Hi Ed, & thanks Tim for the compliment.
I don't have a bunch to add that hasn't already been said here, but I'll gladly share my experiences. I've had my classic Belles for about 18 years now, but if there's any Klipsch guru's among us I'd say that Bear & Sean are certainly qualified.
I'll first mention that the Klipsch website is a good info. resource - check out the forums there by all means.
My own listening preferences have always leaned toward solid state amps, even for these high-sensitivity horns. In that regard, since you have the EAD pre/proc, may I suggest trying an EAD Powermaster amp. Appearance & build quality of EAD's equipment is top notch IMO. The Powermaster line is especially great because these amps switch all of their power to the front 2 channels when the surrounds aren't being driven.
I've always liked to have a lot of reserve power capability even though I don't often use it. A high solid state damping factor coupled with large power reserves adds up to greater woofer control & you can easily hear the difference. I definitely don't care for tubes with these horns because the high speaker sensitivity really shows up the tube-rush noises & microphonics. Not to mention the extreme waste heat & continual high maintenance expenses of glassware; but that's just my own admittedly prejudiced opinion. I've found that mosfet amps sound best with my horns; presently I'm running a big Accuphase 200w/ch amp & couldn't be happier.
The high sensitivity of these horns makes them very fast & revealing; if you input a compromised signal then these speakers will definitely let you know about it. OTOH when you input a clean quality signal then they really sing & present a high goosebump-factor.
I've found that MIT speaker cable works very well in this application; the MH750 line. My last upgrade was to MH750 Magnum biwire; incredible.
If you get into tweaks the first thing I suggest is to place brass cones between cabinets & floor. Placing 3 cones under these big heavy cabinets was not easy, but it was very worthwhile.
Some of the more elaborate mod's mentioned above are worth looking into later on. One tweak that I found on the Klipsch website was reference to the ALK crossovers. These units are really quite something; very high quality caps & coils, but the wiring isn't any better than what Klipsch used in the factory (yuck). Change out that wire if you ever get Al Klappenberger's crossovers (don't mention the wire-subject if you ever talk to Al - he's really touchy about that) then rewire the cabinets as well. Klipsch has finally learned to use better wire; at least they now put Monster Cable into their newer products. It's not the greatest but it's a far cry from their old zip-cord.
You can get really carried away with modding of these old classics, but I myself wouldn't go as far as some others have done. However the rule of mod's is to only change one thing at a time, then listen & break in thoroughly before changing anything else.
So there you have it: Klipsch's, mosfet solid state, MIT, some the things that many audiophiles just love to hate. Why this combo sounds so good together may not make any sense, but this is sweet synergy.
I don't have a bunch to add that hasn't already been said here, but I'll gladly share my experiences. I've had my classic Belles for about 18 years now, but if there's any Klipsch guru's among us I'd say that Bear & Sean are certainly qualified.
I'll first mention that the Klipsch website is a good info. resource - check out the forums there by all means.
My own listening preferences have always leaned toward solid state amps, even for these high-sensitivity horns. In that regard, since you have the EAD pre/proc, may I suggest trying an EAD Powermaster amp. Appearance & build quality of EAD's equipment is top notch IMO. The Powermaster line is especially great because these amps switch all of their power to the front 2 channels when the surrounds aren't being driven.
I've always liked to have a lot of reserve power capability even though I don't often use it. A high solid state damping factor coupled with large power reserves adds up to greater woofer control & you can easily hear the difference. I definitely don't care for tubes with these horns because the high speaker sensitivity really shows up the tube-rush noises & microphonics. Not to mention the extreme waste heat & continual high maintenance expenses of glassware; but that's just my own admittedly prejudiced opinion. I've found that mosfet amps sound best with my horns; presently I'm running a big Accuphase 200w/ch amp & couldn't be happier.
The high sensitivity of these horns makes them very fast & revealing; if you input a compromised signal then these speakers will definitely let you know about it. OTOH when you input a clean quality signal then they really sing & present a high goosebump-factor.
I've found that MIT speaker cable works very well in this application; the MH750 line. My last upgrade was to MH750 Magnum biwire; incredible.
If you get into tweaks the first thing I suggest is to place brass cones between cabinets & floor. Placing 3 cones under these big heavy cabinets was not easy, but it was very worthwhile.
Some of the more elaborate mod's mentioned above are worth looking into later on. One tweak that I found on the Klipsch website was reference to the ALK crossovers. These units are really quite something; very high quality caps & coils, but the wiring isn't any better than what Klipsch used in the factory (yuck). Change out that wire if you ever get Al Klappenberger's crossovers (don't mention the wire-subject if you ever talk to Al - he's really touchy about that) then rewire the cabinets as well. Klipsch has finally learned to use better wire; at least they now put Monster Cable into their newer products. It's not the greatest but it's a far cry from their old zip-cord.
You can get really carried away with modding of these old classics, but I myself wouldn't go as far as some others have done. However the rule of mod's is to only change one thing at a time, then listen & break in thoroughly before changing anything else.
So there you have it: Klipsch's, mosfet solid state, MIT, some the things that many audiophiles just love to hate. Why this combo sounds so good together may not make any sense, but this is sweet synergy.