wuzzzer

I just bought a harman / kardon HK3480 2-channel receiver on eBay for $175 in brand new condition. It has really smoothed out the horn of my RF-7s compared to the old Sony dolby pro-logic receiver I was using before. Great dynamics, very detailed sound especially when matched when a high quality CD player or other source. Denon makes at least one 2-channel receiver too that may be worth taking a look at. The HK and the Denon usually sell for around $250 on eBay unless you can stumble upon a great buy-it-now deal like I did!

R means its a Replacement woofer.

Will do. Haven't been able to crank it up too much yet, my wife has been home. Doesn't seem to run out of steam whatsoever at the volumes I've had it at. Its interesting with the treble, certain instruments such as cymbals and horns seem to be louder and more detailed, yet the treble itself is very smooth. Voices are projected more naturally and live recordings especially sound great. I can't wait to purchase and configure some acoustical foam so I can enjoy my system even more!

What do you think? The idea popped into my head yesterday.

Forgot to attach the pic I took of the amp. Also forgot to add that the mail carrier that dropped it off was talking to me about the unit and he said that he had an old harman / kardon amp that he bought in the early to mid 1970s and still has it. I told him to write down the model...who knows, it could be a Twin Powered x30!

Very happy to open the box today and see a 100% mint condition HK3480 along with every accessory it came with (antennas, remote, manuals, etc). I really like the cool blue on the volume knob, display and power button. The remote seems a little cheap, but I already programmed all the functions into my Brookstone LCD remote so I probably won't ever need to use the h/k remote. First thing I did was connect the FM antenna and listen to the radio. Definitely has a tuner that is 100% better than my old Sony receiver. Picked up all the local stations with ease. Of course FM radio isn't anywhere near a reference of sound quality, so I next hooked up my CD player and all other audio inputs. I think I remember someone on here saying that when they switched to a nicer quality receiver it 'smoothed out' the horn a bit. I'd say that's the case with the h/k. In my Sony receiver I'd always have to back the treble in the parametric equalizer a bit to tame the high frequency harshness, and as a result lost a lot of the dynamics of sound. I'm running the bass & treble completely flat on the h/k and the sound is more detailed but very natural sounding. No sharp sibilance unless I'm using my cheap Magnavox DVD player. Guess a new DVD player is the next item on the list. My wife is going to hate me! [6] Stereo separation seems to have increased some, and voices and instruments seem to be coming from behind and around the speakers instead of directly from them. The vMax virtual surround setting is just weird. It adds odd reverberation and phase shifts that make the sound come from all around you. I'll have to try it with movies, but for music I don't really care for it. The speaker connections in the back are really cheap, the screw-in kind that I see on really inexpensive equipment. Probably the only design feature I didn't care for. That's it for now. Going to have to go enjoy the new setup. Oh, and the next project is setting up some acoustic foam to treat my basement. I've researched different options quite a bit and I think I've come up with a game plan that should cost only $50 or so and really improve the acoustics and sound quality in my theater.

Point taken.

My receiver does not have a digital input, and in listening to the different CD players I've had through the years its obvious that there is a noticeable difference between different DACs. I would imagine that the DAC in your McIntosh is very nice considering the McIntosh name. As with anything, some people might like the sound of certain DACs or equipment better than others. My cheap Magnavox DVD/CD player sounds very bad with CDs compared to my Cambridge. I wish I did have a digital input on my receiver instead of having to rely on the Magnavox's DACs.

Found one at http://www.audiomn.org/

You could always go on the AVS Forum or this forum and post a thread titled "Attention Minnesota audio enthusiasts" and then type what you did above. BTW, I'm just a little south of you in Saint Cloud and my Dad's home town is Crosby!

They sold either the same speaker a while back or for some reason they are the resellers of heavily damaged Klipsch center channels! I personally don't see why that seller is allowed to continue on eBay. Their feedback rating is only 89.4% positve and they have 20,849 negative feedbacks!!

First off, way to go on your purchase. Nice setup you have there! You have two options to hook up your sub. 1) You can run the single sub-out plug into either the Left or Right input on the sub. 2)You can get an RCA cord that is a Y-splitter so that you can plug the sub cord into both the Left and Right channel inputs. Advantage of #2 is that your sub will play louder than if hooked up like #1.

Thanks for posting the pic, Fish. The 640c looks almost identical to my 300se, except the parts are in different places.

Best that I've heard/watched would be Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber), Star Wars Episode III, Gone in 60 Seconds, Behind Enemy Lines. Dialogue in Star Wars is a little quiet at times, though.

I really wish that someone I knew had a nice tube setup that I could hear. I know I'm missing out![]

Patty cake, patty cake baker's man Bake me a cake as fast as you can Roll and pat and make it with a B And put in the oven for baby and me.

I watched that episode on TV the other night. I think my insides would turn to jello with 16Hz at 160dB!

Yikes! When my wife and I bought our house, we agreed that the finished basement was mine to do with as I wished and the rest of the house was hers to decorate, paint, etc. Fortunately for me she did not want a TV or big stereo in our main floor living room, so the home theater is in the basement. And ironically enough, my old Bose 401s are upstairs in her living room. [6]

Did you get your original Cambridge manual? In mine it said that after 15-30 minutes of playing a CD (not just simply being turned on) the sound will be at its best. I too found that all music was much louder than either my old Denon CD player or my el cheapo Magnavox DVD/CD. Bass output is exceptional. I guess when i think about it this is the least 'digital' sounding CD player that I've ever heard. It just has much more naturalness to it. You're actually listening to music, not a bunch of 0s and 1s being converted into a soundwave. As far as what makes them different, I wish I would have snapped a couple of pics when I had the cover off of mine a few days ago. It looked like a tube setup! Nothing at all looked like they cut any corners just to save a few $$. Superbly built, I've never seen a CD player with that much attention to detail under the hood.

[G]

I bought a basic black thin-edged frame today at Michael's craft store for $24.99. I went to 3 other places in town that had frames and no one had one big enough in stock. Custom framing was $92 with a 50% off coupon! The frame I went with is 27"x40" and is from the MCS Industries framing company.

Sure can! [H] http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=1911482&cid=64699&fp=F Rock Milestones - Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous (DVD) List Price: $19.98 Today's Price: $14.70 You Save: $5.28 (26%) Catalog #: 10234428 var osPrice = 14.7;

[] Well oldbuckster and texxas guy, consider this your stairway! http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MVD019302 DVD Description Returning to the American concert scene after a three-year layoff, the Rolling Stones recorded their superlative live triumphant two-date stand at Madison Square Garden in late November 1969. This program offers a critical review of the band's landmark opus through rare archival material, previously unreleased concert clips, and interviews with rock critics, journalists, and musicologists. YOU'RE WELCOME

I had two pairs of Definitive Tech satellite speakers and a 15" Def Tech powered sub. The satellites did a good job of sound dispersion, there was an extemly wide sweet spot in the listening area. However, imaging was terrible. Highs were pretty nonexistant, too. I had BP1 fronts and BP1x surrounds and sold them on eBay for a LOT more than I ever expected to get for them. So, someone out there must sure like 'em!

Thanks Jay. Any idea what frequencies the bass/treble knobs boost/cut? Also, have you tried the Vmax setting at all? Seems to me it would be a better feature for movies than music.