pathighgate
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Posts posted by pathighgate
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Mine is almost always powered on. I've yet to see any damage or degredation, and the sub is nearly 9 years old.
I'll occasionally shut the sub off when it's late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbor with loud, deep booming sounds.
But I'll never put it on the auto settings. It suffers something that I can best describe as "subwoofer lag"; If the movie you're watching is quiet for a while and then has a portion of the soundtrack with a heavy bass sound, it takes a few seconds for the sub to turn on. You could be watching the movie, something explodes with an underwhelming sound, and then you hear the sub click on after the action is over.
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A strange thing happened to me yesterday. I replaced
my older DVD player with a new one that could play SACDs. I was simply
amazed. As I sat there listening to what was the best audio only
recording played in my home, I realized something:
This sounds so good, I don't think I could spend another dime and be able to
tell the difference. I could drop $100,000 on new speakers, and to my
ears it couldn't sound any better. I'm sure there are others out there
with a more sophisticated auditory palette, but for me, this is it. I'm
done. Purchasing new equipment for music listening would be pointless.
Thankfully, the home theatre portion of this system continues to need new
things (specially, a good subwoofer and satellite receiver).
So it can end. Sort of.
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Mines probably a little older. I bought that system back in '92 before subwoofers were standard on mini-systems.
Thankfully, a nice person on these forums has made availble a pair of KSF S5s (in black!) for sale, which I've paid for. I'll probably keep the Sonys, find a cheap receiver and put them in my kitchen. I also have an older pair (purchased in '88) of Bose 101 all weather speakers that I've been trying to find a use for, but honestly, the Sonys blow them away. Someday I might put the Bose out back on the patio. Or sell them. Or something.
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Fanbrain:
I sent you via email the link for the KSF S5s that was sent to me (The white ones).
It looks like you have an almost identical setup as I do, only a slightly different model of Sony speakers for the rear channels. Actually, mine are speakers salvaged from a 'all-in-one' Sony system I had way back in college. The components have long since been trashed, but I never managed to to throw out the speakers. They're not bad speakers, but they're certiantly not great. What surprised me the most was that my Marantz automatic speaker calibration defined them as 'large', despite (what I think) the limited output of them are. When I finally get the KSF S5s, I'll make a note as to the level of difference I get.
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Thanks for the link. They're the right speakers and at the right price. The only downside is that they're white, and would stick out like sore thumbs in this room, which is almost compleatly done in dark woods. My 10.5s are Rosewood, which look great. The C-5 is black, and the C5s would have to be black too. I know that's a really bad nitpick, but
the white would just look too weird in here.
I like that website, and it'll be another place I check regularly.
I just put my old Sony SDP E800 on eBay, and will be checking the website every day now for the Klipsch.
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I've been looking for these to compleate my bedroom HT system. I have a set of KSF 10.5s that I bought in '97. About four months ago I picked up a KSF C5 center channel, and was amazed at how well matched it was to the 10.5s. I'm assuming that since the S5s were initially engineered to be a part of a complete HT system with the 10.5/8.5 and the C5 that they should sound great with what I've got. If they mesh with the system as well as the C5 did, I'll be very, very happy.
I've seen the S5s on eBay before, but there's been nothing for the last month.
I'm trying to get this completed soon. I've been considering picking up a pair of KSF 8.5s and using them as my surround speakers instead, considering they're made with essentially the same components as the 10.5s and should match, but there are space considerations and I'm not sure I want something that big in the back of my bedroom.
Any ideas of what I should do here? Is there any place to find older Klipsch gear for sale other then eBay? Would the 8.5s end up being a better solution, since far more audio is sent to rear channels in today's movie soundtracks then they had when the KSF line was produced in the late 90s?
Suggestions and expert opinions would be appreciated.
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Give me a break. There's nothing wrong with Target. I shop there all the time. I'm young, single, drive a low emissions Honda Civic. I occasionally buy DVDs there. I recently picked up a Kodak V530 digital camera there (not pro grade, for sure, but a pretty nice point and shoot peice of work). I bought my GPS there, a nice hand-held Garmin. For both the camera and the GPS, they were the cheapest place in town I could find them. I once even bought an end table there.
Target sells a lot of nice stuff. What they don't sell is good stereo equipment. In a pinch, I'll pick up a cable there, but I'd never go there to get speakers.
People who shop at Target are not stupid.
People who think Target is a good place to get stereo equipment, on the other hand, are.
That's a distinction that needs to be made.
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Can't help myself. Just got a new digital camera.
The Klipsch KSF bedroom HT:
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In a way, I like the Monster (or any brand of over-priced)
cables. They offer a great starting
point when you are trying out a new audio store. You walk in, say hello to the salesman, let
him know what youre looking for and how much youre willing to spend. But prior to talking about equipment,
options, pricing and the like, you pose a very simple question:
Before we get started, Im curious about speaker
cable. I want to get a good sound, but I
dont want to pay more money then I need to.
Are these expensive cables worth it?
If the salesman says something to the effect of Some people
claim to be able to tell the difference.
In reality youd be better off--and would have a much more noticeable improvement--if
you spend $200-$400 more on better speakers/amp rather then laying down the
same amount of money on spool of Monster cables., then you know he or she is
probably on the up and up, and youre probably going to be directed towards
gear that sounds good, as opposed to what looks good or what theyre paying
spiffs out on that week.
On the other hand, if the salesperson lights up when you ask
him that question, explaining in a techno-speak gibberish that you need the
best darn cables you can afford. When
they tell you that your system wont sound good without the expensive cables,
or that you need to spend upwards of 25% of your entire sound budget on cables
. . . when that happens, you simply politely thank the sales person, walk out the
door and never come back.
There; you just saved yourself hundreds of dollars and
countless headaches which would inevitably come with dealing with a store which
holds a policy of fleecing their customers who dont know any better.
What Ive been curious about lately is the emergence of power
conditioners. Ive heard a lot of
different opinions, ranging from worthless to they improve the quality of the
audio and video produced by your equipment very noticeably. .
A few weeks ago I went to the local best buys Magnolia store,
and they confirmed that the higher priced power systems do indeed improve the
fidelity of your music and audio for HT, as well as the picture on your
television. I am by no means an expert
on electronics, but I fail to see how better (massaged, as one salesman put
it) power makes a difference in how the sound works. My B.S. alarm instinctively was activated and
I probed more. It seemed like the more
specific my questions became, the more vague their responses were. It reminded me why, other then buying DVDs, I
dont go to Best Buy.
Today I was driving home and saw I was close to a very good
locally owned/operated shop here in town.
These guys manage to never set off my B.S. alarm at all, a rare
feat. (they have a pretty telling view
about speakers on their webpage; http://www.custom-tv.com/myths/ ) .
They gave me a more rational explanation: power conditioners are little more then very
good surge protectors. Other then
keeping your audio gear safe from electrical disturbances and filtering out
interference from your various components, the really dont do much. The salesman confirmed my suspicion that the quality
of music your stereo system produces has very little to do with what kind of
power you have.
Its honesty like that which keeps me shopping at those
kinds of places rather then Best Buy.
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I'm 31 years old and still single. Occasionally I lement the fact
that I've yet to get married, but then I read threads like this and can
take some comfort in knowing that, at the very least, no one can tell
me where or how to setup my system, or try to get me to spend my
disposable income on something foolish (read: something other then my
toys).
I think the trick is to get as many toys as I can now, because once I'm
married and lose control of the checkbook, it'll be all over.
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I have been looking to upgrade my bedroom home theatre for several
months. Ive asked about it here before, and have received some
good advice, but I still have more questions.
Its a small system in a small room, so I dont need anything
fancy. I plan to stick with my main speakers (KSF 10.5), Purchase
a center channel ( I dont have one right now ), Replace the rear
speakers which currently arent very good, and eventually upgrade the
subwoofer (Ive never been completely satisfied with the KSW-10, but
getting a new one is a low priority). It would be nice
(preferable) if the speakers accompanying my 10.5s had the cherry
finish to match; In my opinion. The cherry looks so much better,
especially in how it blends with my furnishings, compared to the
black. The most important thing is that all the way around they
are acoustically matched
Since Klipsch discontinued their KSF line several years ago, Ive been
searching the Internet (mainly eBay) to try to find a used C5 center
and a pair of KSF-S5s with no success. It seems those speakers are
difficult to find in the used market.
A few days ago, I was looking through the selection at the local Good
Guys (Theyve said that theyre going out of business and are trying to
liquidate all of their inventory), I found that the have a lot of SF-1s
in stock. Most of their going out of business prices arent that
good, but theyre asking only about $150.00 a pair for the SF-1s.
Ive done some research, and it appears the SF-1 is the replacement for
the KSF 8.5. From what I remember, the 8.5 is identical to the 10.5,
except it has one less 8 woofer. The tweeter looks virtually
identical.
What would happen if I used the SF-1s as rear speakers? Assuming
of course I can find room for them (which may be a big problem). This
seems like it might be overkill, but I can always turn down the volume
in the back. I know these arent multidirectional like the
standard Klipsch surround channels. Would the difference in these
compared to the KSF C-5s or the newer version be that much different,
especially considering the price?
Or am I way off base here?
I've also considered bookshelf speakers; thats what I have now, and
while the quality of the speaker itself is poor, it does deliver that
sound to my ears pretty well.
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I cant speak for XM, since I have Sirius, but Ive talked
to a lot of people who have XM and from the feedback Ive received, it seems
that theyre more or less very similar.
The major difference is in programming. Sirius has a handful of really good stations,
and quite a few genres (depending on your own musical tastes), as does XM. Ive been told that XM tends to play more
obscure or deep tracks, while Sirius is a little more general.
Either way, youre going to get music thats pretty good(worlds better then the mostly junk they broadcast on FM). The downside is that they use a compression
method that sucks out a lot of the fidelity from the recordings, at least in my
ears. Your system is going to be good enough
to noticeably tell the difference between sat radio and a good FM
broadcast/CD. Its not *really*
bad. Certainly listenable, but by no
means fantastic.
If youve got a good relationship with your stereo store,
you might be able to cajole them into letting you demo a standalone sat
component with an active subscription and listen to it at home for a few days before
you buy. Its not likely, but it wouldnt
hurt to try.
The other thing to consider is their non music channels. I ended up deciding on Sirius over XM due to
their NFL coverage. I find myself in my
car on Sundays pretty often, so being able to listen to my Steelers is a bonus. Every game has two broadcasts; one for each
teams local coverage. Last year I was delighted
to hear the voice of Myron Cope announce for Pittsburgh
again (I havent heard him since I left the region some 8 years ago).
On the other hand, I believe XM has MLB, so I suppose itdepends on what you like.
Sirius has three separate NPR feeds, which I love, andcountless talk format stations (which Ive never really listened to). Its great in the car because if youre on a
long trip and bored, you can almost always find something interesting to listen
to thats entertaining if you search long enough.
Theres also Howard Stern.
Not really my cup of tea, but a lot of people seem to like him, so
depending on what youre into he might be a bonus too. (I believe that in 2006,
Sirius is going to be the only place you can hear him). XM has their own version of Stern. . . I
forget their names . . . but I believe they charge a few bucks extra to listen
to them. On Sirius Stern is included with the base subscription.
Id recommend at the very least going down to a place withan XM or Sirius system setup and just scanning the channels of the stations
which play your favorite genres to see if they have stuff you like.
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Wow. What a lot of replies.
The other night a friend of a friend brought a 19 year old over
and I demoed my Klipsch setup. He seemed
impressed, commenting that when he got the money, it would be the kind of
system hed want. The
recording from THX title screen at the start of Star Wars III was
enough to knock his socks off (I often times find myself playing that
intro over and over again) Im not an old man
(yet), but its still good to see people over 10 years my junior
appreciating
better audio.
Actually i would like options on what to do for getting radio..
I spend a lot of time listening to the radio (both terrestrial,
sat and Internet broadcasts). In my
opinion (and, of course, your results may vary considerably), the best way to
go is putting an aerial outside the house on a tower. Something good at picking up UHF signals as
well as FM. The advantages of this are
twofold: 1)
You generally get a better,
cleaner radio signal for FM music (or talk . . . I find I listen to NPR
more
then any other terrestrial station), and 2) The antenna can also
provide better
reception for digital major network HD signals for your television
display (which, remember, often has 5.1 digital sound in the broadcast). Im assuming you still live with your
parents, and if the house is old enough it might still have an above the roof
antenna capable of receiving the FM band.
So, if the folks dont mind you splicing off the antenna and running
cable all over the attic or basement, it might be worth a shot.
When it comes to antennas, I learned a difficult lesson: tearing
down my old 15 foot eyesore tower two years before I got into HD. (I havent put another one back up because I
keep hearing Direct TV is going to start providing HD network broadcasts you
can get without jumping through hoops).
For the radio in my bedroom, in the meantime, I have whats essentially lamp
cord gauge speaker wire running outside the frame of my closet, somewhat
hidden by the trim. I can pick up local
FM stations crystal clear, stations from Sacramento (some 80 miles away) with
varying quality going from pretty good to I think I hear something coming out
of the static. I can also pick up a
couple of San Francisco (90 miles away and a whole bunch of hills) stations,
but even the best ones still have a fair share of static.
If youre interested in radio format (hey, its great forbeing exposed to music youve not heard before), you might consider the option
of hooking your PC up to your stereo system and checking out some of the
streaming audio feeds you can pickup via broadband. For example, when chained to the desk in the
mornings, I play the Los Angeles
based KCRW for their Morning Becomes Eclectic programming, streaming live
over the internet and running into the analog inputs on my Sony digital possessor.
Depending on the quality of the feed,youll probably be
able to hear a noticeable difference between Internet broadcasts and a
good FM
Station and/or CD, but for my ears, going that route yields an
acceptable level
of quality from some of the better Internet radio channels. The
major downside is that you're either going to have to lug your computer
into your room or buy a really long audio cord. I recently spent some
$30 for a 50ft 'RCA' type cable a few months ago, only to discover that
many modern sound cards have a optical (fiber) or coaxial output,
meaning that I'll have to get a new soundcard and shell out even more
money for a 50 foot peice of fiber.
Another option: If you have Satellite or digital cable, check out some of their music choice style channels. It doesnt appear (well, sound) like theyveover compressed the audio--at least on Direct TV--and it typically gives me a pretty
good listening experience. I only bring
it up because Ive found most people neglect or forget the music channels theyre
paying for anyway, and some of them arent that bad. On the other hand, Ive tried this with streaming audio from my
Sirius sat account linked to the receiver in my car, (you get some free Internet
streaming channels if youre a subscriber) but even though I really like a
handfull of their stations, the audio compression is so bad over
the Internet that it elicits more headaches then listening pleasure.
In my (once again yours may vary) opinion 95% of all the terrestrialbroadcast FM stations pretty much stink, and theres so many better options out
there via Sat or the Internet that it almost seems pointless to put hard work
into getting a good signal. Unless, of
course, youre doing it just for the fun of doing it, which I would always encourage.
Gads. Sorry for the long post.
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Oh come on. You cant
honestly expect an 18 year old to have a refined interior design skill. This kids room reminds me of mine back at
that age, only his is a lot cleaner then mine ever was (that and I had a poster
of Morton Downey Jr. on the wall . . . I was a weird kid).
And hey, at least he has good taste in gear. Occasionally Ill go and substitute teach atone of the local high schools, and when it comes to audio most of the students
seem content to blow all their money on really crummy car stereo
systems which sound as if theyre just a head unit hooked up to an amp hooked
up to giant subwoofers (why spend money on mids and tweeters? Theyre virtually useless for annoying old
people!) The summer between my junior
and senior year of high school, I worked long hours to save up for my own car
stereo, ending up with a really good sounding pair of Infinity Kappas and a
Concorde tape deck. I loved those
Infinities, and was crushed when they finally cracked upon Somehow back then, audio purchased with
earned money just seemed to sound better.
In any event, kudos to this guy for having a more refined ear then his
typical peer.
JeffDurbin: I used to
have an old Duel record player that was a hand-me-down from my father. It was wood too (well, genuine simulated wood
grain). What I thought was neat was that
it could play multiple records . . . something of a precursor to the modern CD
changers we have now (yeah, I know its quite a stretch to say that). You could load 4 records, and when one record
finished playing the next one would drop down automatically. The turntable died about 5 years ago, and Ive
yet to be in the presence of mind to replace it. A shame, really, since Ive got several dozen
good LPs, including a copy of Dave Brubecks Take Five in excellent condition
which I personally believe sounds much better then the same recording on CD.
33kifan: The KSF10.5s are a floor standing loudspeaker made (I believe) between 96 and 99. Each
has two 8 drivers and a horn, weighs about 50 lbs and has the very nice cherry
wood finish. They somewhat resemble yours
from the picture.
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what's your budget?
As inexpensive as possible to make it sound good.I am inclined to reommend selling off everything
you don't need and start from scratch. Heck, even a promedia Ultra 5.1 would
probably sound better.
Somehow I doubt a set of computer speakers is going to sound better then the floor
standing loudspeakers I am using as a base.
There's no way I'd give up my KSF 10.5s. They're fantastic sounding
speakers, especially for music. I figure I can find a decent center
channel used for $120, along with a set of rear speakers for around $250-$300. The Sony SDP-E800 does a fantastic job at
handling the digital 5.1 decoding.Would anything in the ksb lineup work with
your existing speakers? I have an entire bedroom setup of ksb1.1 and ksc-c1 and
it's got a pretty good sound at low volumes.
I couldn't say. Like I said, I'm looking for something that will work
well with the KSFs I have up front, something that will mesh with the sound
they have so I have a uniform level of quality and fidelity all the way
around. I don't know which Klipsch lines put out today are close to the KSFs.
Thanks for the mounting ideas; thats something I'll have to
consider.
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Recently Ive been working on a home theatre setup in the
bedroom. Its not a huge room (about 13x11),
but since I often fall asleep wile watching a movie I want to get a decent HT
sound.
It would be built around the KSF 10.5s I have. Right now theres no center channel, and therear speakers are a pair of old Sonys that I salvaged from one of those all in
one mini systems I had back in college (the Sony speakers sound alright. Not great, but not bad).
The receiver is hardly high-end; it doesnt even have a modernsurround decoder. I have a stand-alone
Sony digital processor which Im essentially using as a pre-amp feeding into to
the six discrete channel inputs on the receiver, limiting the workload of the
receiver to be nothing but a multi-channel amp. Even without the center and the
sub par surround speakers, I still get a pretty good HT experience due in part (I
think) to the small size of the sound stage. But, I
want it to be better.
I understand they dont make the KSF 10.5s anymore, nor thematched center and surrounds. My
question involves finding a decent center channel, followed by some good rear
speakers that will blend well with the Klipsch mains. Ive been looking at the KSF-C5 for the
center (every so often I see one for sale on eBay), but if I decided to pick up
something new, any suggestions?
I was considering finding a pair of KSF-S5s, though Im concernedthat their acoustic design wouldnt be a good match in my room. During normal listening (in bed), my head is
typically right up against the back wall, meaning the surround speaker
placement would have to either be flush with the back wall or in front of my
head. Right now the Sony surrounds are
sitting in back corners of the room with about 2 inches distance between the
speakers and the back and side walls.
The way the S5s are designed have two drivers angled in opposite
directions with the horn in the center.
This would be fine if I had more room (or at least had a more forward listening
position), but as it stands Im kind of stuck.
Ive seen some standard bookshelf shaped Klipsch which seem to be better suited
for my situation, but I have no idea which ones would play nice with the
rest of my system.
If at all possible, Id like to go used. This isnt my main setup and its not a hugepriority (meaning, Im not going to throw a lot of money at it). So the question is--for those who know more
about the history of Klipschs product lines then I dowhich speakers would
serve me best in my current setup and have a sound that meshes well with the
10.5s
Thanks -
At
18 years old, you should be dang proud. You already have a setup better
then those owned by 99% of the countrys population. Heck, when I was
18 all I had a pair of Bose 201s and a crummy 35 watt Techniques receiver
hooked up to a Sanyo portable CD player. That and a subscription to
Stereo Review which I would drool over. Things have changed quite a bit
since 1988.
Whenyou get older and get more gear, Im sure youll want upgrade your speakers.
But whatever happens, keep those Klipsch towers. My KSF 10.5s are 8 years
old and they keep sounding better. Just a couple of years ago I was
seriously considering selling them; they were just sitting in storage.
Then I decided to put them in the bedroom, and it was like being reunited with
an old friend.
Onething I love about the Klipsch sound is how well those speakers handles music.
Theres a warmth and depth there thats difficult to describe, but boy-oh-boy
do they sound wonderful with a good audio recording. Youre going to be happy
for a very long time.
Klipsch Synergy III Complete System Help!
in Home Theater
Posted
I have a like setup; a full compliment of Syngery KSF spakers (manufactured in the late 90s). I can tell you what the salesman at the high end audio store in town told me:
The Klipsch are so efficent, a decent 16 guage cable would work fine, and it would be unlikely anyone could really tell the difference between that and a pricier cable.
The power supply in most higher quaity equipment is built well enough and handles power in such a way that an expensive power conditioner would be redundant. A quality surge protector is all I'd need.
I'm not an expert, but I tend to trust any salesman's advice when it results in me not buying something.
As for a receiver, I have a Marantz SR 7500 which with tax came out lower then your $1,000 price range. It seems to be a near perfect match for the Klipsch, producing a warmer sound without making the speakers sound too 'bright'. The only downside: No HDMI