Hello, all from beautiful Allen Park, MIchigan. You're probably wondering why I didn't say, "Indianapolis, Indiana", right? I’m sorry this is so late in getting started but I’ve been having a lot issues with getting a good internet connection for some reason this week so I had to wait until I returned home to Michigan to begin this thread. I couldn't even change my avatar as soon as the Red Wings lost the finals (as I normally do) on Friday. So, here' goes:

Not long after that, I phoned Michael Colter just to check in with him and then I spoke with Customsteve01, who was still inbound on his Harley from Virginia. He arrived at Colter’s place around 10:30 that night. Verna and I watched ‘A Quantum of Solace’ in Roger’s HT that evening. The opening car chase scene was awesome! There are some very subtle differences between our theater and Roger’s sound and one must pay close attention to what is being heard to in order to notice the minute details that can reveal themselves. His theater sure does sound great! To be continued....

Roger's neighbors all seem to enjoy hearing whatever he has playing in his yard on a given day. Prior to these TSCM's, he used to roll out a pair of Cornwalls. Neighbors commonly will walk over while they are playing and listen for a while or compliment him on the sound on their way by. To be continued...

Despite a torrent of rain and thunderstorms overnight, Verna and I got a great night's sleep. We hit Starbucks for a cup of Joe on our way over to Colter's. When we arrived, Michael, Customsteve01 and blsamuel were busy in Roadie's shop, building up cable sets for the show and the soldering irons were a-blazin'. Michael gave Verna and I a tour of the place and Roger arrived shortly after we did. Michael certainly has one heck of a man cave there. I am green with envy! It was very well thought out and very well done. I am not posting photos out of respect for Michael's privacy. The guys showed us the stacks of speakers we would be using on Saturday at the show and they were ginormous! I'm not certain if nola had arrived there yet or not, but he definitely make the trip up to Indy last week from New Orleans. It was great to see the guys again after so long. From Michael's place Verna and I followed Roger over to a very unique restaurant called "Cheeseburger in Paradise", which was apparently started by none other than singer, Jimmy Buffet. Naturally, the place has a Key West theme complete with palm trees and a very diverse food and drink menu. I must say the food there is outstanding and so were the drinks. The Asian Mayo they put on some dishes has remarkable flavor. Verna and I wish they had one of those places here in the Detroit area. We watched more movies at Roger's that evening, complete with popcorn. It was another late night getting to bed. To be continued...

Inside Cheeseburger in Paradise....

Friday morning and afternoon:

Friday promised to be a very busy day for all of us. After a good night’s sleep, Roger, Verna and I went to the Lincoln Square restaurant near his house for breakfast. We’ve been there several times with Roger over the years and it’s a great little Greek-influenced breakfast spot. Roger and Verna had some errands to run to get things ready for entertaining all of the Klipsch guests that would be visiting Roger’s house and home theater that evening around 7 pm. So I took the two of them back to the house and dropped them off and then I drove over to Colter’s hoping to offer some help in loading any remaining equipment that still needed to be placed onto the trailer that would be taken over to the show in the park that we were all working on Saturday morning. When I arrived, the guys were all busy inside Roadie’s soldering up more and more connectors for patch cords and the like. It appeared that everything had already been loaded onto the enormous landscape serve trailer.  The guys seemed to have everything they needed and were discussing where to go for lunch as we all needed to be over to Klipsch Headquarters across town by 3 pm. So I headed back to Roger’s and helped Verna and Roger finish us things at the house for the evening. To be continued...

Not something you'll see every day: One of Colter's neighbors has a full-blown, US Army, UH-1 Huey Helicopter as a lawn ornament! OMG!

Friday late afternoon:

Klipsch graciously invited us all to attend one of their employee appreciation get-togethers which usually runs from 3-5 pm on a given Friday once every month or so. It was ironic that they happened to be hosting one on the same day that Professor Thump offered to bring us all in to audition a complete, all-Palladium 7.2 surround system in addition to some other products. The employees wore casual dress (jeans, etc.) and there were some food and beverages being offered in the cafeteria.

Klipsch Employee Cafeteria...

There was also beer, which obviously became the pilgrim “beverage-of-choice”. Our tour began up on the 2^nd floor of Klipsch headquarters where Prof. Thump walked us all down a uniquely-adorned hallway that had various ad posters displayed on its walls from the present time back into the 1940’s. This included one of the original Klipschorn posters from the 1940’s. I had asked if the young lady on the poster happened to be Paul W Klipsch’s wife, Belle. Prof. Thump was not certain. So, when I ran across Jim Hunter (curator of the Klipsch Museum, among other things) in the cafeteria a bit later, he clarified for me that he was certain it definitely was a model and not Belle.

Professor Thump (Mark Blanchard, Klipsch Engineer)...

Next, Prof Thump showed us some of the product displays from the Klipsch Group partner brands such as Energy, Mirage and Jamo.

Looking down to the lobby from the second floor...

We also saw where the outstanding, Klipsch customer support department resides. On the mezzanine, Prof. Thump showed us that half the floor space on that floor is currently under construction. Klipsch made a business decision to sub-let out office space to a 3^rd party and the construction was that company’s effort to put its new offices in order. Klipsch has always owned the building. Photos will be added to this post soon.

Speaker System Auditions:

Onto the listening rooms we went. Our first stop was to listen to some of the Klipsch HD Theater 500 and 300 products.  However, the room had been unexpectedly changed out without anyone's knowledge so instead, we listened some 5.1 setups using the Energy Take Classic 5.1 and Energy RC Micro 5.1 systems. I was truly amazed at the fullness and accuracy of the sound from speakers so small. And to think the complete systems are priced $600 and $999 respectively. Bose better what out! These speakers are no larger yet cost a fraction of their price and unlike Bose, these are FULL RANGE systems! Wow! 

Next we went to a two channel room to listen to a stereo pair of Palladiums, but unfortunately, there was an issue with the amplifier's right channel. Prof Thump said they'd been having issues with the amp and had just gotten it back from repair. Bummer.

Finally, we moved over to the Palladium 7.2 demo room and OMG! I swear I have never heard anything sound better. A track was played from a Blu-Ray, DTS-HD Master Series sampler that was performed by famed jazz drummer, Omar Hakim called 'Listen up'. The 7.1 mix was incredible and you felt as though you were seated amid the musicians, right in the center of the band. We heard the same track on the little Energys, too and they sounded great, but not THIS great! To be continued...

Friday Evening:

After leaving the Klipsch Headquarters, Verna and I stopped at Meijer’s on our way back to Roger’s and picked up a couple of cases of soda pop and some bags of ice, which Roger had asked us to get for him for the guests. Roger had some errands to run so he gave us some cash to pay for everything.

When we got back to the house there were two coolers in the garage that we emptied everything into and placed them downstairs in the recreation room portion of Roger’s Home Theater. We switched on the TV in there to the channel for the big hockey game that was to start at 8 o’clock. Most of you already know that the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings that night and won the Stanley Cup. Many of you also know that Verna and I are Wings fans; ‘Nuff said? LOL

By 7 o’clock the guests began to arrive as planned and Roger returned from his errands. He asked everyone you join him out on the front lawn and he went right out to the garage and wheeled out his two, huge Klipsch TSCMs into the driveway, just s he had done for Verna and I the evening we first arrived. Everyone seemed amazed at how good they sounded out-of-doors. And again, neighbors began to come by and listen to the wonderful sound emanating from Roger’s front yard. Some of the neighbor’s introduced themselves to the Klipsch pilgrims and stayed and talked for a while.

Roger revels in the sound...

fyrpwr, Michael Colter & blsamuel...

Roger, Professor Thump, nola and Greg...

Customsteve01 and (??) from Kentucky

After a while we went back into the house and we all chipped-in and ordered pizzas to be delivered from Hungry Howie’s. The pizza was very good and a lot of us had seconds!

Picky was all set with his Wings shirt as Michael and Roger look on... 

Customsteve01, Roger and blsamuel share a laugh...

The hockey game began and most of us gathered around the big Samsung rear-projection DLP screen in the living room with Roger’s Klipschorn/Cornwall/RSW-15/Aragon system faithfully reproducing every bang and crunch as hockey players were driven into the boards.

fyrpwr's girls are huge Red wings Fans!...

Michael, who said he's rarely seen a hockey game, really seemed to enjoy this one and really got into the close plays when things got hectic...

Verna was all ready for the game with her Red Wings shirt...

Then, all of a sudden, j-malotky and his son arrived as special guests who weren't orginally going to make it. It was great to see you and your son, John! Thanks for stopping by on your way through town!

nola, j-malotky and son...

Roger reveals the hidden center channel; a horizontal Cornwall form the early 1960s, which blends perfectly with the K-Horns...

A few folks who had finished their pizza when downstairs to watch the game on the big 108” screen in Roger’s LaScala-equipped home theater.

 Customsteve01, Verna and Picky (Glenn): OMG the Wings are LOSING! AHHHHH!....

To sum the game up, the Wings were outplayed by the Pens and the best team of the series had won the Stanley Cup. Congratulations to the Penguins. 

As soon as the game ended, the remainder of the group in the living room went downstairs to the theater to join the rest of the crowd. You could already hear the rumble of explosions and such even before hitting the top step to descend into the basement. Roger’s theater has 4, very comfortable, leather, electric-recline, theater loungers. Some folks chose to stand and some chose to sit on the floor. No matter where you were, the sound and video was top-notch!

blsamuel, Professor Thump, Veronica (she prefers to be called "V") and Colter. Greg is standing...

Roger ran a sampling of different movie and concert scenes, including, the opening chase scene of ‘A Quantum of Solace’ and “The gunfight begins” scene of ‘Open Range’. As soon as the first shot rang out, people in the room were ducking and running for cover! Prof. Thump also brought his demo disc with him and Roger played a few of those selections including the Omar Hakim performance of ‘Listen Up’. The sound was full, rich and believably live. Everyone appeared to have a very enjoyable time as always. The Klipsch forum members have always been great people to hang with! It was wonderful of Roger to open his house up to us all. To be continued...

Thanks for everything, Roger!

Saturday Morning: Show Day!

The alarm woke us up at 6am. I went into Roger’s room to wake him up, but he was already in the shower. Verna and I both got ready and we were out the door by 7:15 and on our way over to Colter’s place. We stopped at McDonald’s along the way for a quick breakfast and arrived at Michael’s in plenty of time. Quite a few guys were there already and it wasn’t long before we all drove caravan-style, over to Broad Ripple Park, which is only about 1-1/2 miles from Michael’s. fyrpwr (Steve) and his two daughters used their big Suburban to pull the big trailer up in front of the main stage.

We all unloaded our cars and parked them away from the concert site, in a parking lot about ¼ mile away. The stage sat at one end beneath a large steel, gable-roofed shelter building that was approximately 80 feet wide and 200 feet long with open sides all around. There was a power distribution box attached to the shelter with 220v service. Thank goodness! Professor Thump was the one who hooked the power up to the mains for the stage breakers. I stood by him for safety, just in case.

I used to be a firefighter and an EMT and I’d saved someone years ago who had gotten tangled-up in the current so I knew what to do. We both survived, although Prof Thump did pop the box the first time without getting poked. Plenty of electrical tape solved the problem. I love the smell of ozone in the morning! LOL 

The unloading of equipment continued and a sound stage began to materialize: Left stack, right stack, mic stands, monitors, snake, mixer, amp racks and a whole bunch of sweaty men running around in black T-Shirts. The pictures pretty much tell the sotry on their own:

Gawking at gaffers: Many thanks to my beautiful bride, Verna for taking the time to shoot all of these pictures for us!

All: After I am finished processing the video footage that I shot, I expect to be able to lift some stills of the show that I will post here in this space. Here's a teaser to get started...

Star 67 Bassist, Kourtney Liggett:

Saturday Night after the show:

I got back to Roger's house about 8:45 and no one had eaten dinner yet. So I got cleaned up and we headed over to a Chinese Buffet restaurant named, The Journey. This place is outstanding and they had a large sushi bar, too! I literally go nothing but seafood on my plate and I'd say 3/4s of it was sushi. Roger and I eat had one of those huge, quart-sized Sapporo Beers. Verna got quite a variety on her plate of various foods but her main thing was the prime rib! We got back to the house at nearly midnight and being exhausted with a full tummy, we all just crashed for the night! I highly recommend the Journey restaurant: They "Get 'er done!" LOL Thanks for the suggestion, Roger!

Sunday

I was so tired from Saturday that I slept like the dead Saturday night. The shower sure felt good and we packed our things up and loaded our car in preparation to head home in a couple of hours. Customsteve01 stopped by Roger's on his Harley to say goodbye to all of us on his way back to Virginia. Verna and I bid Roger fairwell and thanked him for his hospitality. We then headed over to Starbucks for a cup of Joe with Steve. After saying goodbye to Steve, we headed over to Colter's place. He was out in Roadie's shop finishing up with a member who wanted to purchase a pair of speakers. He invited us all in to his house to listen to his pair of Jubilees. I was unable to sit in the sweet spot but man-oh-man did they every sound wonderful! Verna liked them too. Roger met us over there and gave a listen too. Jubilee's are an amzing experience; if you ever get the chance to listen to them, please do yourself a favor and do so! Colter placed both some vinyl and a CD: Absolute clairity!

A sign in Roadie's Shop:

After some discussion with Colter and Roger, Verna and I bid Michael goodbye and followed Roger over to a Mexican restaurant near the freeway called, Tijuana Flats. The place is famous for selling hot sauces. Those of you who know me, know that I am a hot sauce collector (and user). I have at least 200 different bottles of the stuff and I have a display of 60 in my Home Theater. We enjoyed our lunch very much and the food is great there. I purchased 3 sauces that I do not yet have in my collection: "Smack my A** and Call Me Sally: Going Postal" (an extremely hot food additive that I had to sign a waiver to purchase - 1.5 million Scoville units, for those in the know), "Crazy Jerry's Mustard Gas Hot Sauce" (comes in an aluminun air-tank looking bottle), and a mild, sweet sauce with excellent flavor: "Smack My Sweet A** and Call Me Sally". We said goodbye to Roger again and were on the road home to the Detroit area by 2:15pm and walked in the door exactly 4 hours later. Traffic was light and the weather was great! Thanks Klipsch and thanks everyone for showing us an outstanding time. We can't wait until next year! -Glenn & Verna

Nice write-up there!  Wish I could've been there, but alas - not to be, with being slammed with work (trying to get this project done before I have to field test the stupid thing out in Vegas later in July), plus I'll be out there in Indy for a family reunion at the end of July anyway.   Thus, just did not have the time to come out there this time around.

picky:

From Michael's place Verna and I followed Roger over to a very unique restaurant called "Cheeseburger in Paradise", which was apparently started by none other than singer, Jimmy Buffet. Naturally, the place has a Key West theme complete with palm trees and a very diverse food and drink menu. I must say the food there is outstanding and so were the drinks. The Asian Mayo they put on some dishes has remarkable flavor. Verna and I wish they had one of those places here in the Detroit area.

Ahhh - good ol' Cheeseburger in Paradise.   Got one here not even 2 miles from my place.  Been in it a couple of times and the food there is good.

At least it was not a total wash for me, as I kinda got to participate in a couple of audio-related events.  The first up was getting to see Molly Hatchet practically right in my back yard.   Pretty cool to have a decent little outdoor concert venue not even 1/2 mile from the place.  I hope they can continue these concerts in the future (and bring in more acts that I want to see!)  I am not to big on the country acts they keep showing.  However, been some pretty decent names coming through there, such as Little Feat that played there a couple of weeks ago.  Gin Blossoms and Tonic played there as well.  Travis Tritt, Blues Travelers, and Keller Williams are due up.  This upcoming Friday, I am going to pop on over there again and see ZOSO (a Led Zepplen tribute band) as well as Limelight (a Rush tribute band) to play there.  Plus at only $10 for a ticket - why not?   Just hope the weather at least is decent (thankfually it held off for the Molly Hatchet show).  Been having some pretty nasty thunderstorms roll through here as of late, including one that ended up killing one kid and severally injuring another at a local ball field near here due to a lightening strike.

Second, on Saturday, the local high-end audio outfit, Raven Hi-Fi had a grand reopening when they moved to thier new digs right downtown Fredericksburg.  Dave, the owner is a really great guy, plus it was so cool to get so spin some vinyl and CDs on some really nice gear, including some high-end Marantz hooked up to some beautiful Dali speakers (although the sound was a bit laid back, compared to what I am used to.).   And yes, these guys are a Klipsch and B&K shop as well!   I went and ordered one of those AWR-650 "rock" speakers for my new deck, which, alas, is STILL under counstruction (this %$^(ing WEATHER!!!  Thing was supposed to have been done back in MAY!).   They had wine and beer out as well as all kinds of snacks.  Even hosted a couple of live acts (un-amplified acoustic).    Thank God there are still a few good little high-end shops that are willing to go out for the customer and truly become part of the community as well.

Sorry I had to miss out on the festivities in Indy, but at least I got to take part in a few local events myself to ease the pain of missing out on the IndyFest.  Maybe next year.

One quick shot I've gotten while at that Molly Hatchet show:

picky:

Roger's neighbors all seem to enjoy hearing whatever he has playing in his yard on a given day. Prior to these TSCM's, he used to roll out a pair of Cornwalls. Neighbors commonly will walk over while they are playing and listen for a while or compliment him on the sound on their way by. To be continued...

Looks like Jubilee's

picky:

Finally, we moved over to the Palladium 7.2 demo room and OMG! I swear I have never heard anything sound better. A track was played from a Blu-Ray, DTS-HD Master Series sampler that was performed by famed jazz drummer, Omar Hakim called 'Listen up'. The 7.1 mix was incredible and you felt as though you were seated amid the musicians, right in the center of the band. We heard the same track on the little Energys, too and they sounded great, but not THIS great! To be continued...

Omar is an incredible drummer, one of my favorites.  The list of who he has worked with is immense.  I can only imagine how it must have soudned on the Pal's.  Thanks for the report Glen look forward to reading more.

whatever55:

Looks like Jubilee's

You are right: At first look, one might think so, except Jubilee bottoms contain 2-12" woofers, while TSCM's have a single 15" because they are really a Klipschorn. The tops of the KPT Jubiliee 535's have huge PT-402-MF mid-bass Tractrix Horns coupled to the Klipsch K-1133 two-inch exit titanium compression driver. The tweeter are KPT-Grand-HF-T Tractrix Horns, where Roger's are actually much smaller LSI tops (Industrial LaScala's). -Glenn

The KPT Jubiliee 535: