wuzzzer

If you want to try something like that on the cheap just to experiment, look into the Sonic Impact T-amps.

Superbly written, it reminds me of all the riduculous emails I've received over the years. I think I'm going to copy it and email it to all the people that send me emails like that. []

Me too. Mine are from monoprice and I think I paid around $20 total including shipping for three of them.

As far as I know, ALL speakers have irregular impedances. I would listen to them first before passing judgment.

I don't think I've heard of anyone on here modding the current generation Reference speakers yet. Most have described them as sounding like the previous generation Reference speakers with upgraded networks resulting in a smoother overall sound. What "little more out of her" are you trying to get? Maybe look into an external amp instead?

I guess I can be grateful that I'm using HDMI cables...

Are you connecting it to the Subwoofer/LFE output on your receiver?

Forte IIs by a long shot.

I had RF-7s and found a craigslist ad for $275 Forte IIs. To be honest I bought them intending to re-sell them for a profit on eBay. I hooked them up to my receiver to make sure all the drivers worked properly and fell in love with them. I did several A/B tests and my best friend that helped me pick up for Fortes liked the sound of the Fortes over the RF-7s also. I guess it comes down to preferring a three-way design. The midrange horn on Forte IIs is so smooth and dynamic. If I would have had upgraded crossover networks in my RF-7s and a proper amplifier it more than likely would have been a much harder decision. But, that would have been a much more expensive road to travel on compared to what I have now.

Harman/Kardon makes a great two channel integrated amp.

Its his Panamax.

The 700 peak power is just that, peak handling capability. RMS = average. Let's say you're watching an action movie and there's a huge battle scene going on and you have your amp that can theoretically put out 700 watts peak. During the gunfire, screaming, etc. its pretty loud and your amp is putting 175 average, or continuous watts into your speaker. Then all of a sudden KABLAMO! HUGE explosion that lasts a second or two. Your theoretical amp spikes up to its maximum 700 watt output. Because your speakers have a maximum rating of 700 watts you'll be ok. Sensitivity is just one factor that depends on the actual volume produced by a speaker but it is a large part of it. Your RF-63s will produce 99dB with just 1 watt of input!! That's why Klipsch are so awesome - they put out huge volume at incredibly low wattages input into them. Your amp/receiver doesn't have to work as hard and has more headroom to be able to deliver the transient peaks in music and movies. Your RT-12d's rating is its maximum in-room rating. The RF-63s should be able to put out close to 120dB also. To most people 90dB is very loud, hardly anyone I know (especially my wife!) will even be in the same house as me let alone our basement theater when I'm listening at 110+dB levels!

Your Sub-12 will run out of steam WAY before any SVS Ultra will. Your receiver is very capable, your best investment would be the SVS. I'm surprised you can't hear my twin Ultras from here when I have them cranked up!

I think your plan sounds good. I also think you should sell me your newly acquired Forte IIs so that you don't have to live with that horrible mistake you made of buying them. [6]

Firefox at home, Safari at work.

As far as being too big for your room, I think you'll be fine. Be aware that perfectly square rooms (18x18 like you mentioned) are the worst rooms as far as bass output and general sound quality. I wouldn't skimp on the receiver. In a 5.1 system your surround speakers should be placed to the sides of the listening position and slightly above your ears. Rear surrounds are only used in a 7.1 configuration.

+2. I think that this was one of the last threads he posted in. []

Check and see in your XBox's audio menu if it can be set to output Bitstream or PCM. If its set to Bitstream, change it to PCM and see if it still happens.

Does your player have the latest firmware upgrade?

99.9% of all speakers will benefit from a subwoofer.

A speaker's RMS rating doesn't mean that it needs that much power, it is a measurement of the maximum average wattage you should be able to safely play through it without it blowing something. Your RF-63s and your RC-64 both have the exact same sensitivity rating of 99dB@2.83v/1m. What that means is that if you send the same amount of wattage through each speaker they should each sound exactly as loud as each other. Now, lots of things will make exceptions to that such as speaker placement, listening distance from each speaker, etc. I might suggest disabling the automatic setup if at all possible with the exception of things such as speaker distance and crossover settings. That's what I did with my Onkyo and in my room it sounds much better than when I have my receiver's Audyssey calibration on.

Several people have given you tons of nice suggestions. If you don't want refurbished, don't buy refurbished. But, I've never had a problem with any factory refurbished item I've ever purchased: digital camera, H/K DVD player, Onkyo receiver, etc. In the end you have to do what feels right for you, but a deal such as getting a $2000+ Onkyo receiver for less than $900 that's essentially brand new doesn't seem too shabby of a deal to me! The newest line of Onkyos have been scaled down big-time. They added more bells and whistles but skimped somewhere - we already talked about how much less the new ones ending with a 6 weigh compared to last year's 5 models. Is there a reason why you're hesitant to buy refurbished?

My wife's car had hail damage last year and we went to a body shop and they did paintless dent removal and it worked out great. Fortunately insurance covered the $1200+ bill less our deductible!

By using a y-splitter you in effect did turn up the gain by feeding a hotter signal to your sub. Does your receiver have an automatic setup that you can run? You're probably running the sub too loud now if you didn't adjust the gain at all to compensate for using the y-splitter.

First off to address your lack of bass, your speakers are rear ported and NEED to be near a wall behind them for the ports to do their thing. The rule of thumb is to add up to the total diameter of the port(s) you have on a speaker and place the speaker that far from the rear wall. Adjust slightly from there if need be. Even at 85 watts, your speakers should be putting out enough decibels to cause hearing damage within a short period of time. As long as you're not hearing distortion you don't have to worry about your speakers. You won't slowly damage them over time by using an amp/receiver that's "underpowered" as long as you're not feeding them a ton of distortion.