dougdrake

To hear those formats requires one of 3 things, I believe: 1) A HD/BluRay player with analog outputs for all channels connected to the analog inputs of your preamp or receiver. The DVD player will do all the decoding. 2) A receiver that accepts Multi-channel Linear PCM (I believe that's what it's called) - which means the DVD player will decode the signal but it will be passed via a digital connection (coax or optical/SPDIF) in MLPCM mode, and your receiver must be able to handle that data stream. 3) A receiver that accepts a HDMI 1.3 input, in which case the DVD player will pass the True HD/DTS HD audio stream to the receiver for decoding. I believe the PS3 will do items 2 and 3.

You will also need to determine how you want to handle the new audio formats associated with high definition disks - DolbyTrueHD, DTS Master Audio, etc.... I am holding out for a new crop of pre/pro's that will support HDMI 1.3 inputs so my choices aren't limited. Right now, the current receiver line-ups from Denon, Onkyo, etc... have the edge over pre/pro's as far as latest audio processing technology.

customtronic - we should clarify that the HK models mentioned above as recommendations are the VINTAGE versions (ca 1970s), not the newer models. We're talking pure analog here.

Or get it at TigerDirect for $140... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=2530166&sku=T24-9114&CMP=EMC-TIGEREMAIL&SRCCODE=WEM1490BY

In my little town of 30,000, I guess they played by the rules - on sale at 8am, one unit per person. I was 4th in line (arrived at 7:40), so scored one. Now I've got both formats covered via this and my PS3 - guess that makes me Switzerland in the format war. Let 'em duke it out, as long as at least one survives!

As you consider the above options, it's important to note which ones require your remote to be able to "hit" their IR eye. If your lighting control panel is not in easy line of sight of your remote, it may not work. The cool thing about X-10 is you can put the IR-to-RF transcoder in the front of the room where it can see your remote, and then send the X-10 control signals through the wiring to any other X-10 switch/function you need to control. The cost of that transcoder (reference above as http://www.smarthomeusa.com/Shop/X10pro-IR-RF-Dist/Item/IR543/) is about $31.

And if you read it out loud with the right accent, you can do a pretty good impersonation of Sean Connery!

www.woot.com has some Klipsch speakers for sale today: Synergy SLX $300/pair Take a minute to read the ad copy (pasted below cuz the ad will go away tonight at midnight...): Scho, I wasch lischening to some muschic lascht Schaturday, schpeschifically the dischco schtylingsch of K.Schee. and the Schunschine Band, and it schounded to me like schomething wasch misching. Wheresch the bassch? I aschked myschelf. Thisch schoundsch like schlop. How am I schupposched to dansch to thisch? I schupposche itsch time to schpend a little schcratch on schome new schpeakersch. I had alscho notisched that the schound left a little schomething to be deschired when I wasch watching moviesch. Unbeknownscht to me, my life wasch about to change. For on that day, I was introdusched to the Klipsch Schynergy EschLXch Scheriesch Schpeakersch. Schusch schound! Schusch schtyling! Dual 4.5-inch IMG woofersch! A 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter! At lascht, a schet of schpeakersch that give me the three-dimenschional schoundschtage I scheek in a home theater schyschtem! The powerful magnet schtructure providesch high efficienschy and low dischtortion, while the schculpted portsch schupply schome intensch low-frequenschy eckschtension. Each EschLXch schpeaker can be poschitioned to scherve asch a main, schurround, or schenter channel schpeaker. Now thatsch verschatile! Their schmooth and schcuplted schtyle looksch schimply schtunning. And lascht but not leascht, their schilver finisch goesch schplendidly with my flat-schcreen TV. I should schay that there isch one minor point to raisch: thesche two schpeakersch do not come with floor mounting schtandsch, only wall mountsch. Scho if you want to schtand them up alongschide your flat-schcreen, youll need to conduct your own schcavenger hunt to find schome floor schtandsch. Schtill, thisch pair of Klipsch Schynergy EschLXch Scheriesch Schpeakersch isch a deal no schelf-reschpecting schtereo enthuschiascht should passch up. Now, if youll excusche me, Im going to schit myschelf down and hey, whatsch scho funny?

Hi clspruiell - The type of HDMI your system supports is not defined by the cable. It's a function of what version of HDMI the electronics on each end of it support. You'd need to check the specs of the player and the receiver.

As mentioned, the answer is no. The cabinets are not designed to mate with Klipsch drivers/speakers.

Massachusetts - OMG!!!!

I use video cables (like you'd use to connect the video output - not the antenna output - from an old-school VCR to your TeeVee, or like you'd use for component/composite video signals) for all my audio interconnects. They have shielding on them. I don't know if it makes any difference on the plus side, but there does not seem to be a downside, they cost about the same, and I figure it can't hurt.

First, approach amplifier output specifications with skepticism. There are many ways to measure it, and cheap amps (Pioneer or otherwise) will not delivery 110 watts in any sort of continuous fashion when all channels are driven. You need to look for independent bench tests that measure all channels driven. Your 75 watt amps will not overdrive these speakers. 100 watt amps won't overdrive them. Bear this in mind - a speaker that has 100 db sensitivity means that (in a test chamber) it produces 100db of output with 1 watt input, measured at 1 meter from the speaker. Most of the time your amps are only putting out a few watts continuously to produce comfortable listening volumes. They will crank the juice during dramatic passages with higher volumes, more complex scores, and wide dynamic range. It is during these times that you need an amp with horsepower to produce all of that cleanly - sort of like driving a car with a 100hp engine and one with 300hp. Yeah, the 100hp will do 55 on the freeway but what happens when you need to pass going uphill? That's when clipping can happen - the amp being asked to produce more than it can, and so it redlines and clips the output signal at a continuous flat peak which burns up speaker drivers. The speakers will handle the continuous output of 100watts (far more than you'd ever listen to comfortably) with peaks of 400watts (and that's momentary to handle the big stuff). I drive a pair of Chorus speakers with 200wpc (conservatively measured) amps with no trouble.

If this is your first encounter with surround sound systems with Dolby Digital, etc... I feel your pain. I remember it from years ago how foreign it all was. There are several pieces in the sound reproduction chain, and all of them have to be in line for it to work properly. Some things to check, off the top of my head: 1) Is your DVD player set up to pass the audio in the correct format? IIRC, most of the time you'd want PCM audio (and if your Yamaha supports DTS decoding be sure the DVD is set to be able to pass DTS - sometimes that's an option, sometimes it's already pre-set). 2) Do you have the proper decoding selected on the Yamaha for the material you are feeding it? Some receivers have an "auto" setting to select the correct decoding (Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro, etc...) - if yours does, set it to auto. 3) Are the speaker sizes set correctly in the Yamaha. Given that you have a sub, it may be best to set them all to small, and set the cross-over in the Yamaha to 80hz. 4) As suggested, it's important that the sound levels of all channels are equalized. I've never used the auto-setup on a receiver for that, but if it's done properly I understand that it can be very good. I guarantee you that you can't set them by ear, especially the sub. 5) Depending on the movie, there may actually not be much content in the rear channels. IOW, how do you know the car door/alarm is supposed to be coming from the rear, versus one of the front speakers? 6) Placement of the speakers has an impact on how it all sounds. You may have to experiment with their distance from the TV and the walls, the angle they face you, etc... until you find the best sound. Subs USUALLY (but not always) do their best near a corner so they can make use of the walls/floor to load the room. Sometimes, though, it can sound boomy so again you may have to experiment. Hope some of this helps.

How odd you'd mention Ray today, fini. I thought of him this morning, and his incredible Klipsch story several years ago (I believe that's your sea reference). I get a text message from Ross Taylor every now and then. He's living in northern AZ, and last I knew had a home remodeling business. Thanks for the reminder - I need to contact him!

Maybe check out the separates over at www.outlawaudio.com and www.emotiva.com.

In your receiver, I'd set sub=yes, all speakers to small, crossover to 80hz. On the sub, set the low-pass as high as it will go, or to a bypass setting if there is one. Reason for that is your receiver is already doing the crossover filtering so no sense having the sub filter again.

I used an NAD receiver with my KG4s (bought new in mid-80's and still in place in my living room) and it was fine with bass. I'm now using a Fisher 101 integrated tube amp (about 35wpc) and it also does great with them. (Picked up The Fisher off a craigslist for about $250. It's a 1959.)

Sure, you can hear the clipping. Sometimes, though, the damage is down by the time you stop it.

My first 5.1 setup was with KG-4s, combined with a KV-3 center speaker, and SS-1 surround speakers. I thought it did a fine job, for what it was.

Power doesn't necessarily kill speakers, but bad power does kill speakers. While they may tolerate 100 watts continuous, if the amp is clipping (being asked to drive more than it has power for), it will fry speakers at well below 100 watts. I'd rather see amps with 400 watts of output connected to these speakers than a 90 watt amp with the volume maxed out.

Thanks, gentlemen. When I push on the dustcap, I do hear a rubbing sound. Guess it's now a garage tool! Bummer. Oh well, it's out of warranty as I got about 5 years out of it - not bad I suppose.

Hi - I have a question about a symptom being exhibited by the subwoofer in my car. When it operates, I hear a buzz/vibration sound coming from the speaker itself. It's not a ground loop, and is not another piece of the car vibrating. I've removed the speaker from the box and I can hear the sound emanating directly from the speaker in sync with bass beats. What is this a symptom of - fried speaker? Thanks for the assist!

What are your future plans with respect to high-definition video and audio, if any? Something to keep in mind is that neither of those manufacturers currently offer a unit that can accept an HDMI audio input. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as your video source has analog outputs which will handle the HD audio output, and you don't need to feed more than one HD-audio component into your pre/pro. At present, only a handful of manufacturers (Integra and Anthem come to mind) offer pre/pro's with HDMI 1.3 inputs. However, there are several good AV receivers out there which do.

OO = Oak Oiled (refers to the cabinet finish)