plissken99

How would the kpt-902's be? Their around 1/3rd less expensive, and would likely also be better than the THX Ultra or RF7's.

The argument for not getting Dolby Atmos because there's no media is silly. I mean once upon a time we didn't have discrete 7.1 surround mixes, now their common on Blu Ray. I've already read that Atmos can be implemented on all Blu Ray players with a firmware upgrade. So happens I'm a month or two out from breaking ground on a new house, where I'll finally have a properly designed HT in the basement, I'm thinking I'll pre-wire for 11.2 channels. What I'm wondering about is the in ceiling speakers. Currently I have the RF-7's with DeanG mods, but I'm considering going with the Klipsch THX Ultra2 setup in the future. The Ultra2 ceiling speakers are $999 per channel, where the Reference series are about $350. Considering they won't be main channels, I'm dubious as to how much difference there could possibly be between the reference and Ultra2 speakers.

PM sent

Bah! I have class that day and couldn't make it before 1:30. Would it be possible to come over then? Also, I don't see the Jubilee's for sale anywhere. Where do you even get them? And what would the cost be?

How do the Jubilees compare to the K-Horns?

I do have a plenty large enough space for any speakers I want, the corners can work for K-Horns as well as LaScalas. I have an appointment with a guy tomorrow to see his THX Ultra2 set up, I'm gonna bring Fellowship of the Ring and play the Mines of Moria sequence on it, and on mine before I head over there. I need to hear the LaScalas or K-Horns as well, maybe someone here in the DFW area would be kind enough to have me over. Andsince I have the space for either, would you recommend LaScala mains over K-Horn mains? Also, the Heritage speakers have been around forever... if I came across a used set on Craigslist or whatever from the 80's, would they be as good as the new ones you get from dealers?

From everything I've read the actual K-Horns(which the Lascala's basically are in that family) aren't that highly recommended for pure movie viewing, where the Ultra2 speakers are specifically designed with movies in mind(from what I've read their almost the undisputed champ of home theater). I would love an acoustically transparent screen, however they only have a gain of 1.2, which limits the screen size to 133in max, unless you have a light cannon projector. I'm pretty married to the JVC projectors for the magnificent black levels, their nice in brightness, but not light cannons by any means. It is possible I could make a larger riser for my second row, but still the second row is unoccupied 90% of the time. The "we're" as in me, myself and a contractor lol. P.S... Now you've got me thinking. What about K-Horns for mains and a Lascala for the center(with a 160in screen, it would JUST fit), and my RF-7's as surrounds? Though again from what I've read the Ultra2 speakers should be about as good as it gets for movies. Pure music listening in the theater room is rare, mostly it's Blu Ray concerts. May as well consider them, as this is a large room(20ft by 27ft)

At the moment I'm in college and when I get out I should have a 50k a year job with few bills, and I'm a professional bachelor. We're planning an addition to our house to build the perfect theater room, and I want to build it with the THX Ultra2 speakers in mind. It seems to be the only system thats an upgrade to my current set up lol. One problem I can see right off, I also want to upgrade to a 200in hi power screen(8.2ft tall), which is not acoustically transparent obviously, and based even on a 10ft ceiling, the center channel would basically be on the floor(angled up I suppose). Is that ok placement for it? Afterall when dropping 13k on a set of speakers, I want it perfect. If need be I could scale back to a 160in screen(6.5ft tall), but the family has their hearts on 200in lol. Ok thats placement, on the audio component side... Currently I have the Emotiva XPA-5, 200wpc, but I see the Ultra2 speakers are rated for 150w max continious. Will the Emotiva be too much and I should consider amps with less wattage? Or will it be ok?

None taken, at the time was the most logical thing per my budget. I had bought a $1400 Denon reciever with all the bells and whistles with 125wpc, but a guy on AVS forums suggested returning it, and buying the Pioneer 1120 reciever with all the features, and the Emotiva XPA-5, both costing around $700 at the time, and it was the best move I ever made, sound was dramatically superior to the Denon. And I know there are better solid state amps, I just have no way to demo them in my system. All I know at the moment is that little 15wpc amp we hooked up made it sound more like being at a concert than the Emotiva. Yesterday he brought it back over and hooked at up to try a movie(Batman Begins), and it sounded kinda neat, but wasn't right. The sound effects had a nice bright realness to them, however when background music kicked in, it... didn't blend well with the soundtrack somehow. It's like the amp reacts differently to music than sound effects and dialog, in action scenes dialog was completely drowned out. So I am 100% sure the tube amps will be for music and concerts alone. As for looking at better solid state amps, thats a whole other can of worms that I can't afford to open, even if I wanted to at the moment. My buddy can build these tube amps at cost ya see.

This might be a dumb question, and I don't know why it didn't occur to me sooner. My front 3 speakers are bi amp capable, 2 sets of terminals, currently connected to each other. Is it actually possible to connect 2 amps directly to the speakers for exactly the purpose I'm talking about?

I dunno if my reciever has it, but the auto MACC calibration deal it has... if I could run the calibration with both solid state and tube amps in place and have a second set of settings for it, that might be just the ticket. I'll investigate if it can have more than one calibration, like User 1 and User 2 kind a thing.

You may be right, but I don't think so because the little 15wpc tube amp hooked up to my system was LOUD, even when the amp itself was turned to half volume. When we hooked the solid state back up and played the concert, I had to turn the volume up more to get it as loud as the tube amp. Tube power is different than solid state, 30wpc in tube power is like 100wpc in solid state, from what I've always heard anyway. I'm just hoping 50wpc tube is a fairly close match to 200wpc solid state. But in case your right about the levels being inherently missmatched, a volume control might be a good idea for the tube amp, if only to turn it down because it should be more than loud enough.

Hmm good point, it shouldn't be a problem adding volume control to the amp he builds.

I see where your coming from, it's interesting, but ultimately it's not quite what I'm going for. I was thinking with a 3 ch tube amp could drives the mains, while the Emotiva still drives the rears for 5.1 and 7.1 recordings. And if I want just dedicated 2 channel stereo with the tubes, I can just set my reciever to stereo, no need to introduce another DAC into the system.

Are you saying they have receivers/pre amps with multiple pre outs for more than one set of speakers? What I'm leaning toward so far is my original idea of having just a 3 channel tube amp to drive my front speakers for music alone, then have it and the Emotiva connected to a switcher so I can go back and forth between solid state and tube power on the mains. The tube buffers sound bad, trying to simulate tube sound from solid state, like adding record pops and hisses to an mp3.

I'm not sure what you mean. A tube powered preamplifier would effect sound quality? Tube pre amps with HDMI and other modern bells and whistles... I'm imagining some very hefty prices if there is such an animal.

Well the one(s) I build would be 50wpc, the 15wpc was what we had to demo today is all. But yes, the dynamics are what I'm concerned with(where movies are concerned).

Ok, I'll try to make this short. I am very proud of my system, RF-7 9.1 system with DeanG modded fronts, driven by the Emotiva XPA-5, 200w to 5 channels(with Pioneer 1120 reciever as a pre amp and driving the rears and front heights). That said, a friend brought over a restored Heathkit SA-2 tube amplifier, he restored it himself, 15w into 2 channels. We hooked it into my system driving the mains, and plugged in AC/DC Live at Donnington Blu Ray. The sound was incredible, but had a downside(sort of) which doesn't play into the discussion really. The upside being the transparency of the sound, I mean it sounded great before, but with the tube amp it was like having Angus Young's Marshall amps in the theater rather than my speakers! Our ears were ringing as if we'd been in the crowd. The downside I mentioned, was this little amp is the style with volume, bass and treble controls, so we had to dial it in for what we perceived as the correct sound, so the result was my solid state amp sounds more precise, it just lacks the rawness of the tube sound. So obviously a dedicated amp would just be a straight power amp, letting the reciever control the audio levels. Finally the question I'm getting at... I am now a tube fan lol. Said friend is incredible with this stuff and can build amps for me at cost(under $400 for a 2ch 50wpc amp) I am debating whether to build three 2 channel amps and let tube amps take over full time for movies and music, OR let build a 3 channel amp for the front 3, and integrating it into the system(via a speaker switcher) soley for musical purposes. Two concerns, A, is tube power not well suited to movies? B, obviously full time use like this would wear the tubes out, my friend guesstemated 6 months till the 1st tube change. Any and all thoughts welcome!

I won't be doing the mod personally, I have a friend who works on amps and speakers all the time, even builds guitar amps from scratch who will do it free. Those pics look good, but will it be obvious to him as to what to do? Here are the parts I have, per Deans instructions 3 Dayton Audio 12UF 250v capacitor 3 Mills 10 OHM 12w non conductive resistor 3 Mills 1 OHM 12w non conductive resistor 3 Mills 2 OHM 12w non conductive resistor 3 Kimber KAP 4.7UF 200v capacitor 3 Jantzen 18UF 400v crosscap capacitor It would be great to get a specific list of what replaces what. Which is what I had from Dean, if only he would return my emails.

Dean told me the parts I need and what replaces what. I ordered the parts and finally got them all, but lost the email where Dean told me what replaces what. And now he's not responding, so can anyone help out?

I just heard from Dean. Unfortunatly he hasn't been able to compare the two either. I'm thinking of going ahead with the mods, and inviting someone here on the forums to bring their RF-7ii's over to compare, if anyone is willing.

I haven't had a chance to hear the RF-7II's yet. Even if I did, it would be hard to compare what I hear in the store to my system, what with different amps and room sizes. I've emailed DeanG to see what he thinks.

Well I'm not a regular visitor to the forums, and didn't know about the Dean mods until last month. I've owned mine since 2005, and have never given any serious thought to upgrade them, the sound is nirvana, especially since I started driving them with the Emotiva XPA-5. This hobby being what it is, I'm always curious about upgrades, and the only two things I could do to upgrade my speakers is either the Dean mods, or the new RF-7II's. So, I'd love to know which is better. The Dean mods are certainly more economical, and easier. I'm always skeptical about mods like his, but seems to me that virtually everyone who has heard the difference love it.

Bump I am strongly considering the DeanG mods in a month or so. 1st I would like to hear from anyone who has compared the RF-7II's to the originals with Deans mods.

Any idea how these would compare sound wise to the RF-62 set up?