chinoloco

Got these cables last night. Not bad at all. I wanted to try something new, I was waiting for my wife to go to the Arts and Crafts store and there was a RS next door. I knew about the Fusion line. I guess I never wanted to take the plunge as RS has a stigma about it (CHEAP CRAP). My friend who is more into the Audiophile life then I am swears by his top of the line Rat Shack Speaker wires, so I thought to myself, what the hell.. go kill some time and bring home a pair to try. Observations: The Digital Coaxial cable is better then the Monster Datalink 100. There is no comparison. I had the Monster Datalink 100 which is like a few bucks more and return it after 2 days. I heard no difference from Cheap AR cables. (Yes there is a difference in Digital cables...Coaxial and Optical. The reason is even though Digital signals are in bits... 0s and 1s, if the charge of the bit is not strong enough, its possible that the decoder will read it as a 0 instead of a 1. 1s should be either 3.3v or 5v and its possible that if the bit is weaker then that, it will be read as a 0 which will alter the data. I quizzed my friend who is a EE about this stuff because its not my specialty.) Anyways back to the sound. I heard much more music from the RS Fusion cable then the Monster 100 Digital Coaxial or the Phoenix Gold TOS link. I was confused. Isn't RS supposed to be junk? Well.. to make sure, I also got a Fusion 3ft RCA Audio cable. I was audtioning the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" DTS Music DVD. The crowd noise was more alive. The guitar was more vivid. Its hard to explain in words. Turned my AVR to "CD" to listen to the music from the DVD player over Analog cables instead of over the digital PCM. Popped in my wife's Marc Anthony CD as it was the only CD around. The difference was amazing. The sound was much better then the cheap AR RCA cable I had on hand to do comparison testing on. I pulled out of my box a Monster Standard RCA cable. Hooked that up. That cable was not up to par with the Fusion. With the fusion, the sound was completely different. The guitar strings had some suttle squeaks from the fingering of the strings that I didn't hear before. On the first track of the Mark Anthony CD, I was able to hear a rattle shaking which I never heard before. All in all I was impressed. I have always felt that cables were more hype then help. I mean... there are interconnects out there at thousands of dollars for a few feet. I am glad to admit there is a difference. I guess in conclusion, if you want an alternative to either AR or Monster, the RS Fusion cable line is not bad at all. I'd like to know other people's opinions on this as well, because I didn't know a RS product could be so good. They are not cheap however, but they are affordable when you compare them against Monster which I still feel often is overpriced.

Denon 2900 will play SACDs. The Denon 2900 has many fans in the forum. If you want a "universal" player to play SACDs over a digital medium however, you will need to get something like a Pioneer Elite 47Ai and hook it up to a Pioneer Elite VSX 49TXi or VSX-55TXi. Some other players/receivers will do the "i-link" connection too. The "i" in the Pioneer model names stand for "iLink" which is Sony's name for Firewire. Its the same thing. Thats the only way to listen to SACDs over digital media. Otherwise, you have to use 6 analog RCA cables. I do not believe Denon is supporting Firewire at this time. Actually I do not know if anyone besides Pioneer and Sony that have "i-link" support at this time.

DD is absolutely right on the Rear center. in a 6.1 environment, its better to get a RC35 then a RS35. Its because of the way the speaker is designed. The RS has a wider dispertion since the tweeters are on the side where the RC is more direct. Since everything is on the wall, it might be advantageous to use RB35s all the way around.

I think if you compare Quintets versus Bose.. which most people do, you will have richer, deeper more fulfilling sound for both Music and Movies. It will deliver what you need at a great price. Don't forget to add a KSW-10 or KSW-12 or maybe even a RW-8 Subwoofer. If you are comparing Reference or Heritage, of course the quintets have no chance.

Klipsch already has. Its called a Quintet. If you take the double cubes, its basically the same size as a Quintet speaker. Plus the Quintet scores extra points for being ready to mount on a wall and not needing to spend an extra $100.00 for mounting kits. Quintets with KSW10 sub is $899.00 which is cheaper then your $999.00 Acoustimass system. With Quintets, you get a much better speaker with a tweeter and a horn unlike BOSE's 2 little paper cone drivers. Go read this one guys's review and analysis of Bose: http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html Most people even Bose supporters admit to weak mid range and weak bass. I guess 2/3 of the sound being weak is not enough for people to admit they have an inferior equipment. I guess if you get some highs, thats the true definition of a good system. Lastly, the reason Bose gets so much heat here is the ridiculous product for ridiculous prices. You want something good for your $$. If the BOSE was $300.00, no one would complain at all and people would probably commend what a good job a $300.00 system is able to do. However, its not $300.00, its $999.00-$1599.00. When you are able to compare other companies... you will see its all hype. Lastly, what do you expect on a Klipsch forum besides people who dislike BOSE. Its like you go to a chevrolet corvette forum and wonder why people hate the ford mustang....

avman- They sure do. Sony uses many many manufacturers for their video stuff. Toshiba is one of their bigger vendors. Just like the LCDs displays for their computers. Sony doesn't manufacture many things anymore. Its more profitable to not have the overhead. Its all done very seamless to the customer. SONY's business model has changed over the years. Its more a R&D and marketing company now. You have to worked in the Japanese business culture to understand. This is very typical business practice in Japan.

I thought the RF-15s were too in your face when I first started to listen to them. When we moved them about 18 inches further apart, changed the angle of the toe-in a little away from each other.. it was like bingo.. I still prefer the RF-35s or Rf-7.. a little more deeper sound, but under my current budget, RF-15s work great. We have tweaked with the locations a little more and now we got it right. I think for my family room size, we have the right speakers.

Thats a pretty challenging question. I know you asked about SF-1 vs. SB-3. However the answer is not so clear. I was at Best Buy today listening to the SF and the SB lines. The SF-2 is much better then both. However, they are more expensive in price then RF-15s. For my money, I would go RF-15s before either SB3 or SF1 or SF-2 and the cost is only slightly higher (Cheaper versus SF-2). $249.00 at Best Buy for each SF1 or $449.00 for the pair of SB-3 and $299.00 for each at good guys for Each RF-15. Also good guys have no tax, free shipping and 10% off on their website.... Forget "Synergy" .. go "Reference".

Check your inbox.

Has anyone tried amazon.com yet? I see they have started selling SACDs. Its only a matter of time they jump into this thing with full force.

If you want a SONY TV at a few bucks cheaper.. buy a Toshiba. Its pretty much the same tube. Toshiba pretty much manufactures all SONY products now from the Playstation 2, the Memory stick to the CRT tubes for the TVs. Hell, Toshiba co-designed the Emotion chip for PS2 and developed the memorystick to be marketed under the SONY name. Take it from a former SONY Electronics employee. The only thing you are getting extra for your money is the four letters of S-O-N-Y. I used to have all SONY products in the house when I worked for them. Most of the stuff has died or broke since I left the company 3 years ago. I still have enough friends there at SONY to get the employee discount for everything I would ever need for the rest of my life but I don't because I find other stuff much better. OF course, this is my humble opinion.

You just have to match the AR level to the Monster level. Funny, this other friend of mine who loves 2 channel stereo swears by his Radio Shack cables on his SACD player with NAD 2 channel Amp. I think AR regular will be close to monster regular.. and so forth. I have not had the chance to use the pro series from AR yet.I have seen them and the build is much better then the regular line. Right now, I am not updating cables yet. I need better equiptment before you can tell the difference with the cables. I also have some Phoenix Gold Silver series which I am playing with. They seem to be decently priced and decent performance too.

I do undestand about some smaller widescreen tvs. I guess I am spoiled with a 60in. I guess my opinions are jaded because I was never on a laser disc bandwagon. By the time I was able to afford anything, my first purchase was in 1997, DVDs were out and ready to capture the marketplace. I guess if many LDs were 4:3 format, I would need a big enough TV to still work good in 4:3 mode. Of course nowadays.. its hard to see anyone paying extra costs for a LD when DVDs are so much cheaper.

Are you using the SACD and DVD-A 5.1 channel outs? They are separate outputs that won't work with the Digital Coaxial or Optical. Also on the SACDs and DVD-A, some discs are mixed in Stereo only while others are multi channel. most should be capable of both Stereo and multichannel. hope that might help a little.

My SONY DVP-560 Started doing this. After a while, it wouldn't even recognize DVDs anymore. In the trash it went. It was about 3 years old... which seems like a typical life span for a Sony product in my house. I have yet to have anything SONY last more then three years without dying or needing repair.

marksdad.... You are not far off.. 9.1 is in development right now.

Well I guess I will be able to hear SACDs for the first time next week. Pioneer Elite DV45A was ordered. kinda exciting to check out the new formats. I guess if I am really pleased, I will spring for the 47Ai or its replacement for christmas.

Just an update... SB1s were won on Ebay. I guess I will know really soon if the quintets are going to get the heave ho or be intergrated with this line up. who knows.. maybe I will end up with 4 Sb1s and 1 SC.5 and move the quintets to another room. James

Check the web. Your player might have some firmware problems and will not work with all dvds. Sometimes you just need to flash the FW and off you go. Other times, there is no FW update, so you are stuck. Have you tried the DVDs in another player.. like a friend or the computer? If the dvd works fine in the other player.. then yes.. it is your player.

Right now, you can try to get the XP50 which is the same processor as the RP82s. There are 2 auctions on Ebay. The XP30 also uses the genesis dcdi chip. Denon 1600 is slowly phasing out too. Both Panasonics and Denon 1600 got the Home Theater's Secrets Recommended award. If you want it, better go get it now. Otherwise, the Bravo D1 is popular here and I think the samsung Dv931 is interesting since both still use the faroudja dcdi chipset.

Hey Ears... Since I am a RW-10 owner, I am especially anxious on your thoughts on the matter. James

Any reason you want a 5 disc player? I'd say, if you are paying 200-300.00 area, you are best getting a single disc Denon player like the 900/910 or the Denon 1600. The 900 has the faroudja dcdi processor and the 1600 adds DVD audio. You might also want to consider some Panasonics too. They took some of the best picture scores in the home theater secret's DVD shootout. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_3/dvd-benchmark-introduction-9-2000.html Good luck.

---------------- On 8/29/2003 12:02:11 AM TBrennan wrote: Chinoloco---Get a 16:9 TV? Screw that 4:3 "bullcrap"? What about when watching The Adventures of Robin Hood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Young Mr. Lincoln or Gone With The Wind? ---------------- The movies you will find in 16:9 mode will greatly outnumber the movies you can only get in full screen format on DVD. True, you will lose a few classic movies to this problem. I am sure you will always find 1 movie you love that can only be in 1.33:1. However almost every movie since the 1950s is shot in 16:9 format(the first movie in 1952). HDTV is broadcast in 16:9, I find the arguements for 4:3 TVs less and less compelling everyday.

If you need Flat Speaker wire, go to this guy on Ebay: http://www.stores.ebay.com/id=47386740&ssPageName=L2 He has 500 Ft of flat cable for $99.00. Unfortunately, No one place has the lowest prices on Monster Cable. Everyone pretty much sells for the same price. I think its because of Monster's pricing policies. Even on Ebay after high bidding, its rare you will even get a price discount from retail. Some people love Monster, some people think its all marketing. I have used Acoustic Research cables and personally do not see any drop off from Monster interconnects. Thats the reason I returned all my monster interconnects to Good Guys. They were not happy with me, but I was not happy paying for just the Monster name. Because the flat speaker cable was fairly cheap, I did use the monster speaker wire. Phoenix Gold and Acoustic Research are good options that might save you a few dollars. I mean, if you are set on Monster, go for it. It is a great cable. In my case, the others are equally as great and I managed to save a few bucks here and there.

---------------- On 8/27/2003 3:09:12 PM Taylorbaby wrote: The salesman told me also that a subwoofer isnt good for anything using the RF5's He told me that I just need front, rear and center speaker and thats it. but i guess a subwoofer is highly recommended?! So I think i will let the salesman and come, hook anything up he wants and i he can blow me away with the little speakers, and i fall in love with the 5.1 setup... maybe.. just maybe I will give them my RF5's.. it never hurts to listen ;-) If.. i will keep my rf5's what rear speakers/center-speaker do you recommend to me? i prefer little speakers rear. And what type of subw? what will be the total price ticket for a rear/center/woofer? ---------------- IMO, the salesman has his opinions like everyone else. I wouldn't think of not having a subwoofer, but thats me. Since you are the customer, you choose what you like best. I personally like 5.1 music. I know alot of people would swear at it as it was the end of the world. But if setup corectly, live recordings are especially wonderful. I find its best to have the surrounds on the side of the sitting position. This setup is much better for 5.1 music. Still, its best to let your ears decide.