christ1

I have a Onkyo tx-nr708 as my main receiver in the living room. I bought a Sansui 9090 and want to give it a try with my RF-83s. Can I connect the front R/L preout from the 708 into an input on the 9090 with the front R/L speakers using the 708 amp when I am not using the Sansui? I want to be able to switch between using the front R/L speakers with either the 708 under most conditions but use the 9090 for stereo music (using the 708's networking capabilities as the source of the music). I have to move speakers and the TV stand away from the wall just to get to the each receivers' connections so I do not want to move my furniture around just to change which amp drives the RF-83s. I can easily change the speaker wire hookup as either coming from the 708 or 9090. Does connecting an RCA cable into the preout automatically bypass the 708's amp even if the 9090 is turned off? I hope what I am trying to ask makes sense. Thanks.

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I linked to the wrong anchor, although that one may work better. http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Hardware-Fasteners-Anchors-Knotting/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc2ey/R-202527081/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.URLcqvKt0a4 The one I used had wings because the reason I had trouble hooking the screw head is that the screw would get pushed into the hole when I was "fishing" to get the speaker hooked. Using the JB Weld still is the same. I think my conclusion was using the anchor from the original link would have been better.

I have successfully mounted my RS-62s into drywall. The perfect location did not have a stud. Here is what I did. Get the following drywall anchors, with the largest screw head that can be hooked by the speaker mounting bracket (it may not be the size I linked below). Notice the anchor is metal not plastic. http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Hardware-Fasteners-Anchors/h_d1/N-5yc1vZc2e5Z1z0y7ic/R-100234590/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.URLR0vKt0a4 Mount the anchor as directed (I think I did drill a small pilot hole first). Now for the crucial addition because the anchor does not often get secured rigidly and can wiggle around in the hole--get JB Weld epoxy and apply a thin coating (after mixing) that covers the anchor flange and some of the drywall. If the anchor does wobble put some JB Weld between the anchor flange and the wall too. Note do not get JB Weld in the tapped hole of the anchor for the screw (the epoxy will flow a little due to gravity). Let this harden overnight. Once hardened you can use the screw as normal by not screwing the screw in all the way, the speaker mounting bracket can hook the screw head. In my case the screw could not be screwed in the perfect amount whereby the screwed head got hooked but the rubber pads were snuggly on the wall because hooking the screw head was difficult. I just used (pieces of) cardboard beer coasters to shim the excess space until the rubber pads held the coaster pieces in place and the speaker did not wobble. I have used JB Weld a few times when drywall anchors by themselves did not hold well enough (or rigidly enough). It sticks to drywall, or more specifically paint, very well.

I have a pair of used black Klipsch RB-15 bookshelf speakers. They function perfectly and sound great. Cosmetically they are almost perfect. The woofers are clean, the black veneer is perfect. The only imperfection is one of the grills has two very small holes, but they are at the top and just exposes the black plastic frame of the grill, so it is hardly noticeable. I did not notice it until I took it off its wall stand and looked closely. I am only selling them because I have upgraded. I think these speakers are pretty much the perfect size when hung on the wall for a room ~20'x20' or less. For pictures see the my Craigslist ad, and/or I can email you the high res pictures if you are interested. http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ele/3586440260.html For someone on this forum I will ship. I have the original box so it will be easy. $130obo + shipping

Now that I notice the grill, those are the RS-52s. I would be able willing to help you out if he does not ship.

There is a pair of RS-52s for sale near me. If you read the description the speakers are brand new so they may be the RS-52ii surrounds, but the person may not know there is a generation difference. I might be able to help you out if the person will not ship. They come in original boxes based on the image so it would not be a big deal for me to ship. http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ele/3557854055.html

I believe this has been on CL for months. It always pops up when I am searching for stuff. It seems like something sold from a white panel van.

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/ele/3557854055.html Great deal, probably will not last long. Not affiliated.

The hiss is present and does not change whether a source is hooked up or not. The seller said he is going to pay for a different tech (and he said who is better than the original person who rebuilt it) to fix it. The seller seems like a stand up guy.

According to the person who did the rebuild all caps on all boards, the speaker relay, and some bad resistors were all replaced. I think the room the Sansui is in does not help. It is about 18.5'x19.5'x7' with a single doorway (and in the basement) with the speakers in two corners near the (drop down) ceiling. Thus, when hanging out in the room and playing pool my ears will often be within a few feet of one of the speakers. This makes me more sensitive to the hiss volume. If I had it in an open concept living room this would probably not be a big deal.

I have been listening to the the Sansui more. I started by hooking up the speakers to the three outputs, without any input source connected, and the hiss is noticible even with the volume turned all the way down. The hiss is more or less the same for all three outputs. Also, I disconnected the preout/main in cable and that did not really change the hiss--if anything it went down a little--although the noise did not increase as the volume dial was turned up. Plugging in an input did not make any difference. Again without any input source connected, if I put my ear a couple inches from the speaker, I can clearly hear the hiss at any volume level. If I only heard it from this close then it would not bother me. But, if I am a few feet away it is difficult to say if I hear it at "low" volume, at "medium" volume I have to focus and/or move my head to hear it, and above that it is clearly heard. This translates into, at a minimum, hearing hiss after focusing on it at typical volumes during softer music (say an acoustic song). Basically there is too much hiss for my tastes, if it was a little less I could probably live with it. The (likely) separate issue is that as I listen to it, I just do not like the sound as much as my modern receivers. I must like my music extremely bright, even if the average person's ears are bleeding. It is ironic because some of my favorite bands (Tool, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails) often add electronic type sounds and distortion to their songs. On the Sansui I was listening to "Black Swan" on Thom Yorke's (Radiohead lead singer) solo album, and there is slight distortion added to his voice, and I thought to my self it does not sound quite right to what I am used to. I played it through my Denon and the distortion to his voice is just a little cleaner. It is a little odd to me because I have always been content with the quality of mp3s in my car (factory installed speakers). I have gone from Synergy to RF-62s to now RF-83s (and RB-15s in my basement) and I have gotten pretty picky.

I am thinking the rebuild was not a very good one. The seller had a lot of praise for the friend who worked on it. He did say the friend just restores them as a hobby. I am trying to get his info to hopefully get a better idea of what was (or was not) done and get a feel whether he knows what he is doing. I will have to mess with the connections and source material this week. I have a SPL meter so I can quantify the noise with respect to the volume of the music. Thanks for the feedback.

I think this just confirms what I have always thought is that I like bright sound, which is why I have Klipsch speakers. I just hope I did not get conned into thinking the receiver was rebuilt. But the interior is definitely clean, all the lamps work, and there is no distortion/screeching when I turn the volume knob. Plus one person's definition of rebuilt can be different from the next. Like I said, it was a quick listen test so I did not try other speaker outputs and the other inputs, but I would like to hear it without hissing. I do not even know how much, if any, hissing is acceptable/unavoidable. By the way, can flourescent lights cause hissing because the lights certainly have audible "buzzing" themselves?

So on a whim I bought a vintage Sansui 9090 receiver that has been rebuilt. I have always wanted to get a good vintage receiver to compare to the modern ones I have. I have grown up with CDs and mp3s - I think I had MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice tapes when I was a kid - so I have never heard the vintage sound. Now I have a couple of questions after a short listening session. The first is regarding background hiss/noise. I hooked up my iPod and could hear hiss at all volume levels except the lowest (when I paused the music), and the level of noise scaled with turning the volume dial. I could not hear the hiss when the music was playing except for during quiet parts. If I turned off the connected speakers (using the dial on the receiver) the hiss went away (not surprising). For comparison, when using my Denon 3802 I did not hear any hiss even with the volume maxed out. I did this in my basement pool room, which is almost 20'x20' with a ~7' dropped ceiling using RB-15s. I am also curious regarding the power. The specs of the Sansui are 110 W/ch at 20-20k Hz with 0.2% THD and the Denon is 105 W/ch at 20-20k Hz with 0.05% THD which seems to imply they have similar power. But to get the same volume, the Sansui is only about 1/4 turn of the dial and the Denon is well beyond halfway to the max. What am I missing with the power specs? Finally, regarding the audio quality, I seemed to like the sound from the Denon better (I do not consider myself any sort of audiofile). It seemed to sound more "crisp" and "clean" (maybe due to the aforementioned hiss). I did like the sound better from the Sansui when playing an acoustic version of Foo Fighters "Everlong". That song sounded like they were in front of me, more so than the Denon. With that said, I often do not like music to sound like a concert because I find I like the "clean" and "crisp" (there are those words again) sound of the album better. Case in point, I recently saw Radiohead live and their songs generally sounded very muddled live, but the albums sound very precise - which I prefer. This was brought into stark contrast in the song "Kid A". Live the electronic singing sounded like noise, but on the album the actual words can be discerned. I am not trying to open a vintage vs modern sound debate but I do wonder if one reason vintage is considered better sounding is the nostalgia it produces when people were growing up in the 60s and 70s. I am just trying to decide whether I will keep the Sansui since it was a lot more expensive than the used Denon. I am too practical to keep something more expensive but not vastly better, but I want to give it a fair comparison. Thanks for any feedback or thoughts.

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I thought so. There is a good deal on cherry RB-35s but I do not think I would want the dissimilar finishes in the same setup.

Anyone know if the cherry finishes on the RF-83 and RB-35 are the same. I am guessing the RB-35 is lighter since it is termed as "light cherry" by Klipsch but it never hurts to be sure. Thanks.

Anyone know for sure? Thanks.

Is the cherry finish of the RF-83 the same as the cherry finish on the RC-7? Thanks.

Thanks for the info. I am not in a position to buy anything yet, but I will certainly keep my eye out for Acurus when I do.

That is probably what i would get. It seems that it cannot be beat with its price/performance ratio, especially for a used one.

Yes that answers my question. I was confused on how does the amp "know" how much amplying to do. I guess what I was missing is that the preamp part of the receiver modulates the signal to the amplifier, which does not matter whether it is an internal amplifier (receiver) or a separate amplifer. Each channel is modulated in the same way so that the speakers stay in balance (assuming they were calibrated when first set up). If the amp has a gain control then that is a way to change the amplification manually but is meant to be used only when calibrating. Thanks.

I am thinking about getting a seperate amplifier for my three front speakers with the surround speakers connected to the receiver. I am confused how the volume is controlled because some sellers talk about remotes with the amp, but they never seem to have them. Does it basically work the same way as a powered sub connected to the preout on the receiver? Using the receiver volume control changes the volume of all speakers including the sub in unison, so if the front three speakers are sent via the preouts to a separate amplifier then the volume would change in unison the same way, right? Thanks.

I was thinking humidity too. Hopefully it does not signal something is wrong with my house. I was just surprised to see it.