Hi,

I'm taking a job in a month that will separate me from my Klipsch Forte
II + Eico HF-35 system. All is not lost as I also have EICO AF-4 and
HF-14. I'm planning to take the AF-4 since my place will be small and I
like the experience of adapting to its quaint sound. This amp is 4WPC
single-ended EL-84 with unrestrained bass on the above setup.

On to my point. I have no speakers for this amp. At home, I
occasionally swap it in on the Forte II's, but these at 99db speakers.
For this new situation, I'm at a loss. I'll be in a small apartment in
Japan. I don't want to annoy the neighbors with bass. However, I don't
want to under-power whatever speakers I choose. In sum, I need them to be:

- small enough to send
- cheap enough (~100/pr) to potentially abandon
- efficient-enough for 4 WPC
- good-enough sounding that it's worth the effort

I know this is a tall order, but I'm hoping that ebay and craigslist can
help on the cost.

I'd greatly appreciate your help.

Phil

(East Bay) Phil wrote:
Hi,

I'm taking a job in a month that will separate me from my Klipsch Forte
II + Eico HF-35 system. All is not lost as I also have EICO AF-4 and
HF-14. I'm planning to take the AF-4 since my place will be small and I
like the experience of adapting to its quaint sound. This amp is 4WPC
single-ended EL-84 with unrestrained bass on the above setup.

On to my point. I have no speakers for this amp. At home, I
occasionally swap it in on the Forte II's, but these at 99db speakers.
For this new situation, I'm at a loss. I'll be in a small apartment in
Japan. I don't want to annoy the neighbors with bass. However, I don't
want to under-power whatever speakers I choose. In sum, I need them to be:

- small enough to send
- cheap enough (~100/pr) to potentially abandon
- efficient-enough for 4 WPC
- good-enough sounding that it's worth the effort


Ain't no such thing. My advice, buy in Japan. Buy transformers and
such and build an amp when you get there.

Ain't no such thing. My advice, buy in Japan. Buy transformers and
such and build an amp when you get there.

Given the costs of tube equipment in Japan and the necessity of either
bringing of buying equipment for such a project, this is not an option.
Surely there must be some speaker which sells for a reasonable used
price which will be a preferable alternative to computer speakers.

Put another way, what efficiency rating would I require to make use of
an amp of 4 WPC or 14 WPC?

(East Bay) Phil wrote:
Ain't no such thing. My advice, buy in Japan. Buy transformers and
such and build an amp when you get there.

Given the costs of tube equipment in Japan and the necessity of either
bringing of buying equipment for such a project, this is not an option.
Surely there must be some speaker which sells for a reasonable used
price which will be a preferable alternative to computer speakers.

Put another way, what efficiency rating would I require to make use of
an amp of 4 WPC or 14 WPC?

Phil:

I think what Bret might have suggesting is that unless you wish
ultimately to part with your equipment, transporting it to Japan is a
fool's game for any number of reasons. But if you *must* do this thing,
I would suggest that you look at some of the 'better' computer-type
speaker systems such as the Advent/AR 'wedge' types. These actually do
come in a passive version, are reasonably compact, quite light (all
plastic), and sound very good for computer-type speakers, just
'adequate' for sound-in-a-closet such as will be your state for a
while.

Failing that, ADS & Braun made some 3.5"-woofer (and smaller) acoustic
suspension speakers that, again, would be OK in a closet, even with a
flea-powered amp. AR made some satellite speakers for their Athena
systems that they later released on their own.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ACOUSTIC-RESEARC...temZ9743134075

These:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=172282


And so forth.

When I was in Saudi sometime back, I brought along several pairs of AR
and one pair of ADS speakers. Only one pair came back with me as
vintage US-made speakers were considered 'as gold' by many locals, a
$50 pair of speakers in the US got me infinitely more value as gifts
there. You might consider this as an option. Or, simply purchase a pair
of so-called full-range Lowther-type drivers and make the enclosures
there.

But in any case, be prepared to leave your electronics behind. You
might also be confronted with a certain mindset when you are there
having to do with gift-giving and admiration of the acoutrements of
others. I leave you to discover that for yourself.

Peter Wieck
Wyncote, PA

Hi

How about these 6.5 inch full rangers for Fostex:
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/FE166E.pdf

They're about 60 buck each, and I can say they are fantastic speakers.
I got these, and built folded voight horns (on the web for eons). They
sound great.
I didn't realize how good they sounded because I used them for computer
speakers. But recently, I brought them to an audio meet, and we
listened to them as they are meant to be used. They were astounding.
I'm sure I saw a jaw or two drop during the audition, including mine.

I can't find my drawing, which is a three -way folded voight horn.
I did find the full size Voigt plans, which I did build. I built these
out of cardboard while on a trip just to get a sample of thier sound,
and they sounded pretty damn good (for cardboard).

http://www.geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/Voigt_Pipe.html

If you're interested, I can also find the folded horn plans, which
point the basshorn up, instead of down and on the floor.

Good Luck
Bob H.





(East Bay) Phil wrote:
Hi,

I'm taking a job in a month that will separate me from my Klipsch Forte
II + Eico HF-35 system. All is not lost as I also have EICO AF-4 and
HF-14. I'm planning to take the AF-4 since my place will be small and I
like the experience of adapting to its quaint sound. This amp is 4WPC
single-ended EL-84 with unrestrained bass on the above setup.

On to my point. I have no speakers for this amp. At home, I
occasionally swap it in on the Forte II's, but these at 99db speakers.
For this new situation, I'm at a loss. I'll be in a small apartment in
Japan. I don't want to annoy the neighbors with bass. However, I don't
want to under-power whatever speakers I choose. In sum, I need them to be:

- small enough to send
- cheap enough (~100/pr) to potentially abandon
- efficient-enough for 4 WPC
- good-enough sounding that it's worth the effort

I know this is a tall order, but I'm hoping that ebay and craigslist can
help on the cost.

I'd greatly appreciate your help.

Phil

When we heard the speakers at the audio meet, they were driven by about
2 watts (at most), and filled the room. 4 watts from a good amp
should be more than enough in a small Japanese apartment.

re/
Bob H.


Bret Ludwig wrote:
Bob H. wrote:
Hi

How about these 6.5 inch full rangers for Fostex:
http://www.madisound.com/pdf/fostexdrivers/FE166E.pdf

They're about 60 buck each, and I can say they are fantastic speakers.
I got these, and built folded voight horns (on the web for eons). They
sound great.
I didn't realize how good they sounded because I used them for computer
speakers. But recently, I brought them to an audio meet, and we
listened to them as they are meant to be used. They were astounding.
I'm sure I saw a jaw or two drop during the audition, including mine.

I can't find my drawing, which is a three -way folded voight horn.
I did find the full size Voigt plans, which I did build. I built these
out of cardboard while on a trip just to get a sample of thier sound,
and they sounded pretty damn good (for cardboard).

http://www.geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/Voigt_Pipe.html

If you're interested, I can also find the folded horn plans, which
point the basshorn up, instead of down and on the floor.


To get any respectable SPLs and dynamics from these speakers, 4 watts
is not enough. Actually no amount of watts is enough.

But that's another story.

Taking tube audio gear to Japan and then bringing it back is a stupid
idea.

If you are boots-on-ground you may find you can build an amp with
parts available there reasonably. They are bigtime DIYers. Prices are
high for parts but prices for everything is high there. Real estate is
very expensive since there are a lot of japanese, not that much of
japan, and they protect their honey bucket agriculture heavily. Also
they do not let a lot of gaijin-of any color or nation- in, keping
their labor market high, like we should.