RichardP

I found your question when looking at how long some questions go unanswered here. Your question is simple (I think) and should have been answered long ago. You should connect the sub to the receiver via the rec's LFE OUT jack. You then go into the appropriate receiver set up menu and tell it that a subwoofer is connected (SUB - YES or something like that). Many people then set the main speakers (and center and surrounds, if present) to SMALL (even if they are floor speakers); this just routes the lowest frequencies to the sub, which it is designed for, and takes some of the load of reproducing low freq's off the main speakers. The mains will still produce some low freq's, but only down to 80 Hz or so. You also set the relative output levels for each speaker. My Yamaha receiver remote has a button labeled "TEST" which produces pink noise from each speaker in succession, along with an adjustment option, so that each speaker's level can match all the other speakers. This includes the sub, although you will hear more of a hum rather than pink noise. This is best done with an SPL meter, but can be done by ear. If no SPL meter, just adjust each such that no speaker is perceived as greatly louder than the others, incl. the sub. When you say "..nothing in speakers.." do you mean no bass or no sound at all? If the latter, make sure the speaker A-B buttons on the receiver are in the ON position. I hope this answers your question.

bump....anybody?....anybody?

I recently purchased the Dayton HPSA1000-R Subwoofer amp (500w), to power one of my Klipsch KW-120 subwoofers, to add to my Belle stereo setup (the other sub and KA-1000 amp remains with my HT system). The main 2-ch amp for the Belles is a vintage 1980's Yamaha 600 "Natural Sound" series. It has pre-amp out jacks, which I thought would be appropriate connection for the sub amp's inputs. The Dayton sub amp only has L,R, and LFE RCA inputs; it does not have speaker level inputs. There are two problems I have encountered. First, I get an elevated noise level, sometimes with occasional static, coming from the Belles (not the sub). It is not the 60 Hz hum common to grounding problems; it is a higher frequency, and clearly comes from the Belle's midrange drivers. It is not quite a sibilant sound, but definitely not a low hum; some might call it a hiss. If I connect the sub amp to the Yamaha's tape rec out jacks instead, there is no noise, but of course with that configuration the subwoofer volume does not change with the Yamaha volume control. I would have to set the main speaker volume on the Yamaha, then separately adjust the sub amp level to match it. I have tried three RCA cables to make the connection, with no difference. They are not monstrous (get it?) gold plated connectors, but I think they are reasonably shielded. Moving the cables away from other connectors and power cords also has no effect on the noise. The next problem is that, when using the preamp out connection, the signal is very low. I have to turn the sub amp level control from lowest to highest just to be able to hear a difference in sub volume during playback. It is as if there is only a 1 or 2 db range of adjustment. When the sub amp is connected via the tape rec output, there is a much higher signal, and a huge range in volume can be heard when changing the sub amp level control. The Yamaha owner's manual lists the preamp output as 775 mV (2 ohms) with a max of 3000 mV; the tape rec out is listed as 120 mV. That doesn't make sense. It seems that currently the preamp out signal is far below what it should be. I have never attempted to use a preamp out connection before, and do not know exactly where to start to try to diagnose and possibly eliminate the problems. I would hate to think that I must use the tape out connection, and have to adjust sub amp level each time I adjust the main volume level on the Yamaha. Can anyone offer any information on this problem? Thanks in advance.

You might PM or email forum member RMLOWZ (Rich). He has tried out many subs, including the Trinity, and perhaps others that you are considering. He sold me his Klipsch THX Ultra II system when he got the Trinity (although he may have sold it and bought another Ultra II system after all). He is a nice guy and can probably give you a lot of information.

If you don't have a box, moving companies (North American, Atlas, etc.) usually sell boxes called "dishpacks," made for (you guessed it) packing dishes; they are triple-walled cardboard, and if you combine that with the foam boards mentioned above, it might do the trick. I know that the outer boxes for large speakers, like Fortes, use a triple-wall cardboard. The dishpacks are probably less than $10 each, and seem to be about the right size for Heresys.

I will probably go with your recommendation, Colin. I found an inexpensive receiver, and I already have a portable CD player. I also have a pair of KG .5s that I am not currently using, but was wondering about the effects of the unregulated temperatures in my garage on what are intended as indoor speakers. Although the .5s only go for about $70 (which is what I paid), would being in a garage (closed most of the time) inevitably hasten their demise, so to speak? And, would it be a rapid demise? Has anyone else had any experience, good or bad, with speakers in an unheated garage? THNX

Your signature line shows you have the Oppo 980 (I have one too). Does it not "do it" for you?

I would like to buy an inexpensive boombox to keep in my garage, where I occasionally spend time on various projects. I don't spend enough time there to justify an full blown stereo system, and I just need something that will play radio stations and CDs. Has anybody purchased one in the past year or two that has held up to normal use and can provide a decent sound for a 22x20 garage? I say "past year or two" because manufacturers change models so often, and some are only found at certain stores, etc., and I probably couldn't find any older models still available even if they were good ones. I would like to keep it in the garage all the time, where temperatures can range from extremes of 0 to 100 degrees, with moderate temps and fairly low humidity the norm, but will keep it stored in a temp controlled room if absolutely necessary. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

You are correct about Elliot Scheiner, who seems to be the most talented multichannel sound engineer around. He has mixed all the multichannel Fagen/Steely Dan releases, as well as some notable others (Eagles' Hotel California, Porcupine Tree albums). He has stated that he is ready to remix the entire Steely Dan catalog into 5.1, but apparently the studios don't see it as profitable. His work on multichannel auto systems is interesting. I recall reading years ago that car interiors were an untapped outlet for advanced sound systems, because despite road and engine noise, the interior acoustic space of a particular model is highly specifiable, so a sound system could be optimally tuned for it. It's a tragedy that 5.1 music has almost died with only an obscure niche market remaining, as it really can make for an elevated sound experience on a HT system. I suppose today's music market is analogous to the 1960s when there were some stereo enthusiasts (with large Klipsch speakers, tube amps, AR turntables, etc.) while the masses were content listening to mono music from a cigarette-pack-sized transistor radio (evolved today into an iPod).

[some pretty creepy stuff there! Wonder if those LPs sound as bad as they look?] I think that is pretty much guaranteed. I've seen some of these before on several sites, and I think the John Bult LP gets the grand prize for creepiness.

I have the same amp, and when it temporarily malfunctioned, I was shocked to learn that Klipsch offers no support whatsoever after the warranty expires. Fortunately, it came back to life. While things were still in limbo, however, I noticed a similar amp (in terms of power and specs) from PartsExpress. It is a dedicated sub amp, and, according to the description, has many of the same features as the Klipsch (though not the SpeakOn connectors, which would be simple to modify). The good news is that it is only about $350. I can't recall the model number, but it is the only sub amp they offer at that price point.

I have recently bought SACDs at amazon with no problem. The ones I ordered came directly from Amazon, not a separate vendor, but they sometimes send them later than the rest of the order, as if not regularly in stock. I also purchased some from www.deepdiscount.com, which is about as cheap as anywhere. I may have ordered some from www.cduniverse.com as well. Be aware that many SACDs and DVD-Audios are not being made anymore. High-rez surround, while wildly appreciated by some of us, is a failed format, with only a few specialty labels or individual artists continuing to release new multichannel material. Many attribute its failure to both competing format wars (thanks again, Sony) and the incredible popularity of iPod and other portable and compressed music technologies.

One of the best original SNL cast sketches was the unscrupulous toy marketer Irwin Mainway (Ackroyd). Anyone remember "Bag-O-Glass?"

Here is a photo published (and taken by?) Nikon. Almost surrealistic.

I would advise not mentioning your number of forum posts, the number of speakers at your home, the general mania surrounding a specific brand of speakers, etc., at least not until she is in too deep to retreat [] Congrats on all of it.

Among his ringtones... "Dingle dongle dingle dongle someone's calling you Goulet." Seriously, it is a great person who can make fun of himself, such as in the almond commercials, as well as the "Robert Goulet's Cajun Christmas" scene from the Bill Murray movie Scrooged.

Am I mistaken, or do most of the repliers to this thread recommend either old recordings, or new recordings by old artists? Well, I don't want to rock the boat, so... John Fogarty, Revival (CD, 2007); has been called the album that CCR would have made next if they didn't break up (in the '70s!). Very much a CCR sound, but "modernized" with extremely clean sound and lots of bass, for current tastes. Sound & Vision even labelled it as a "reference recording." Among my favorite cuts is "I Can't Take It No More," a scathing anti-Bush protest song. In the early '70s, I listened to CCR a fair amount, because I was in a garage band and their songs were easy to learn and play. Later, my tastes changed to much different music genres, and I then thought their music was simplistic. Now I have come full circle to appreciate the songwriting again, and have had the pleasure of buying remastered versions of the old stuff. I also recently bought the new Joni Mitchell CD, but that's for another thread (preview: it has a clever new version of Big Yellow Taxi).

My receiver does not have HDMI inputs, so all signal is via the 6 analog inputs. I don't think I could discern small differences in hi-rez sound across different players. I have always thought that any multi-channel music was great, whether hi-rez analog or DD5.1 or DTS. I would be hard pressed to distinguish between a good 2-channel stereo recording on CD vs. hi-rez. Multichannel recordings sound great, but then that is due to the separation and rear effects in the mixing, rather than frequency range, sampling rate, etc. I personally have doubts about anyone's claim about discriminating between hi-rez signals over analog vs. HDMI connections, as long as the signal is being processed correctly. In sum, I don't think you could go wrong with this player. I like the idea of a "boutique" company like Oppo who puts all their effort into a small line of products, has great support, firmware upgrades, etc..

Before I found an Academy for my Fortes, I used a Quartet for a center. It is timbre matched to the Chorus ll, being its little sibling. You can get a pair of Quartets for the price of an Academy, and they are more commonly found. You do have to have a large-ish and strong surface or shelf to hold its 50 lbs, however

I bought one a few weeks ago, primarily for SACD/DVD-A playback, and secondarily for its upscaling video so I can make use of the 1080i playback on my somewhat aging RPTV. I am not a video resolution freak, so I cannot comment as to whether the Oppo is outstanding/great/OK or whatever at video playback. From reading threads on AVS Forums, many TVs look no better at 1080i than they do at 480p; maybe mine is one of those. The audio feature that makes the Oppo great (especially at the price), aside from being a universal player, is the channel trim feature in audio playback. Many receivers/amps cannot make any adjustment to the hi-rez analog audio inputs. I formerly used a Pioneer 588 universal player for SACD/DVD-As, and it had no channel adjustment and only crude bass management; it played the bass/LFE channel on DVD-As at such a low level that I could only enjoy listening to the DD or DTS tracks, not the 6-ch analog tracks (although SACDs sounded much better). The Oppo allows one to adjust each hi-rez analog channel in 0.5 dB increments, and DVD-A analog tracks finally sound as they should. Another small feature that makes sense is that for audio-only playback, you can turn off the video OSD; if not, it displays the normal video menus, etc., for DVD-As, and a generic track # listing for SACDs and CDs.

Do you need to replace the plastic grill frames, or just the cloth covering? If only the latter, search this site for "grill cloth" and you will find many threads on the topic. I am familiar with the KG 5.5s, and if I remember correctly, the cloth is fairly generic (not the iconic broad weave cloth of the Heritage line, which many have trouble finding or matching). It should be very easy to find generic acoustically-transparent black cloth from many sources. In fact, www.partsexpress.com has all necessary products for speaker building, including cloth. Other posters here may have knowledge of how to glue the cloth to the plastic grill frames.

You are watching the right places. Forte's were quite popular, so there always seem to be some for sale*. Obviously, the NC-SC-DC-VA-TN-GA area is highly populated, most within a day's drive, much of it within a day's round trip drive, so something should appear within a reasonable time (1-3 months). If it were me, and I saw an ebay auction from a nearby seller, I would politely email the seller and ask if they would end the auction and sell for a certain price with personal pick up. You could research recent Forte sales (under "completed auctions" in advance search), and offer a fair price based on the recent average selling price. Some sellers may prefer that option rather than attempting to pack and ship such large speakers. If they won't sell directly, just watch the auction and bid what you are comfortable with near the end of the auction. * my theory is that many men bought the highly-respected Fortes in their early days of bachelorhood. Now that they are married, wife says "get rid of those big things." I don't mean this to be sexist, just probablistic. (Dtel's wife excepted, of course).

I recall reading somewhere (here) that having voices coming from above a TV screen is perceived as more natural than from below, so hopefully there is an above-TV solution for you. It's unlikely that your TV, even if it were deep enough to be a "shelf," would support a center as heavy as yours. There aren't many options other than some type of shelf, and it will need to be a sturdy one to support a 32-lb center. That window will likely create even more difficulty, although if you go the route of installing a shelf bolted to the wall, at least you know the frame around the window is solid. Check out www.standsandmounts.com and www.racksandstands.com for every conceivable stand, shelf, and mount possible. If you are in a rental and can't bolt anything to the wall, an option may be to use those chrome or black welded-wire kitchen shelves, with the sides or uprights on the floor on either side of the TV and center shelf across the top. I think they can be customized to fit your exact needs. Another option, of course, is to get a taller TV stand so that the speaker will clear the coffee table. A variation of that solution is to raise the TV a bit higher on its current shelf (wood blocks, etc.), then put the RC-62 on a dedicated center speaker stand in front of the current shelf that places it higher than it is now.

For the record, this thread does not refer to me. I have no idea who this is or what this thread is about. It' s kind of unnerving to read this.

Satellite radio might sound better in a car than FM, but it certainly isn't "CD quality." Also, on at least some music channels, there is still DJ banter, which I find as annoying as commercials. However, I realize that some people like DJs, even all-talk radio stations.