JeffDurbin

I went in the NFM to audition some Infinity Betas and when I saw the closeouts on the Klipsch I got very re-interested very fast. I am amazed that the eBay sales are going as high as they have. Not much discount off list and no warranty support.

I saw a $1,300 HK AV635 for $615 at amazon.com. It made me question my purchase of separates.

I have a Fosgate FAP-T1+ pre-amp I got for $805 from woot.com and a used Rotel RB-985 I got for $400 on eBay and I have to honestly admit that they really aren't going to be any better than a closeout $1,300 Harman Kardon AV 635 receiver on Amazon.com for $615. I bet I could still get close to $1,200 for my separates and redeploy into the receiver choice. Separates are critical for driving a tough (e.g. 4 ohm) load like Maggies but let's face it, Klipsch are pretty easy to drive - even with a high-quality receiver like HK, Denon or Outlaw.

Are you in Canada? MSRP on RB-25s is $400. I got three pairs of floor model RB-25s for $212 per pair plus sales tax.

I have seen the RB-25s for sale on eBay for over $300 a pair which makes no sense considering they retailed for $400. I got three pair of floor models for $212 per pair at Nebraska Furniture Mart. NFM is in Omaha, Des Moines and KC. I would recommend the 25s but I have never heard the 61s. The 25s did very, very well against Polks and Infinity Betas.

That's an understatement! LOL. Hurrah Klipsch! (Well Trey at least!) I can hardly wait to fire these puppies up.

Yeah but AudioQuest is one of the worst purveyers of 'snake oil' - correction, 'high-end' interconnects and speaker wire - and so you would expect them to spew that dribble.

Aaaaaargh! I have fantasized about those speakers since last Fall but I just settled for Reference Series last week. I suppose I could sell my Reference Series to a doctor buddy in FL that wants them and trade up (but in reality I cannot afford THX Ultra since buying a Vette in January.

When I was evaluating it, the reviews and comments at www.avsforum.com tended to focus on those two items: 1) Why DVI instead of HDMI? 2) Why is the Faroudja circuitry in the digital video (DVI) output path only instead of before the component / DVI split? I don't know why but I am sure that some of the Pannie supporters were influenced by those design decisions.

Those Panasonic models have a lot of supporters. I think their prices have come down more than the OPPO so now they are pretty close to the same price. As Westcott points out, the OPPO's Faroudja circuit is in line with the DVI output so if you are using component cables you will not have the benefit of the upscaling. But, if your HDTV has the ability to take advantage of upscaling then why would you use component cables? The HDMI output of the Pannies make it easier to use HDMI switching in a receiver. I am not aware of any AV receivers that do DVI-HDMI switching but there are plenty of higher-end receivers (and pre-amps) that do HDMI switching. Although the OPPO reviews have placed it at the top of the food chain (relatively close to $3,500 universal players) the Pannies have advantages that should be evaluated before rushing to the OPPO.

Actually, I need to be perfectly candid and admit that I am laughing at him.

I purchased three pairs of RB-25s and an RC-25 for a 7.1 speaker system last week. I already own an Infinity CSW-10 subwoofer. These are floor model purchases from Nebraska Furniture Mart. The RC-25 was missing one of the jumpers. I sent an email to Klipsch customer service asking if they have a spare jumper. I was hoping they would say 'sure' and drop one in the mail to me. I wouldn't have been that surprised if they had asked me to pay a couple bucks to cover postage. Instead, I get a 'we don't have those' response. That seems silly to me. This is a small copper strap. It's not like it's obsolete. It looks like all of the speakers of that size have the same design for their mounting post faceplate. My guess is that all of the jumpers on all of the speakers are identical. What do you mean there simply are none to be had? Makes no sense to me. I am particularly frustrated because when I purchased the floor model Infinity subwoofer it didn't come with the RABOS kit. As a result, Ultimate Electronics marked it down from an already low $396 ($1,000 MSRP) to $296 (70% off list). I sent an email to Infinity and they happily sent me a free RABOS kit. I expected better service from Klipsch than Infinity. No matter how much I dislike Jane Harman's politics, I have to admit that her husband runs a damn fine audio conglomerate. I wish I could say the same about the Klipsch. family.

I stopped at Nebraska Furniture Mart last week and examined some Reference Series speakers. Their pickings were slim. I settled on three pair of RB-25s and an RC-25. I had been shopping for a 5.1 system because I have a bay window behind my sectional and I thought it would be too obstructive to stick horizontal surrounds in the bay. We have a nice view and I didn't want to mess that up. The three pairs of RB-25s have a dual advantage. I can fit a rear pair between the rear window and the angled windows in the bay, another pair to the sides of the sectional and the front pair. What's more, I am sure they will be well-matched to each other. Now I need to purchase stands for them.

I have the OPPO and I love it. I am using it with a 61" DLP HDTV designed by InFocus and manufactured by RCA (InFocus 61md10). The OPPO upscales to both 720p and 1080i but since the native resolution of the InFocus is 720 I am upscaling to 720p. It also has an audio delay which is a nice feature because the audio delay circutiry of my pre-amp is a bit cludgy to work with. It replaces a pretty nice Toshiba model. I am using a DVI-HDMI cable to output the signal to my TV and I forget if I am using Toslink for the audio or coax digital. As I recall it has some SACD capabilities but check the website to be certain. It does have six RCA audio outputs which if I remember correctly are there for SACD so they don't have to worry about digital audio copying. I have not loaded the latest firmware and I should get around to doing that. I am really impressed with OPPO's willingness to continue to release firmware upgrades rather than sell a 'new and improved' model every year. My only nit with it is if you want to open the drawer you have to push and hold the button for something like a full second. I'm always giving it a quick push and then when nothing happens I have to push it again and hold it. Opens right away if I hit the remote button (which I frequently do when I really want to power off instead.) As for HD DVDs, I agree with the other posters that it will take some time for the dust to settle and there will be plenty of media out there in the regular format. Considering how cheap DVD prices are getting I expect they will practically be giving away SD DVDs in a year.

I recommend that you go to www.avsforum.com and hang around the Setup and Theory subforum for a while. They also have a Design and Construction subforum that has a wealth of data too. www.audioholics.com has some good information too, especially for the DIYer . There's a free analysis program in the Setup and Theory subforum. I have not used it yet. I am going to hire an acoustic engineer to evaluate my room acoustics.

Where are you at? I just bought some floor model RB-25s and a RC-25 at Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha on Tuesday. I got them for about 45% off MSRP. They had RF-7s, RF-5s, and I believe it was RF-35s still there as floor models (plus another RC-25 and a pair of RS-25s.) Probably about 30% - 35% off MSRP but there is a little extra room for negotiation. They have NFM in KC and Des Moines also.

I just bought three pairs of RB-25 floor models for $212 per pair and an RC-25 for $182 at Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha. They still have a pair of the RB-25s on the floor for $222.97 (I negotiated) and a pair of RS-25s for $258 and a RC-25 for $228 (mine was missing a jumper). The website is www.nfm.com but they don't list the floor models on there. Call and ask for Rick Ludin in the audio area. Wed and Thursday are his days off. NFM is authorized retailer so they come with the warranty. All prices quoted are USD.

Last night, I bought three pairs of RB-25s at $212 per pair and an RC-25 for $182 (floor models) at Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha. I decided to go with 7.1 instead of 5.1 and I decided to have three matching pairs of RB-25s instead of the RS-25s. They still have a pair of the RB-25s for $222.97 (I negotiated a little off the marked price) and a pair of RS-25s for $258 and another RC-25 for $228. (My RC-25 lacked one of the jumpers so that's why it was $182 instead of $228.) Ask for Rick. I think his last name is Ludin or something like that. Wed and Thurs are his days off. I suspect the Des Moines and KC stores also have closeouts remaining. Omaha still has RF7, RF5 and RF35 floor models. I forget the prices offhand. NFM is an authorized retailer so the warranty is valid.

The thread got a bit off-track. Are the subs still available? I could blow off my wife's Spousal IRA contribution. That would free up $4,000 minus the $1,200 tax shield.

You might want to take a look at this before you spend the money on ETF. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=529224

I wholeheartedly agree with Doug! I spend time at avsforum EVERY SINGLE DAY.You don't have to have an on-site HT designer work with you. I suggest you go to avsforum and PM (send a private message to) bpape and discuss your requirements with him. He's an acoustical designer and he can basically work with your raw dimensions and make room recommendations (such as dimensions) so as to minimize acoustical problems. Then, he can recommend treatments (bass traps or acoustical panels) as well as sub placement to optimize your space. There are others there that also do the same thing but I feel comfortable referring you to Bryan. It is surprisingly affordable.

I have seen the news at a few different websites and yet I was surprised it wasn't on the Klipsch website first! You would think that the dedicated faithful would be among the first to hear about it. I wonder if this is the good news that Amy was alluding to in a post a month or so ago.

I am reading your post a little differently than Dr. Who. Are you saying that you are using a regular audio cable (the red & black ones or the red & white ones) to connect from your coax digital output to your coax digital input? That won't work. Just because analog cables with RCA plugs look like they plug into a coax digital jack doesn't mean they will work.As stated before, you can go coax digital or optical digital but in each case they require special cables. These are not expensive. The cheapest price I have seen for good ones is at www.monoprice.com but if you can bulk up your purchases you can get free shipping with a $99 purchase at www.partsexpress.com which made them a little cheaper for me (I was ordering a bunch of speaker wire). 6' lengths of these cords should be around $10 for a decent one.

I'm at about $1.61 per post. You need to go out and spend more on speakers, friend! My money went for new stuff (so far).

I am assuming you are comparing a stereo recording of the Dire Straits CD (and not a 5-channel mix on a SACD) to a 5.1 channel broadcast. I experience the same thing because the music sounds 'fuller' and more enveloping. There are a few things you should do when you set up a new speaker system. The very first thing is get a $40 Radio Shack SPL meter and test all five (plus the sub) speakers at your listening position. You would be amazed at how much tweaking is necessary to get them all at the same volume. This is because of different distances to your ears. I did mine yesterday after I installed a new (used) amp. The other thing I learned from this is that my center channel sounded a LOT different than my other front speakers! They are the same brand but different speakers obviously. Even though they supposedly have the same efficiency rating they 'sounded' much different even though I was getting the same reading once I tweaked the volume settings. It was an eye-opener! I am saving my pennies for the THX Ultra2 system and it uses the exact same speakers for the fronts. Also, set the distances from the speakers to your listening position because that affects the timing of when the signals reach your ears. The receiver will delay each signal for the five channels so they all arrive when they are supposed to. If you want the five-channel effect with a stereo CD you can always use Pro-Logic to get it. I have the DTS version of the Eagles Hell Freezes Over and after I got everything plugged in I played it because I have never owned a DTS decoder until this new pre-amp. It wouldn't decode the DTS. It defaulted to a Dolby Pro-Logic decoding. It sounded pretty darn good. (Figuring out my DTS problem is a future issue for next weekend.)