shoemakc

the only thing i've run into is this: if i throw the reciver remote down on the bed, then at some point lean on the volume up button, the center channel vibrates the TV causing distortion. But...i certainly can't put the blame on the speaker. When that happens the volume is PAINFUL. no problems with magnetic shielding for me at any rate. -Chris

In most cases, the A + B terminals of most recievers are wired in parallel. Two 8 ohms speakers in parallel present a 4 ohm load to the amplifer. Most amps can drive a 4 ohm load at generaly does cause problems. One of the mark of higher quality amps is that they can drive low impedance loads, 3.5...perhaps even 2 ohms. They need to be able to both provide the additional current necesary, as well as not exceed the ratings of any of their internal componants. If they exceed their current driving ability, clipping occurs. If componants exceed their power ratings...POOF. If you keep the volume relatively low, the amplifer should be able to provide the additional current, without breaking anything. Just don't push it. -Chris

I have the RF-3's and SC-1. If your starting out from scratch your probably better off with the RC-3. the SC-1 is a good center....and certainly far better then anything i had before....however it really can't quite keep up with the RF-3's. It's not bad by any means, but i get the definate feeling it could be better. I'll probably upgrade to the RC-3 over the summer and put the SC-1's on ebay or something. The RC-3 is gonna look a little funny on my 25" TV.....but hey.....sound is foremost :-)

yeah...i'm kinda concerned about that. I bought all my stuff through the wiz while i was abusing the employee purchase program. -Chris

ah but ray, that's exactly my point. Assuming that a speaker cable is a linear system, we've got a whole bunch of things inducing small currents in the wire. Light bulbs, fans....dimmers, tides...whatever. If we look at this as "noise" say.....of a few milliamps amplitude....then it's insignificant to the multiple amps being pushed through the speaker cable. Line level interconnects on the other hand only deal with both small signal....but also a very low current one....let's say 2 mA. A few milliamps of noise on top of that can make a big difference. That's what i was trying to get at. Not that it makes a big heck of a difference....that's why they shield interconnects and not speaker wire...and interconnects do appears to be cheaper. -shoe

What i don't understand is how is 20' of high current speaker level connection more suseptable to noise then 20' of line leve cable? Unless it's claimed that the amp doesn't have to work as hard with a short run, but if your using heavy enough cable that shouldn't be as much of a problem. There does seem to be a balance between the two....however i'd wager that the line level cable has more importance then the speaker runs...although we are cutting hairs.

now all of our ears are different so take this with a grain of salt. I had an opertunity to try out the sb2,sb3 and the rf-3's. To be entirely honest i was disappointed with the sb-3. Bass was there but it was too far lumpy for my tastes. It seemed to muddy up the whole sound. This lumpiness (best i can describe it) was less apherent on classical recording but i didn't like it at all on rock. Quite honestly i thought the sb-2 was a better sounded speaker. It may not go quite as low as it's bigger brother but i think it sounded much better over-all. Then....i lugged in two monsterous boxes during a snow storm....pushed them up the stairs and the rf-3's came to be mine. they are more money...and i had to re-arranged my room around them....but they are really, really good. if you can afford the RB-5's...that might be your best bet. <begin predication> One of the speakers that klipsch announced at CES is the RB-3....which we're guessing is an RB-5 but in the plain finish. That would put it closer in price to the SB-3 and i'm sure much, much better. hope this helps - Chris