Olorin

The whole thing helps a whole lot. The first comment is what I was thinking in the back of my head Thanks This post I'm about to quote is a pretty decent explanation. I've seen a better, more comprehensive one at the same site, but I can't find it now, and this one hits the core of your question square-on. So, you use your meter or your mic with REW, and you play your pink noise, and you adjust the volume on your receiver until you're getting 75 db. Whatever number is on your volume display, add 30, and provided your gear can do it, that is reference level playback. Of course if you're using Audyssey or it's ilk, all that is done automagically, so you just follow the directions and check the result.

My advice is to try it and see if you like it!

Okay, I checked that out, and it brings the funnay.

Hey I can only comment on what I see. :-P I'll check it out at home, where Big Brother is much more discrete.

Cool, my username and IP have just been reported to corporate IS for AUP violation, as the site linked there falls under the category of "proxy avoidance." Yay me!

^^^^^^ This. You know it's the actual outcome, so you might as well make it the plan!

I use a 235 for my front end, and I've been very happy with it with a Chorus II/Academy/Quartet setup. For music, it's a good unit until you get a little past moderately high volumes, then its 35 watts just aren't quite enough. WIthin its limits, though, its a very nice unit. I've never found it lacking for movies. I can't imagine the floorstanding F2s falling short in the face of the bookshelves. I know you didn't exactly ask that question, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway. []

Like you, J, I recently lost someone I know to suicide. I didn't know her well, but my world and that of many others is diminished just the same. I'm sorry for your loss.

Yes, separate amp and processor vs integrated. It looks like the 707 is $900 at Vann's and an Emotiva XPA-3 is $600. Meanwhile an Emotiva XPA-5 is $800 and the UMC-1 processor is $700. All else being equal, I'd go with separates. After all, why pay for new amplification with EVERY upgrade cycle? In any event, with either path you're over budget by 150%. []

Sounds like you're right on the edge of going to separates. Do you have a budget in mind?

Right, to use what we're calling a 3.1, you're basically taking a 5.1- or 7.1-capable receiver and using only some of its capabilities. In a 3.1 as we're describing it you're just dropping the rear channels and not using them at all. I don't know anything about the Klipsch 3.1 system so I can't comment on it. You're also right that you don't need a full-on surround receiver to do stereo plus a sub, and there are some good stereo receivers out there that will take your audio signal and do exactly that. Harman Kardon makes a couple, as does Onkyo, and I'd be surprised if Yamaha didn't, though I'm not familiar enough with their line to know if they do or not. I'd be concerned, though, that a two-channel receiver wouldn't be able to decode the audio formats that DVDs and the like use. I don't know if that's a valid concern or not, but it's something to research. On the other hand, you could get around that potential shortcoming by using analog outputs from your devices so they would be doing their decoding instead of the receiver doing it. So you can see there are a lot of ways to tackle the problem. Getting a 7.1 receiver that can decode all the latest DVD and BluRay audio formats and that can also run as many speakers as you might ever want it to definitely gives you the smoothest upgrade path if you change your mind later. Cost is entirely up to you. I've only talked about mass-market consumer level gear because that's the field I play in, but as you know you can spend as much as you want to on this stuff.

I'd say you are, if you're saying what I think you're saying. [] My decidedly lower-midrange Harman Kardon AVR-235 from four or five years ago does it, and the decidedly low-range Kenwood AV-509 I had in 2001 did it. You turn on the fronts and center and sub, and turn off the surrounds. Voila. 3.1. I ran my Chorus IIs, Academy, and sub that way for most of the last year. Okay, now I think we just may be using different words for the same thing, except you're talking about leaving the surround channels on and having the output feed to nothing. I suppose one could do that, but it seems better to turn off the surrounds in the processor. The result is the same in that all of the signal that would have gone to the surrounds is dropped, but with the surrounds off in the processor, the signal is killed before the amp stage. However, the discrete left, center, right, and LFE channels are still utilized. Think of 3.1 as being 2.1 with a center, and I think we're on the same page. I'm with you here. I've used an Academy with Heresys and the whole was less than the sum of the parts. The Academy adds to the experience with Quartets, Forte (II)s, and Chorus (II)s, but takes away from it with the Heresys. They're just different enough to be distracting instead of complimentary, IMO.

Think "forklift upgrade." Sell your Energy gear and buy a matched setup, or save up your money, buy a matched setup, and recoup what you can by selling off the Energy gear. The transitional period is a pain. Here's another thought -- I don't know about your area, but my local Craigslist sees 5.1 Synergy systems with some regularity, and Reference systems with somewhat less frequency, but it does happen. That's got to be nearly impossible to beat from a bang/buck perspective. Welcome to the madness!

IIRC they are 8 ohms nominal, with a 16 ohm woofer and Type C crossover.

If only ALL new owneres would pay heed to this advice, they could save themselves a lot of wasted time, effort and money.Bruce Your statement rings of truthiness.

Five woofers will be really hard to wire in any kind of sensible way. Powers of two are best. The center of the ceiling is almost sure to be a poor location; you are likely to get smoother response with a pair of two-driver manifolds than with a single four-driver manifold. If you can swing one in the ceiling centered at the juncture with the front wall and one in the ceiling centered at the juncture with the rear wall, or the same idea using the side walls, you'll have much smoother response over a larger seating area. The advantage of a manfifold with the drivers facing one another is mechanical vibration cancellation. The link provided has a huge amount of good information. I'd recommend spending a fair amount of time there and reading ThomasW's posts and reading them some more. That guy is a treasure trove of knowledge on this.

Congratulations on your new La Scalas! I'm a new La Scala owner myself, coming from Chorus IIs. They're definitely different -- better in some ways, not as good in others, but overall the difference is growing on me. I have the CT125s in mine and I think they sound very nice. That would be a good place to start. My biggest bit of advice would be to go slow. Get the tweeters working first, then spend some time with them. Your perception of their sound will change over time, different people will tell you different things, and everybody has their own idea about what sounds "better." Thing is, nobody will tell you what's specifically "better" unless you ask directed questions, so you can spend a lot of money following advice like "I changed to AAs from the ALs and it was a big improvement." Improvement in what? Be sure to identify just what perceived shortcoming you wish to correct. Listening habits matter too, so whether you're a rock and roll guy or a classical music guy or a jazz guy can influence your "best" crossover and amp combination. I promise you an 8 watt amp is not going to control that 15" woofer with the music I listen to the way I sometimes listen to it, but your applicaiton might differ, so my amp advice might not be good for you.

On a lighter note, this is funny no matter who you are: http://www.theonion.com/articles/massive-flow-of-bullshit-continues-to-gush-from-bp,17564/?ref=d

My gas guzzler is my only car and it only goes about 8,000 miles a year. Given the projected mechanical life of the vehicle, if I keep it in California and it doesn't rust, it will last longer than I do. When I take that fact and add that it takes more energy to manufacture a Prius than my car will use over the rest of its lifetime, replacing the Land Cruiser doesn't make sense from an environmental or personal economic perspective. I've looked pretty hard at this and I haven't found an angle that makes buying a new car look any different. Now I might buy a 10 year old Miata if I can find one in decent shape that has a hard top. The bulk of it's carbon footprint -- again, manufacture -- was put down a decade ago, and it will get 30 mpg on the highway. The sticker is that at $3/gal, every $3,000 I spend on a car that gets 30 mpg takes 2.5 years to pay back in fuel savings, and of course insurance and registration make that longer. As for recycling, yes, I'm a supporter and have done it for years. I replaced all the incandescents in my house with CFLs a couple years ago, for whatever that's worth. I do my best to use as little electricity as I can; I have my windows open and AC off long after all the neighbors are running theirs. My stereo is on a lot, but I use solid state amplification that doesn't double as a space heater. []

You know about the "one port diameter from port end to any obstruction" rule, yes? I ask because it implies some longish legs if you want to downfire the ports.

That opening post over there is great. Thanks for linking it.

It's good that you laminated them; they should be almost as strong now as they were before I took all the paint off.

HAHA!!! I was going to update with pics of what I'd gotten done and the story up to the hand-off, but life got in the way. Nice progress!

I think it's most likely that the MP3 player has some kind of EQ built into it and it just happens that you like the effect when you put it through your mains.