Spkrdctr

OK, Guys, here is the thread for everyone to post their personal opinions, and WHY they are recommending something. What is the best brand new HT reciever for $500 or less? and why? If you need to stretch it to $600 you can..... This should also be fun and informative to many who post here.

Darren, Here is an answer to your questions. It may seem like you have seen it before...... The sound effects in the movie will remain the same, it is just the quality and direction that might shift somewhat. DTS is a higher sampling rate than any Dolby format, therefore generally higher quality sound. the .1 is the LFE or low frequency effects sound effects. They are recorded separately and sent via a line out to your subwoofer. If you don't have a sub, select an option that sents this signal to LR mains. 5.1 means you have discrete (think tracks) of sound, L,C, R, LR, RR. In the 'olden' days of Pro Logic there was only 4 channels available (limitations of VHS recording) so you had L, C, R, and both rear speakers got the same mix. So the upgrade is better quality and separate Rear tracks. 6.1 allows use of a rear center speaker. Otherwise the DVD player should 'mix-down' the center rear into both rears channels. 7.1 allows for rear surrounds and side surrounds. Hope this clears things up. Actually, this previous post was so good, because it answered all the questions! Good Post!

---------------- On 7/5/2005 11:04:50 AM Kriton wrote: I still don't get the whole foam thing. Is there no need for these volume calculations in an RF-7, or are these things just not as well thought out? Just curious...thnaks for the replies! K Klipsch Engineers have thought it all out for you. Leave them "as Is" wih the foam inside. Also, your TV was the problem, especially when you said it happened after 6 hours of watching. It is getting old and starting to have problems. Keep nagging the wife for that new 60" model. Good Luck! ----------------

Colter, I know you can pick up an awesome Bose Bass Module for around that much.

Get the Sub 12 from Best Buy WITH the extra warranty. Then drive the living hell out of the Sub 12, and use it like you stole it. If it breaks, you get another from Best Buy! You can't go wrong with that...... I'm going with the Sub 12 so I can abuse the crap out of it without worrying about replacing it. A sub is just asking to be abused in my house...........1812, here I come!

---------------- On 7/3/2005 10:30:15 PM Dylanl wrote: I also move my HT downstairs from upstairs. The bass used to shake the floor upstairs now that it is on the concrete floor the bass seems to be more in the wall with less real feel. What is happening? ---------------- You used to have the floor vibrating and making everything feel "real". The cement floor is not going to shake the house as much. Bottom line though is to always go after a Home Theater system that can change the pressure in the room on 1812 Overture Cannon Shots. I used to lift my drop ceiling in my basement. It was amazing! Anyway, moving to the bottom floor changed your sound drastically. Good Luck!

Ken, Klipsch speakers show all the detail in a recording. That is why it is so important to take your own recording (CD) to a store to demo a new set of speakers. CD quality is all over the place. So, you could listen to a good recording at the store, come home put in a crappy recording, and wonder what happened! It is VERY hard to demo speakers, but having your own CD is a "must have" piece of gear when listening to speakers. Then when listening to recievers/amps, you have to use the SAME speakers and CD to see if you can tell any diffeence between the recivers/amps. All of this is very detailed work and requires concentration on small details in the music. It is tough for people who just want to go in, turn it on and make a decision........ For those type of people, you can recommend Klipsch speakers and send them out the door. They will appreciate it later when they realize how nice the speakers sound!

I just wanted to jump in and tell you that you have very nice speakers. I have the KSF-8.5s and they are amazing. You will enjoy those speakers for many years to come. Plus, they have tremendous bass capabilities!

********The build up of residual stress in a system, is system dependent. Some parts require more frequent degaussing than others. For instance, permeable parts require more frequent degaussing than non permeable parts. An iron core cartridge will need more attention than ruby cored cartridge. Speakers with cored inductors acquire more stress than those with air core inductors. There should be an audible difference after you play the Frequency Sweeps.******* The above statement is pure unadulterated BS. The record may have many uses that it is good for, but not deguassing non-metallic items. You are not going to deguass inductors inside a speaker crossover, no matter what you play over your speakers. From a marketing point, this will soon be a required item for people who buy B&W speakers. They love unobtanium stuff!

If you run your tests and still find no obvious reason for the sound change, I would recommend new crossovers. Dean can get you hooked up. When the KLF series was brand new, they sounded amazing and awesome at the same time. If all of the drivers are 100% ok, then it must be the crossovers which can age quite easily (the capacitors). Good Luck!

Unless I'm missing the question, just get the Sunfire and be done with it. Well, you are already getting the Sunfire. What else do you need? Something is not making sense here......

Admit it, over half of you all own Bose wave radios. Bose rules! The 301 speaker will easily best any speaker in the Klipsch line. Of course, I lie a lot too!

Brickwall equipment works and is not priced too high. You can buy it once and then forget about it!

I'm lost. Annoyed by what? who? when? how? I'm always last to know anything around here........

---------------- On 6/22/2005 12:13:29 PM maxg wrote: If your typical listening levels are around 85 dB continuous with peaks hitting 95 dB and you sit within 3 meters of a pair of Heresy's (for example) you are still only going to "need" a couple of watts and are therefore highly unlikely to clip - ever - with an amp of 20 wpc - even if it has no headroom at all. ---------------- Max, I think I have been beating that drum for a while...... thanks for bringing it up again! Using 1 watt or less for the average listening volume, on a set of high efficiency Klipsch speakers, means they should almost never, hardly ever clip at all. So, if your 100 watt per channel Pioneer system is not clipping at all, it seems to be far less important to get a mega power system. Now if people want concert level volume (105+db) with no clipping, then yes, it takes a mega power system. (Sunfire equipment IMHO)

---------------- On 6/23/2005 7:09:59 PM scott0527 wrote: Ok, let's recap... "Can I safely play guitar though my speakers?" Yes No No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes If I were you I'd go get one of those $39 Kustom chinese guitar amps until your good one comes back. Now that would be safe. ---------------- The funny part is that most of the yes votes are from people with actual experience doing it. You would "think" they would have a lot more credibility in their answers. But, as usual on most Internet boards, you get a lot of advice that is all over the map. Just an observation. Seems like Dr. Who's advice would be the most relevant..... I don't know anything about it, but from all of Who's advice and the quality of that advice (meaning we agree on pretty much everything) he is a very credible poster. Well, I added yet anoher post to my tally. In a few months I will hit the 500 post mark.

Dr. Who, I would recommend not saying anything bad about Bose. Your family life will be much better. Just always encourage them to continue to pursue their quest for better sound. This will automatically lead them away from Bose. Plus, they will think your a very nice guy!

Bill, Where do you live?

Buy the Sunfire and a new preamp. Good Luck!

---------------- On 6/22/2005 4:03:19 AM DeanG wrote: I'm annoyed. I've compared RF-7's to some awfully expensive stuff, and it's a strain to find anything that keeps up with them. Better living through chemistry. ---------------- Dean and I agree. Price is not all that important when selecting speakers. Design theory used by the engineers, materials used (to a point), and the most critical issue, voicing, will make speakers have a unique sound. But price is what I would worry about dead last, in finding new speakers. Dean is even more a a purist than I am, so it shows you that I'm willing to wallow in the audio gutter....

---------------- On 6/21/2005 5:26:21 PM Blackmesa wrote: I dont believe in the bose products, but I am absolutely mesmerized by their marketing success. I honestly look up to them in that regard. How they can sell a 50 dollar wave radio for 500 dollars, have it sound no better than a cheap pair of desktop speakers and yet still get 99.9% of their buyers to think it sounds better… Its borderline brainwashing.. but genius indeed! If you take a closer look, bose actually charge a higher price for their smaller speakers. As if "smaller" or "micro" is the "wave" of the future.. Smaller is better because technology is changing right? Actually speakers have not changed hardly at all in over 60 years. ---------------- Blackmesa, This goes on every day and is done by probably 90% of the companies making speakers. Many on these very boards are mesmerized by the latest $10,000pr small (or big) bookshelf speaker because it is made of unobtanium. They never question the marketing of unobtanium and its use for speakers.... Believe me PRICING and fancy advertising (B&W?) is the main driver of sales in the speaker world. If it costs mega bucks, by golly it must be better. A lowly cheap speaker could not possibly sound as good as a megabuck model, when in truth, they often do! The #1 piece of wisdom to always remember is that hearing, yes that is right, hearing is the EASIEST sense to fool with human beings. It makes it especially hard to AB test audio gear. Many manufacturers say "try it for a few weeks, let it break in to see if it improves", this idea was born in the sales dept to allow the user to get used to crappy sound, and keep whatever speakers they had bought. If you ever hear that line, run from the dealer! I could go on, but remember, hearing is so easily fooled that an AB test is hard to do and requires great concentration. Good Luck and remember, people think Bose sounds good because they expect it, when in fact Bose did ground breaking research into how much of the audio spectrum could be missing, and still have a pleasant sound. They are masters at giving you the least amount of the audio spectrum, for the most money!

I have done extensive testing on the Bose Lifestyle System and thier Bass Modules. In a side by side comparison the Bose module had thunderous bass. It also was very musical as long as you don't expect much below 50hz. In the testing, the Bose Lifestyle cubes reproduced the highs with enthusiasm. Bose did squeek out a win. The Bose Lifestyle system at the time, I believe cost $1999.00 The loser of this contest was the Aiwa Boom Box that cost $99.00 So you see, it is all perspective...... After the testing, I performed destructive testing on the Lifestyle system and can honestly say it lasted for a while. Those little cubes are built very tough. The Bass Module is actually built pretty weak. All in all. It was more fun destroying it than listening to it! You should have seen what I did to a 901 speaker! It was not pretty.......

---------------- On 6/21/2005 3:08:37 PM imperfectcircle25 wrote: I think your the first person Ive seen with Levinson stuff with Klipsch, kind of an odd combo using such expensive amps with such inexpensive speakers?? I know price doent mean much but a $10000 amp with $1500 speakers seems a little crazy to me, I am a strong believer in system balance and synergy but thats just my 2 cents nothing worng with that setup just seems kind of like a little bit of a waste of money, I doubt the Rf-7's are letting the Levinson stuff reach thier full potential?? Frank ---------------- Frank, I have to disagree with you here. You have been victimized by marketing hype. The RF-7s will sing with really great electronics. The price of the speakers does not matter all that much. Usually it is how the buyer likes that certain companies voicing of the speakers. You can also drive them with cheap equipment and still have them sound good. I have listened to speakers and I always notice the only difference between a Klipsch and others costing far more, is the others have the band in or behind the wall and Klipsch is right there between the speakers in front of you. The extreme dollar speakers may sound better but usually don't. If you like them great, but never think a low priced speaker can't sound like it costs ten times more. I have heard older inexpensive bookshelf Sony speakers that rival Legacy bookshelfs! A high price should always be the least considered part of a speaker purchase. In the end, if you like it, buy it!

Your new speakers will blow you away. Enjoy them with your current reciever! Good purchase, and welcome to Klipsch.

Do any of you run an equalizer with a normal (cheap style) home theater reciever? Anyone using a good consumer (not a pro style) EQ? How does it work with a DVD movie in surround sound? Anyone with experience? Thanks for the info!