BuyOtherSoundEquipment

You guys are nuts! You all very well know that you need Monster XPHP-CI speaker wire with time-correct windings and magnetic flux tube for optimum signal transfer!! http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=4223977&st=monster+cable&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1051384781386 I'm making a new post with some revealing findings on this particular stuff...

I like the Doc's sentiments here... I don't see how it's fair to validate the musician's art more than the engineer's art... or vice versa.

Glad to see you acquired that C2, JC. I also think those F2s are smokin'

14 gauge is fine to use all around. I like using banana connectors because I have tapered yet thick fingers that can't maneuver very well around binding posts.

I can play this game. That's me in front of the Klipsch world HQ at the 2008 pilgrimage.

The meeting was small and boring, but I did mention that we should set up a blu-ray comparison with a $29 Dynex (store-brand) HDMI cable vs. a $129 Monster 1000 Series HDM. Much to my chagrin, one of my coworkers piped up immediately and said "Oh, well you know most customers won't notice that in the store environment, blah blah blah." I let it go there, for the time being. Someone asked earlier if I work on commission, and the answer is no. The main motivation for selling people Monster cables is simply because "they need them" and that's what really bothers me the most. It just so happens that when I first joined up with Best Buy (and before I joined the forum), I took a sip of the kool-aid and bought a Monster "M-Series High Resolution Digital Coaxial Cable" that retailed for $109.99 that I bought for $39 with my discount. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7858348&st=m-series&lp=10&type=product&cp=1&id=1156607397819 I'm thinking it will be fun to do blind A/B tests for my bosses like Colter suggested, only in my own home, "off the clock." I'm thinking of a comparo between the M-series and a super cheap RCA on my RF-82s... Should be fun. I may even tell them I'm using the M-series while I actually use the cheapo... and gauge their reactions. [8-|]

Sorry to burst Goldmund's bubble, but Kipnis has him beat by about $5,000,000 in the no-holds-barred-infinitely-diminishing-returns category: http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Kipnis_Studio_Standard/Cinema_Beta.html

I don't have nearly the same listening experience as most people here... however, listening with my Custom-3s and "Pocket Amp version 2 by Gary", I was able to clearly disern a couple of things: Recording #1: Very, very finely detailed, I would agree with others that the piano has to be huge. The bench squeaking is probably what primarily convinced me. As I listen to it a second time, I am willing to say that the piano sounds like it is firmly "placed", but I can't shake the feeling that it is behind me... odd Recording #2: Equally as detailed, but with less music and more ambient noises (audience mainly) which I did find slightly distracting. Now I feel like I'm sitting 5 rows back in the auditorium, looking foward at the performer on stage. Also more background hiss (not sure what to attribute that to). It'll be interesting to see just how dead wrong I am...

I think we all know a certain former-forum member who might be willing to fork over a few bux for something like this... [:#]

Wow, thanks for all the responses there, gents. I agree with the general consensus that we've achieved here, i.e. customers will buy based upon what they feel comfortable spending. My biggest problem is that the emphasis is really being put on selling them the more expensive cables "because they need them." I definitely agree that it comes with the territory, and that "packing the deal" is a way of life in big-box electronics retailers. All I can really do is roll with the punches, or look for a new job. Tommorow morning at 9 am we are having a meeting to learn new selling strategies for offering accessories[+o(]... That should be interesting.

So last week my local branch of everyone's favorite[6] electronics retailer (where I am employed) got a new store manager. He's nice enough, but he enlisted my assistance to help our struggling accessories "numbers" in the home theater department. Now, anyone with half a brain knows that the reason people aren't buying the accessories is because no one wants to pay $129.99 for a Monster "Ultra 1000 series" HDMI cable (link: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8473546&st=monster+ultra+1000+hdmi&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1188558642139 ) when there is no appreciable difference from that to a $20 wal-mart cable. So long story short, the "new guy" tells me that the reason people aren't buying them is because they are not told about the "benefits" of the cables. He further said that we need to educate the other home theater employees on the following, and I quote: "Why you want a speaker cable with 'time-correct' windings" "Why you need an HDMI cable that is nitrogen injected" and "Why you need an HDMI cable that costs $150 vs $40" I sort of stood there in slack-jawed awe for a moment, considering what my future held if they are really going to start pushing us to sell using such ridiculous claims... What would you do??

My RB-61s are a bit thin on their own, but they might sound nice supplemented by subs. I would venture to say that the RB-81s would fill in nicely. If possible, track down some RB-75s, as they are seen as the bookshelf alternative to the RF-7 (several unique characteristics that make it different from any other bookshelf speaker). Plus, I'm willing to bet that they would sound more detailed than the RF-82s.

eD has a "live chat" feature on their website. Their help is second to none. The tech I chatted with answered all of my questions and then some.

CECAA is absolutely right. I wouldn't even mess with the amplification for the speakers yet, as it sounds like your Harman Kardon can kick some serious butt to begin with. Take even 1/3 of the potential budget for that Parasound set-up and sink it into a sub, and you will have more slam than you ever thought possible. Take a few of these as candidates: http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm or http://epiksubwoofers.com/portedconquest.html or run a couple of my personal favorite: http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_41&products_id=640 As an alternative, you could go balls-out and do an Infinite Baffle set-up like CECAA and several others have done. I've never heard one, but I can only imagine what it must sound (feel) like!

Haha,, yes absolutely to the positive, and I was thinking more along the lines of the difference in the "size of the sound" But I don't want to turn this into a full-on thread hijack. [:#]

Definitely something fishy going on there... The problem I have with Best Buy Magnolias are that the people working in them don't ever seem enthused by Klipsch at all, and thus don't put much effort in demonstrating them. On seperate occasions, one gent insipidly "demoed" RF-62s for me by playing 128 kbps Beethoven over some kind of Apple music server which sounded completely horrifying. Another time, I was listening to the RF-82s and they were sounding great, but the guy kept switching to a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mozarts, which sounded noticeably nicer. I then thought, "at $1500 a speaker, they certainly should." I will agree on Martin Logan though (the electrostats), they have crystal clear highs when you are seated squarely in the sweet spot and not an inch outside of it.

To build upon this then, and I know this has been discussed 1,000 times, how comparable would the Heresy III be to say, a Chorus II? I heard the Chorus II and it just completely changed my perceptions of Klipsch heritage.

Well, not all of them... Vin Diesel... [+o(] I'd like to see him crash a flaming car into an acting school and get trapped there for a few months.

Pun intended? [] Very cool turn of events, and welcome to the forum!

Here I am thinking I got a great deal on my VA-1512 for $250! That is an amazing sub for the money, Youthman!

Ha ha, it looks that way. Everyone is always eager to talk about what music they think is best. I think that all of the suggestions made so far are pretty darn good.

Best Buy should be able to find your receipt if you gave them any kind of information at all, name, phone number or address when you bought them. Just ask them politely and they might be able to help you out.

Listen, you're fresh and new here, so we might be able to still save you. For your sanity, your loved ones' safety, and your check book's well being, run away. Run as fast as you can, take your Quintets and Sub12 with you and enjoy them. DO NOT listen to any other Klipsch speakers, no matter how good anyone says they are. They only mean you harm! Ignore my advice, and soon you'll find yourself lugging home big black and brown boxes of ungodly size and proportion, and contraptions whose only other use could be a refrigerator or casket! Aw, who am I kidding? If you've found your way here, it's already too late. Just sit back and enjoy. But trust me, Michael wasn't joking when he first called it "madness"!

The problem sounds like the right channel on your amplifier has gone bad, especially if the opposite speaker does not work when you switch the speaker wires. The reason the X10s work is because they are going through their own discrete amplification system (for headphones, obviously). This means that the signal is working for both channels but the right channel powering the speaker is not. Your best bet would be to contact Klipsch for repair and/or service. And sometimes it takes a bit for someone to respond around here, usually because we are busy oggling some massive Klipsch-monstrosity in another section or debating about the existence of alternate planes of reality where sandwiches make themselves. Welcome to the forum!

I don't see how the responses you got could get any more clear.