Tom Adams

CheeseHead/Steve P: Something not mentioned in this thread was the selection in the Denon's menu of the DVD being the optical connection. Does that make sense? I don't have my 3300 manual in front of me, but there's a screen in the Denon's menu where the various inputs are selected as to what type the inputs are. In my system, my DVD is identified as the optical connection. Anyhow, I hope this didn't muddy the waters. Tom Adams

Kathy - Something to keep in mind when running the wiring in the walls is their proximity to electrical wiring. Typical 110/120V is not too bad, but if there's a 220/230V nearby, lookout. Also, to be on the safe side, try to run your speaker wiring perpendicular to electrical wiring and not parallel to it. This will mitigate picking up stray signals. Tom Adams

Aaron - Anymore thoughts about buying my KV3? Tom Adams

tljraj - About that ceiling...am I to understand it's one of those Celetex drop ceilings? If so, how much depth is there (i.e. from the backside of the Celetex to the underside of the ceiling structure? The reason I ask is that if the depth is like four or five feet, an option would be to have the false ceiling slope upwards from one end of the room to the other. IOW, the false ceiling could be six or seven feet at the "screen" end of the room and slope up to twelve feet at the other end. I hope that makes sense. This would give you plenty of headroom to mount the Heresy's, retain the Celetex tiles to keep the room from being too lively, and give the room some volume and "shape". Anyhow - what I wouldn't give to have *your* problem. Tom Adams

Just a thought.... But while I'm certain it would not meet code for routing electrical wiring, I don't see why one couldn't use thin wall PVC (such as PR180 or PR200) as conduit for audio/video cabling. Due to it's thinner wall, a larger O.D. could be used in a standard 2X4 wall. And, it's much cheaper and easier to work with. Tom Adams

"Bose seconds" Isn't that redundant?? <be nice Tom> Tom Adams

Thanks Ray! Nice reviews of their stuff - especially the AT 1506. 150 watts to each of six channels. Mmmmmm....power is good!! Tom Adams

Does anyone here know what happened to S.A.E. electronics? Tom Adams

Thanks djk. Interesting perspective. The DC300A was the first big amp that I connected to my Heresy's. All I remembered was that they would ROCK and it was amazing to see a woofer cone that well controlled. I also posted cause I haven't heard anyone here mention Crown amps. So...another thread comes to an end. Tom Adams

djk - Can you elaborate? Why no bass? I don't recall this (of course, there's a lot of things from my college days I don't recall ) Tom Adams

Aaron - I've been thinking of replacing mine. It's in perfect shape. If you're interested, email me off-line and we can chat. Please use: tom.adams.iii@gulfaero.com Tom Adams

Wow - tough room. I think the first thing you need to do is smack the architect upside the head. Seriously though, I don't see how you could possibly use RS-3's and be assured that you're getting your monies worth. The only solution I'd suggest would be to have some kinda wedge fabricated such that when it's mounted to the beam and the RS-3 is mounted to the wedge, the RS-3 is angled down into the listening area. Does that make sense? You'd also have to do the same for the other side to ensure like sound distribution and to maintain a certain amount of esthetics. However, this is just my opinion. YMMV, void where prohibited by law, prices & specifications subject to change.... I know you said you didn't want speakers on stands, but since you seem to be all about this, it may be the only solution you'll never second-guess. Know what I mean? Tom Adams

Vagabond - I haven't done this personally - only repeating what my dealer said he did and what he discovered regarding those flat gold colored plates. In his words, "Tom, if you buy these speakers (RF-3's), the first thing you need to do is remove those flat plates off the speaker terminals and either bi-wire or replace them with 14ga speaker wire. When I first heard these speakers, I liked the sound, but wasn't all that impressed. Then I removed the flat plates in order to bi-wire, but I didn't have what I needed so I just used speaker wire instead of putting the plates back on. When I played them with that set-up, it was like listening to a completely different pair of speakers. It was that dramatic. I heard what folks had been raving about." Tom Adams

It's been many moons since I've had my Heresy's hooked up to a Crown amp (DC300A) and it wasn't for long. So, I was curious if any of you have had any experience with Crown in either 2-channel or HT systems with Klipsch speakers. TIA Tom Adams

jayhawk92 - Your problem is deja vu all over again for me. I had the exact same thing as you. What perplexed me was that I was in a brand new house with premium coax cabling (supplied my own stuff), the main feed cable was brand new stuff (we're in a new phase of the development), and I had upgraded all my video connection cables. So what could possibly be wrong? As an aside, I have six outlets total, but only have four activated at the house junction box. During the initial cable hook-up, the installer mentioned that after splitting the cable four ways (i.e. activating outlets five & six), there would be a signal loss enough to result in a bad picture. So, we only activated four. Anyhow, I called the cable company (COMCAST) and agreed to meet a tech. He checked the signal inside the house at all the outlets and at the junction block outside. His conclusion was that the signal strength to the house was TOO HIGH. Said that with new TV's, too strong a signal will cause a snowy, grainy picture - especially on channels 2-30. The solution (which he couldn't do) was to throttle back the downstream amplifier on the main trunk line. This was done a few days later and, for the most part, all is fine. In short <whew>, I'd call your cable company. It appears that they have tweaks they can do depending on what kinda picture problems you're having. Hope this helps. Tom Adams

Ray - Do you think he might be watching a Godzilla movie? Sorry bradj - couldn't resist. Tom Adams

cfritzke - Will my dealer let me demo them (or any other speakers) in-house?? Oh h*ll yeah. He's only *too* happy to let me cart stuff home (the bastid). Seriously though, I'm not really in the mode to purchase speakers right now since a new widescreen TV is the priority. And as with speakers, Mark's response to me saying that we can't do the TV thing now cause I'd have to sell my present A/V wall unit and I'd have no place to sit the TV until a new wall unit is built?? "No problem Tom, I can loan you a stand for as long as you need." Mark is a truly evil man. Anyhow, I fully intend to listen to some KLF's against the RF-3's when the time comes. But first, it's the TV. Naturally, I need to have the custom wall unit built for the new TV. And a new SVS sub would be nice. Of course I probably need to consider replacing that KV-4. And some more amp power would be nice. Hmmm...I wonder how another set of surrounds would sound? Could probably stand to replace all those pesky remotes with a Pronto. A DSS dish would be cool. And....... Tom Adams

Well gang. In honor of my 45th year of life on this planet, I played hookie today and spent over an hour listening to a pair of RF-3's at my dealer. I've been considering these guys to replace my Heresy's. I'm not sure what I expected, I mean, I trusted the comments many of you have made, but I wasn't prepared for what I heard. We had them bi-wired to a Cinepro amp and was using a Denon CD player. In a nutshell, I was blown away. I listened to everything from Steely Dan, to Sting, to The Eagles, to Hiroshima, to Lyle Lovett, to...well, you get the picture. Everything on these guys sounded good. Highs were nice without being in your face. The entire mid was nice without being nasalie (sp?). The bottom was there and tight even at very low volume settings. Percussion sounds were very natural - especially cymbals, chimes, etc. And there was a definite sound stage. For grins, we A/B'd them against some B&W Nautilus 801's and they held their ground. A cute trick was to take the spikes off the back feet so the speakers were slightly angled upwarded. Any of you RF-3 owners tried this? It really opens up the sound even more. Anyhow, I was very very impressed with these guys. And then I got pissed. Why? Because I couldn't believe they were out-performing my Heresy's. How dare they? My babies since 1980 were being dethroned? Oh the injustice!! Is nothing sacred?? So I gathered my music, said "d*mn you Mark for letting me listen to those things" and sulked out the door. Back at home, I almost walked over to my Heresy's and kicked them. Then I said, ok, you got an hour to redeem yourself and I began playing the same music I used with the RF-3's. And little by little, my Heresy's began to show me that they still had game. At elevated levels, they were smooth and had punch. They could play highs just as well as those pesky RF-3's. Sound stage wasn't as nice, but vocals were right there. Some minor placement changes and ahhhh...my faith is restored. I'm sorry Mr. Heresy for ever doubting you. However, I still think those RF-3's are gonna wind up in my HT application with my Heresy's. Whew - I feel better now. Tom Adams

Kathy - When you are sitting on your couch, what is there when you look 90 degrees to your right and to your left? I can't really tell from your photos. Are there walls? Tom Adams

My two cents worth..... On DVD, I really enjoy my Tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan. Not so much for the recording/mixing, but for the shear greatness of his playing and music. And for visual impact, try Odyssey Into The Mind's Eye with music by Kerry Livgren (guitarist from the rock group Kansas). On CD, Little Feat's "Waitin' for Columbus" is a fave. Tom Adams

Never was the saying about beauty being in the eye of the beholder more true.... IMHO, I hope Klipsch designers do something with the looks of some of Acurus products - especially the pre-amps. The products might be premo, but they're ugly. Tom Adams

I'm curious.... Since the initial shipping date for Klipsch's newest products is just around the corner, why aren't any of these products shown in the "New Products" portion of the Klipsch website? I mean, it's been a few weeks now since CES and I would've thought Klipsch would've had some poop ready to upload as soon as they announced the stuff at CES. Tom Adams

Boris - Regardless of whether you have or don't have a sub, I would set the mains to large and the center & surrounds to small. You can try the mains set to small, but I think you'll find a lack of bass. Something KLF30's are *not* known for. Tom Adams

Having just gotten back from Wal Mart, Ray Garrison said: "Tom, uh, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Well Ray...I dunno. I mean, I remember what happened to Marantz and Pioneer many moons ago and how they sacrificed quality for quantity. Got to the point where you could buy that stuff almost in an Ace Hardware store (I know, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean). Both brands are back now with good stuff, but look how long it took them to recover and re-establish their reputation - almost a whole generation. But if McIntosh and the like can maintain quality, I don't see anything wrong with the concept. What the heck, aren't etailers just virtual Wal Marts? Who knows, maybe Klipsch selling a limited line through K-Mart or summat would be the solution to this debate about Klipsch's internet/mail order policy debate. Audio dealers would have to be more price competitive to compete with the volume sales pricing at K-Mart and *everybody* has a K-Mart near them. OTOH, what the heck do I know - I'm just an egg-head engineer. Tom Adams

"If an outfit like circuit City can make a go of it selling McIntosh, perhaps it won't be long before we see Adcom, Acurus, Musical Fidelity and similar lines in K-Mart or Walmart." From my experience and the experiences others have posted here, you'd probably get the same level of product knowledge at Wally World that you get from salespeople at some audio stores. Tom Adams