cost a fortune for something that probably comes from the tap anyway, but I found there was a special on 750ml bottles of Italian water for 10 cents each so I filled up my trolley.
I had my 6x4 trailer attached to my car but I knew I couldn't just put them in because there would have been glass everywher by the time I drove home.
I pushed the trolley to my car and saw a very large box conveniently waiting by a bin. Fantastic I thought and went over to get it and discovered right next to it a very large subwoofer with a 12 inch speaker and a 150 watt amp built in. Hoping that if there was anything wrong it might just be as simple as a fuse.
It went into the car very quick. I arrived home an hour later and connected it up and it works very well indeed, it compliments my 104ab's very nicely.
I had to question in my own mind why anyone would throw a perfectly good subwoofer away and the best I can come up with is a parent had told their child numerous times to "turn that bass down" and in total frustration threw it away. It only snows here about once every 15 years but I am really happy it did.

[proffski]

Congratulations on the lucky find!
As long as it is musical and suits the 104aB characteristics.

My favourite mineral water by far is Apollinaris when I can get it, superb!
_________________
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill

[Karu]

Yeah you are right about interfering with the wonderful natural sound of the 104ab’s so I found the subwoofer is ideal at very low volume. It was over powering at first until I found the right frequency and volume.

I have not ever seen that water here in Australia, but I can tell you that the Italian water I did buy is very dry in comparison to the spring water here.

[proffski]

[Karu]

We have the purest water in the world in huge supply only 70 km east of Melbourne, what is not allowed to flow into the ocean is sold to Coca Cola for 2 cents a litre and it is all shipped overseas. Like everything we have here, we just get left the crap that no other countries want.

[proffski]

Gosh, we have wandered off topic here, apologies to the moderator/s.
Sorry Guys!
I have plenty of relatives and friends in Australia, but it is so damned big!
Most complain on the drought…

Guess to get back on the rails there are so many Electronics firms and Hi-Fi in OZ and the service is astounding!
Five working days in most cases.

Here in the UK most kids are playing games on their PCs, and trying to grow goatie beards.
Seriously at this moment after a bottle of wine too many to mention and remember…
But people like AFFORDABLE http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm
As well as AFFORDABLE http://www.jaycar.com.au/
And serious amplifier kit sellers as well as loudspeakers OZ is an absolute haven in comparison to the UK!!!
_________________
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill

[O'Shag]

Excellent story Karu. Horn loaded speakers and compression drivers can sound very compelling given their dynamic prowess. The Klipschorns are impressive. I've never heard the 104abs, and must admit to becoming very intrigued by the 70s era speakers such as the Concerto or KK3. I do have the 107 which is excellent. But I do want to hear some KK3s becuase I want to get my son some good speakers for the starter system I've put together for him.

Proffski, Have you tried any good Caulifornia (pronunciation per our governor Ahnold) wines? I have been impressed by some Aussie wines also.

[proffski]

Off topic sorry admin...

Yes, I am fussy but I enjoy New World Wines as well as the odd bottle of Latour or Romanee Conti...
California, Australia as well as New Zealand produce some stunning offerings, not to mention some incredible reds from South America...
_________________
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a
man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill