New Member from the States...

[JJMontague]

Hi folks. I'm a new forum member living in New Jersey, USA, about an hour from New York City and an hour from Philadelphia. I'm an engineer by trade, currently working in pharmaceutical packaging, and I moonlight as a musician. I can play several instruments rather poorly (guitar, banjo, harmonica, learning the bouzouki) and I sing in a couple groups. My hobbies include woodworking (my wife graciously allowed me to turn our one-car garage into a wood shop) and tinkering with my humble sound systems. I haven't the budget for ultra high-end audio gear so I've taken to DIY when possible.

The music I mainly listen to (in no particular order) is blues, rock 'n roll, folk, opera, and classical. Although I've recently been listening to a lot of Greek and Irish folk music.

My current gear includes:

Family room where we watch television:

• Technics SL1200 turntable with cardas tonearm wiring
• Audio Technica AT-120e cartridge
• Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp
• Marantz NR1506 used as preamp and hdmi switcher
• Parasound HCA-1000a stereo amplifier
• Klipsch Forte II speakers
• Sony KDL50W800C 50-Inch TV

Basement Theater Room used for both 5.1 and 2-channel listening:

• Technics SL1200 with cardas tonearm wiring and KAB fluid dampener
• Denon DL-103r cartridge
• Nakamichi CA-7A preamp (used for the wonderful Nelson Pass phono stage)
• Emotiva USP-1 preamp (includes home theater bypass)
• Emotiva UMC-200 surround processor
• HTPC for CD, DVD and Blu-Ray playback
• Parasound 855a 5-channel amplifier
• Various Crown and QSC pro amplifiers - at least 10,000 Watts available
• DIY front left + right speakers: Altec 288 drivers with Altec MR594 horns, Bob Crites CW1526C 15" woofers, ALK Engineering crossovers
• Klipsch Heresy center channel and surround speakers
• Klipsch KG4 side speakers
• DIY subwoofers: a pair of Dayton RSS390HF-4 15" drivers in sealed cabinets
• Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector

Office:

• Bell 2440 integrated tube amp
• DIY line-array speakers using Tang Band 3" full range drivers

As you can probably see I'm a fan of high efficiency horn speakers. I'd like to eventually upgrade the Emotiva gear in my basement, but it's not easy finding a way to incorporate a 5.1 and 2-channel system together powering the same front left and right speakers. I don't have space for a separate 2-channel system, otherwise I would have kept 3 Klipsch Heresies for the 5.1 L/R/C channels and dedicated my DIY Altec hybrid monsters to a 2-channel room. The Emotiva UMC-200 has a home theater bypass, which allows me to use both the stereo preamp and the surround preamp to feed the same amplifier powering the front L/R speakers. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Cheers!
Joe

[Floyddroid]

Hi folks. I'm a new forum member living in New Jersey, USA, about an hour from New York City and an hour from Philadelphia. I'm an engineer by trade, currently working in pharmaceutical packaging, and I moonlight as a musician. I can play several instruments rather poorly (guitar, banjo, harmonica, learning the bouzouki) and I sing in a couple groups. My hobbies include woodworking (my wife graciously allowed me to turn our one-car garage into a wood shop) and tinkering with my humble sound systems. I haven't the budget for ultra high-end audio gear so I've taken to DIY when possible.

The music I mainly listen to (in no particular order) is blues, rock 'n roll, folk, opera, and classical. Although I've recently been listening to a lot of Greek and Irish folk music.

My current gear includes:

Family room where we watch television:

• Technics SL1200 turntable with cardas tonearm wiring
• Audio Technica AT-120e cartridge
• Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp
• Marantz NR1506 used as preamp and hdmi switcher
• Parasound HCA-1000a stereo amplifier
• Klipsch Forte II speakers
• Sony KDL50W800C 50-Inch TV

Basement Theater Room used for both 5.1 and 2-channel listening:

• Technics SL1200 with cardas tonearm wiring and KAB fluid dampener
• Denon DL-103r cartridge
• Nakamichi CA-7A preamp (used for the wonderful Nelson Pass phono stage)
• Emotiva USP-1 preamp (includes home theater bypass)
• Emotiva UMC-200 surround processor
• HTPC for CD, DVD and Blu-Ray playback
• Parasound 855a 5-channel amplifier
• Various Crown and QSC pro amplifiers - at least 10,000 Watts available
• DIY front left + right speakers: Altec 288 drivers with Altec MR594 horns, Bob Crites CW1526C 15" woofers, ALK Engineering crossovers
• Klipsch Heresy center channel and surround speakers
• Klipsch KG4 side speakers
• DIY subwoofers: a pair of Dayton RSS390HF-4 15" drivers in sealed cabinets
• Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector

Office:

• Bell 2440 integrated tube amp
• DIY line-array speakers using Tang Band 3" full range drivers

As you can probably see I'm a fan of high efficiency horn speakers. I'd like to eventually upgrade the Emotiva gear in my basement, but it's not easy finding a way to incorporate a 5.1 and 2-channel system together powering the same front left and right speakers. I don't have space for a separate 2-channel system, otherwise I would have kept 3 Klipsch Heresies for the 5.1 L/R/C channels and dedicated my DIY Altec hybrid monsters to a 2-channel room. The Emotiva UMC-200 has a home theater bypass, which allows me to use both the stereo preamp and the surround preamp to feed the same amplifier powering the front L/R speakers. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Cheers!
Joe

Howdy partner. And welcome to AOS.

[walpurgis]

Hello Joseph. Welcome to AOS.

That's an interesting selection of equipment you have there.

Your Altec DIY speakers sound interesting. Why not show us some pictures.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[JJMontague]

The speakers are still unfinished, and I still need to veneer the plywood edges. Due to the lack of space in my shop and the size of these cabinets I am waiting until it gets a bit warmer to bring them outside to spray them. This is the first time I've used oak plywood for a speaker, and I'm thinking of going with a natural grain filler, a couple coats of tung oil then several topcoats of NC lacquer. The biggest downside to this will be that I will be without them for 1 - 2 months! The tung oil would need several weeks to fully cure before applying lacquer, then the lacquer would ideally need several weeks to fully cure before buffing. Here's the front of my basement theater. You'll notice I left space above the big horn for a tweeter just in case I decide to experiment with a three-way version.

[JJMontague]

And these are the ALK 700 Hz crossovers I built for them...

ALK AP700 crossovers.jpg

[JJMontague]

Also, an interesting fact about the MR594 horns is that they were removed from the old Veteran's stadium in Philadelphia before they tore it down. For those across the pond this is where the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies used to play their home games before they built a new stadium several years ago.

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Joseph

Enjoy the Forum

Barry