KLH Model Nine’s Incoming

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I can’t wait to get you over here to listen to the Model Nine’s once I get them back. You need to plan on a trip over to Huntsville in a few months.
It's a plan, Liz and I would love to see you all again. Just let us know when. I also look forward to hearing the Model Nines and all your other gear.
 
Just a heads up… I received word from David Janszen that my Model Nine refurbishment and upgrade is complete. I sent him a check for the balance and they should ship to me next week. So I’ll be updating this thread with my impressions very soon. My poor dejected ML Summits have been relegated to the home gym to make room for the Model Nines.
 
I received word from David Janszen that my Model Nine refurbishment and upgrade is complete.
Awesome Rich, I bet you are eager to hear them in your own setting. Looking forward to your impressions.
 
Ditto to Jonathan's comment above Rich, who knows maybe even 'real' pictures this time ............... ;)
 
Come on Dave this is Rich we are talking about. I'm afraid lightning would strike me I looked at the elusive System of Rich. ;)
Hey, not fair! In my defense, in post #27 of this thread I posted “real” pics of them in my system before sending them off for refurbishment! 😜
 
I stand corrected. I did go back and look at history being made. :)

That said, and this is the truth. As I am looking at it we have a huge storm with constant lightning going over us as I type this.
I didn't look very long again but I'm going in the closet with a bottle of wine. :eek:

I can't wait to see pics of everything up and running. They should be amazing. You might have more visitors than you expect with a piece of history like that.

The location for you new home is amazing. I can't wait to see pictures as construction progresses.
 
I stand corrected. I did go back and look at history being made. :)

That said, and this is the truth. As I am looking at it we have a huge storm with constant lightning going over us as I type this.
I didn't look very long again but I'm going in the closet with a bottle of wine. :eek:

I can't wait to see pics of everything up and running. They should be amazing. You might have more visitors than you expect with a piece of history like that.

The location for you new home is amazing. I can't wait to see pictures as construction progresses.
Thanks, Brad. I’ll definitely post some pics once I have everything up and running. I’ll also post some pics of my home construction as it progresses. We’ve just finished pouring concrete in the second story walls and are currently constructing the 2nd story interior walls. Only one more floor to go and then we can put a roof on it. Here’s a couple of pics of the front and rear of the house as it currently stands…

C9E0287E-9C0B-4963-8624-B789D9BA0F0C.jpeg
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Here’s a couple of pics of the front and rear of the house as it currently stands…
Nice progress, and man, that's a big pump crane! You are lucky to have a large flat building spot.
 
Nice progress, and man, that's a big pump crane! You are lucky to have a large flat building spot.
Thanks, Jon. Yeah, those pumper trucks are amazing! Boggles the mind when you consider the weight of the concrete it’s pumping and the length of the boom. Crazy leverage. And yes, it helps to have a large, flat and open building site. I designed it that way myself for that very reason. We created the house pad about 15 years ago. It consists of six feet deep of highly compacted clay soil mixed with chert and sits three feet above the 100 year flood plain. Ground floor elevation is 18” above that, and the land drains in every direction away from the house. So we should never have flooding or ground moisture issues. Our footers are dug into the ground and are 36” wide by 14” deep of highly reinforced concrete. So the house should be absolutely stable.
 
Thanks Rich, that is going to me an amazing home for your family.

What size will your music room be?
My home theater/media room will be 19’ wide by 23’ long with 10’ ceilings. Although some of that length will be used for a baffle/screen wall. I’ll have a JBL 9.4.6 system in there, and probably the Summits as well. But I’m planning to put the Model Nine’s and CJ tube gear in my den, which is about 21’x23’x10.5’. Not the best dimensions for bass response and I won’t be able to do much in the way of treatments in there, unfortunately.
 
Your yard already looks like a golf course! We have all but given up trying to find a lot here. Just not many available. Plenty of land but nobody is selling.

We find some lots that would be good but all of the houses in the neighborhood have a value of about 1/2 or less of what we are looking at spending. Not too smart to build there.
 
Your yard already looks like a golf course! We have all but given up trying to find a lot here. Just not many available. Plenty of land but nobody is selling.

We find some lots that would be good but all of the houses in the neighborhood have a value of about 1/2 or less of what we are looking at spending. Not too smart to build there.
Yeah, it’s tough these days. I got extremely lucky with my land. Bought it 22 years ago, before everything in this town blew up in value. It’s a 28 acre square in the valley. All flat land. And the hills around it are all State Park or Land Trust owned, with lots of trails. We are exactly 15 minutes from downtown, but you can’t see another house in any direction from my house site. Technically, I’m in the county, but three of my four property lines are city limits. I could annex in, but my taxes are lower and I have less regulation to deal with. I have lots of deer and wild Turkey, and have even seen a bobcat on my property. It’s just a perfect location.
 
Yeah, it’s tough these days. I got extremely lucky with my land. Bought it 22 years ago, before everything in this town blew up in value. It’s a 28 acre square in the valley. All flat land. And the hills around it are all State Park or Land Trust owned, with lots of trails. We are exactly 15 minutes from downtown, but you can’t see another house in any direction from my house site. Technically, I’m in the county, but three of my four property lines are city limits. I could annex in, but my taxes are lower and I have less regulation to deal with. I have lots of deer and wild Turkey, and have even seen a bobcat on my property. It’s just a perfect location.
Wow! The best of both worlds. Privacy/peace and 15 minutes from downtown! You did get lucky when yo7 bought that 22 years ago. I'm surprised you waited so long to build. The deal you got on that land more than makes up for higher building costs these days.

Do you have all of the basic utilities there? Wondering if you needed to build a septic system and if you have an internet provider that runs cable or fiber. I have a buddy that lives in an underground home out in the middle of nowhere and they don't have cable/internet. He uses Elon Musk's new satellite system for internet service and its great.
 
Wow! The best of both worlds. Privacy/peace and 15 minutes from downtown! You did get lucky when yo7 bought that 22 years ago. I'm surprised you waited so long to build. The deal you got on that land more than makes up for higher building costs these days.

Do you have all of the basic utilities there? Wondering if you needed to build a septic system and if you have an internet provider that runs cable or fiber. I have a buddy that lives in an underground home out in the middle of nowhere and they don't have cable/internet. He uses Elon Musk's new satellite system for internet service and its great.
We had planned to build earlier, but couldn’t decide what we wanted to build. Then we got sidetracked by having a kid. It’s all good, though. I think I’m much more capable of managing the build now than I was then. We have a 2” city water line to the house site, as well as a couple of our own wells. We have also run high voltage power underground to the house site, so we have more power than we’ll ever need. No city sewer, so I am having to put in a septic tank. I created a septic field for the field lines that perks well (because the clay in this valley doesn’t). I’m still unsure about cable/internet options. Need to research that. I’m pretty sure there is fiber run down the street, but not sure if Google Fiber or AT&T will hook me up since I’m technically in the county. GF is only offering their service within the city limits thus far. Don’t know about AT&T. Also, we have no natural gas out there, so I’m going to put in a large underground propane tank. I’ll have a whole-house backup generator running off the propane.
 
We had planned to build earlier, but couldn’t decide what we wanted to build. Then we got sidetracked by having a kid. It’s all good, though. I think I’m much more capable of managing the build now than I was then. We have a 2” city water line to the house site, as well as a couple of our own wells. We have also run high voltage power underground to the house site, so we have more power than we’ll ever need. No city sewer, so I am having to put in a septic tank. I created a septic field for the field lines that perks well (because the clay in this valley doesn’t). I’m still unsure about cable/internet options. Need to research that. I’m pretty sure there is fiber run down the street, but not sure if Google Fiber or AT&T will hook me up since I’m technically in the county. GF is only offering their service within the city limits thus far. Don’t know about AT&T. Also, we have no natural gas out there, so I’m going to put in a large underground propane tank. I’ll have a whole-house backup generator running off the propane.
Youte doing all the things I would. You might want to look into Elon Musk's satellite internet service. My friend uses it and is very happy with it. Not sure what speed he gets.
 
Well, the Model Nine’s finally arrived back from David Janszen. They were impeccably packed. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever received a shipment so well packaged. Well worth the cost of shipping them (which was steep). I mounted the power supplies to the panels and set them up hooked up to the Conrad Johnson Premier 140 tube amp. They sound amazing, as expected. The imaging on these is just jaw dropping. Better than my Summits, and that’s saying something!

These are full range electrostats that go down to about 40 Hz. I’m supplementing below that with my Descent subwoofer. I don’t have the Descent ideally located, but it will do for now. When I have time, I’ll try to find the best-sounding spot for it. I’m not sure the CJ is the best amp for these speakers. It seems to run out of steam when I try to turn it up loud. I need to experiment with some other amps to figure out what will work the best. These speakers max out at 100 wpc @ 16 ohms (equivalent to 200 wpc @ 8 ohms), so I can’t drive them with too much power. I’m afraid to hook up my Sanders 800 wpc monoblocs for fear of frying the speakers. But I do think the would benefit from a more powerful amp than my CJ. Pics to follow.
 
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This photo shows the back of the power supply before I attached it to the speaker. All the electronics are potted in wax.
 
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