Lag

Ray, Yah, I know it's not related to Klipsch speakers, but the LT-150 is an incredible piece for the money. I'd highly recommend it to anybody who wants to get into front projection w/o having to spend a bundle. There's a little bit of light leakage out of the projector that spills dim light outside the picture area, but it's not too bad, and with a little creative masking would be totally unnoticable. The black level and contrast are quite good, just about on par with the Runco VX-1c and the Runco is $10K more expensive (admittadly, the Runco is -slightly- better and has somewhat better conformity, but not for 3-1/2 to 4 times the price). Color accuracy is quite good with very little of the green cast that many multimedia DLPs have (many DLP makers use a slightly orange color filter instead of a real red filter on the wheel - it increases light output but then makes it impossible to produce a true red and gives everything a greenish hue). The NEC even gives you the capabiltiy of adjusting the brightness and contrast of each individual color (something for tweakers to have a field day with). The overall brightness is not good enough to run it w/ much ambient light, but then most more expensive "home theater" projectors are no brighter (in fact, many are not even as bright). Picture quality is quite good, even using the built in scaler, though I'd still recommend an external scaler, or atleast a progressive scan DVD player (mine is not, though the DV-05 has one of the best pictures ever as far as I'm concerned). I had to opt for the Da-Lite Model B instead of a Stewart predominately for monetary reasons (I needed a screen that would pull down or lower, could be ceiling mounted without wrecking the ceiling and with minimal work, and wouldn't cost me a fortune). I haven't had the opportunity to try different materials, but I've been happy w/ the 1.1 dB gain provided by the matte white screen, though for larger pictures than mine (I've got an 87" diagonal) I might recommend something slightly brighter, perhaps a 1.3 dB or so gain, but certainly no more - if light levels are controllable you're far better off w/ the lower gain screen, and I may look at something like the Stewart Greyhawk sometime (to improve my black level). Admittadly, that's a personal preference - I've seen the LT-150 on a 2.2 dB gain screen and while there was some hot-spotting, the image practically seemed like it wanted to jump off the screen at you. Anyways, back to the original topic - I've loved my KLF-30's for home theater. The dynamics are excellent and they've got a crispness that gives movies a real snap. However, I have to admit they're not the most musical. Had I been planning only on music at the time of my purchase I might have purchased a pair of Paradigm Studio Reference 100's instead - a far more musical pair of speakers, though nowhere near as dynamic - but for home theater I think the Klipsch's can't be topped. Sounds like the RF-7's may give me the best of both worlds though - I'll definitely have to give them a listen. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector w/ Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Scrn DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization (front): AudioControl C-101 Series III Amplifiers (front): Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 Amplifiers (center/sides): Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 Amplifiers (read): Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side/Rear: (4x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: generic Toslink Front: AudioQuest Coral Sides: AudioQuest Topaz Center/Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Rear: AudioQuest Turquoise Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s>

Mail order CAT 5 from? Do you mean the finished speaker wire or the bulk cable? A lot of places will sell the bulk cable. The problem is finding somebody who will sell in medium lengths at a reasonable price - you usually get stuck with short lengths that cost too much per foot, or 500' to 1000' spools at low cost per foot but still cost far too much because of the extra length. In my case it didn't work out too bad w/ a 500' spool because I work in the field of computer networking and use the CAT 5 anyways. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector w/ Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Scrn DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization (front): AudioControl C-101 Series III Amplifiers (front): Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 Amplifiers (center/sides): Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 Amplifiers (read): Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side/Rear: (4x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: generic Toslink Front: AudioQuest Coral Sides: AudioQuest Topaz Center/Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Rear: AudioQuest Turquoise Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s>

Most of us wish we could use floor standing speakers for rear as well as front, even more so to be able to use the same ones - go for it if you can afford the second pair of KLF-30's. If they end up not working out you can always replace them w/ bookshelf speakers and then use them for a stereo elsewhere in the house or something. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector w/ Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Scrn DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization (front): AudioControl C-101 Series III Amplifiers (front): Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 Amplifiers (center/sides): Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 Amplifiers (read): Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side/Rear: (4x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: generic Toslink Front: AudioQuest Coral Sides: AudioQuest Topaz Center/Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Rear: AudioQuest Turquoise Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s>

Using bipoles or dipoles will help disperse sound better and reduce localization when used for surrounds or rears. However, as Ephemeris mentioned - that means you won't be able to localize sounds that are meant to be also. Personally, I recommend monopoles for surrounds and rears if you have both a side and rear channel. If you're running just one surround channel w/o rears then it might be better to use dipoles or bipoles. Really though, the best thing to do is try them both in your own listening room and see what sounds best w/ a sampling of your typical the source material. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector w/ Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Scrn DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization (front): AudioControl C-101 Series III Amplifiers (front): Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 Amplifiers (center/sides): Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 Amplifiers (read): Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side/Rear: (4x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: generic Toslink Front: AudioQuest Coral Sides: AudioQuest Topaz Center/Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Rear: AudioQuest Turquoise Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s>

quote: If the speakers are the same model, they will receive the same voltage and product the same amount of sound. *nod* You got it - that definitely is important - if they're identical speakers they will receive the same amount of power because their impedance responses will be identical. However, if they're different speakers then they will have disimilar impedance responses and thus will receive different amounts of power under real world signals. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector w/ Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Scrn DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization (front): AudioControl C-101 Series III Amplifiers (front): Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 Amplifiers (center/sides): Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 Amplifiers (read): Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side/Rear: (4x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: generic Toslink Front: AudioQuest Coral Sides: AudioQuest Topaz Center/Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Rear: AudioQuest Turquoise Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s>

Yah, I suppose rigging them in series might be difficult depending on your speaker cables, but it is possible: possible terminal of the first speaker to the positive terminal on the amp, while the negative terminal of first speaker goes to the positive terminal of the second speaker, and finally the negative speaker of the second speaker goes to the negative terminal of the amp. I just can't imagine when you'd want to do it that way thought. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector w/ Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Scrn DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization (front): AudioControl C-101 Series III Amplifiers (front): Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 Amplifiers (center/sides): Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 Amplifiers (read): Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side/Rear: (4x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: generic Toslink Front: AudioQuest Coral Sides: AudioQuest Topaz Center/Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Rear: AudioQuest Turquoise Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s>

The vast majority of the reason for the larger cable on the woofer (like 99% of the reason) is not the amount of information, but rather the amount of power. It takes a lot of power to move that large woofer cone a few hundred to a couple thousand times a second, but comparatively little power to move the small diaphram (or whatever they call it - I've never really gotten into speaker construction) in the tweeter ten or twenty thousand times a second. Ideally the high frequency cable would actually also be made up of a bunch of very small (24 ga or less) individually insulated copper conductors, rather than one large solid or stranded 16 ga or 14 ga conductor. It's quite debatable how much a role it plays at audible frequencies, but at higher frequencies a piece of copper wire conducts better along the outside of the wire than the inside. While those frequencies are much higher than the audible range, supposedly a portion of the distortion resulting from that effect is within the range of human hearing (according to the expensive audio cable companies - but I believe there are a number of third parties who've also looked into it). For that and other reasons, a very small copper conductor can actually carry more information than a large conductor, just not more power. Regardless, that's very minor, and falls into the same realm as many of the other somewhat esoteric marketing gimmics (er.. design principles) floating around. If you're interested in some of the thoughts going around in cable design, check out AudioQuest's website, Kimber Kable's website, and any number of websites devoted to making your own cables out of CAT5 (my apologies - I don't have the links on me). -Mike PS> Thx for the compliment on the system - I've put a lot of time and energy into designing it and putting it together. Now if only I had a room I could dedicate entirely to it, and could easily do some re-wiring to provide it w/ dedicated AC... ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front)Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire) s> This message has been edited by Lag on 09-03-2001 at 05:37 PM

Use the lower gauge cable (ie - the bigger one) for the bottom end and the higher gauge cable for the higher end. I personally recommend atleast 12 gauge for the low end (10 ga or even 9 ga is better), and 16 ga or 14 ga for the highs. Like the other fellow said, use Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) if it's available. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire)

I almost hate to get involved in this discussion... Anyways, the fact of the matter is, every element in an audio system makes a difference in one for or another - all the way from your source material to your speaker, and even your room (especially your room). However, it is also fact that some things more of a difference than others. Speakers tend to make the largest difference in overall sound - they also tend to have the highest distortion levels so that's no surprise. Your room will make almost as big a difference as the speakers do - just try moving your speakers all over your room and see what a huge difference it makes (for instance, try putting your speakers about four or five foot from the side walls, in the center of the room, and listen from right up against the rear wall, then move your speakers to the front wall and listen in the center of the room, then try the speakers in the corner of the room). Though it might seem absurd, there's something to be said for some of those acoustic treatments, though with the more expensive ones you're paying for a name and aesthetics. With the speakers are room out of the equation, generally the third largest difference in overall sound is your electronics. I would tend to say that amps and preamps make a bigger difference in most cases than the source, but that's overgeneralizing a bit. Consider that the distortion characteristics in most amps is about 100 times less (or more) than the speakers in use - amps can and do sound different, but not -too- much (and the only way to find out for sure is to bring 'em home and just sub 'em into your system one at a time - trying 'em in the store isn't going to tell you a thing because the speakers are probably different, and the room certainly is). Power probably makes the fourth largest difference (though in particularly bad situations where you've got ground loops or AC on your ground line then it can make a big difference). Providing clean power, using ground cheaters where need be, etc... Those all can improve overall sound quality. When there are no major problems it doesn't make much of a difference, but solving outstanding power issues can really make a bigger difference than changing out, say, an amplifier, or a preamp. After power you start to get into the smaller things, like cables. Fact of the matter is - cables do make a difference. Fact of the matter is - if you use cable of sufficiently low resistence then it doesn't make much of a difference. When I upgraded from bulk 12 ga cable to bi-wiring with the bulk cable on the lows and the Monster cable on the highs, I noticed a slight increase in clarity along w/ a little more bottom end oomph (in between I'd also tried w/ just the Monster Z series cable by itself, not biwiring, and I actually preferred the bulk 12 ga alone over the Monster cable alone - but the best was using both together). The next change I made was to introduce some cable of my own making. I used 6 runs of CAT 5 braided together for the lows (the CAT 5 I was using was 8 x 24 ga solid copper with teflon insulation, so a total of 48 x 24 ga for the lows) and 2 runs for the highs (so 12 x 24 ga). I also shielded the cable and grounded the shield. Overall, that seemed to produce a richer sound than the Monster/12 ga combination. Strangely enough, the shielding seemed to be the biggest contributor to that - there was a noticable difference between when I connected the shield to ground, and when I left it unconnected. Unfortunately, the home-made cable was a real pain in the butt to make so I never ended up finishing the pair (I just had one completed cable). I wasn't about to leave the system w/ two different speaker cables so I gave the CAT5 cable to a friend for him to finish for himself, and then I picked up some Kimber Kable. I used Kimber 8TC on the lows on Kimber 4TC on the highs. That seemed to give me roughly the same performance, and that's what I've stuck with since. As far as interconnects go, on the analog side of things I use all AudioQuest (Coral on the front channel, while the other channels vary a bit based on what money was available). I've noticed some differences between AudioQuest and the cheap stuff that comes with most electronics, and I've noticed a bit of a difference between low quality AudioQuest and the higher end AudioQuest. Still, it's not a large difference. On the digital side of the house, maybe with regular coax it's worth buying atleast a real brand like AQ, but don't figure it's going to do much. With a digital signal the signal either gets there intact or it doesn't - many ppl debate whether or not jitter is an audible source of distortion. Consider this - on CAT 5e cable in a high speed computer network (1 Gbps), for about 20 cents a foot, you can carry enough digital information for 300 to 400 channels of raw 24 bit 96 kHz audio (and the fact is - digital information is digital information - just because it is carrying audio doesn't make it special or distinguishable from any other digital information in terms of EMI/RFI characteristics). The situation with fiber is even more ridiculous. I'll admit the Toslink connectors are crappy compared to what's used in computer networks, but the fiber isn't that much worse, and fiber can carry even more data than copper. Plus, fiber is 100% totally immune to EMI/RFI. It makes sense to buy a decent brand of coax just for getting the EMI/RFI shielding, but spending a ton on fiber is just wasting money - I've got about $25K sunk into my home theater (MSRP - I didn't actually pay that much) and I'm running it with a $30 fiber cable (was the cheapest the store had on hand). Everything else beyond cable takes things into the realm of the absurd - magnetic treatments for your CDs (DUH! - CD's work on optics and the magnetic charge held on the CD is not enough to create inductance in the wires going to the optical pick-up or laser), little wooden blocks to hold your cables off the ground (microphonics is a real phenomenon, but not measurable by the human ear), power cords that run $100's of dollars (let's see ppl - do you think the hundreds of feet of electrical wiring in your house is of that quality? the only way that expensive of a power cord makes any sense is if you have a power conditioner that breaks the AC down to DC and then reconstructs the AC again cleanly using a sine wave source, and it's still immeasurable), etc... -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire)

I would hook them in parallel rather than series, which would yield 4 ohms. -Most- amps and receivers will handle 4 ohms fine, but not all so check your manual first (don't worry too much about the variance in impedence - a pair of real 4 ohm speakers will have dips in impedence the same as a pair of 8 ohm speakers in parallel will; if you want to play it safe then don't turn it all the way up - leave a few dB of slack on top). As far as series go, the impedence would be 16 ohms, but I don't think series would work so well with speakers. The voltage in a series circuit decreases with each resistor (like a speaker) in the circuit so the second speaker will have less available power to drive it than the first. I think that would yield strange results, but I've never tried it and that's all speculation - try it if you want and let us know how it works. It might not sound right, but I don't think there's any harm to it - an amp that drives 8 ohms will (almost) certainly drive 16 ohms as well (since a higher impedence load is -easier- for an amp to drive). -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire)

ROFLMAO! Yah, truth to tell, I have the same problem - which is part of why I ended up just deciding to calibrate the 0 dB point based on where my amps clip (actually, as of my latest calibration, it's based on where the rear amp is putting 150W into the RB-5's in the rear since that's the channel I had to dial down the least based on my room). Typically I listen to movies at -15 dB to -12 dB on the volume dial (not to mention that the front speakers are at -9 dB, w/ the sides around -6 dB to -4 dB. *smile* Gotta' love that efficiency. Some ppl would say I've got wasted power then, but I figure the extra power just gives a bit of extra control (heck, it's not easy pushing two 12" cones around). *grin evilly* Then again, no waste at all - sometimes I do enjoy throwing in a pair of ear plugs and shaking apart the house. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire)

I'll definitely have to give them a listen then. One of my complaints w/ my KLF-30's has essentially been that they're -slightly- over-bright sounding and the imaging is not the best (which is not to say I'm not happy - quite the contrary, I love them - but that doesn't mean they can't be improved upon). As far as slam goes, are you talking about bottom-end oomph or upper-bass/lower-mid punch? I like the punchiness of the KLF-30's, and wouldn't want to lose that, but if I lost a little slam in the bottom-end I wouldn't be too upset as my Velodyne sub can pick up the slack if need be. -Mike ------------------ Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire)

Does anybody happen to have a CARA loudspeaker file for the KLF-30's, RB-5's, and KLF-C7? I just picked up the software to do a little room analysis, and didn't want to reinvent the wheel. -Mike

Just curious whether anybody in this forum has had the opportunity to compare the RF-7's against the KLF-30's. I've got a pair of KLF-30's and the store I originally purchased from has an upgrade program where they'll give me the full original purchase price of my speakers against a new pair for the life of the product - thus I've been considering an upgrade (if it truly is one)... -Mike Electronics ----------- Display: NEC LT150 Projector Screen: Da-Lite Model-B 67"x50" Screen (Matte White) DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DV-05 Decoder: Lexicon DC-2 DD/DTS/THX Equalization: AudioControl C-101 Series III (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-991 - 200W x 2 (front) Amplifiers: Rotel RB-993 - 200W x 3 (center/sides) Amplifiers: Adcom GFA 5500 - 200W x 2 (rear) Power Conditioner: Monster HTS 3500 Power Center Speakers -------- Front: (2x) Klipsch KLF-30 (black satin finish) Center: Klipsch KLF-C7 (black satin finish) Side: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Rear: (2x) Klipsch RB-5 (medium oak) Sub: Velodyne HGS-15 (black gloss) Interconnects ------------- DVD to DC-2: Generic Toslink DC-2 to EQ: AudioQuest Coral EQ to RB-991: AudioQuest Coral DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Topaz (sides) DC-2 to RB-993: AudioQuest Diamondback (center) DC-2 to GFA-5500: AudioQuest Turquoise (19m of it) DC-2 to Sub: AudioQuest Diamondback Speaker Cables -------------- Front: Kimber Kable 4TC (hi) / Kimber Kable 8TC (lo) Center: Monster Cable Z3 Side: AudioQuest Type 4+ Rear: AudioQuest Slate (single bi-wire)

Well, I do recommend bi-wiring as it is relatively inexpensive, but ordinarilly I'm not one to recommend bi-amping. I've never personally tried it, but unless you use an active electronic cross-over and remove the speakers' internal cross-overs then you're not really buying much (a little bit, but not much). However, with those two amps of yours what I'd recommend is using them essentially as "monoblocks". One amp would be for the left speaker - one channel of it would power the lows while the other would run the highs - and the other amp would power the right speaker the same way (one channel for the highs, and one for the lows). In this fashion you can entirely eliminate cross-talk during amplification, and you also manage to provide a beefier power supply to each channel (since each channel now has one dedicated supply instead of them sharing one). In addition, if you take my recommendation about using the two amps as "monoblocks" then you can also put them closer to the speakers (ie - set each amp right next to their respective speaker). That will let you buy more expensive speaker cable because you'll be able to buy a shorter run of it (perhaps just a foot or two) - in most cases high quality speaker cable is more expensive than high quality interconnects. -Mike