Schwa

I was hooking my new speakers up last night and noticed some "glue" or foreign material behind the metallic screen that covers one of the RF-7's tweeters (you can see it at about the 10 o'clock position in the picture). Is this something to be concerned about as far as audio performance; i.e. could the glue (or whatever it is) be "blocking" the sound? I tried using both compressed air and a damp Q-tip to gently move the foreign material and it didn't budge. It ain't moving. FWIW I ordered the speakers from Sound Distributors and already have to send my RC-64II back due to a chip in the veneer and a large scratch on the grill. If this issue with the RF-7II's tweeter is purely cosmetic I'll live with it. The RC-64II is no big deal to return since I can ship it normally, but the RF-7II is a significantly larger hassle to return since it'd need to go via freight. Another alternative would be to simply replace the tweeter assembly at some point if this continues to bug me, but since there aren't any visible screws holding the tweeter to the speaker, this doesn't appear to be a trivial task. I've searched and can't find any instructions or tips from anyone who's removed the tweeter. The forum's wisdom and advice is appreciated!

What exactly does that mean? I am running 2 subs at the moment. That's exactly the point. Though not the only difference (filter resolution is another huge one), XT32 is designed to work with two subs; XT isn't.

Wow. This is just wrong. There are plenty of discrete 7.1 movie soundtracks -- in PCM, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD MA. Two that come to mind immediately are the 7.1 soundtracks on Super 8 and Thor. Here's a comprehensive list of Blu-rays with discrete 7.1 soundtracks: http://blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php?OrderBy=Title&Audio=7.1

My original, built-in-the-USA RF-3/RC-3/RS-3 speakers (that I've since sold) most definitely had better build quality than the fifth-gen, built-in-China, Reference V speakers that replaced them. Don't get me wrong, I love my new speakers, but I've noticed quite a few fit-and-finish issues that just weren't present on my older, US-made speakers. And after exchanging a few cosmetically-challenged Reference V speakers to try to get perfect ones, I've finally learned that I'm going to have to accept some imperfections in the Chinese-made stuff. The vinyl on the front of one of the RF-82IIs I received was so badly bubbled that I can't believe it made it through QC. I guess the good news is that, if anything, my experience with the Chinese-made speakers has me itching to upgrade my front three speakers to the US-built RF-7IIs and RC-64II so I can again experience that great build quality I've known in the past.

XT32 is leaps and bounds ahead of XT, but the 5509 is very, very similar to the 5508. Aside from a different-looking chassis, the addition of Spotify streaming and DTS Neo:X, and the move from the HQV Reon VX video processor to the HQV Vida/Marvell Qdeo video processing solution, they're basically the same. Besides, there's no telling when, if ever, the 5509 will make its way to the U.S. If the 5509 (or Integra 80.3) strikes your fancy, you might be better served by picking up a NOS 5508 while you still can.

The Marantz "only" has Audyssey MultEq XT whereas the Integra has MultEq XT32. Not sure how XT32 compares to Anthem's ARC, but relative to XT, XT32 is supposedly a HUGE leap forward.

Waaaaaay too high. I just bought 2x RF-82IIs, 1x RC-62II, and 4x RS-52IIs brand-new, shipped, and from an authorized dealer for $2500.

Integra pre/pros consistently get outstanding reviews. I just read a review of the 80.3 in the current issue of S+V and the reviewer couldn't effuse enough about it. You'd be doing yourself a disservice to not at least consider it.

It's all good...no worries. :-)

...right up until you, or your wife, or your kids, or your cats dent the woofers. I bet naked wouldn't have seemed like such a good idea then. Sounds like a person that needs to get control of their wife or kids or cats. No need for the douchey remark. All I'm saying is that accidents happen and there are people/animals/things out there that probably don't care as much about your speakers as you do. It wouldn't be worth the risk IMHO. I'll admit, the speakers definitely look better without the grills than with the grills. I'd just be paranoid that the woofers would get dented (which is extraordinarily easy to do). My Reference speakers are in a dedicated room and I still leave the grills on all the time. Meh, it's much ado about nothing. Take your grills off; what do I care?

...right up until you, or your wife, or your kids, or your cats dent the woofers. I bet naked won't have seemed like such a good idea then.

Wow I wonder why they're not doing that any more. I ordered a little sub from them like 6 months ago and it was double boxed. Hopefuly UPS doesn't destroy my 64 I bet dollars to donuts your speaker will arrive fine. As heavy and large as it is I bet the factory packaging is pretty robust -- and given its value, it's possible (perhaps even likely) that Vann's will double-box it. Even if it is damaged, Vann's is great with stuff like that and I'm sure they'll get a replacement speaker out to you in no time.

The speakers weren't damaged in shipping but one of the woofers was dented so I sent the speaker back anyway. Truth be told, I've found three dented woofers in my new Reference V set. Not to derail this thread, but the fit-and-finish of the Chinese-built speakers isn't up to the quality of my old RF-3/RC-3/RS-3 system (all of which was, of course, built in the USA). Go figure. I guess that's yet another reason to replace my front three speakers with RF-7IIs and an RC-64II!! Maybe next Christmas...

I don't how vann's boxes their stuff, ( I'm presuming pretty well ) but I'm sure it'll get there in one piece. ASD put my rc-64 box inside a double padded box and everything was fine when I opened it. The outside box was a little rough, but it didn't have any holes that poked in or anything like that. Yeah Vanns has always double boxed everything I have got through them. Should be fine. A1UC said his showed up with minor damage but they gave him $200 back. We shall see in the near future I just ordered an RS-52 II from Vann's and it wasn't double-boxed. I couldn't believe it since it's not that big of a speaker and everything I've ever gotten from them previously has been double-boxed.

How much less than $3K (feel free to PM me if you don't want to post here)? I'm not in the market just yet, but I'd like to get a feel for the actual "street" price before I pull the trigger.

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Wait, is $3K for both RC-7IIs and the RC-64? If so, that is a good deal. How did you get that deal? Their website always lists everything for full price. I guess you called and asked for a better deal?

Some time this week. I keep trying to find a better deal but I doesn't look like I'm going to. 3k shipped for a-stock is pretty good but I know as soon as I buy them I'll find a better deal. That's how it usually works and I guess I just need to accept it. Glad to hear you're enjoying them! Call Sound Distributors and get a quote. I'm not a shill for them, believe me, but they're an authorized dealer and they'll cut you a good deal -- if you call. I got two RF-82IIs, one RC-62II, and four RS-52IIs for just shy of 30% off of list price, shipped to my door for free. The key is that you have to CALL. I'm not sure why, but that's how I got my deal. As a matter of fact, my new RF-82II system was a birthday/Christmas gift. I love the speakers, but I can already see myself upgrading the fronts and center to RF-7IIs and an RC-64II next Christmas -- especially if I can swing 25+% off of list again.

Most modern receivers will have an on-screen display that shows at least as much information as the front panel display does. I have all of my equipment in an enclosed closet (and I do use IR-RF repeaters to control it) and I get more than enough info from my receiver's OSD.

Yup. It's a good thing that the equipment wiring is going to a different room. If you're going to have a dedicated theater, you don't really want your equipment to be out in the open -- not only is it æsthetically displeasing, but the displays and indicator lights on the equipment will wind up preventing the room from being completely dark.

You'll definitely want a sub for the RF-82 II system (see my signature), especially if you intend to primarily use your speakers for home theater. The RF-82 IIs go pretty deep, but they just won't have the "slam" you'll get out of a quality sub.

Did you wind up getting A-stock or B-stock? How's the color match?

For fear of hijacking this thread, what happened to your NISMO? Based on your other threads I thought you still had it. And to the OP, I wasn't trying to sound like a ******, really. All that matters is that you're happy with your purchase, and if you are, then good on ya!

The vinyl-peeling-issue happened to my original white RS-3s and was also evident in a pair of NOS black RS-3s I recently bought (and returned) off of eBay. In fact, it's a long story, but the peeling vinyl issue is what ultimately caused me to upgrade my old RF-3/RC-3/RS-3 system to the fifth-generation Reference system I have now. Strangely enough, the RS-3IIs that I used to have did not have a vinyl-peeling-issue, so I figured that Klipsch had gotten their arms around whatever was causing the problem. Based on your experience, I guess that's not necessarily the case.

Positive? Hey, it's your TV and your money! I assume you wanted feedback on your purchase or else you wouldn't have posted a thread about it. You got an awesome TV, no doubt, but considering the price you paid, the number of hours on the set, the cosmetic damage to the set that you indicated, the well-documented floating-blacks issue with VT25s, the fact you didn't get a remote or the manual, and the fact the set's two generations old (the 2012 models were just announced at CES), I'd have gone with a TC-P60ST30 in a heartbeat. Are you sure there's no screen burn? Have you looked at a black screen with the lights off? You might be surprised... I'll admit, it's a nice birthday gift. My wife got me my RF-82II / RC-62II / RS-52II system for my last birthday. And for our last anniversary, she got me a new Nissan 370Z. So there. []