Koss CM/1030 Speakers: Too Much of a Good Thing?

[Deleted member 133]

To answer my own question posed in the thread title: of course not!

Two examples.

I just finished a three week, or so, vacation in Florida. A week of golf. Swimming and relaxing the rest of the time.

One evening my wife and I visited with a friend and his wife. Like how I've met a lot of Forum members, I met him on the internet. (Inside joke. I know.) He had contacted me a few years ago about a pair of Koss CM/1030 speakers that he had. We stayed in touch. I promised we'd get together if I were ever in his neck of the woods. A couple of weeks before the Florida trip he sent me a note saying he'd acquired another pair of CM/1030s and had a few questions. I told him I could answer them in person in a few weeks. And thus was borne a great evening at his place where he introduced us not only to his wife, but also to his many rooms wherein he had many pairs of large speakers hooked-up to a variety of gear. (And by the way, not only does his wife encourage his passion for this hobby of ours, she also shares in it!)

Not only did he have the two pairs of 1030s (which sounded absolutely great in the rooms they were in) but he had at least three pairs of DCM speakers and, in his great room a gorgeous pair of K-horns. To say it was an evening of blissful music sampling would be an understatement.

So in his case I say the answer is: of course not. Why just one pair when you can have two?

Now in my case I own five pairs of Koss CM/1030s. (And a pair of 1020s and a pair of 1010s - but who's counting?!)

Actually, I'm lying. I now own six pairs of 1030s.

While in Florida I was contacted by someone living in Texas, but originally from the Montreal area, who had a pair of 1030s stored at his mother's place in Montreal. That property was being emptied and he had but a few days to find a home for his. A relative, still in Montreal, sent me pics of them. (I'd post them but for some reason I can't; I get an "invalid file type" message.) Since I had no ready buyers for them in hand I decided to buy them myself. A fair price was agreed to; a friend who was in Florida golfing with me at the time and who commutes to work in Montreal during the week was handed the cash; he happens to have an apartment in Montreal; the seller brought them to his place and the speakers and cash were exchanged; the speakers were then brought to Ottawa by my friend and I collected them yesterday.

The cabinets are in perfect conditions. (Much much better than how they looked in the pics.) Best looking cabinets of any I have owned. The drivers are all in perfect condition. But as expected the frequency contour-shaping switches all need replacing and the crossovers need to be refurbished. (I checked one out and it's got the telltale resistor lead corrosion etc.) So they'll be heading to the shop this week.

I'm hoping to get them back by the time of The Great Canadian GTG 1.0 in July, whereat I hope to have them set up with the 1010s and 1020s for some comparative listening. Other than at Koss' original facilities, and perhaps some dealer showrooms, I'm not aware of anyone ever having had all three models up and running in one room at the same time. (If anyone has I'd love to hear from you!)

So again to answer the question: never!

Best.

Jeff

 

[mazersteven]

Congratulations on scoring another pair of 1030's :eusa-clap:

 

[PaulyT]

Serious addiction, for sure. But I look forward to finally getting to hear these beasts!

 

[yromj]

Awespme score, Mat...er...Jeff. I kid only because I completely relate to the obsession.

John

 

[Deleted member 133]

I took them into the shop today. Owner's reaction: "Another pair!?"

Priceless.

Jeff

 

[Zing]

Hey, you can't have a 14.4 system with only 6 speakers. :teasing-tease:

 

[Deleted member 133]

Whether by the grace of good math or good guessing, you're not far off the mark since I count 14 speakers and 6 subs in my main HT room.

That's not counting the new 1030s or the pair of 1020s sitting just outside the room waiting to be somehow put into service.

Jeff

ps. My Florida friend did some math and pointed out to me that with something like just over 700 pairs of 1030s ever having been made by Koss (according to his research) I now control almost 1% of their total original production. Never thought I'd make it into the 1%!

ps. More math (of sorts): if I look at the total surface area of the front baffle / face of just the front and side 12 speakers, it measures ~45 sq. ft. The total area of the front and side walls is ~247 sq. ft. So the visible speaker "faces" in the room occupy almost 20% of the visible area (I'm assuming most people don't look up, or behind them, when I think "visible"). So not only do big speakers sound big, they also look it!

 

[Zing]

Whether by the grace of good math or good guessing, you're not far off the mark since I count 14 speakers and 6 subs in my main HT room.

It was a little of both. I was fairly certain you had a 7.1 system and I knew you doubled all your speakers. So 7 x 2 = 14. Where I butchered things was in thinking you had 4 subs. I didn't know you had 6, Matt. :teasing-neener:

 

[MatthewB]

It appears Jeff and I are privvy to how awesome multiple subs can be.

 

[Deleted member 133]

While I'm still waiting to hear back from the shop with the estimate for the crossover refurb, I've been doing some thinking.

Given the condition of this pair (excellent) I'm thinking of picking up another pair (I've been in touch with someone) that are not in that great shape (but all the drivers work and the cabinets are structurally sound) to do something I've thought about for some time: completely remove the internal passive crossovers and turn these into 4-way active crossover/EQ speakers.

To recap the Koss CM/1030's driver configuration...

They use a 10" woofer (4.5 ohms) in a dual-port cabinet with a -3 db response of 29 Hz, that crosses over at 300 Hz to...

two 4.5" mids (wired in parallel with a spec of 8 ohms combined) that cross over at 2500 Hz to...

a 1" treble tweeter (4 ohms) that crosses over at 7000 Hz to...

a 1" tweeter (8 ohms) with a -3dB point of 19 kHz.

I believe that the current recessed area for the fuse and speaker connectors could be replaced with a plate that could accommodate the eight banana plug jacks for the four channels.

I have four spare NAD stereo power amps: two (2) model 2150s (50 W/ch) - for the tweeters; one (1) model 2155 (55 W/ch) - for the mids); and one (1) model 2200 (100 W/ch) - for the woofers. Those ratings are all into 8 ohms. All of the NADs are rated down 2 ohms if need be - with commensurate increases in power rating. The 2150 and 2155 have +3 dB dynamic headroom, and the 2200 has +6 dB. In other words I think I have sufficient power for a speaker that, in native form, has a 96 dB SPL efficiency rating to start with.

If I can pull off getting that other pair to use as a project / experiment, I will be putting a call out for input in terms of what additional gear (or box) I'll need to complete the conversion to active control. I'd like to keep things relatively simple if possible: a stereo RCA set of outputs feeding the single active crossover / EQ device, which sends four channels (for each stereo channel) of output to the four amps, which connect to the speakers' banana jack plates. I want to leave open the possibility of a fifth, sub, channel to take over where the woofer rolls off and hand off to a sub that would take things down to around 18 Hz, or so.

Because it's the only available space that I have, I'll be setting this up in my main theatre so could simply put them where the CM/1010s currently reside and make use of the existing SVS 20-39 PC+ sub that's mated to them. I have plenty of space for the gear and the footprint for the speakers remains unchanged. I'm already running the 1010/SVS combo as a 2.1 system in the same room as my 7.1 system (I'm talking channels, not numbers of speakers / subs guys! ). Putting the 1030 project in that room also lets it benefit from all of the acoustic treatments already in place.

Pipe dream, or possible?

 

[PaulyT]

4-way crossovers do exist, certainly, though most are in the pro audio realm which means XLR connectors... Not sure about 5-way, but you could use a regular pre/pro to split out the sub.

 

[Deleted member 133]

4-way crossovers do exist, certainly, though most are in the pro audio realm which means XLR connectors... Not sure about 5-way, but you could use a regular pre/pro to split out the sub.

Good point. However I'll be using the same Zone 2 output from my Onkyo 886 as I'm using with the current CM/1010 / SVS combo. I'm currently using the SVS' line level internal crossover - and I suppose there'd be no harm in doing the same with the switch to the 1030s / active crossovers - especially if finding a 4-way is way easier than a 5-way. XLR connectors could be an issue - and takes me down the road away from "keeping it simple" especially if this causes connectivity issues with existing gear.

 

[Deleted member 133]

Just got the estimate for the refurb: $790 plus tax. Pretty much what I expected.

The drivers all checked out great although the internal surfaces / flanges show exposure to humidity some time in their life and they all need to be cleaned up etc.

A few crossover parts are on order but the job should be done by the end of June.

Won't be making this pair "active." Want to have them in "like new" condition, to demo alongside the 1020s and 1010s at my GTG.

Maybe the next pair!

 

[Deleted member 133]

First off: pardon the quality of the pics. For some reason I can't seem to upload half-decent resolution shots to the site so instead I've got a few that I've taken with my iPod Touch.

The Koss CM/1030s came back from the shop on June 30th as planned. There was lots of work done to them. The bottom line is that they are now performing essentially "like new" - as much as a speaker with 32 year old drivers can be so.

As I've said before, this pair's cabinets are in the best shape that I've ever seen any.

I made a deal with my wife: if I "get rid of" my piano I can set up the 1030s in the living room. So my next door neighbour is now the long-term loanee of a beautiful Willis (Montreal) studio-sized piano. It took four of us to carefully move it from living room to living room a few days ago.

Yesterday, under cover of wife having a nap, I rearranged the living room, to accommodate the 1030s, as well as a pair of 1020s. (For my GTG later this month there will be room to move in a pair of 1010s as well!)

For gear I'm sort of sticking to a "vintage" theme: power by a NAD 2155 stereo power amp; and a Hafler DH-101 pre-amp. I deviated from vintage for the source: went out and bought a new Sony BDP-S390 BD player ($138) - for its CD AND SACD capability (and analogue stereo outputs.) (It also has full wireless / streaming capability that I'll eventually make use of.)

The NAD 2155 has dual outputs / switches - which makes A/B-ing the 1030s and 1020s a cinch. (I also have a heavy-duty four-way switch that I'll use when the 1010s get hooked-up.)

I've now spent a few hours of very enjoyable time in that room running through a variety of CDs and SACDs. Both the 1030s and 1020s sound exceptionally good. Incredibly solid bass and amazing mids and highs. I'm really impressed at how ell the 1020s hold their own. This is the first time I've compared the two in such a setting. I'm very much looking forward to having PaulyT, Razz and Dude (Hoops ) up later this month to provide their unbiased comments.

About the only thing I want to do next is to find a very small LCD display / monitor / TV that I can incorporate into the set-up. The Sony has no display of its own. For initial set-up I hauled up an old monitor, but henceforth I'd like something very small to use with it. By small I mean 10" or less - preferable that can be mounted UNDER the nested tables that I'm using. I'm not planning to watch TV, or play movies. This is just to access the Sony's menus and to display track information etc for the source material that I plan to use. I've seen some "under-cabinet" TVs for sale BUT those usually have an attached electronics box that I don't need. I just want a monitor into which I can plug either an RCA video or HDMI cable from the Sony BD player. If anyone has any recommendations please start posting!

Regards.

Jeff

 

[PaulyT]

Cool! I really look forward to hearing these.

 

[Zing]

That's it, stick the knife in a little deeper and give it a little twist for good measure.

 

[TitaniumTroy]

Hey Jeff, the living room set up is looking very nice. Just had a question for you and maybe you answered this on the old forum and I missed it. Anyway, what is it about the Koss speakers sound do you love, say compared to other loud speakers?

Also if you did not have Koss, what speaker brands would you consider? I too wish I could hear the signature sound of the Koss Kave! I think Flint compared it too being at a live rock concert, pretty cool!

 

[Deleted member 133]

Hey Jeff, the living room set up is looking very nice. Just had a question for you and maybe you answered this on the old forum and I missed it. Anyway, what is it about the Koss speakers sound do you love, say compared to other loud speakers?

Also if you did not have Koss, what speaker brands would you consider? I too wish I could hear the signature sound of the Koss Kave! I think Flint compared it too being at a live rock concert, pretty cool!

Second point first: you are of course welcome to come up for the GTG. If that date doesn't work just suggest another!

I guess there's no one thing that has me hooked on the Koss CM/1030; it's a bunch of things. They're big, extremely dynamic (horn-like has been used to describe them), full-range (and very flat response), clean, highly efficient - and gorgeous pieces of furniture. I got my first pair in 1978 when I was in first year engineering; traded a pair of Bose 601's for them - straight up. Powered by an SAE 100 W/ch amp, they could fill a party room with 300 people in it!

There are a ton of other "newer" speakers that I like a lot as well. But I choose to own and use the Koss. My latest pair set me back $1000 after refurbishing - all in. I dare to say that nothing new for that amount would come even close to them as far as my tastes go. $2k? Nope. $3k? Perhaps. $5k? Yes - but I'd still prefer the Koss. $10k? I could be bought out for that much.

Would others feel the same? Don't know. But I do know that those that hear them really like them.

And by the by, the main HT is really a bit of a special beast. As those that visit in a few weeks will come to appreciate, stacks of 1030s are very very different than a single pair.

 

[heeman]

Jeff,

Your excitement just jumps off the page the way that you type about these Koss Speakers......maybe someday I will be able to make the trip.

Enjoy the heck out of them and I can't wait to hear the feedback from the others that will attend you GTG!

Keith

 

[Deleted member 133]

Thanks Keith.

By the by I picked up a nice little 15" LED 720p HDTV flatscreen TV today, new for $90. I removed the small nested table from the set-up shown below and set the TV on the floor in between the legs of the bigger table. It fits perfectly. Now when I pop in a CD I can see the Sony retrieve the Gracenotes data automatically and up comes album cover, track info, etc. This will come in handy when I set up a DLNA server. Again, the idea was to only use it this way - not as an HT display. (I think my Better Half would object if I created HT number 3 in the house. "No Dear, that's not a TV. It's just a monitor that I'm using with this simple two-channel stereo set-up that appeared in your living room. It's just temporary Dear: until the GTG. GTG? You mean I didn't tell you about that? I'm sure I did. You're just gonna love the visitors we'll be having over for a few nights!"