Clergian

Thanks for the response Chris. I was most wondering though why the tweeters had no problem at extreme volume lvls when connected to the Marantz while the amp was connected to the low. Is it because there was more power available? And the sound itself, even at medium volumes, was far superior (alot less bright) when hooked in this non-active crossover bi-amp config. I wouldn't think the amp would create a different sound than the Marantz, but it was obvious that it did. Ted

Hey John, after I hooked the highs to the Marantz and the Lows to the onkyo amp I no longer had the clipping problem. Even at higher volume lvls then previously tested. Is this because the speakers had more power? And Bill, I am located on the Treasure Coast, Port St. Lucie specifically. Ted

Well, right now the HT is being built in the living room of a very open Florida floor plan. Not going to be really helpful to the acoustics of the system. That being said, the room isn't of gargantuan size, and maybe I am being overzealous thinking I need a PC13-ultra. Maybe the elemental or the pc12 would suit me better. That said, I do like to "feel" my bass. Thank you for all the suggestions thus far, Ted

so consensus seems to be the sub first (with wife taken into consideration). SVS was going to be my first choice, the pc13-ultra due to room constraints. Might take me a bit to save for something like that though and I have the wife's go ahead to pick up something NOW. Happens rarely. SVS rarely sells used, but I have been seeing alot of rsw-15's locally. Having no real experience with quality subs, is the rsw-15 something I might be happy with and would match decently with the 63's? I heard it was great for music but lacked a little in a HT set up especially when compared to a SVS. Should I hold off on a sub until I can get the pc13 ultra? Or is there a sub you guys would suggest that I might be able to find used in a decent price range, say around 6-800 Thanks Ted

I am currently running 2 rf-63's hooked up to a Marantz sr 5003. Last night a buddy of mine brought over his older onkyo amp and the improvement, especially in the bass department was pretty jaw dropping. So I am unsure what my next piece should be, either an emotiva xpa-3 to power the l/r and the future rc-64 center, or a subwoofer. I feel like I should get the amp first, and power the speakers I have to their fullest...but then again, a subwoofer would take a huge load off my fronts. For HT I should probably get the center first, but my wife listens to music on an equivalent or higher rate than I watch movies, and she is letting me buy something so I am not going to argue and will push the center channel campaign back a couple months. So, amp or sub? I tried a search, didn't get to much. Also, while you are reading this, help explain this to me. Last night when my buddy brought his amp over we powered the 63's with just his amp at first. The bass was VASTLY improved and overall sound performance was much better. BUT at around the extreme volume lvl of -5 through -3 the tweeter/highs started to distort or sound quality seemed to decline. So, we decided to hook his amp to just the 63's lows, and the Marantz's L/R outputs to the 63's highs. Now, I could easily run at around the 0 volume lvl with no noticable distortion in the highs, and infact the Marantz seemed to create MUCH more pleasing Highs than did powering the speaker soley by the amp. This was not just my opinion but a my buddy who has some experience with speakers, AND two wives both agreed that the AMP/Receiver set up created a much cleaner sound. Why would this be? Could the seperate amp not keep up with both the highs/lows at that volume lvl? Did "bi-amping" with the amp/receiver give the 63's the power they wanted at ultra high volumes? With no active crossover, wouldn't the full range of sound be sent to both the highs and lows then the passive crossover has to figure it out (not really part of the above example, just wanting to understand)? Would the more powerful XPA-3 create a sound similiar to the receiver/amp set up I tried last night? Were the brighter almost uncomfortable highs experienced with the amp only set up specific to that amp (as with the marantz powering the highs they were much more pleasing)? If I got the XPA-3 would anyone suggest "bi-amping" the lows with the xpa and the highs with the marantz if I wasn't happy with the highs the xpa alone produced? alot of questions here, thanks for ANY help, no need to answer them all, just any you might have an answer or opinion for. Thanks, Ted

So a buddy of mine brought over his decently aged Onkyo amp this evening. Hooked it up to my rf-63's and I was blown away by the improvement. Though at one point it sounded as if the tweeter was having some trouble, and when it wasn't having trouble, the speakers were a bit brighter than normal. So, feeling a bit adventorous we hooked the lows to his amp and wired the highs to the R/L channel on my Marantz sr5003. I couldn't find much info on doing this, but man I am glad I tried it. The highs sounded MUCH better, not to bright, no distortion even at exceedingly high volumes, and the lows powered by his amp were amazing. So I guess what I am getting at...is this a normal set up with the receiver powering the highs and a seperate amp pushing the lows? Do you more experienced folks use two seperate amps to power the highs/lows? With his amp being about 150w to 2 channels, would getting the Emotiva xpa-3 which can push 250w into 2 channels remove the need for bi-amping with the receiver? Also, ill toss this in here... Aragon 4004 or Emotiva xpa-3? Thanks Ted

So, this evening I switched the highs and lows to their proper positions on the amp and I now have a new pair of speakers at those ear bleeding levels. The only problem I had watching Terminator:Salvation was the fact that at volume levels -5 and above, which is possible now, it was pretty much unbearable on the ears. The bass the speakers now put out is much cleaner and shakes the house like never before. I expected a positive change from wiring correctly but this is incredible. Thank you Ted

It appears I may have made a newbie mistake and I am sending speaker C, which may be allocated less power, to the more power hungry lows. Tomorrow I will switch things around and see what happens. Thanks Thad and Bill.

Would purchasing a dedicated sub take enough of the work away from the Marantz/63's to achieve my rediculous volume expectations? Or should I focus on getting that amp? Leaning towards amp, might as well make the speakers I currently have sound their best before I add more. Yes, I know that -5 is a pretty high volume, infact I doubt I could comfortably watch an entire movie at that level...but, while I might never go 200mph in a car, it would be nice to say I could.

First, I want to thank the denizens of this board for always providind a newbie like myself a place to learn. I have finally taken the plunge and started to slowly build a home theater but have quickly run into my first hiccup. First the set up: Marantz sr 5003 bi-amped to Klipsch rf63's. As the subject says, whenever I play a blu-ray at high volumes, -5 or higher specifically, my Marantz sr5003 will go into standby mode. I can immediatly turn it back on, and then turn the volume to -6 or lower and have no problems what so ever. I did a search and found similar, but not exact, situations. What do you all think the problem may be? Do I not have enough power, as I do intend to buy an amp and really only wanted the marantz to act as a stop gap until I could get an amp, and then it would decipher the audio. Wiring problem, speaker problem? I'll leave my speculations aside and let those more adept in home theater toss me a few ideas. Thanks in advance.