Thaddeus Smith

it also doesn't qualify as a "chatroom" ..it's more of a bulletin board.

Which IS subjective however. Oh i agree Carl. SInce I've never heard anything from the heritage line (gasp, blasphemy), I'm forced to echo the popular opinion found on this forum. I personally love the reference series and it seems to hit a nice balance between sound, size, and aesthetics.

and craigslist. my current setup has been sourced from both places (except for the ps3, bought that refurb'd from gamestop). you might also look around at stuff you already own that doesn't mean as much or get as much use as it once had. you'd be surprised at what people are willing to trade for and how perceived value for your things can help you get some good gear at little or no cost to you. (I traded an older laptop that wasn't being used for my receiver that now gets daily use.)

they serve different purposes. all sound great in their own respective purpose ... synergy is more of the entry level, mass-market (i.e. best buy) product offering that suits most of the people out there that wish to just setup a nice quick system and not have to worry about it. icon series has a higher aesthetic value and gives you that great home theater sound without feeling like you're surrounded by a ton of speakers. the reference level is geared towards those that don't care as much about size aesthetics (but may still want rich veneering,etc) higher volume performance and efficiency, and a healthy blend of both music and movie use. heritage is a step above them all, but comes at the cost of biggg boxes and less pleasing aesthetics ...it's all about the sound and the music. palladium is a mix of everything, but may not be enjoyed by mortals. i haven't listened to everything discussed here, but based on my reading and interpretations ..these opinions are relatively accurate. we might be able to answer your question better if you can give a hint as to which quality is more important ..sound? size? aesthetics? wife/girlfriend opinion?

go for it, you won't be disappointed. great quality and has a wonderful musical quality.. (works great for movies too)

here's your linux support .. http://www.phildev.net/harmony/

you mean you haven't already??

thanks how are you driving them? I'm looking at a couple of the different Little Dot amps available, but not wanting to plop down another couple $$ for more amplification right now.

yup, ditto. and i've got the ps3 bluetooth/harmony adapter on my christmas list

well i had these sold, but the buyer backed out. I gave it some thought and decided to keep them and sell/trade my sony v700's instead so I can get an amp to drive these 600 ohm behemoth's. i used red mini star quad for the cable with some snazzy yellow techflexx and converted the cans from single to dual entry. definitely a fun project and once I get proper amplification, i'm sure these will sing. (i'm driving them through my marantz right now, but they indicate 25 to 75 ohms is the supported range.)

I'm drooling! i had the pleasure of auditioning these subs, and the massive other 7 speakers that accompany them, while sipping on freshly ground, pressed and brewed espresso. pure bliss. Carl is a cool cat with a system that garners epic proportions of envy. He also has a very crucial component: a loving and tolerant wife. on a wholly separate note, I recommend meeting other forum members face to face if ever given the chance. It's not just cool to hear other guys' setups, but neat also to add context to their online persona. oh, and per the original OP ...there can never be too much bass, as long as it is blended properly

under 30ft ..probably not.

+1 if you can't get close to the recommended guidelines here: http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/speaker-setup-guide/index.html then stick with what you've got. I'd love a 7.1 myself, but I'm force to have the main position against the wall in order to have any sort of distance between me and the tv (and to maintain WAF) ..so it's 5.1 for me with no real disappointment or sense of loss.

i usually do, but sometimes I just like to hear the RF-5's in their full glory so I switch over to pure direct mode. Adding in the Carver to drive my mains definitely helped everything overall, with zero concerns about available headroom. I've yet to get those LED's bouncing above the half-way point.

I had an IBM thinkpad on craigslist for $450, which was purchased for $2k plus about 3 years ago. A guy had a Marantz SR8001 on CL for $500, which was msrp'd for $2k about 3 years ago. we made an even swap and are both happy with our depreciated goods

i grew up in gilbert and mesa, then moved to dallas about 10 years ago. haven't been back, but i hear the town exploded (more than it already was at the time) in growth.

i'd say 7 years (that's when they were introduced, only assuming how long you've had them) is a good run for pc speakers. Probably more cost effective to buy a new setup at this point.

you might also consider sticking with one expensive hobby and not try to do several in parallel .. photography, scuba, and now a/v gear has made for some interesting discussions between me and my lovely.

i believe this is what you're looking for. either have new ones built and shipped to you, or buy the repair kit. I'm unsure, however, if there is a difference between the two options. Bob is a member here and can adequately answer that for you. http://www.critesspeakers.com/

or .."i cremated it"

12awg wire from monoprice is good stuff and works well. easy to deal with, and certainly cheap. 12awg magnet wire bi-wires sounds the same or worse as the monoprice stuff, in my system. confirmed by my wife who has no vested interest in the materials magnet wire bi-wires made from a combo of 18awg for the lows and 22awg for the highs, seems to have yielded the best combo for my system. a different room or component very well could change these results, but for now I've found something I like. I recently swapped out my cheap walmart interconnects with vampire wire silver interconnects and it seems to have brightened up the mids and highs. not quite beyond what I like, but hopefully they mellow out a bit. buy a bunch of bulk material off ebay and have fun with it. "b-trading", "furryletters", and "tech-fixx" have been easy and fast suppliers of magnet wire, shrink tube, and tech flexx materials.

shiner bohemian black lager to be precise next to the rf-5's ...they are far from impressive. but that's a limitation of the speaker, not the cabinet I put them in. They actually sound very much like they did in the wall, which is exactly what I was hoping for. as surrounds, they are superb. enough bass so as to not sound pitiful and great horns for the car crashes and action, without sound shrill. morgan, my wife, isn't too fond of the gigantic cabinets as surrounds so these may eventually be relegated to pc speaker status if/when i get RB or RS speakers. all in all, worth the effort.

they're sitting on a shelf, waiting for someone with interest in them. One of the tweeters has a flaky connection at the terminal, but should be a quick and easy fix. Everything else is in great shape. 2 x woofers, tweeters, xovers.

whoa whoa whoa..i only LOOKED at them ..didn't lay a finger. the 5's continue to sing, with my carver barely breaking a sweat at reference levels. pure bliss.

shoot them an e-mail. they've always been responsive on parts queries through that channel for me. and yes, the rf-5's are awesome speakers