Hi Purepwr
I think that you already know what you're doing, moreso than you know. I wouldn't fall for using those hot, inefficient, noisy, microphonic, unreliable, expensive, maintenance intensive tubes with horns - they just never worked well for me. I've already tried that & it was bad advice. Tubed preamps are another story, but we're not talking about that at the moment. Tube's high idle noise (tube rush) & microphonics are so easily perceived with sensitive horn transducers that I've found them unbearable. Others do prefer tubes & if that works for them then it's all good - for *them*. For me, the lack of deep bass extension + control, & the softened highs are also problems I've noted w\ tube power amplification.
I've been running a pair of vintage 1978 Belles (well over 20 years here too) with mosfet's - if you want to see the complete setup then just click on my username & scroll down below the bio to read all about it.
Mosfet based Luxman & Accuphase amps have provided the best results for me so far; 200 watts per channel is about right; when running at higher power levels 100 watts/ch seemes a bit underpowered during those power-demanding peaks. I like to have about 20dB of dynamic headroom, so at a 2watt/ch. listening level a 200 watt/ch amp is a good fit. Perreaux, Ayre, even McCormack Deluxe series amps also do a pretty good job, but generally I don't care for the sound of bipolars w\ horns. Mosfet amps w\ combined with MIT MH750-(xx) speaker cabling the synergy is very good.
Pure you had another question about possibly stuffing the top sections with polyfill; that just won't give you the needed midrange horn damping that a product like Dynamat will provide. Polyfill is a benefit up top, but not a huge one. Damping the (lower & upper) internal cabinet vibrations with other materials is a better use of time & material IMO. It's mandatory on the squawker.
Internal rewiring however is a must, & there are numerous wire alternatives available, but stick with a copper product because the horns are already so revealing that hyper-detailed silver wire isn't desirable.
The ALK crossovers: I'm undecided about them. I like some parts of them, & other parts of the AA crossover. I wish that I could combine them together somehow; I'm still experimenting with tweaks on them both. Al's onboard wire is not too good, so any noted issues may possibly be addressed right there.
I'm thinking that your use of full time Eq is indicative of a system setup issue which you're trying to mask via other means. If you're happy with that then that's cool, but there's probably a cleaner approach which would not require Eq on a full time basis, only needed occassionally for fixing those 'problem' recordings. That essentially removes the distortions of 2 pair of interconnect cables & an active filter device from your signal path, which should be a significant benefit.
I would approach the fine tuning issues by trying & applying some other tweaks instead.
Possibly a different amp (but only possibly) yours may synergise better when everything else is tweaked in.
Brass cones under your speakers.
Speaker cables.
Interconnects.
Upgrade AC cords.
AC line conditioning.
Shelving.
Cones.
Footers.
I would someday really like to hear a tube rig that's setup right for PWK's horns. Maybe it can be done & maybe it's even heavenly. I dunno, but so far tubes have just not fulfilled my preferences in so many areas.
I think that you already know what you're doing, moreso than you know. I wouldn't fall for using those hot, inefficient, noisy, microphonic, unreliable, expensive, maintenance intensive tubes with horns - they just never worked well for me. I've already tried that & it was bad advice. Tubed preamps are another story, but we're not talking about that at the moment. Tube's high idle noise (tube rush) & microphonics are so easily perceived with sensitive horn transducers that I've found them unbearable. Others do prefer tubes & if that works for them then it's all good - for *them*. For me, the lack of deep bass extension + control, & the softened highs are also problems I've noted w\ tube power amplification.
I've been running a pair of vintage 1978 Belles (well over 20 years here too) with mosfet's - if you want to see the complete setup then just click on my username & scroll down below the bio to read all about it.
Mosfet based Luxman & Accuphase amps have provided the best results for me so far; 200 watts per channel is about right; when running at higher power levels 100 watts/ch seemes a bit underpowered during those power-demanding peaks. I like to have about 20dB of dynamic headroom, so at a 2watt/ch. listening level a 200 watt/ch amp is a good fit. Perreaux, Ayre, even McCormack Deluxe series amps also do a pretty good job, but generally I don't care for the sound of bipolars w\ horns. Mosfet amps w\ combined with MIT MH750-(xx) speaker cabling the synergy is very good.
Pure you had another question about possibly stuffing the top sections with polyfill; that just won't give you the needed midrange horn damping that a product like Dynamat will provide. Polyfill is a benefit up top, but not a huge one. Damping the (lower & upper) internal cabinet vibrations with other materials is a better use of time & material IMO. It's mandatory on the squawker.
Internal rewiring however is a must, & there are numerous wire alternatives available, but stick with a copper product because the horns are already so revealing that hyper-detailed silver wire isn't desirable.
The ALK crossovers: I'm undecided about them. I like some parts of them, & other parts of the AA crossover. I wish that I could combine them together somehow; I'm still experimenting with tweaks on them both. Al's onboard wire is not too good, so any noted issues may possibly be addressed right there.
I'm thinking that your use of full time Eq is indicative of a system setup issue which you're trying to mask via other means. If you're happy with that then that's cool, but there's probably a cleaner approach which would not require Eq on a full time basis, only needed occassionally for fixing those 'problem' recordings. That essentially removes the distortions of 2 pair of interconnect cables & an active filter device from your signal path, which should be a significant benefit.
I would approach the fine tuning issues by trying & applying some other tweaks instead.
Possibly a different amp (but only possibly) yours may synergise better when everything else is tweaked in.
Brass cones under your speakers.
Speaker cables.
Interconnects.
Upgrade AC cords.
AC line conditioning.
Shelving.
Cones.
Footers.
I would someday really like to hear a tube rig that's setup right for PWK's horns. Maybe it can be done & maybe it's even heavenly. I dunno, but so far tubes have just not fulfilled my preferences in so many areas.