Sulaco

I have the same "hollow" sound with my Rc-25.

If you really get a 60% discount, that means that BestBuy is paying less than that for these speakers, since they still have to show a profit on a sale. On the SF-1, you get a $150.00 markdown. That means they pay less than $100.00 for a speaker they sell for $250.00. I bet they actually pay less than $50.00 for this speaker. That just goes to show you how much Klipsch (as well as other companies) actually has in these speakers. Pretty depressing.

I have it also and love it. Alison is one of a kind.

I have tried all of what you said. The Marantz is the only common when the problem occurs. It is a hissing sound, not a low hum. I spoke to a guy I know who works for Marantz Professional and he said he was aware of a problem with some Marantz A/V Receivers having the same type of noise in the surround channels. I tend to believe what the guy said now, considering it came from not one, but two people affiliated with Marantz. As far as what happened with the receiver when he used it as a pre/pro, I don't know why he would say that other than it happened. It wouldn't make sense to knock your own product if it were not true. And what does being in the 2 channel forum have to do with anything? My problem with this unit was/is in 2 channel mode!

I have RB-5 II's. I would like to reiterate that I do not hear this "floor noise" with my HK. I only hear it with the Marantz. I have everything hooked up exactly the same way. I tried a Toslink cable, analog, other CD's, etc. Everything points back to the Marantz. I spoke with the guy who owns the local shop I got it from and he said they were having some problems with noise out of some receivers. I am looking for a replacement for a faulty HK, not something else with its own problems. I guess I have to pay thousands of dollars to get an actual quality product these days. *sigh* I hooked the HK back up and will just deal with it until I come across something that will work. Any good suggestions for a sub thousand dollar A/V receiver that EXCELS in 2 channel and still works well in SS modes? I want something with DD PL II, DD, DTS, 100 watts or better, low THD, and at least one set of multi channel inputs (SACD/DVD-A) and a set of pre-outs that will actually work with an external amp. The guy at the local shop also told me not to use the pre-outs to hook to an amp. He said he did this and fried the receiver. Thanks again for the help guys.

I am demoing a Marantz 5300 A/V Receiver. I am noticing some "noise" in 2 channel that I did not notice with my HK 120. Can anyone tell me what this might be? I would expect a much better performance from Marantz.

The Yamaha would be a definite step up from that Panasonic. If home theatre is your gig, go for it. But, don't expect it to excel at driving your mains for music. At least, not compared to something a little nicer. Good luck!

I dodn't read all of the replies, so I am sorry if I repeat anyone. I can't afford a big screen TV, so I can only relate second hand what I think and what I have seen. I was at BestBuy the other day and was comparing all of the TV's. I started off looking at the non-projection TV's with HD and then with wide screen's. The Sony 34" or 36" (can't remember which) HD widescreen was amazing. It was very bright and the picture was extremely crisp and clear. In the 40" and up range, out of what was available, Mitsubishi and Panasonic had the brightest, crispest picture in projection TV's (HD or not, widescreen or not). The LCD's and Plasma's all looked pretty bad to me. They were not very bright and the resolution sucked. If I had 2 grand to blow, I would have the non-projection Sony widescreen. That thing had the best picture out of every TV they had (heck, it looked better than ANY TV I have ever seen!). In my opinion, projection TV's still don't compare to CRT's. I think plasma's and LCD's also have a ways to go before they look as good. They did have some type of new rechnology plasma or LCD (forget which) that was really bright and clear, but it was very expensive also.

I hear good and bad things about Yamaha (just like everything else on the market, everyone has a varying opinion). But, most people who own the lower end Yamaha's say they are decent for HT but not so great for music (2 channel). I personally have not heard this unit. If you can afford a little more, the Denon AV-2803 can be had from buydig.com for less than $600.00 and it is a top-notch mid-fi A/V receiver. I wouldn't go mch lower end than this level, though. Hope this helps. BTW, what is your present setup and what are you looking to get out of your setup once you upgrade your receiver? Do you listen to much music, or mostly SS?

I got the trilogy on VHS for Christmas a few years back. It has been borrowed, watched, rewound, marathoned (sit down and watch all three), you name it and they still look and sound great to me. I must have gotten a really good set, because the rest of my VHS tapes wear out much quicker. I only have a HiFi VCR (not Super VHS) but it still looks and sounds good. I wish I could find all of my VHS tapes on DVD so I could get rid of my VCR, but I am not willing to give up the original three or the Alien trilogy. There is something about an analog (read snowy picture) copy of Alien (the 1st one) with crappy sound that just makes the movie really good IMO.

Yes, the "Sulaco" was the mothership in the original Alien movie. You are the third person in over 5 years of me using it on forums to guess it (and say so, anyway). My Sony DVD player is not a year old yet. It is last year's model, replaced with a silver colored unit for this year. Everything else is the same. It has a 192 kHz 24 Bit Audio DAC. Here is a breakdown of the audio specs; Audio Frequency Response (DVD, 96 kHz PCM) - 2-44,000Hz, ±1.0dB Audio Frequency Response (DVD, 48 kHz PCM) - 2-44,000Hz, ±0.5dB Audio Signal-to-Noise Ratio - >115 dB Audio Dynamic Range - >103 dB (DVD); >99 dB (CD) Harmonic Distortion - <0.003% I don't know what any of this stuff means. How does it compare to a "higher end" CD player? I use a Monster digital coaxial cable for my audio connection to the receiver. Would an optical connection be better?

Lots of good advice here guys. I thought about seperating my HT and 2 channel, but I can't afford to do that right now. What I am mainly after is a way to have the best sound possible out of my RB-5's without having to build another system. I really can't afford 10 grand on a sweet 2 channel setup at present. I can, however, afford a nice(er) receiver and maybe a nice source CD player. I am going to give the guys at Outaw a call and see what they have to say about the 1050. What do you guys think about upgrading to a dedicated CD player? Will it sound any better than my chain store Sony DVD player? I plan to also upgrade my speaker wire and the rest of my interconnects to at least some decent Monster cable. I am not a big fan of "audiophile" cables, though. Thanks again for all of the advice, keep it coming.

I think B&K is pretty much out of my league. The Outlaw is nice and the price is even nicer. However, I would rather go with a more well-known brand. Preferably something I can pick up locally for warranty purposes. Is Denon any good? I have heard that most A/V receivers don't do 2 channel very well. My H&K does 2 channel very well but isn't so great at SS. I would love to find an A/V receiver that will do both 2 channel and SS very well and still be affordable (sub $1000.00). Thanks again for the help.

I also have a Velodyne CT100 and a RC-25 with two RS-25's. I didn't mention them because I am only interested in improving my 2 channel sound quality. My HT sound is fine, but I want to keep the ability to play multi channel encoded media. I don't really have a fixed budget perse'. I will spend what I have to, but I would rather not have to spend a small fortune, hence my present system. I just want to improve on what I have. I am happy with the sound quality of the RB-5's, but I feel like they are capable of more.

OK, here is my setup; Harman Kardon AVR120 Sony DVP-NC655B (2) RB-5 II Monster Digital Coaxial Radio Shack 16ga. Bi-Wired When I hook everything back up, I will hopefully have a replacement AVR125 (my receiver is toast) and Monster 16ga. speaker wire (the cheap stuff). From this point, where should I start upgrading and/or improving? I want the best 2 channel sound quality I can get out of my RB-5's using an A/V receiver and without modifying anything. I am willing to replace my present receiver and my DVD player. I would not mind having a seperate CD and DVD player, but have been pondering the idea of a SACD and/or a DVD-A player. Ugh, lots of decisions. I don't have a lot to spend so I want to stay away from the high end stuff. Let me know if you need more info to help make some recommendations. Thanks.