Vital

I have the USP preamp from Emotiva, it sounds really nice, it's a lot cleaner and clearer than the UMC I have but as far as preamps go I don't know how it stacks up. This is the only preamp I've owned so far lol.

I am 100% positive you do get the upgrade card at $499. They just posted this on their forum actually, it's an awesome deal...

Yes, go to the clearance page it's still there...

Best new band in the last five years! The Band: Mumford & Sons Genre: Blues/Rock, Folk Debut Album: Sigh No More These guys are awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhlyEqBPcyo

You definitely should! Then you could finally unload that rickity old UMC-1 that's outlived it's welcome. I know some people who know some people who can put it out of it's misery, so just send it my way! Hahaha, unlike some people I have no issues at all with my UMC and happen to love it. I upgraded both of mine to the latest firmware and they are awesome as far as I'm concerned. You should think about buying one though, only $499 right now, can't beat that, plus it would mean you could buy the XMC for $899 when you're ready!

Yup, I have the 1994 version as well. It's actually an awesome DVD, before blu-rays came out it was the go to live performance in my collection. You got the right one...

Not that I have heard about - but don't count out that system because it's 8 years old. It is an awesome setup!

Hopefully me!!! [H]

Congrats and nice setup!

The Studio 20's are really nice - I plan to do a nice review with a few friends over real soon. They are very close though IMO.

Now I'm curious to hear these little gems! I just picked up a nice pair of RB-5 ll's off CL last week for my office system. Right now they are dueling with the Paradigm Studio 20's I had in there. Pretty fun going back and forth. So after reading your review, if I find a pair locally for a good price I might ****** them up and give them a try. They could possibly replace these office speakers if they are as smooth as you describe!

Unless Yamaha has changed their sound quite a bit since I auditioned my first pair of RF-7s, they are indeed very bright sounding. It may be possible to tame it some. If you're like me when I bought my first pair of horns you probably have the treble cranked like everyone does on other speakers. Back your treble down to 50% or less if you havent already done so. Edit: I have Directv with a HD receiver and I watch TV without it being harsh on Chorus ll's and RF-7's so I'm going with the Yamaha as the culprit.

I have not heard the RF-83's but the guy I bought a pair of my Chorus ll's from had both Chorus ll's and RF-83's. He liked the Chorus ll quite a bit better than the 83's with music. When he sold me his Chorus ll's he moved to Belle's and he said that they trumped both the Chorus and the 83's lol. I'd like to hear the 83's sometime...

I've had my XPA-2 and XPA-5 for almost 4 years now - so far they have been rock solid power amps with a nice sound.

I bet it does with those hardwood floors and no wall treatments!

Well, since this thread is 7 years old and the RSW15 fiasco was on another site your guess is as good as mine lol.

Have you used the Onkyo with other speakers? Do you have a way to test it to make sure it's the speakers and not the avr? I had this problem and it turned out to be the left channel in my CD player. It was driving me nuts trying to figure out the problem.

It's probably your Onkyo! You need a real amp to make those things breathe!

I try not to get too caught up in that word "audiophile" and I live by a simple concept - the proof is in the pudding and HK delivers.

Beautiful pair of Chorus ll's! They are great speakers, wish mine were as pretty as yours!

I have heard that Anthem sounds great, I doubt you can go wrong with their gear. Yes, Volbeat rocks! I run Emotiva amps with my RF-7s.

Nice work, your room looks great! Looking at the back of your room it looks like you could possibly get better surround sound switching to either RB or RS surrounds due to limited space. At the front of your room you might need some airflow behind those shelves, not sure. When you do extended listening and that AVR starts cooking you might want it to stay cool. Just some food for thought! I really like the way you handled your wiring!

That's what I am going to do. I am hoping to get a JVC RS35/60/65 this year and plan to keep a flat sceen for daily viewing and use the projector for movies/UFC fight nights. Best way to go IMO.

I'm pretty sure the speakers were already built when they realized the wood veneer was not the exact match they wanted. I'm sure a deal was made with the vendor and they decided to move forward and move them at a discounted I.E. B stock price instead of waiting for the right veneer. They didnt make it thru quality control. I'm pretty sure they decided to run with what they had.

I agree, my ERC-1 started having static in one channel after a few years and I called them about it. They had a label shipped out to me in a few days and they replaced a cap or resistor in it and had it shipped back all within a few weeks. I also had something weird happen to one of my metal remotes and they drop shipped me a new one the same day. They are top notch!