Saturn5

I've had pretty good luck with Telarc CDs. http://www.telarc.com I especially enjoy many of the Eric Kunzel albums. I like his interpretations of much of the music. I know what you mean about the chills, though. I use that to demo my new RF7s and QSC amp. I'd love to hear how Cornwalls or Klipschhorns would compare ... but it's amazing on my 7s. [H]

You're in for a treat. I just got my QSC amp hooked up - still using the Pioneer as a stereo pre-amp... Holy Mother of Audio - you weren't kidding! I thought the speakers sounded like they were being held back somehow (hard to put into words)... but I had no idea it would be this dramatic of an improvement. It's like whole new speakers. Now I see why everyone raves about these amps. [H] I've been a big Pioneer fan for decades. I'm wondering if they're going to bring back another high end Elite AVR similar to the VSX-59TXi - when their flagship models sold for $4000, rather than $1500. The new 84TXSi may have more features, but it doesn't look like it would be in the same league as the old 59 series. Maybe an 89TXSi will be coming out one day?

I bought a pair of new A-Stock Cherry RF-7s on Ebay for $1399 last Spring from a Klipsch authorized dealer (even looked them up on here to verify). I wouldn't pay much more than $1000 for them now, especially B-stocks. I love my 7s. If you can find some, I highly recommend them. I'm temped to get a second pair of RF7s for the rear surround and multi-channel music. Either that or a pair of RB-75, if I can find them.

I'm in Raleigh, too, and a friend of mine forwarded that link to me, but I didn't see it until after it was flagged. Were there any pics at all? Definitely sounds like a scammer.

How's this for one from the WayBack Machine.... I'm running my RF7s through a 20 year old Pioneer VSX-5000. [:$] But, that's only until I can afford a good prepro. Just bought a QSC amp for the 7s, and the prepro will be next. Probably an Outlaw 990. Can't wait to hear what my 7s can do with something "real" driving them. The VSX-5000 was good in the 80's for a decent consumer level Surround receiver, but it hasn't aged well.

Well, alrighty, then. You have a PM. []

I'm interested. Have you tried it with the XLR inputs? Is there any problem with impedance matching the inputs using it with a consumer preamp? How about cooling fan noise? Is it too loud to keep in the listening area? (that I can work with, I'm sure, though). I think my RF7's would appreciate a nice dose of QSC. I was actually looking at the PLX2 2502, so this is quite handy. []

Excellent point, but it brings up another question. It's safe to say that it's the quality of the amp rather than power rating that makes the difference, but what specific quality makes one amp able to handle the impedance dip on an RF-7 better than another amp. I guess it's easier with SS amps to go large, because then you get bigger power supplies, etc. and hopefully better components if you buy a good brand. That is a shotgun approach to the problem, as it may not be the power that fixes it, but another quality of the amp. We do know that the larger power SS amps tend to sound better with an RF-7, and that a high quality 50 watt amp can also sound great. What's the common denominator? I'm going to be buying a new amp for my RF-7s in the near future, so I'm very interested to see what info we can come up with in the thread. [] (as of now, my plan is for an Outlaw 7500 amp - 200W x 5 ch.)

PM Sent.

What about speakers like the RF-35 or the RF-7? Those have dual eights and dual tens respectively... The RF83 is top of the Reference IV series. The RF-7 was the flagship of the Reference III series, so the nomenclature is a little different. The RF still means Reference Floorstanding speaker, though. With the RF-7, the naming convention was used to that all "7" speakers were matched, and all "35" speakers were matched, etc. So, the RF-7 matched up with RC-7 center and RS-7 surrounds. Even that has a few oddball entries. The Bookshelf mate to the RF-7 is the RB-75, not the RB-7. So it's not totally consistent. The current nomenclature is based on size and number of bass drivers, such as RF-83.

Yeah, I've read quite a bit and there's lots of good info. I've got some great ideas for how to do my home theatre. I posted this because I'm specificially looking for amp ideas to go with a tube preamp. I'd hate to invest in a good tube preamp and waste it by using an amp that wasn't up to the task. I've read the RF7s need LOTS of power to really come alive - 200 W, 300 or even more. But for tube amps, I'd be lucky to get 40W-50Wpc. Would it be enough given the impedance dip? If I don't get the preamp I'm looking at, I'll probably go with a Scott integrated amp later. I really want to try out some tube equipment without breaking the bank. My new Klipsch speakers have reminded me how much I love good sound. It's got me excited to try new stuff, but I want to make sure I don't spend foolishly. []

I'm building a home theatre out of primarily Reference 7 speakers. I've already got the RF-7 mains and RC-7 center. I'll be adding surround and sub later. The reason I'm posting this in the 2-channel forum is that I've also found a really nice tube pre-amp that I'm looking at for 2 channel listening, and I wanted to get some recommendations on a power amp(s) for the RF-7s when used in 2 channel mode. Sure, I can use the same amp as my home theater for now, but I'll probably end up getting a complete separate 2 channel setup in addition to the HT setup, so I wanted some ideas on what to look for. Since the pre-amp is tube, should I make sure to go with a tube amp? How about amps like the Scott 299D? I've heard good things about them, but can they drive the low impedance dips on the RF-7? And can they be used with a separate pre-amp? Any suggestions are welcome. []

That's GREAT news! I'd love to see a new flagship Elite receiver. It struck me as odd for the 84 to be the current top of the line based on what previous flagship models were available.

The current "top of the line" 84 would be considered a mid-range Elite not too long ago. I only hope that means they plan to bring something awesome out to succeed the 59TXi. I've been a fan of Pioneer since I got my first Dolby Surround Pioneer receiver (VSX5000) back in the late 80's. Heck, I'm using it right now to drive my RF7s. But when I look at what I can get from Pioneer today vs. what that money can buy elsewhere - I just don't see it happening.

The VSX-84TXi is the top of the line now, I believe. If I'm reading their naming convention correctly, the 8 is the generation and 4 being the model. (i.e. the last version of the 84 was the 74. The 75 was the old model one step above the 84). That said, the 59 is far and away above the current top of the line. Even the previous 49 series was better (VSX-49TXi also retailed for $4500, same as teh 59TXi). It's like they decided not to offer the higher end equipment anymore, or they're going to be coming out with a new flagship model soon. 140w x 7 channels and 35lbs doesn't scream high end, and if you look at the pics of the 84TXi, it's got a tiny power cord. They've even stopped using MOSFET amps. I like a lot of the features it has, but for the same price, I can get a nice pre/pro and amp. Now, if they come out with a VSX-89TXi, I'd love to see what they do with it. If I were going to buy a new(er) Pioneer Elite today, I'd look for a 59TXi. They can be had for around $1500 and that's a lot more for your money than the new model gives you.

I recently purchased a set of RF7s myself. I'm currently running them on my old Pioneer VSX-5000 (100 wpc) but I can tell they need more. The thing I'm learning as I'm researching what to get to drive them is they have a very low dip in impedance - near 3O. You've got to have an amp that can handle the low impedance and high current demands of the speaker. Total watts don't tell the whole story. Some people have suggested at least 200W, while others have had excellent results with a 75W tube amp. It's the quality of the watts. I'm looking at an Outlaw 7500 amp. 200W x 5 channels. The amp by itself weighs about 80lbs. The nice thing about your Pioneer is it has pre-amp out, so you could add an amp later on. Try one out in your home and see how it sounds to you. Companies like Outlaw offer a 30 day money back guarantee that lets you audition the equipment before you decide to keep it or not.

Bumping up an old topic after searching. I'm considering the Outlaw 7500 for my RF7 based home theater. I'll start out with a 5.1 setup, but when I go 7.1, I'll probably use the 7500 for everything but the RF-7s and get a really nice 2 channel amp, possibly the Carver ZR 1600, for them. Any input? Suggestions?

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The initial surrounds for a 5.1 setup will be at the sides of my listening area. I'm setting this up in the living room which is roughly square. I'm considering the RS-7s, but wasn't sure if it was as necessary to get them for proper timber matching, compared to using the newer RS-62. The advantage of the RS-62 is it's currently in production so there's no rush to buy them. Reference 7 series I have to grab when I can find them. I don't have enough room for RF-7 rear surrounds (would that be overkill?) - so I was looking at the RB-75 as a good bookshelf mate to the RF-7. And I'd love to find an RSW-15 in cherry, but it's not in the budget at the moment. New pre/pro and amps come next. I'm probably going to go with Outlaw, but I haven't decided yet. Also, I'm not sure how much power I want for the RF-7s. I was originally looking at the Outlaw 125wpc x 7, but from what I've been reading, I may want to bump that up some to give the 7's some breathing room. Thanks for the info! This is my first home theatre build in a LONG time. To give you an idea, my old AVR is a Pioneer VSX-5000 with "Dolby Surround." For years I've just been using my Promedia v2-400 as my home theatre since they sounded better than my old stereo. It's like taking ear plugs off and realizing what I'd been missing - and the Promedias are pretty awesome computer speakers. []

I've recently begun assembling a Reference 7 system. I bought my RF-7's about a month ago, and I just ordered an RC-7 from Ebay tonight. I'll be needing to get some surrounds next, and was wondering if I should look for matching RS-7s, or if the RS-62 would be better? I wanted to keep all Reference 7 stage speakers to be sure the timbre matched properly. How critical will that be on the surround? Also, what would you recommend for rear surround? I'll probably add those last, so my options may change by the time I get around to them. I was thinking RB-75, if I can find them.

The people who make superior products will talk down the competition because they can. The people who make inferior products will talk down the competition because they have to. Don't listen to hype. Listen to your ears.

I just got my first pair of "real" Klipsch speakers - a couple RF-7s in Cherry. (I've had a Promedia v.2-400 since '99 that still rocks, but I'm not counting computer speakers). I must say, I was amazed at how good the RF-7s sound in my living room, and I'm running them with a crappy old Pioneer VSX-5000. I can't wait to upgrade to a nice pre/pro setup. I've been looking at the Outlaw Audio stuff, and I've seen it recommended on here. Has anyone tried them with RF-7s? These will be the beginning of a new home theater build, so I'll also be adding an RC-7 and surrounds. I haven't decided on RS-7 surrounds or some of the Reference IV surrounds.

Yeah,the VSX-82TSX is one of their current models. I've seen them for around $800-$1000. Although, I've also been reading about the Outlaw 1070 and it looks really nice, too. It's $899 new, so that's right in the same range, or a bit cheaper than the Pioneer. It specs at 65Wpc x 7 channels, but from the reviews I've read they say they are 65 "REAL" Watts. I've heard some great recommendations for Outlaw amps, etc. on here before. Anyone have any experience with their AV receivers?

I just bought a new pair of RF-7s myself and I'll be getting a new receiver to go with them pretty soon. I was thinking about the Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS. It's 130Wpc x 7 channels, but I've read that you can reassign some of the channels and even use the 2 rear surround channels as fronts and then bi-amp the front L & R speakers, leaving the rest for a regular 5.1 setup. I wasn't able to verify that on Pioneer's website, though. Any opinions on that receiver? It has the features I'm looking for, HDMI switching, upscaling, etc.