brian_donaldson

I am considering purchasing a Klipsch PA stack comprised of at least three components. The sub cabinet I'm told is trapezoidal and about 6' wide. I assume that these are not crossed over. My only experience is with consumer gear. My question is as follows: Do I have to tri-amp this system with crossovers on each amp? Can I use one amp and use external xovers? Does a mixer work as a pre-amp and can you get one with xovers built in so that you can control/balance the level of each of the three units? If someone could take a moment to explain how PA gear is usually set up/connected, it would be really appreciated. The PA system would be designed to be used in a loft for after-hours parties after the local clubs have closed down. I have entertained the idea of simply using La Scalas with subs, but thought that a professional PA system might be a better way to go. Any feedback would be appreciated. Brian

I've got a DVD player on my PC that I currently have wired into my Denon 5700 via L/R RCA plugs. So I can use Pro Logic but none of the other HT functions. I'm thinking about purchasing a higher end DVD player, and while I don't really want to scrimp, I do want to make sure I'm not spending a lot of extra money on features that I'll either never use or will simply not be sophisticated enough to notice. It seems like the model 2800 is popular. There also seems to be a 5000. And lower end models, too. I'd like to get some feedback from owners about differences between the models. And I'm happy to read any specific reviews if someone would be kind enough to point me in that direction. Tnx. Brian

I'm not an engineer and my understanding of physics is very limited, but I suspect that your problem stems from reflected and conflicting soundwaves at higher SPLs. I had a problem with my belles in my new house, and I have a rather unique listening area. My living room is adjacent to my kitchen; the whole space is probably 15x50. The LR is probably 15x20. Since it connects to the kitchen, there are only 3 walls. Moreover, the walls are three different lenghts, because on one side, the wall between the LR and kitchen is inturrupted by a hallway. It looks like this ======== =========== = = = = = LR Kit = ===================== Anyway, I have the belles and TV along the upper wall. When I had the speaks facing the bottom wall, at higher volumes everything went to hell. But I've now toed in the speaks so that the reflections off the rear walls channel the sounds into the hallway (and up into a loft) and the kitchen. It works soooooooooo much better, and the belles really come alive at levels where most people who come over to hear it start to become somewhat uncomfortable at the volume levels that they're unaccustomed to. You might check out www.decware.com They do a lot of DIY speaker enclosures and room treatments for absorption of reflected soundwaves. I think that would take care of the problem. Your room is pretty big, ever think of la scalas or belles as fronts and moving the heresys to the rear? B

I would be interested in entertaining the notion of buying a single Belle in walnut. bd0nalds0n@yahoo.com Thanks b

I have a pair of quintets in my BR that I use as center speakers. I've got some 6" in-ceiling Klipsch speakers that I use as the fronts. If you listen to any music on quintets, I think you'd be disappointed. I am, anyway. The in-ceiling speakers do a much better job by comparison, and they're inexpensive. For sitting around watching TV, the quintets are fine. I gather that the quintet system comes with its own center channel and a sub. I use a KSW-12 with the quintets and think it's satisfactory, even though I didn't care for the '12 with the Heritage line of speakers because it was very slow and muddy. The more I listen, read, and learn about these sorts of things, the more I subscribe to the bigger-is-better theory of speaker design, which has sort of turned me off to satellite systems, but my applications are more than 50% music driven rather than HT. I would invite anyone to correct me if they think I'm wrong, but I think most systems that sound really good with music also do well at HT, but not all systems that do good HT play music well. I would encourage you to spend as much time and money finding the things you like the sound of. Once you find things you like, consider buying used or refurbed items off the net--you can get a lot more for your money. But I've never regretted spending additional $s to get higher-end gear and it's always been worth it in terms of quality and enjoyment.

Check the yellow pages for shipping and/or packing and shipping. These guys will come over, cart your speaks away, double box them and strap them to a crate or pallet for shipping via a traditional freight company. It's not cheap, but the buyer pays. The speaks can be insured for their full value, and if they're damaged in shipping the buyer is indemnified. That's how I got my belles. I thought the packaging would be overkill, but these freight companies don't always handle things with a gentle, loving touch. b

If you click under Home Audio and then on the Speaker Matching Chart, you'll see the recommended center channel for Cornwalls is the C7. I see that the recommended center for Belles is a belle. Is anyone out there using a La Scala or a Heresy as center, and would that work? I'm a bit space constrained and would prefer not to have a solid wall of speakers across my listening wall... B

I don't want to offer any sort of lecture on to trust or not to trust, but doesn't C.O.D. take care of these kinds of situations? I realize that the horse is out of the barn in this instance...

I've got a denon 5700 which has the 5 channel stereo option. I like it. For some specific classical music I'll switch down to just 2 channel, but I like how the 5 channel envelopes you in the sound. I use belles for front, heresys for rear, a kg4 for center, and an LF-10. Would like another belle or maybe a lascala or heresy for center, but not in the cards for a while... B

I've got a denon 5700 which has the 5 channel stereo option. I like it. For some specific classical music I'll switch down to just 2 channel, but I like how the 5 channel envelopes you in the sound. I use belles for front, heresys for rear, a kg4 for center, and an LF-10. Would like another belle or maybe a lascala or heresy for center, but not in the cards for a while... B

Why not just use a line-out miniplug from the soundcard split into RCA plugs and go into a receiver. Then you can hook up any kind of speakers you want. I have my computer hooked up to my home system: A denon 5700, belle klipsch fronts, Heresy rears, with an LF-10 sub. It rocks, and I've converted almost all my cds into MP3s and now have a jukebox right at my fingertips. It makes gameplay more realistic, too.

I recently purchased a refurb HP from ubid--decent performance for an attractive price. However it came with an NVidia Vanta card, and I gather that this is rather at the low end of the performance spectrum. Previously I had an ancient P90 and had 2 cards, a 2d card and a monster card with the voodoo chipset. I was thinking of upgrading my card, and was wondering if anyone could give some suggestions as to which card(s) in the NVidia linup offer good performance/cost tradeoffs. Do you still need 2 graphics cards or have they combined functionality? Tnx in advance, B

I had some time ago asked two questions and only got a response from one, I think, so I will ask a few others: Will the ALK crossovers work in the belles, how much are they, and are they obtained from Klipsch directly or thru a third party--like Al himself...?

The woofer on a belle klipsch fires into the horn. Do you wire the thing to fire in reverse phase, that is, back down into the horn? Or does the horn portion work like a port or passive radiator based on the woofer returning to a "flat" position after firing? Does this question make sense?