I'm replacing my wonderful old Fosgate 3A and Marantz DD/DTS decoder with the 950 in a large projection HT with tubes, Klipschorns and more boxes and toys than you can shake a stick at (or fit on 2 racks).

Is there anything that I should know, beware of, or research before I start to disassemble/assemble the system?

I am wondering if there will be enough resources on the 950 to support DVD, LD, VCR, Replay TV, Cable Box, Turntable, etc. Audio should be no problem but video I/O may be an issue. I use external video switching now to get the right source to the projector or the TV and was hoping to eliminate it so it is simpler for the family to use. The single VCR I/O is my concern since as well as the normal VCR I have the Replay TV unit also. I don't want it in the system all the time because of the disk noise when it is running.

Anyway, I'm delighted to be part of the Gang.

Rock on, Bib

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Tubes, Disk's and Horns, what more do ya need?

Welcome! I had a Fosgate model 3 also, and it finally died. I replaced it with the 950, and have been satisfied with it's performance. As you probably know, there is no dedicated phono preamp input, so you'll have to use an outboard preamp for this. Beyond that, the 950 is pretty straightforward. Just be sure to perform a calibration with the RadioShack analog sound level meter, and you're good to go.

By the way, you should get rid of those disgusting, power hungry, high-end-rolled-off, distortion prone tube things

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The Soundhound Theater

The distortions are tuned to my bad ears. Actually I distort just part of the music/movie. My front 3 speakers are biamped with tubes for top and SS for bottom. Oh, they go through a tube crossover so I guess I do "ruin" it all!

I have a distorting cj preamp for phono so that is fine.

The Fosgate Model 3A is an awesome beast since it is all done in analog without A/D and then D/A post processing. I am concerned that the Outlaw will not sound as good on analog inputs. However the DD/DTS signals all start as digital so CD's, newer LD's and DVD's should sound better.

I have not decided what to do with it yet. It is too sweet to sell for a few bucks. I have to set up another HT room I think. :-)

Bib

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Tubes, Disk's and Horns, what more do ya need?

You do know I was kidding about the tubes, don't you? Check out the link below....



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The Soundhound Theater

Soundhound,

Why did Mom give you away at birth? Did she think twins would be a burden?

You don't still use the R-R's do you? I have a Revox A77 (with Dolby!) that is sitting in the attic. After seeing your room, I'm real tempted to find somewhere to display it!

After I finish getting the system ripped and rebuilt, I'll take some photo's too. The cable guys are delivering a settop box that will do HDTV and I'm getting a Pioneer 47Ai DVD so there is a lot of swapping to happen over the next week or so.

What speakers do you have lurking in the dark there? I can see the little tweeter's shadow mounted on the top of the box but that is all.

I'm so envious of the sound treatments you have done.

Enjoy the Music Brother!

Those two big Tapesonic machines don't get a lot of use, just when I need to copy something from reel-to-reel to the ProTools. I have a sizable library of pre-recorded open reel tapes that I play on the Sony 660 that's in the HT rack. I also use the Ampex 602 sometimes for background music.

The speakers are Altec Lansing A7-500s - HORNS! They are bi-amped by external active crossover at 1200Hz, and have been very heavily tweaked, mostly by things like applying around 20 pounds of Aquaplas sound deadening treatment to the HF horns, and adding bracing to the LF horns. The small JBL supertweeters on top of the HF horns have since been removed - they were an experiment, and the speakers sound better without them, though the extreme high end near 20Khz is down a bit more.

Please do post some pictures of your system when you get a chance. It's kind of funny, but I read several forums, and this one seems to have the most people who use tubes. I guess we're just "real" Outlaws!

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The Soundhound Theater

"I have not decided what to do with it yet. It is too sweet to sell for a few bucks"..Bib
wht the heck is ... 'it' i do hope it's not the CJ. or ...what a minute...i want it! i is the absent-minded engineer! am drivin me hmbley didtorted analogue thru a really cheap...ARC mk111. it's the only thing that has gain...glorious gain...oops..distortion...wonderfullll distortion!!!!

I haven't listened to my reels for about 10 years now. Maybe you have inspired me to check it out.

I'd like to tweak up my K-Horns one day but there is never the time. I just collect tweaks from the web into a file and will work on them one day, even if I'm 70 years old at the time. I have a set of electrostatics for a stereo in the living room but while crystal clear, they will never have the dynamics that horns do. Also my 300B's might get a whisper out of the Accustats but not much more. The 300B distortions are my favorite ones.

1200 Hz Xover??? Wow. I'm running 400 hz on the Marchand crossover for the K-horns bass bin. The mid/tweeter is still using the passive xover to divy up between them.

Of course this forum has the most tubes! Most of us have 3 big ones on the ceiling.

I always find it funny that everyone thinks I'm nuts. The typical tube guy runs analog stereo and not HT. The HT guys are usually SS and digitally oriented. I'm everything combined so almost everyone can find something dumb about my set up. If you are into minimal systems, then the DBX subharmonic synth. I use for the sub's will drive you crazy.

For impressing the "masses", after the projection system it is always the Aura Bass shakers that I have bolted under the floor. I run them off the subharmonic synth. and love to watch peoples faces when there is an explosion or shotgun blast. "Feeling" the blast is pretty stunning to most folks. Heck, when I know it is coming, I unrecline and put my feet on the floor just to really feel it good.

Tubular Outlaws we are, and I'm proud of it.

Hi Thigg,

IT is the Fosgate Model 3A THX surround sound decoder. Analog circuits and really nice sounding even for music. I had a Marantz DD decoder modified to add DTS and used it for digital sources. It is nice but I don't have the same emotional attachment to it as the Fosgate 3A. The cj is needed as a phone preamp so it will keep running for a long time.


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Tubes, Disk's and Horns, what more do ya need?

The Altec HF horns are originally made to go down to 500Hz, but the response is more irregular down there. In the later years, Altec reaised the crossover point to 1200Hz (I used to work for them when they were in CA). The 15" woofer in the LF horn is actually very light, and has good response a bit beyond the crossover point.

The DBX subharmonic synthesizer you have is actually used in movie dubbing stages to create the LFE track in a lot of instances. I can imagine what they do with a bass shaker

Some people are amazed that someone would actually use all tube amplification in a home theater, much less a single ended tube amp that puts out a mighty five watts! Without exception, people have been amazed when hearing the results.....

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The Soundhound Theater

The power supply of my 3A kept failing. Did you ever look inside? One huge circuit board that takes up the entire chassis - a pain to work on. It failed one-too-many times, and I got tired of fixing it, so I calmly took it outside and smashed it to pieces with a sledgehammer. It felt so good



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The Soundhound Theater