WolfsBane

The 901s that I remember were clear back from the late 1970s, early 1980s. At the time, they were very decent speakers with an innovative idea, (direct/reflect technology). I used to remember guys who owned them having some problems with quality, though a lot of speakers at that time did. I also remember that though they were decent, that they did not sound as good as the JBLs of that era for small or bookshelf speakers.

The sale ends Sunday, July 18th. Picked up an XPA-3 for my front stage. Not only am I happy with the way my front imaging has improved, but now that my Yammy only has to take care of the back surrounds, they also have benefited from the full 95 WPC and the rear imaging and dynamics have improved significantly.

Sorry... old school. LFR, (Low Frequency Range)... known these days as Low Pass Frequency, not the independent LFE or .1 channel track. The .1 channel is always directed to the low frequency driver or sub unless it is specified to go to the mains, which is seldom if ever recommended. I had my questions answered by a couple of posts by Roger Dressler at AVS. ;-)

Agreed... the problem is that if I leave the RF-82 mains set to large, (as per the YPAO settings), the mains will not actually have a set crossover point at which all frequencies would be sent to the sub. The receiver would send all LFR content to the mains. I just dont know at which point the receiver would start sending the .1 or LFE stuff to the sub in this case.

Hello Folks! I am in the process of doing some overdue updating of my home system. I've added a Yamaha RX-V750 and an Emotiva XPA-3 is currently on it's way to me. When I run the YPAO on my AVR, the system of course detects that the RF-82s can run down below 40hz and sets them up to "large". I have a couple of questions on this. 1. Can the RF-82 run linearly down to the rated 33hz on the specs? Since I have the XPA-3 coming in for the LCR channels, the RF-82s are going to have plenty of power to run as "large" regardless. I just don't know if it will be with a flat frequency response down to the rated lower frequency. 2. If I decide to stick to running the RF-82 mains as "large" in 5.1 mode, I have a concern as to when the receiver actually starts discriminating LFR sent to the mains from the LFE or .1 stuff that is supposed to be sent to the LFE channel to the sub. In other words, at what frequency does dolby starts sending the signal to the .1 or LFE channel rather than to the main speakers as LFR when set to "large"? Ideally, I would have loved to be able to set my RX-V750 to set speakers to "large" while on two channel mode for music, and independently set all speakers to "small" while listening to 5.1 source material, but I don't think I have that capability. thanks!

... major factor in the overall sound of the speaker? I have my system configured to small on the AVR (including for two channel applications), and I want to try to minimize the influence of the ports on the overall sound of the two channel system due to placement issues of the mains within my room. What I'm trying to do, specially for music, is to integrate my mains and my sub to minimize what the ports contribute on all three speakers, (in other words have the drivers do the work). I have a Yammy, so the crossover is automatically set to 90hz when I set the mains to "small". Thanks~

Personally, I would set the system to a 2.1 configuration for music and 5.1 for HT. This means integrating your sub to your mains for both. It will take some careful work and patience to get it set correctly, but the benefits and the sound is well worth it. On my system, I have configured for music first and foremost. Set all speakers on your AVR to "Small" and make sure the distance from all your speakers to your listening position is set correctly on your AVR. Now, a lot of owners of floor standing speakers have an issue doing this because they believe that it is a waste to set floorstanding speakers to small and not us them as full range speakers. Keep in mind that a crossover is not a brick wall. It simply reduces the sound level of frequencies below the crossover region logarithmically. But the change is very gradual. So while you may set your crossover to, lets say 80hz on your AVR, the actual content of frequencies below 80 hz that are still going to your mains is very significant, (I believe only reduced by 12 dbl @ around 40hz depending on the crossover order, and even less for frequencies between 40hz and 80hz). In any case, even set to "Small", you are going to have a very significant amount of low frequency content below the crossover point going to your mains. What this does, however, is to transfer the lower portion of the frequencies to your sub... the driver designed and built to handle these frequencies, (and do so far better than your mains can). Because your sub is self powered, it can handle these frequencies far more efficiently too. Driving a full range speaker is a huge power load for most commercial AVRs. And the biggest power load is in trying to generate those lower frequencies at a level and dynamic range equal to your mids and highs. It take a LOT of power to do so. When you free your AVR from having to cope with the power requirements of those low frequencies, the receiver is then able to dedicate that power cleanly to generating the mids and highs. You get more uniform power and a greater overhead for your mains. The sound improvements and dynamics from your mains will be very significant. From a cost effectiveness standpoint, a far better solution, IMO, than biamping or biwiring. Your low frequencies will also sound better becaue you will have a self powered low frequency dedicated driver that will be able to keep up with the rest of the system in terms of power, tonal accuracy, and dynamics. Now, keep in mind that the goal is to set your entire system to as flat a frequency response as possible. Remember the room where the speakers will be in will be a large contributor as to how your sound system performs. If the room has acoustical issues, (lots of reflective surfaces, dead spots, etc), it won't matter how good your sound system is. So identifying and treating the room properly is paramount. Second, don't rely exclusively on your ears for your initial calibration. Your ears can and will deceive you. You have spent a lot of money for your sound system. Go a little further and invest a little money on a calibration DVD such as AVIA and a good SPL meter to calibrate your system properly, and make sure your SPL meter has the proper adjustments incorporated before your calibrate your sound system. When you calibrate the sub, you will initially notice, (specially for music), that the sub seem to be somewhat subdued at first. A good quality sub is supposed to complement your speakers... not overwhelm them. The sub is supposed to convey the low frequency content if and only when the content is there. In fact, a well integrated sub will virtually dissapear and the content will seem to be coming from your mains instead. Some folks like to have that little mid bass ump, and they run the sub a little hot to provide this. I personally like the sub to simply complement the mains for music. Once you have initially calibrated your sound system with a DVD calibration disk and an SPL meter, it will only be a matter of making very minor adjustments for your own personal tastes. I have found, (and this is only my opinion), that once you calibrate properly for music, HT applications will take care of themselve. Your bass should be more noticeable if you set all your speakers for "small" and you calibrate with AVIA, for example, because AVIA takes in consideration the sum of all low frequency content in a 5.1 configuration that is being redirected from all speakers into the LFE channel and will calibrate correctly for it's content. The end result is great bass with non of the bloat. Good luck and enjoy your new system!

Yamaha HTR 5660. Does a great job, though it's getting pretty dated with the new home theatre video and audio standards.

The new Reference IV series are barely a year old. Not sure we will see a new reference lineup anytime soon.

The RC-62 is the recommended matched center. The RC-64 has a different HF compression driver better suited for their two top of the line Reference IV speakers. The RC-62 is a sweet center.

For me, it was DirecWay... DirecTV's broadband provider. They basically bilked me out of $300 for "services" that they never provided, but billed me without my knowledge. Not only will I never again do business with any DirecTV company, but I take any opportunity available to educated others about DirecTV's practices.

You mean the one with all the "hard surfaces", (brick walls, hardwood floors, etc)??? Beautiful speakers!!! []

Does anyone know who manufactures the drivers for the new Reference IV and other current line? There is an individual at the AVS site that claims, among other things, that Paul Klipsch used cheap CTS and Eminence woofers, Atlas bullhorn mid drivers and an EV tweeter that barely made 10,000hz. That his drivers were much cheaper and inferior in quality to those used by other builders of big horns such as Altec, JBL and Tannoy. He calls today's Klipsch lineup "cheesy". http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=816581

I was just a young wet-behind-the-ears Airman at Alconbury RAF when I bought mine. Besides the speakers, I also had a Pioneer receiver, Technics turntable, Akai reel to reel, a tape deck and a Reverb, (don't remember the brand), and a timer that would turn everything off at night, and turn everything back on in the morning. On an Airman's basic pay back in those days, it took me a little while to get everything... JBLs, Pioneer, and Bose speakers were pretty popular on the base back in those days. AR was also starting to make a move.

Back in the mid 1970s, I used to own 2 pairs, (4 each), of these babies... the SP X8000. For that era, they used to put out a fantastic sound.