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Well, I think it's a full fledged addiction at this point. I agreed to buy the Chorus IIs from the guy I mentioned who really didn't want to sell them. He called and said he would sell them one way or another, so I might as well take the plunge...again. They're beautifully restored oak (he's into restoration) for $500. So let's recap my activity since last Wednesday: oak Quartet and Chorus I ($600 total), black Chorus II ($550), and oak Chorus II ($500)...and I still have my walnut KG4s. Still married though. Anyone need any speakers?! Mike

Where would be the best place on this forum to ask about stripping and refinishing a pair of Chorus II? I looked over the forum titles and none was obviously the right place. Thanks Mike

Thanks for the offer, Mark. That would be great! This weekend I plan on putting in the few sheets of drywall that will make up the front wall and portion of the side walls and ceiling. If visualapex.com holds true to the Panasonic projector delivery date, that should ship in a week or two. If your Marantz upgrade is successful, maybe we can time it with the 7001. Otherwise, almost anytime would be good. In the meantime, I'm running my Harman Kardon 220. I'm sure it's underpowered, but the speakers seem happy. I'm thinking of refinishing the black Chorus IIs, since I can see the black spray paint when the light hits it right. And after seeing how awesome the refinished CIIs were that I didn't buy, I'm jealous. I might even take the opportunity to see if someone has a pair of Chorus bases, since I wouldn't have to find a black pair. They're not "factory" anymore, so why not?! Mike

I'm starting to think about my screen a bit more now that the electrician powered the basement. I had been planning on trying Goo paint. However, ebay seems to have options available that seem too good to be true. For instance, this site http://www.buildyourownprojectionscreen.com/ has a rollout surface for only a bit more than Goo, although I don't think I would want to glue something to the wall that would require pulling off the drywall restore (i.e., tuning it back into a wall if I move.) Also, some ebay vendors are listing some 120" 16:9 motorized screens...I think they're even Da-Lite...for very cheap. Am I missing something? These should cost a couple/few K, right? In any event, the rollout screen material seems like a good option for the price. It seems like it would be a tough installation though. Better get it right the first time! I could envision rolling it onto a false wall if the installation isn't too difficult. Does anyone have any experience with screen material? By the way, I did pick up the Chorus II for $550 yesterday...talked him down from $650. the only downside is that they don't have the bases any longer. Not a big deal for me, but I might have to try to find a pair if I ever plan to sell. Also, they're not sequential but sound teriffic. Mike

Can you recommend a model number for either the Sunfire and/or Rotel? Which speakers would you hook up to the amp, just the fronts? Mike

Thanks for the input. I hadn't thought about the KGs as rears. I'll certainly try that. I'm confused on using a Chorus I on its side for a center though. I was told NOT to lay a horned speaker on its side because the angular distribution of the sound from the horn would be tall versus wide in that case. But then I looked at the Academy center, and I think I saw a vertical horn. So I'm thoroughly confused on that point. I'll check out the amps you mentioned too. By the way, The guy that demo'd the CIIs yesterday used a tube amp and ran off the 4ohm leads. He said there was a huge improvement in sound, especially the bass range, versus 8ohm. Do I have a 4ohm option with ss amps. And if so, which amps would provide this option? For me, this would have to be an external amp solution. Thanks, Mike

As Roger mentioned too, I have heard that the placement has to be adjusted to get the right bass sound. I have one restriction on my fronts placement: the corner of each speaker needs to be up against the respective side wall due to screen constraints. However, I will be able to pull them away from the front wall by 1-1.5 feet. In fact, this helps with the screen issue, since the speakers move more to the foreground and improve the line-of-sight to the screen edge. The rears are a different story. I will not have a back wall, so I was just going to see how different combinations sound. I've heard mention of "false walls." Is this anything more elaborate than it sounds? Can someone point me to a thread about this? By the end of the day, I expect to complete the final of my free agent aquisitions, at least for the moment: the Chorus II. Assuming I use those as the fronts and parallel KG4s as the center (not with my curent amp...will need an adcom), the Chorus I seem the best candidate for the rears. However, the Quartets are a better match. This leads me to the false wall inquiry. To round out my system, I'll probably be looking for an Academy front and KGx (x=1 or 2) for the surrounds unless I can convince my wife to go with wuzzer's fine recommendation :^) Thanks, Mike

You're gonna get me in trouble...but I like where you're going with that. I saw a gorgeous set of Chorus IIs today. The guy painstakingly restored the oak. They looked better than new. He demo'd them using a 12wpc tube amp. They sounded like velvet. But I did not leave with them. To make a long story short, he needs the money but loves the speakers. He'd sell them in a few days if a money issue doesn't resolve itself. I don't have the heart to do it though. I rather lend him the money and see him keep the speakers than be the one to benefit from that situation. So tomorrow I revisit a pair of black Chorus IIs that I saw for the first time last Sunday. I will probably be coming home with those. So wife permitting, the 7.1 grand plan is still a possibility. So is my sleeping on the couch for a while!

Well, I just bought a pair of Quartet and Chorus I for $600. They're in good shape. There's a gouge in one of the Quartets that I'll patch, but otherwise they look and sound good. The Qs are sequential, but the Cs are not. The purists probably would not like that (?), but they sounded really good. I thought I could fit all four in my Saab. I was very wrong. I'm off tonight to look at a pair of Chorus II. I have a feeling I'll be buying them as well if we can agree on $500, the low end of the range. It sounds like the cabinets were refinished to be a tad darker than original Oak...probably also a no=no from the purists. I'll not consider myself a purist though until I reach the KHorn pinnacle. In any event, I'm very interested to see if the CIIs sound better than the CI with the Quartets. I'll sell the odd pair out. Mike

I wasn't aware the "name your own price" was really only a promo. I assumed it was like the infomercials: "If you call now...!" when in reality you can also call later. Good to know. Thanks, Mike

...actually, find the page for the 2310 first, then the link is to the right. It bounces around on their home page. Mike

That's if you compare list price. Go to 6ave.com and look over to the right. There's a "name your own price" link. Enter the DENAVR2310CI sku and submit a bid price of $525. They'll respond in a day with $549. But you'll have to wait for a couple/few weeks until they come in. Mike

Wow, great thread. Say, I see a lot of Klipsch in FL. How do you feel about a roadtrip to MN in the winter ;^) This could be a good side business for you!

Wow! $190! How did that happen?! My KG4s would get about that. I think I can get the Chorus 1 and the Quartets for $600. I'll probably go with that unless they're beat up. My preference would be the QIIs over the QI, but not for the price difference. If I "settle" for the QI, I can get the Quartets as well and take care of fronts and surrounds for the price of the QII alone. Besides, I looked a bit more and found that most people felt the QI and QII similar, with the latter being a little fuller down low, but that both would benefit from a sub. I was a bit surprised that I didn't hear more about the different horns. FWIW, the same guy also has a pair of La Scala for $800. Not sure if that's a good price, but I don't have the space anyway.

I was looking at a 2310CI at 6ave.com. They have a "name your own price" feature. I bid $525 and they countered with $549. But they're not in stock and I'm not confident in their 2-3 wk quoted arival time. So if you can live with a slight delay and you know you want a 2310CI, that's the lowest price I found. Also, I've heard they are a Denon-authorized internet seller, which has some implication on the warranty...I think. Mike

Can anyone tell me the difference between these speakers? I'm considering buying a pair and have all three options available: Quartet (350), Chorus (300) and Chorus II (2 sets...one at 650 and and one at 500-600). I've only seen the CII for 650. The case had a little repair done (black spraypaint on black finish), but it looked ok. What should I expect to pay for each, assuming they are in good condition? Interesting that I could get both the Quartet and Chorus for the price of one of the Chorus IIs. Thanks, Mike

I've heard many of the same comments, except for Denon being average wrt music. But so much of that depends on your room that I will be focusing more on that. It's the 2310CI for me. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these though. Mike

Well, it sounds like the key issue for me is determining if additional amplification would be needed for my envisioned setup. If not, I could settle quickly on the 1910 or 2310. So this is probably a stupid question, but is there any way to know without listening? In other words, there are no specs that would hint at an answer? If it's a question of being able to blast the plaster off of the walls, I would never run that hard; however, if the issue is sound quality at moderate volumes, that would be of interest to me. Thanks, Mike

Rick, I called 6ave to ask about something else related to the 1910, and they claim it can be used with an amp. The description says "7.1-channel analog audio preamp input." Is this what I'm looking for? Can you tell I've never used and amp?! I would love to go with Capt_John's recommendation, but that one's a bit out of my budget. 6ave will sell the 1910 for $420. I'll look into your suggestions if it's true that the 1910 won't work. Thanks, Mike

Capt_John, I've been thinking more about your comment not to go with the Denon 1910 or 2310 if I think I might want to add an amp. As my HT speaker designs seem to be moving to the larger side of the old-school lineup (KG5.2 or 5.5 fronts...possibly Forte II if I can find them), I'm getting more concerned about having enough juice to drive them. I really like the Denon features, but I'm concerned about painting myself into a corner. Can you recommend a beefier avr with the same Denon features (like the Audyssey and auto calibration), but with preamp capability that isn't significantly more pricey? Thanks, Mike

I'm in exactly the same boat right now. I know I want Klipsch (old school in my case). As for the receiver, I'm only concerned about (a) having enough power to drive my KG5.5, KG4, KG1, and KG3.5 surround system, and ( being about to autocalibrate. I didn't even care about HDMI until a recent thread convinced me it's probably better to get a newer receiver (Denon AVR 1910 or 2310CI) rather than an older Denon AVR 5800. Although the 5800 was much more powerful, the autocal and HDMI on the newer models tipped the scale. However, the best advice I was given was that the choice of receiver only minimally impacts your final experience. A much bigger role is played by the acoustics of your room. A mid-range system will sound much better than a multi-thousand dollar system if the former has proper acoustical room treatments and the latter doesn't (see www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html#part2). Very interesting stuff...I hope to incorporate some of it into my design. Mike

Youthman, I recall you were on the fence betweem 2.35 and 1.77...sounds like you're happy with your decision to go with the latter. I'll trace out that on my wall and see how it looks. I might have to follow your lead, since we will have virtually identical projectors. Thanks all the responses...I'm working on my KG speaker setup/layout. I'd appreciate your input when I finish up. Thanks again for your help. Interesting...I'm on my Dell laptop at work and the returns work, but they still don't on my MacBook at home. Ugh! Sorry in advance! Mike

Capt_John, Thanks for your replies. Very helpful. The Denon 1910/2310 would be (I think) a temporary solution unless they are sufficiently powerful and I am happy with the speaker setup. So maybe the 1910 would be best. After checking ebay and Clist, I will try for the following setup: fronts: KG5.2; center: KG-4; surrounds: KG1; rears: KG3.5; sub: KSW12 (from my quintet system...just because I have it) all driven by the 1910. As for the screen size, I primarily watch DVD (blu ray when I get one), Comcast HDTV...mostly movies and sports. Probably 50-50 DVD-HDTV. My projector will be a Panasonic PT-4000U, which is unique in that it has a built-in anamorphic scaling. So I want to take advantage of that. But to be honest, I'm a bit ignorant and don't know if/how that should affect my screen aspect ratio decision. I just don't want to offset any advantage the 4000 might otherwise provide. However, if most content will be 16:9, then that makes the decision easier. Mike. Holy carp...this brick text IS very annoying. Why aren't my returns working???!!!

Ok, stupid question but how? I enter text as 3 or 4 paragraphs and in shows a one...brick...of text. Mike

...by the way, how did you choose between 2.35:1 and 1.77:1? Any idea about the relative number of movies formatted in these two ratios? Were you happy with your choice? Mike