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I dont have airplay but do deal a lot with MP3s. If you bought the MP3 and someone ripped it, lord only knows how well they ripped it to begin with. The bitrate isnt always true either. I can take a 192kb file and turn it into a 320kb file. The bad part is that i didnt increase the qaulity, just the bitrate #. I try to use 192kb and higher with 320 being my preference.

i dont know much about design in regards to this but i have to ask myself "why on earth did they not have a contract in place to prevent this from happening?"

Im happy they actually explained it. If this is the truth then what happened to them was sucky. They got strong-armed by a larger competitor and the manufacturer didnt want to lose the bigger fish. I don't consider anything they said to be excuses. I've been following along with the progress of the unit and they had mishaps like emotiva did like delivering the UMC-1 as a pure bug machine. I suppose this just englightens us as the consumer what really can go on in the backend of things that we don't see. I dont believe outlaw is public and they are just a small private company

try reflashing the firmware. The firmware upgrade can be buggy sometimes. Your HDMI cables can be the culprit too sometimes. Try with several different HDMI cords, buy some from monoprice.com. I only say this to you because i was having some real issues with screen blinking and it turned out to be the cables that were screwed up. I am talking changing out all of the cables. Bring down the system to its simplest form and slowly start adding things. If this doesnt work, send it into emotiva for repair. If i were you, capture video of these issues if you can.

the RC-62 II is designed to be mated with the rf-82 II and rb-81 II and rf-62 II and rb-61 II. The RC-64 II is meant to be mated to the rf-7 II series.

I got this email today from outlaw talking about their 978 Processor which has been a real redheaded step child for outlaw since its inception. It has been cancelled unilaterally by the manufacturer. Sucky situaion for Outlaw. Give it a read! Ian, As you may know, we have been developing the Model 978 processor as a successor to the Model 990 for quite some time. Unfortunately, we have some disappointing news. The Model 978 processor project has been suddenly and unilaterally cancelled by our development partner/factory in China and consequently, all work on this project has ceased. Given the length of time that many of you have been waiting for the Model 978 we owe you an explanation as to what happened. With progress on this product moving too slowly for all of us, we assigned Scott Jackson, our Sales Manager, to work directly with the factory in an effort to speed things up. Scott first visited the factory in January, and was able to resolve many issues. With the success of the first trip, Scott anticipated accelerating the project through to completion during a second trip to China last month. Indeed, during this second visit great progress was made. Audyssey MultEQ XT32 was now fully working, the video and audio subsystems were fully functioning, the HDMI system had passed pre-certification testing, and the Model 978 was ready to be submitted for formal approvals. The factory's engineering department invited Scott to return again in July to help resolve the few remaining issues raised by our beta testers. At the last minute, Scott's return to Boston was delayed when the factory's management asked for additional time in order to share the results of a meeting that was just held with one of their largest customers. As we soon learned, the purpose of this meeting was to address this customer's objection to the factory's decision to build products for companies that they considered "competitors." For the record, this customer, headquartered in North America, is NOT an Internet-direct company and its brands and products are sold through conventional "brick and mortar" dealers. For that reason, the factory did not view Outlaw as a direct competitor to this customer and therefore joined with Outlaw in the development of the Model 978. During this meeting the factory's management informed Scott that this specific customer had made it clear, on a non-negotiable basis, that building either a receiver or processor for certain companies they perceived as competitors was "not acceptable." Outlaw was near the top of this short list and as a result all work on the Outlaw branded processor by the factory had to be cancelled immediately. To say that Scott, myself, and the rest of the Outlaws were stunned by this decision is an understatement. Over the last few weeks we have exhausted every avenue to find a path that would preserve the Model 978 platform. These options included the possibility of purchasing the PCB layout files, firmware, and software from the factory in order to finish the development process and build this processor elsewhere. Unfortunately, we were informed by the factory that such a transfer would not be possible. This is due in part to the nature of our agreements with the factory, as well as the intense pressure on the factory from this customer. Every alternative solution we presented was ultimately rejected by our now former partner/factory. For those of you who are Star Trek fans, this is our own "Kobayashi Maru" - a problem for which there is no known solution. We realize that this is not the first Outlaw product that hasn't made it to the market. As many of you may remember, we cancelled the Model 997 processor once we realized that it would not work properly. In that case, the platform suffered from a combination of architecture and software issues. Our decision to cancel was validated by the relative failure of the Sherwood R972, the A/V receiver based on that platform. By contrast, in this case the factory's unilateral cancellation of the Model 978 is a totally different story. This development project was a collaborative effort between the factory and Outlaw, with the critical parts and circuits chosen and designated by us, including the addition of our proprietary phono preamp circuit. Our goal from the outset was to design and build a unit that would be an extraordinarily strong performer, capable of competing sonically with the very best processors available. In addition, we took into account the constructive feedback from members of the Saloon, such as the inclusion of the Audyssey MultEQ XT32. This product represented the best thinking of the entire Outlaw team. With all of the time, energy and collaborative effort invested to-date, the idea of not having this flagship processor in our arsenal is extremely difficult to accept, especially since it was so close to completion. Given the nature of Internet-direct businesses, we expect that this news will resonate across the chat rooms and forums, along with the conspiracy theories that tend to accompany such things. We also realize that there may be a certain amount of hostility by some, and perhaps the clinking of champagne glasses on the part of others. Regardless of whatever postings or rumors appear, the events are as described above. Most importantly, it is not our intent to ask anyone to hang on for a replacement for the Model 978 as the quick development of a product with that level of complexity is simply not realistic. We are reviewing all possible options, but any decisions on another high-end processor will take time as the leading edge of advanced technology moves very quickly. While this situation is the result of industry political considerations that were totally outside of our control, we deeply apologize to those of you who have waited for this product and have kept the faith. At Outlaw we are all, of course, extremely frustrated. At the end of the day, a "perfect storm" of conditions negated virtually all of the efforts of the entire Outlaw team. However, our resolve has never been stronger or more focused than it is right now. We are continuing to investigate all avenues for replacing the Model 978 and are aggressively pursuing other products that are already under development. To that point, we offer the following: While we do NOT have a substitute for the Model 978 at this time, there is another processor in the works which we quietly started with a different development partner and factory last fall. In comparison to the Model 978, this is an entry level processor that is simple to operate and it is targeted at our budget-minded customers. It not only covers the basics and a bit more, from a sonic perspective this new processor will be an over-achiever. During Scott's recent trip to China he visited this second factory to monitor the project's progress. He was pleased to report that the processor was actually ahead of schedule. While we planned to remain quiet about this processor until it was closer to completion, the accelerated schedule allows us to tip our hand a bit earlier than scheduled. Originally slated for introduction in the first quarter of 2013, if all continues to go well, we will ship this unit sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. Once again, we apologize to those who were eagerly anticipating delivery of the Model 978 as we are keenly aware of the frustration you have endured while waiting patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) for this product. Please be assured that we have exhausted every possible alternative to find a way to deliver this processor to our customers. Ultimately, there could be no contingency plan in place for this unpredictable situation that was entirely due to factors outside of our control. While there is no denying that this has been a setback, we are more determined than ever to providing you with a number of great new products in the near future. Sincerely, Peter Tribeman President, Outlaw Audio

search function is a nice feature but i always prefer to ask and receive responses instead of sifting endlessly through threads maybe finding what i want

not for nothing, but i am volume nazi. I am constantly turning things up and down. It s just the way its recorded in part. Its always first instinct to fault your system when a good portion of time its the soundtrack at fault. That muffled noise was something i encountered while using an RC-35. at low volumes it was muffled but at louder volumes its cleared up. Many people on here have said the same thing about that center and isn't exactly on our favorites list. Is your center in a cabinet? It is a rear ported speaker and sometimes the speaker within the furniture its in will miss with the sound, in the case because of the rear ports. Check your surround modes as suggested above. I always try to use Dolby Pro Logic II unless its a bluray disk and DTS-HD is available. You say your last system was like this? Did you use the same receiver? If you did, there could be a trend and your receiver at fault. I run my WF system off of a Marantz receiver and it sounds great. Shortfalls with that receiver is lack of customizability in comparison to my Emotiva Processor. The receiver power is quite adequate for those speakers but i do prefer a seperate stand-alone power amp (not always something feasible) Yamahas are known for being on the brighter side of thing especially when coupled with klipsch speakers. Personally, i have had to mess with my system for months tetering on years to get everything the way i want it. I am talking from settings to speaker placement to connections. Its a tough thing to get everything to mesh just the way you want it and it takes time. I speak not just for myself but many others here, we have spent far more than we wanted to in the pursuit of an acceptable sounding system and making it work for us. That brings you to why you are here. We want o help you avoid the pitfalls we have experienced. Despit the forums best efforts, this is still a very indivual thing as everyone has different systems and listening environments.

When a manufacturer gives a speaker frequency reponse, it doesnt always mean they are hard limits. Your quintets at lower volumes will go lower than 120hz. Speakers are designed to have rolloff. This means that the louder the speaker gets, the less low end frequencies are produced. There are usually different orders of roll off too (different levels). The THX 80 hz isnt a law here. 80 hz is for THX and if you have a THX speaker set, it is designed to be crossed at 80hz. You don't have a THX setup and the majority dont. Welcome to freedom! The wc-24 will work just fine with an 80hz crossover. Since you have one crossover, cross everything at 80hz. Set the LPF for the sub at 80hz so it handles 80hz and below and the system should sound cohesive. Set the center and surrounds to small and mess with small/large on the WF-34's

to preface, i read your first post and skimmed the rest. People love audessey and all kinds of room correction but i am a purist. I calibrate everything by my ears. I'd suggest you do a reset of your receiver and start over. Lets start with the sub. I cross mine over at 60hz. For you, an 80hz crossover will be more fitting for your system. Make sure the crossover matches on your sub too if it has it on the back (which it should). The WF-34's can be set to small or large. You have the sub doing heavy lifting so you could set your towers to small. Really, i have found it to be preference what it gets set to. i'd cross them at 60hz as well if you can. With my wf-35's i cross them at 40hz, anything lower gets very chesty and loses defintion becomming sloppy. I also have my 35's set to large. 60hz should like your wf-34's and let them perform well. WC-24 is a neat center and i actually like it a lot. I'd cross that sucker at 80hz. Anything lower and it gets too chesty sounding. again small/large is up to you. I think i have mine set to small. Surrounds at 120 hz is good for quintets and set to small. Set all your distance to what you think they are. I always wind up increasing the gain on the rear surrounds because i like them more emphasized. I like to realize that stuff is going on behind me in a movie, a lot of the time it goes unoticed which its really supposed to. I also run my centers a few db higher than everything else. For instance my wc-24 is set i think 1,2, or 3 db higher than the left and right channels. All of my speakers start off at 0db and i adjust from there. Left/Right stay at 0db, center is 1-3db higher and surrounds can be around 5-7db higher. I like the center to stand out a bit and i find it helps to clarify vocal definition by "lifting" it from the rest of the sounds in the movie. I do this subtly though, i want it just ever so slightly above the rest so that its noticable but not obstrusive. Not knowing your receivers options i am suggesting this. I don't know if you can set individually gains, crossover, large/small. In the event you have a single crossover, put it at 80hz and let your sub do the bottom end 80hz and down. You should be able to choose large/small for each speaker though. Large for towers, small for center and surrounds. The goal here is to start over with a blank slate and rule out variables. Also keep in mind too, music vs ht require different settings for best sound. Different movies have better/worse soundtracks so its hard to pick what settings are best. With high end speakers you can really pick up on shitty soundtracks versus the awesome soundtracks. My processor allows me to change trims of sound levels as i see fit and I do do this depending in the ,ovie i am watching and often increase/reduce the subwoofer gain.

Some klipsch models are known for not having a midrange that stands out so to speak. The heritage line for instance has a sqwak midrange horn in it and is a more warm sound with a midrange that is definitly present. I find the reference line to be, i suppose, balanced. I havent found a selection of music that i didnt like to hear on them. I do find that they are great for rap and dance/trance/techno but then again i mainly listen to those genres. I also listent o enya and delirium and love it. I owned a pair of heresys and they are good for stuff with a lot of vocals as well as others of course but more for where you want to concentrate more on the voices. I didnt think they sounded good for trance and dance really. Klipsch is also known for being bright/harsh but it depends on the model TBH. The current rf-7s i have are supposed to be pretty bright but i find i always turn the treble up on others speakers so i suppose i prefer a brighter speaker. For the most part i think its also getting used to them and calibrating your system to the way that you like it. Your issues with the rf-62's and your description of volume is hard to depict since every receiver/amp is different. It sounds to me like they may have been under powered a bit and something wasnt calibrated properly. I'll use my WF-35's for example. I tested them out on full range and the louder they got, the more muddy the bass was. I changed the crossover to 40 hz and it cleaned it up all the way as loud i normally make them. Settings have a lot to do with things. I would maybe try another dealer? sorry things didnt go as planned for you.

either is powerful enough. I would go with the parasound personally. I have always recalled sunfire for their subs and not their amps but then again i have only really been into home theater for about 2.5 years. Parasound makes a good quality amplifier and the halo series is supposed to be very good. How much better than their next tier down amps? No idea. I always weight the cost because I do believe in diminishing values to an extent although anyone would want a MCintosh

go for the parasound!

go for the parasound!

i like my outlaw audio 7125 7x125watts per channel and it pushes my 7's to ear splitting levels that would be downright uncomfortable to listen to just sitting there. You have plenty of options as far as brands go though. I had the xpa-5 and i had issues with it with background hum/buzz. Its something i bring up because its an issue others have had as well. Others that have it say theirs is dead silent so i am convicned its just some models of thexpa-5 with various models of klipsch. Amps are supposed to be dead silent when no singal is fed to it. My outlaw is much smoother sounding and i havent noticed any power loss whatso ever. I will say they both have a pretty neutral sound.

they are different speakers from the horns to the tweeters, woofers and crossover and cabinet. Personally, i like the rf-5 the best

I bought some of this Ethreal wire and at this price, its not a bad value. I like it better than themonoprice because its less rigid and a lighter weight wire (either that or im losing my mind). Just wanted to point this out! you can also get different size spools, go and check out some of the other stuff on their site! http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ETHSW122100/ETHEREAL-SW122-12-AWG-Frosted-Speaker-Wire-100ft/1.html

i have had bad "brand new" HDMI cables and RCA cables. I tried the monoprice shielded digitial coax rca cables and they are good for troublshooting but i really do enjoy the x-series rca cables from emotiva. If you can catch them when they are on sale thats even better but 20 bucks a pop is still an excellent value IMO. Just switch things up a bit with your cables!

www.monoprice.com will be your friend for all things wires I use these from emotiva http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/interconnects/products/xrca as my connection between the amp and the processor. I am very happy with them and would buy them again. I have monoprice shielded rcas as well (digital coax which is always shielded) but i find the emotiva ones to be much higher quality and have a better sound. I use emotiva banana plugs which i dont think they are selling anymore and i love them, excellent quality. Get 12 gauge wire if you can too for your speaker wire. Monoprice has great HDMI cables these look awesome and are new, never saw them before but will definitly be trying them: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1025501&p_id=9168&seq=1&format=2 I have however used these with great success: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024008&p_id=3993&seq=1&format=2 Try not to get really heavy thick gauge hdmi cords as they tend to put a lot of strain on the HDMI ports as you snake the cords and what not. I ruined an HDMI port on my UMC-1 and had to send it in for repair. Those redmere HDMI cables look like a fantastic option. I would buy both and test! here is the speaker wire: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2789&seq=1&format=2 This is a kool rca-3.5mm for ipod listening http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021817&p_id=9300&seq=1&format=2

Emotiva is an online only brand and their equipment is only available through them directly. Emotiva is the best value equipment that i have found for HT and has certainly fulfilled a niche in the market. Its a great place to start for you. Many of us have used Emotiva and a lot of us have applied the law of diminishing returns to our purchases. For some its worth that extra thousand to get a rotel or parasound and for others, the quality is to a point that they feel there will be nothing more beneficial to be gained or its just plainly out of reach financially. Most of us can justify it being a great value because it puts receivers to shame most of the time for similar cost and in some cases its cheaper!

$1000 in shipping is disgusting. We've seen it time and time again on here, you poor Aussies get screwed with the shipping of electronics. Hopefully you will enjoy it all!

Some people have issues with their XPA-5's while others have ones that are dead silent. Its either an anomoly with some models, some people don't hear it or something else. I have ruled out my other equipment since i have zero issues now. The UPA-500 in my opinion is better than a receivers amp section because it has 4 ohm stability and is designed to be a standalone power amp. That amp at 8ohms should be producing on average more than what receivers typically output. If you look at benchmark reviews of receivers youw ill find that the 120watt X 5 rating is a load of crap and you are only getting 120 watts X 1 or 2 channels if lucky. All channels driven you get about 50-70% of the stated rated wattage (kind of sad but thats marketing for you, the poor consumer gets screwed). Some companies more accurately reflect their power capabilities than others like Harman Kardon has typically done in the past but as a rule of thumb, expect a decent power loss with all channels driven. A solid 80 watts X 5 channels is equivalent to a good quality receiver upwards of $1000 bucks (for the most part although a lot of money doesnt always mean a good product) really and has the perk of the 4ohm stability which most receivers don't carry (some are 6ohm stable most arent 4ohm stable). Power amps are pieces of equipment that if built well can last for 20 years. There are some on here that buy 10 year old amps used that are rock solid and are still kicking! Don't short change yourself when buying a power amp as it can last for a long time! Financial restraints suck but as i have said before (and i dont always obey my own motto but i try my hardest) but wait and save so you can get what you want. its expensive to upgrade over and over again but if you dont mind some financial loss along the way, thats okay then! I was just in az 3 weeks ago since my sister graduated from there too! it was some great weather out there. I am probably moving back out towards the years end around jan-feb most likely!

The choice to start off with a 3.0 setup is a great choice. The only negative aspect of that decision would be availability of matching components at the time of your next purchase. We never know for sure when a line will be continued, upgraded or discontinued. This generation of klipsch has been out for about a year now i believe so you should be good for another 2 years i'd think. There is also craigslist and audiogon as well if this pieces do become discontinued and is a place for you to seek them out. Your idea of not getting something that will compare to your parents def techs...Psht! Def Techs are good quality speakers but they are certainly not horn driven klipschs. They are basically all in one type towers they have with a frequnecy extension down to 11hz. They are designed to have "mini subs" within them and those are selfpowered with an amp built into the speakers. They are a formidable pair but everything is integrated. BP700SC Response 11Hz – 30KHz Impedance 8 ohms, rated 20-1,000 watts 14” 1,800 watt super cube built in sub 4 6-1/2” mid range drivers 2 1” aluminum dome tweeters When you go and listen to some klipsch, keep in mind that the receivers or amp/processor combos wont be tweaked perfectly to each speaker you listen to. In most cases though, i think people are impressed when they hear klipsch for the first time. I am more of a fan of component style setups where my subs are separate from towers and nothing has built in amps but the subs (which is typical now). I also prefer my amp to be seperate from my processor. The emotiva UMC-1 is just a processor. This unit does not have any internal power amplification to drive speakers. Its basically a receiver without the amplifier part. I have it and its a little bit qwerky but for the price its well worth dealing with its few shortcomings. Of the receivers i have used in th past, i love the UMC-1 the most because of its ability to let me customize things more than what receivers usually come with and for me, thats the game winner. I owned an Emotiva XPA-5 amplifier and like its sound and power capabilities but it fell short in one aspect. I had a hum/buzz from all of my speakers that was not from a ground loop. It was the amplifier itself. I am not the only person to suffer this and i am not the only one to swap their XPA-5 for a different brand of amplifier. Emotiva says the topological electrical design of the XPA-5 is different than their other amps so i'd be interested in trying their other models to see how they sound. Needless to say, i changed to Outlaw Audio and couldnt be any happier. The sound is smoother and no hum/buzz. Well worth the reduction in power and increase in price to get something that works perfectly!!! When you look at amplifiers, most of the time you are look at powers ratings (watts) @ a certain impedence (ohms) mesaured at a certain frequency (hz) and @ a certain number of channels. Power amplifiers or external amplifiers often often have 2 listed ratings, one at 8ohms and one at 4ohms. The 4ohm power rating is often 2 times the 8ohm rating but this is not a law! It often varies and could be 25% more, 50% more or litterally alot more or realyl barely anything more and just depends on the design of the amplifier. The majority of speakers are designed to have a nominal impdence of 8ohms but that is a nominal rating. The impedence and power are both dynamic and change constantly. Ok so back to amps! the difference between 4 and 8 ohms are not fixed, it isnt just one or the other and it will often dip bleow, above and anywhere in between. The amp will match the resistance of the speakers. There are a lot of other things you can compare like primary and secondary capacitance but this goes into things beyond my ability to explain and again, each amplifier has a different topology from the next model and certainly between brands. One thing i wanted to delve into further is the difference between a receivers amplifier and a stand along power amp. Receivers often weigh in around the 18-25lb mark, power amps often start at around the ~50lb mark. Part of this is because of the transformer that converts your incoming outlet power to usable power for your amp. When it comes to class A/B amplifiers, the general rule of thumb is the bigger the transformer the better and more ample the power supply is. The power supply is largely overlooked because of sheer space requirements and the fact that there are some very sensitive components within a receiver that wouldn't work as designed because of excess electromagnetic interference hence bringing the amplifier outboard and into a separate component piece. Again this is a very general overlook on amps with some very general info. Receivers are quite capable and some are far better than the next. Receivers start to lack again in their amplifier. Most slack at their low impendence capabilities (pushing 4ohms for instance). Some speakers have bigger impendence dips than others and those with rf-7s who have driven them with an amp know that at higher volumes, their receivers go into protect mode and shutdown in order to keep them for overheating and burning out. Fortunately though most klipsch can be run on receivers quite well without any hitches. There have been some who have switch back to a reciever from an amp and noticed no benefit of the external amp while others like myself notice night and day differences. Some receivers now like a few of the higher end pioneers i believe have started using energy efficient Class D amplifiers to help boost usable power without added weight. The gripe with Class D is sound quality as the signal is digitial and different from analog class A/B power structures. Class D sheds far less heat and uses power only when it needs it whereas cclass A/B runs hot and has power more on tap so to speak. When choosing an amplifier, you try and get something that supplies more power than the speakers can handle. You do this to help reduce the chances of clipping (sending a distorted signal to your speakers as the amplifier begins to max out its power capabilities, this is a detriment to transitior amplifiers). Klipsch is very efficient so in reality most of us need 150 watts max which if held contastly would be enough to make our ears bleed. You also want extra power to handle peaks in sound like an explosion in amovie that requires an abnormal amount of power compared to the rest of the movie or rather in relation to the average volume you are listening at. My amp is 125 watts @ 8ohms x 7 channels and i have pushed my speakers to the point of shaking my walls and to an uncomfortable level without issue. I wanted to see how capable it was and i was astounded! This brings me to speaker sensitivity. Klipsch has high sensitivities compared to most brands and this is because klipsch uses horns. You see horns in every sports venue because of the ability to produce high amplitudes of sound while keeping clarity without sucking tons of power relative to a non horn loaded speaker. Every 3db in sensitivity means you need half as much power to achieve the same amplitude. For instance: a 96db sensitive speaker requires half as much power as a 93db sensitive speaker to reach the same volume and a 90db sensitive speaker requires 4 times less power to achieve the same volume volume as the 96db sensitive speaker. I think this is enough for now haha. I assume you went to ASU? I graded 2009

Welcome to the show! The system you have picked out is pretty fine as it stands. The rc-62 II isn't perfectly timbre matched (the tweeters/crossover) with the rf-52 II's. Will they sound terrible? Nah. Will you hear that they dont mesh perfectly? You might. You'd probably get used tot he sound and it wouldn't bother you. This is just me being anal about things matching. The rf-62 II's are matched to that center. Many of us here (myself included) suffer from upgradetitus and have upgraded more than a few times because what we originally had was too small. With that said i would suggest getting the rf-62 II's at a minumum. You can get away with the rs-42 II or rs-52 II. Surrounds are more ancillary of a speaker and are as important to timbre match to your fronstage because they are behind you. Of course they should be perfectly timbre matched but we all can't have everything right? Monster power center is good, you are on the right path. Monster is good gear but just tends to be overpriced. You could also check out APC as an alternative (just dont get the g15 as mine emits an annoying buzz but the H15 is good!) Are you going to be in a house or in an apartment? If you are going to be in an apartment, do not get a sub as you will piss your neighbors off and it will become a paper weight until you get a place where you can actually use it. Your subwoofer doesnt even have to be the same brand as your speakers and there are a bunch of brands out there that you will get better performance with at a better price. If you are a curious and what to check them out: www.svsound.com, www.hsuresearch.com, www.outlawaudio.com, www.emotiva.com, www.rythmikaudio.com, www.velodyne.com just to name a few! If you are going to be in an apartment, you may want to consider reallocating some subwoofer money into your towers. In this case, jump from the rf-52 II, surpass the RF-62 II and get the RF-82 II's. You may say, Sub, you are effin crazy! Well, yes and no. They will give you a really solid bass foundation and will last you for years and years (not that the others wouldnt last years and years too). The low end from the towers can help to make up for not having a subwoofer and later on you can always add when apropriate. Your receiver is an entry level model and don't be svelt with sticking to a 5.1 channel receiver. Most receivers now are 7.1 or 7.2 and you are shorting yourself by trying to stick with a 5.1. You don't want to skimp on your powerplant so to speak and many find that their receivers do the job but just dont give them the performance they are looking for. My suggestion though is to make sure or try to get a receiver with multichannel preamp out connections. This gives you the ability to add an external amplifier to the mix as many of us have. Most of us find that an external amp adds more dynamics and definition to sound and gives us better low end bass as well as staying clean at higher volumes. A receivers internal amp cannot compare to an external amplifier (unless its a class D amplifier where it may actually compete well) just because of the sheer mechanics it actually takes to produce good quality power.

id say for the surrounds you have chosen, that would most likely be a good amount of power considering a regular living room type environment. The rc64 II probably would do better to have a bit more power to it. Its just nice to have some overhead. The upa-5 would have been a much better option if it was still available. 80 watts is stilla good amount of power espeically if its a solid 80 watts.