InFlux

P.S. I sent you a p.m. that you might find helpful

So, the speakers are about the same width apart as your KLF-20's, but on either side of your sitting position? Ideally, you would want to pull the sitting position forward a bit, but that is not necessarily feasible. In my old house, I actually had my KSP-S6's setup as you described (but about 3' up). I ended up pulling them forward (towards the KLF-20's) a bit so the sound could bounce off the back wall & improve the rear sound stage. Now, in my current house, I actually kept the S6's on the sides, but now I have several feet behind the S6's - so they can work as intended & really fill up the back of the room. So, my long-winded answer is that I think you can make it work. Considering that your only other choices for timbre-matched surrounds are another pair of KLF-10/20/30's, a pair of KSP-S6's, or finding a pair of KLF-C7's - I feel that the S6's are your best bet. Interestingly enough, I did run some KLF-10's in the back for a while at my old house & they were too localized at close range for my taste. You may find it a bit challenging (and spendy) to find a pair of KSP-S6's. They are out there though.

I agree with Dr. Who - please be a bit more specific. Also, what are your settings on the receiver? Are your mains setup as "large" or "small". Have you played with the phase of your subwoofer? Are you sure your sub is coming on (my LF-10's can be a bit lazy & it takes a good spike in volume to wake them up). Etc... I use a Sony ES receiver (5ES - it is a few years old) to power my KLF-20's & it works adequately well. I've played with friends external amplifiers using my ES to control them, and it does clean up the sound (especially at louder levels). However, I can easily rattle the room with my Sony ES at around -40 to -30 dB (depding on the recording). I will say that when listening to music, I need to be at least in the -60 to -50 dB range to be able to get a hint of the bass punch from the KLF's (which are larger speakers). What volume level is your receiver at before you consider the sound to be loud enough?

Nice! You mentioned KSF-S6's in your message, but your sig says KSP-S6's. Which are you currently running? My KSP-S6's can keep up just fine with my mains & center - of course the KSP-S6's are 2x the size of the KSF-S6's. The KSP-S6's are timbre matched perfectly as well. Again, nice!

+1. I failed to mention that I have a very similar setup - and I refuse to make any changes. I love it. The subtle differences are that I have KSP-S6's in back & dual LF-10 sub's in the front.

You should be very happy with that deal. I sold a pair of oak KLF-20's a couple years back for $650 - and the guy was thrilled.

I currently have my C7 under my TV as well. I found it necessary to to angle the speaker up to achieve the sound I like. The increased height of the angled speaker came into play when I was selecting a TV stand.

Good point [] Now, the broken record of InFlux's strange obsession with the S6's continues... Here are some reviews on the S6's: http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/klipsch/surround-speakers/PRD_119947_2742crx.aspx I thought these reviews were a little optimistic until I tried out the S6's for myself... I'm still thanking my buddy (and fellow forum member) for selling me these speakers. I'm quite finished now, LOL! InFlux

LOL. Yes, don't get me wrong, the reference speakers are an excellent line and they will work []. In fact, I have heard the RS speakers used with non-Klipsch mains with good sucess. Just to be clear, TKD, are you saying that you tried the S6's as surrounds in place of your reference speakers? You may very well have done this comparison, so it would be good for MSilver9 to know this before he commits several hundred $'s to a set of speakers. BTW, nice setup in your sig! FWIW: The RS-3's are (WxDxH): 18.7" x 7.4" x 8.5" The KSP-S6's are: 13.4" x 7.4" x 15.13". Good luck!

First off, welcome to the board MSilver9. I see that nobody has answered your question, so I'll share my experiences on this. IMHO, yes, you will be making a mistake to go with the RS or SS surrounds. The sound is different and you will clearly notice the transition between speakers. I sold my R series speakers and went with timbre matching speakers (KSP-S6's). I vote for the KSP-S6's. If you found a pair of KLF 20's or a C7, you can find the S6's. I know, they are a different line, but they do match extremely well. I prefer them over my KLF-10's in the rear (although I have a smaller room). Some people don't like the "sound sprayer" design. I love it - it does a good job of eliminating localization. FWIW, since size is an issue in your room, I have found the best placement for my S6's is about 5' off the ground and the center of the speakers about 1' in front of my ears. I hope that helps. InFlux.

Ditto what Colin and everybody else said. A good friend recently bought an RW12 to mate with some KLF-20's (each with 2 - 10" woofers). His basement room was about the same size as yours. We had to really drive the sub hard to get an appropriate amount of sound out of it to keep up with the cubic volume of the room and his other speakers. The depth we were looking for just was not there. If you can afford it, get something that hits lower and plays louder. Invite your neighbors over for a movie once you get it setup. FWIW, my same friend can drive his KLF-20's just fine with the 3806. The HDMI converting for Video is a nice feature.

Dynamic Range is your speakers ability to go from quiet to loud. Klipsch's do this quite well - so no adjustment is required. Other (less efficient) speakers may not have the same capability to play from quiet to loud - so this feature allows for compensation for those "other" people [] I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong) the LFE adjusts the characterisitcs of the LFE in a similar way - adding more or less impact on that channel...

Could you? Yes... a college friend did this using what (I believe) was a deep cycle battery. It was the type of battery used in boats to power trolling motors. Those batteries are designed for repeated charging and draining... I always wondered about the environmental factors - like what if your battery leaked its acid or what type of fumes (if any) you'll encounter during this process. Should you? I wouldn't spend the money trying to make the 12V stuff work in a 115V environment. In the long run, you'll spend about the same amount of $$$, it will not work as well, and it won't look at good. Using your TV as a source as you described can only result in headaches. Find a used Denon or Yamaha with a sub out, get a dedicated amp for your sub and don't look back.

Welcome to the forum. Are you cranking it in 5.1 mode, 2 channel mode, or 2.1 mode? What mode was your buddies set at? On my old Yamaha (different & older model) cranking music in 5 channel mode and then 2 channel mode had entirely different results - similar to what you described. Stick with 2.1 channel and play with the speaker size and sub settings - it sounds like your sub may not even be up to the task from your comments... A good sub will make a tremendous difference on the "impact" of the music. A crappy sub may not even be worth the hassle. Good luck and have fun experimenting!

Mbajner, You are probably already aware of the Legend line and their glue problems (10's, 20's, & 30's), so just consider this a reminder. I've bought several pairs of 20's and 10's now for myself and friends. It is rare that I've found a pair that do not need to be re-glued. Most sellers are not even aware of the loose motorboards or backboards. They can also loosen in transit (from being carried, twisted, and temperature changes). This is an easy (and sometimes messy) fix. You can easily find the problem by knocking on the front and back boards with your knuckles. You'll hear the tone change where the glue has seperated. I just thought I put that reminder out there for you as this sometimes impacts the price [] Someone else can comment on the 20's vs. the Forte's. I will say that I do love my 20's!!!!

The simple answer is: Do you like the way they sound now? The long answer is: When you listen to your speaker, you are experiencing how several factors combine to form sound. You have the characteristics of the drivers, the characteristics of the cross-over, and the mechanical properties of the enclosure. What you hear is how that little system interacts with your electronics and your rooms acoustical properties and your brain. Cabinet vibration represents some level of energy lost through vibration of the cabinet rather than moving air through the ports & with the driver. Short of building a slightly larger box with more bracing (too keep internal box volume and proportions correct - as just mentioned) or short of doubling up the MDF on the outside (the RF7's are heavy enough already) - anything else is probably not worth the effort. You will most likely be better served by focusing on factors you can significantly impact - such as the acoustics of the room and proper system calibration.

Michael beat me to it... but I'll chime in anyways. This is a good deal - from a trusted forum member, too! To quote Michael, " I'm not associated, yada, yada, yada..." or something like that...

Good score on the 10's! That would be hard to swallow considering the deal you found! If you can find a way to do it, another pair of 10's would make very strong rear speakers (in a 5.1 setup). I just set a good friend up with a system very similar to mine. We put a pair of 10's in the rear and he is THRILLED with them. A well designed, matching, 5.1 systems will perform amazing well. If you can fit the 10's in the rear, you may also want to consider staying with 5.1 and look for a deal on some KLF-20's or 30's for the FRONT, and move your 10's to the back. You will be SHOCKED at the difference between the 10's and 20's. You should be able to get into a pair of 20's for what it would cost you to do two C7's in the rear. With your deal-finding ability, you should be able to do even better!

P.S. There is one KLF-C7 on ebay right now. There are several on Audiogon. Yes, $300 is not unreasonable for a decent BLACK SATIN C7. You'll often pay more for one of the stained finishes. Good luck!

Once you rule out any variation of the KLF-10's, 20's or 30's your choices are limited if you want a timbre matching system (some people take HornEd's approach of turning those speakers on their sides and moving the drivers around - Redtop could give you some good advice on this). Your best bet for timbre matching speakers would be to use a series of KLF-C7's in the rear. An alternative to this would be the KSP-S6's - which match perfectly - but some people don't like the dipolar speakers. Some of the heritage line speakers match as well, but the C7's/S6's would be the smallest alternatives. I would recommend starting with a well-done 5.1 system using a pair of C7's, and then decide if you really need the additional channels in the rear. At that point, you could simply proceed from 5.1 to 6.1 to 7.1 as you find more C7's.

You may want to invest in a sound level meter (relatively cheap at Radio Shack). You can use that to establish the loudest point and then use it to dial in the sub properly with the rest of you system. Most people are very suprised to learn just how bass-heavy their taste is (relative to the "correct" sound levels to be balanced with your other speakers). On a side note, the rat shack meters tend to be a bit inaccurate - so do some research on the proper compensations at the various frequency levels. This does not really come into play when you are looking for the loud spot for your sub; however, it may matter when you match your sub to your other speakers...

I would consider that a bit hot for my sub, but I do not use an SVS... Does this SVS have a volume adjustment on the sub itself? If so, where is it set at? How much experimentation have you done with placing your sub? Have you done the "subwoofer crawl" (you know, get on your hands and knees while playing a good bass track and listen for the loudest spot - that gives you a good idea of where your sub should be placed)? A poorly placed sub may require compensation in the form of extra power.

Has anyone had any trouble with the new 3806? We spent several hours initially setting up my friends new 3806 - and we had a terrible time getting sound out of it. We finally got it to work for about 15 hours, but then the sound cut out again. The amps simply cut out. Tweeters confirmed our thoughts and very happily swapped out the unit for a new one. This failure must have been a fluke - the 3806 is really just a 3805 with a few extra options. The 3805's are so solid. Any thoughts?

Partsexpress is the cheapest place I've found for banana plugs. If somebody knows of a less expensive source, I would sure like to know, too. If you want to use banana plugs to connect to the back of some receivers you often can only use singles - the doubles are not spaced correctly. While wiring my buddies basement the other day, we also learned that the particular wall plates he bought from Home Depot were spaced wrong for the double banana plugs. The partsexpress wall plates worked just fine with the doubles.

Well, yes, I thought they both did... Upon closer inspection yesterday, I discovered that only one came off completely. The other woofer's cap fell off, but the magent was still glued to the woofer. For future reference, don't try to pry the magnet off. You will probably crack the magnet... Oppps. Time to find one replacement.