Grand11

No offense, but that doesn't make sense. A DVI cable is a digital transmition meaning no signal degrading; you simply get either a perfect picture or none. A component cable, on the otherhand, is analog and _can_ degrade over a distance. It would seem to me that DVI would be the sure choice over longer distances, not Component. But then the real advantage to digital interfaces is the future compatiblity. Next gen HD-DVD players are planning to send HD content over digital feeds only for encryption and anti-piracy reasons. If you want this setup to last I'd definately suggest putting some kind of digital feed in the run as a must.

In addition to the above, you should also note that the LFE channels is designated to cover a range from 20hz-120hz. So even if the crossover on the reciever/pre-amp is set to 40hz you're still going to get information well above that being sent to the subwoofer, depending on how it was mixed on the DVD. VERY few DVD tracks have no LFE recorded. So if you use a highpass setting on your sub, even though it does technically rolloff, by tuning it down you risk cutting out some of the sound information (assuming you don't set LFE+Main). Technically you should only ever be using the crossover on one of the devices, not both, otherwise that risk will always exist. Use the reciever's if you plan on feeding the sub via LFE, or feed the mains through your sub and use it's highpass. Don't set both.

One of the key differences between using any setup disc vs. the tone in the receiver is the type of tone you're getting. When you do a test tone on your reciever you're essentially getting white noise; all the drivers are pumping out noise. Basically the loudest tone of you speaker is going to be what's measured by the SPL meter. When you use the DVD test tones, they actually use tones at specific hertz. Anyone who's seen speaker measurements in a review knows that the db output of a speaker is different at various hz and not perfectly flat. While some people won't ever care or find any value in this point, it can be very important to those who use equalizers, because it allows them to fine tune the volume across the entire audiable spectrum, instead of jsut matching the loudest hz of each speaker in a white noise test. Of course, alot of that is going the way of the dinosaurs anyway. Recievers are starting to have auto-calibration mics with built in eq adjustment, so it's just a matter of time before this whole notion of sitting in a room with an SPL meter and tuning your EQ will simply be done with.

-------- I've lost the link at the moment, but I still defer to the chief designer for McIntosh, who did several very well controlled blind tests regarding wiring. Their results showed that in blind A/B tests, no difference was found between adequatly sized "zip cord" and high end speaker cables. -------- For those currious http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm

---------------- See, that's what I get for listening to the rumourmill. Sony doesn't have a standalone Blu-Ray yet - only PC-based burners. Samsung is the only company that I can definitely say has an HD DVD player out. ---------------- Only Samsung player I'm aware of upconverts. THere are no HD-DVD players on the market yet as far as I know ... otherwise I think we'd be hearing about new HD-DVD tiltles ....

You're still ignoring the physics. I can get more electrons down 350 fine strands of copper with less resistance than you can with 5 thick ones. I have more total surface area. That's the reality of electron flow. Actually you're making a big assumption when you say that strandard wire will supply more surface area: that the wire is bare with no connectors and being fit into cheep contact clips. Remember the only point where more surface area matters is the point of contact between the wire and the component. Electrons flow quite easily through solid copper as quantum physics states it's 90% empty space anyway. Spend a couple dollars and put some banana plugs or spade lugs on the end and now your advantage is gone. A Banana plug will contact across a large surface area, and when crimped down also applies pressure to a large surface area of the cable. Heck, with interconnect cable this is strictly required. So back to the lamp cable analogy: If I drop 50 cents into some spade lugs to increase the surface area, where's the advantage?

^Vast majority of the "percieved difference" when switching to new cable is that the ends of your old cable have oxidized or worn. This is especially true with bare wire. That build up will effect current transfer, and when you switch to new wire: BAM! Clean connections and a sudden improvement. The sad truth is that you could have gotten the sound improvment for free with a little work. On bare wire, just trim the end then strip out some fresh copper. On a more elaborate cable with a gold-tip connector, grab the wife's jewlery polish and give it a good shine. A quick clean-up will make any old cable sound like new all over again.

Flase claim. I saw all three movies in IMax. Keep in mind that these are not IMax films; they are not using the I-Max screen ratio nor optimized for it's sound setup (which is unique ot those lines of theaters), it's merely the standard movie being played on a really, REALLY big screen, usually the best speakers in the theater. I've been watching big movies in I-Max for years now (The owner ofthe Irvine Spectrum constantly shows movies on the IMAX if it's popular enough), but it must just be recently catching on. I say this because RotK was the first time the movie started with a disclaimer saying "this is not an IMAX film".

I noticed you said you were considering RB-35 for the surround back when you got 7.1 later, I'd suggest you match your sides and get two more RS-35. First reason: when watching 5.1 movies the surround channel will be matrixed into both surround and surround/back speakers; having a perfect match will get you a better imaing effect which will be important sense the speakerswill always run this way. Second reason: According to blind tests done by Home THeater Magazine, the resulting sound and imaging was _better_ than directs according to everyone involved in the tests. Here's the link: http://www.hometheatermag.com/loudspeakers/25/index.html

No store carries SVS, that's the catch. They're a direct only company, meaning you'll only be able to buy online or over the phone. Only way to audition one is to to find someone in your area who has one. Now SVS does have a 45 day money back guarantee as well. Only thing they dont refund is shipping, so you'd be out $50 or so. So if you got one on a blind buy and decided you couldn't stand it, you could return it without too much hassle. I went ahead with the "blind buy" on my sub, and don't regret it for a moment. Just make sure you have a good line conditioner; The SV subs use two prong AC plugs to avoid ground-loop hum but in turn it makes them very sensitive to voltage fluctuations. Considering you likely have a reciever, DVD player, etc. all plugged into the same outlet, this will really effect sound quality.

Yeah, but shelling out another $1000 just for video conversion? Why not get a decent video switcher for less than half the price and accomplish the same thing? It's your money so it's your decision ultimately, but personally I find buying a revision of your existing product for one or two little features when the majority of it will preform identically to be a wasted investment. Save and step up to a processor instead; Use the 5.1 audio input and "direct mode" on the reciver to make it work as an amp then get all your new video inputs _plus_ better audio processing in one buy. THen you can phase your Denon out completely later with a stand alone amp.

You guys are forgetting the real issue: it has nothing to do with if the image is better; it has to do with settings up HT's so they can encrypt video feeds to stem piracy further. The reason all TVs are getting DVI connectors dispite the lack of DVI based DVD players is because it is currently planned that the next generation of DVDs (HD-DVDs) will _require_ DVI output in order to display. DVI specifications include HDCP encryption by Intel to make recording/taping impossible. OK, maybe not impossible, but the same level of security that we use with PGP encryption and Credit Card verification online: Very difficult to break. You don't need to look any further than current DVD players with DVI connectors: none of them will scale the DVD image over the component connector; you have to use the DVI connector for the scaling to work. Otherwise, just as current generation DVD players all have progressive scan, we should be seeing all DVD players scaling standard 480p to 1080i by now ... yet we don't. Oh well, the few ruining things for the many, it seems.

^Yup, he (Ithink it's one guy's personal buisness) offers full warranty to combat the fact that he can't get authorized. I personally had zero problems with the company, they even allowed me to make a last minute change to my order and didn't charge a re-stock fee.

That Parasound A52 looks rather nice as well. Very good suggestion. How do you feel it compares to what's listed above (Lexicon and Sunfire)?

Appreciate the suggestion, but I'm generally not into tube amps. They tend to sound different after they warm up, and arn't nearly as tight as solid state. I should have clarified that preference as well, sorry.

I'm traveling along the upgrade path (as we all do) and have come to the point where I feel the next logical upgrade for my sysytem is to build away from my reciever and towards an amp/pre-amp proc combo unit. So I settled on looking for an Amplifier to power the speakers and using my current reciever's pre-outs for now. I currently run an RF-35 system (RC-35 and RS-35) which have a stated maximum load of 125watts. I'm also running a Denon 3801 reciever right now. So what I'm looking for is a solid 5 channel amplifier that will in essense "wake up" my speakers (though 7 is acceptable). I was so so so impressed when I replaced my JBL system with the 35s it was like hearing movies for the first time. The impression I've been given is that with the proper SS Amp I would get this feeling again, but as I'm starting to drift into the truely high-end territory with single components costing two to four thousand, I realy feel doing my homework is critical (yeah I know they go way higher, but atthat point you're usually driving Watt Puppy 7s). So, In the communities opinion: What would be a good amp choice as far as really optimizing my 35s (not planning to replace them anytime soon). I was originally looking at a Sunfire Cinema Seven, but last night I picked the brain of a Genesis sales rep who said the direction I needed to go was Lexicon which was leagues better. Next thing I know I'm looking at 400watt per channel monsters that would probably fry my speakers and cost me my house to buy. Reality Check time: I just need whats best for my speakers; I'm building around those. Suggestions I know of: Sunfire Cinema Seven Lexicon CX-5 The only limits I have are: 1. I want a multi-channel amp. I have no room for 5 mono-blocks, and most I would do is 5 channel now and add a 2 channel later 2. Rember if it will kill my 35s then it's overkill for me. Building around the speakers. Other models I should consider?

^Maybe. Part of the specs include Intel's tolkien based encryption sysytem known as HDCP which only works of DVI connectors. So you'll need a compatible TV forthat. Now, don't expect a DVI>component adapter to work, either. It bypasses the whole point of digital encryption so they're already setting legal agreements to make those illegal. However, if you do have a set that does that ... it could mean 1080p one day (just as 480i waseasy to transition to 480p progressive).

You make me think I went to the wrong theater then Might have to re-see that movie in the I-Max theater.

I would do the exact opposite: set them all to small. When set to large the crossover is ignored and the only thing goingto the sub is LFE (unless you specifically set in your reciever to use LFE+Main, but I'll get to that). While the Klipsch speakers ahve internal x-overs to ensure they don't recieve anything the drivers can't handle, it doesn't mean everything within that range is done effortlessly. Technically the 5 surround channels can go as low as 35hz or so, so if the speakers in question arn't true full range speakers your going to have a good "hole" in your sound range. The sad truth is, contrary to the advertized range, most bookshelves start rolling off as high as 100hz unless they cost over $1k a pair. Heck the RB-75 start rolling off hard at 60hz. So the reality is, anytime someone sends a sound lower than 60hz and the speakers is set to large, it just comes out quieter than it should. At the lowest ends of the roll off will have an audiable strain. Why would you want boomy, straining sound if you can avoid it? The tempting answer is to then go to LFE+Main so you "use the full range of your speaker", but I would also avoid that as at the lower ends of the bookshelves range they'll add little but sloppy boom as they strain to keep up. Turn on the LFE without Main support, and suddenly all low hz sounds get sent to the sub before they venture too deep into the bookshelves "roll-off zone" so response stays tight and pure. It's non-localizable anyway unless your speakers/sub are unusually close. It sounds too conservative but in the end I prefer to call it effortless. Why "make your speakers drive thier full range" if at thier limits the sound is no longer pure?

Am I the only one who didn't find anything remarkable about "the voice"? It was an impressive bass hit for sure, but nothing about it seemed to strike me as very difficult for a good sub to reproduce. Might have people re-examining thier cross-overs, but otherwise it's just another low sound at high db. Audiable at that, meaning it's probably only about 30hz and no more daunting than the "reverse sweep" you hear in the opening battle of Fellowship ofthe Ring when Sauron falls. I'd rate that ~12hz roar of the Balrog as much more difficult for most systems to handle.

Whos the provider and how many chanels do you get? I actually have that exact same box form my provider (Cox Communications) but I'm debating cancelling it as they simply don't carry any station I watch yet. Then again, I did get to see the Victoria Secret fassion show in HD last night ... hmmm ... maybe it is worth keeping.

Video switching on a reciever is merely passing information on; there's no video processing invovled. It's primary purpose is so that you can basically never touch your TV controls: all video and audio source is managed by the AV unit. To help achieve this many recievers will translate all inputs to a single output, but that's as far as they go. Because the signal is still analog that means every switch potentially degrades signal quality however, so some purists will opt to run the video feed directly to the Television and don't use the reciever. THen of course you start looking into a nice macro-remote to keep things simple to operate

Come on guys, we're all Klipsch fans but no one's calling us Sales Reps. There's a reason why SVS has a huge following: they're VERY good subs. Just looking at the raw numbers, even the entry level 25-31PCi can give the RSW-15 a run for it's money. Lets just look at two performance charts. First, we'll look at this one from HomeTheater Magazine. The RSW-15 is the blue trace (staggered obviously) http://www.hometheatermag.com/images/archivesart/1103klipsch.5.jpg Now lets look below at the "modest" 25-31PCi: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_9_4/images/svs-25-31-pci-subwoofer-fr.gif Notice the RSW-15 has severe roll off at 30hz. The little 25-31, on the otherhand, never experiences a strong roll off, instead cruzuing down into the 20hz region. Yeah the 15 punches harder until that point, but with a larger driver and more watts you'd hope so. Not to mention this part: RSW-15: $1800 25-31Pci: $550 We're talking one third the cost! Again, the big Klipsch does punch more, but numbers don't lie. The SVS can beat tht sub in some performance areas and do it for alot less. This isn't sales-rep marketing ... it's common sense.

The website was just updated yesterday? I'm guessing someone actually typed out the review in that earlier post. Anyway, I just read it now, just thought peopel would be interested (as there was a thread awhile back of complaints about a "Klipsch Blackout".

Home Theater Magazine has posted it's RB-75 system review on it's website. Just thought I'd give the heads-up along with the link: http://www.hometheatermag.com/loudspeakers/1103klipsch/]Click Here Havn't read the whole thing, but the summary scores makes it seem like they really enjoyed the system.