Help: I've been Klipsched

Snu00, which tube amp have you had the most success with on the Chorus? Thanks!

Thanks guys for your comments and words of encouragement. Having owned and auditioned so many different kinds of speakers I have an appreciation for the merits of all types and would never limit myself to only one type of design. I'm just happy that I happened to take a chance on the Klipsch because I'm really surprised by their potential. Even the imaging, which everyone seems to think is their shortfall, is in reality quite good (at least in my room with the Chorus).

Dweller, I don't think the Chorus has the protection circuit that you spoke of but I could be wrong. I don't see why they'd need to put a protection circuit in speaker that is 101 dB/W efficient and can handle 100 watts rms and 1000 watt peaks. What? What? :)

Flemke, I had 4 turntables but I sold one of my two Michells recently, so now I'm down to 3. I even have a vintage Dual that is set up to play 78s, exclusively. How many should I have?

BTW, if you don't have a reel-to-reel tape machine you really should get one and see what you're missing. I have 4 of those too, would you like to buy one? :)

Wellfed, to answer your question on an imaging comparison between the Virgos and the Klipsch Chorus, to me, the Klipsch's images have a bit more body and a bit better dynamic contrast (not night and day by any means). The Virgos are a little more pinpoint and lay everything out on a nice coherent soundstage that is both wide and deep. Looking at Cjr888's assessment, I have to say that what I hear coincides with his findings. The Klipsch present a little larger scale than the Virgos, and I find it "lifelike" in that it's more akin to what I hear live than it is akin to artifacts of the recording process. That said, I find that the Virgos also do a very credible job of presenting dynamic contrasts, especially when fed with enough clean power. And realize that my impressions are from listening to the Virgos and Klipsch in two different rooms. The Klipsch are in a much larger room and that has to impact the differences I hear as much as the respective differences between the two designs. To their credit, the Virgos sound quite "large" in a much smaller acoustic environment.

Also, the Virgos seem more extended and linear in the bass than the Klipsch. The Klipsch seem to have a little bump in the midbass around 70 Hz and start to roll severely below 45 to 50 Hz. The Virgos seem better controlled in the bass. But if I understand correctly, the Chorus 15" bass driver is a ported and not a horn-loaded design. So depending upon the recording this can make a significant preceived difference in character.

This brings me to Jmslaw's comments and the assertion that the Klipsch need a bit of power to perform at their best in the bass despite their high efficiency. My question is: what do you consider "adequate power"? I ask, because I am considering buying a tube amp rated at only 10 watts/channel. If you think I need more than that for the Klipsch to really strut their stuff, please chime in. Would amps in the 30 to 40 watt range make more sense???

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving to All!!!

Thanks JM, I appreciate the benefit of your experience regarding the amplifier question. One final thought I'm having about the Klipsch, and probably what surprised me the most, is their incredible speed and clarity. I expected the great, virtually unbridled dynamics, but did not realize the transient speed that the horns provide. Fast fretwork on acoustic guitar, nuances of the voilin's rapid undulations are sharp, crisp, and natural -- not blurred or smeared as they are by so many other speakers.

Frank :)

Cjr, I've been hearing about the 2A3 amps and it seems like a lot of folks like amps that use this tube. I may look for an affordable one to try.

Meanwhile, I have an old Van Alstine modified Dyna 70 that I just replaced the input jacks on, and it seems to work great on my Stax headphones, so I will probably see what it can do for the Klipsch.

Thanks!