dougdrake

IIRC, my Dad used a pair of Sanus stands on his Quintets, but I can't be 100% sure: http://www.sanus.com/us/en/products/speaker-foundations/sp-home-theater

IIRC, the Academy appeared on the scene some time after the speakers for which it is the designated center were manufactured. The badge design had changed during that time.

I don't know how long your runs are, but I use 12 ga for everything. I'm in the camp that I can't tell the difference - I just get ones that are sturdy and reasonably priced, which IMO includes Carol Cable (think I got that at Home Depot - probably also at www.partsexpress.com). www.monoprice.com might have some. And you might stumble on a good deal at www.accessories4less.com.

You can also go to www.radioroku.com and use it as a directory to many radio stations on the 'net. www.slacker.com also streams music, as does Yahoo.

If only Sony would add support for WMA Lossless to the PS3. I have all my CD's ripped in that format, and would love to stream them from my PC/server via the PS3....

And you probably need to go into the Yamaha's set-up menus and tell it you have a sub-woofer connected and then set the speaker sizes to small, and then set your cross-over settings (unless your Yammy has one of them new-fangled auto-calibration routines involving placing a microphone in the room and pushing GO).

Yes. The Chorus does not go deep enough for HT use, and IMO even for just music.

Let us know how that KV-4 sounds with your KG's. The KV-4 was voiced for a completely different line of speakers (the Epic series - CF-2, CF-3, etc..). While it shares KV with the KV-2 and KV-3, they are from different planets.

At shoponkyo right now there is a refurb'd 606 for $350 and a 706 for $550

After dining on my foot too many times, I find I simply cannot make a comment about them. Invariably, someone (or many) in a room will either own, or aspire to owning, them so I just keep quiet.

I think it's more likely any HD audio formats are going to require the bandwidth possible only through HDMI or future developments. Coax/SPDIF and TOSLINK are not up to the task.

Not sure what your budget for a pre-amp is, or what features you're looking for, but a couple that have received great press are from Onkyo/Integra. The Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 is nice, but a bit tough to find since it's from their PRO line and not available through the usual sources. The Integra 9.8 (now 9.9) pre-amp is more readily available, and is virtually identical in features.

Carbon - We sound of like mind. I have my first pair of Klipsch speakers (KG4) bought in the mid-80s. I'm frugal, as well. I don't think you'll find a better value than old-school Klipsch speakers (with all due respect to the current line up). You can usually sell them years later for what you paid for them. For a receiver, I've become a fan of Onkyo - they are really kicking some hiney in terms of feature/functionality/sound right now. You can often find great values on factory refurb units at www.shoponkyo.com. Regarding speakers - think long term. If you intend to get larger main speakers, and want to stay with legacy speakers, keep that Academy. It's the ideal center for a pair of used Forte or Chorus speakers. And the Academy is relatively hard to come by. I'm using one with my Chorus mains now, and I like it a lot.

If you're open-minded, check out the factory refurbished Onkyo TX-NR906S for $999 (MSRP $2199). These disappear fast. http://shoponkyo.com/products.cfm?group_id=1&subcat=Receiver

I own both KG3 and KG4. Both are good - but go for the KG4. Be sure to give them a sound-check before buying. Gently press on the speaker cones and be sure you don't hear any scraping noise (sign of abuse and a speaker that's about to die). Some white dust on the surround of the drone on the back is normal - they are rubber and it's just normal interaction with the environment. While these are nice speakers, I don't know that they justify any investment of time or money in cross-over tweaking, especially for his intended use.

That's been my experience on these store-closing sales that anyone has. I have never found a deal there. I can beat their clearance prices just about every day on-line, which I guess is a testimony about why they are closing.

I've seen the above diagram before, and I love it. But this is the first time I ever noticed that the red line never goes into the Gap!

Very funny! Although we know this letter is a fake because of two items which you would never encounter at Walmart - #6 (carpet) and #8 (a clerk offering to help).

L33T - I relate - I started into HT with KG4's and a Denon 3300. The Denon is still in place but the KG4s are now in my 2-channel system in my living room. But, they served me well in the HT until I got upgradeitis.... Your preamp will have the processor in it (aka pre/pro) so that's only one device. And after your source device (BluRay, Cable Box, Tivo, whathaveyou) it's the only device that needs HDMI (besides your TeeVee, of course). For amps, I've been quite pleased with my Acurus amps. Only available used at this point. I have a 5x200 in the system now. My 3x200 bench tested at about 340wpc, so they are very underrated as to actual output.

You've probably already found some of these, but here are some calculators to help with computing distances, angles, etc... http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html http://www.carltonbale.com/home-theater/home-theater-calculator/

The Integra 9.8 ( and its sibling Onkyo Pro PR-SC885) seem to get good grades for plain ol' audio also....(not to mention their HT prowess).

We went for the Consumer Reports #1 rated pick - the Sears Kenmore. Had it a couple months and really like it. It's very powerful and much quieter than other vacuums. It is direct drive, so no pesky belts to replace. I also found the bagless vacs to be a huge PITA to empty, after having a Hoover Windtunnel. Seems we always would up with dust/dirt flying all over the place during the emptying process. The Kenmore's bag could not be easier to change. It is not self-propelled, which at first concerned us, but after using it for a few months, I find it easier to maneuver than the propelled Windtunnel. Plus the shape of the handle makes it easy to grab and hold on to. We picked ours up for about $250 - it is often on sale.

I believe the OP is referring to DTS audio-only disks. I have one from Diana Krall - not a movie, just music.

You'll need several things. First, a video connection from your PC to your TV - do you have outputs on the PC that are compatible with the TV? Second, an audio connection from the PC to your Yamaha - do you have digital audio output from the PC (TOSLINK or SPDIF)? Third, you'll need a player for the DVD files on your PC - how did you store the movie onto the hard drive? Is it an ISO image of the DVD, or did you rip the individual files? There are several players that could work, depending on how it's stored, and many of them are free.

You may want to pick up a Radio Shack analog SPL meter so you can set the channel volumes. It's not very expensive, and will give you the balance you are seeking. You may not be able to get the RS-7's matched up exactly, from a volume perspective, simply because they are less efficient than the K-Horns. RS-7 are 98db and the Horns are 104/105db (the Horns use 4x less amp power to produce the same volume).