bheinz

I apologize to anyone who may have been looking forward to my results.... twas a long hiatus. RECAP: I purchased the 5 channel rf-7 ii set, one SVS pb-13 ultra, sunfire tga-5200 and was looking for an ABSOLUTELY CLEAN analogue signal to send to these speakers. Summary: I lost count of the number of sound cards i auditioned in 2 different PC's (1 HTPC, 1 mid-tower PC) but could not get an absolutely clean signal to the speakers. One card would be quite when the computer was idle, but have wierd sounds during games/movies and vise versa.. If i had to rank them, I would say put them in this order: 1. HT Omega Halo 2. X-fi Titanium series (NON-HD) 3. ASUS STS which ties with the ASUS ST. **I know i will catch crap from someone on the ASUS ranking but i there always seemed to be SOMETHING wrong with these. I LOVE ASUS as they are my go-to for a lot of components with I build PC's but sound cards don't seem to be their calling. That said, when they worked, they did sound great. In the end i ended up getting a decent deal on the Marrantz AV7005 which allowed me to pass the digital signal from my GTX 560 (yes this is a video card) via HDMI to be converted to an analogue signal and passed to my amp. While this still isn't ABSOLUTE silence when I would expect it, it is better than I could achieve with any of the sound cards and there are no longer unexpected crack/pops during start-up/shutdown or when launching applications. With the AV7005 i was also able to use balance cables which may or may not have helped since i had clean RCA rounting from the PC to the sunfire amp prior to the AV7005. The Details: I tried and tried (multiple x-fi's, multiple Omega's and ASUS cards) but could not get an absolutely CLEAN signal from my PC through these cards. I lost count on how many cards I sent back to amazon & newegg. In their defense, the rf-7 ii's do have a sensitivity of 101 db so it doesn't take much to make a *hiss* or other noises through those speakers. I will say that I was MOST pleased with the HT omega Halo XT (xt only add analogue out for your surround channels) as well as their customer service. I had a bent pin on one card (still extension card, not the main) and they were very quick to respond to my call and sent me a new card before I returned the bad one. I took advantage of the situation to do A->B's on those along side of the x-fi and ASUS cards. A few times I even had competing cards in the same PC at the same time. This allowed me to simply change which one processing/sending the signal with the click of the mouse for a TRUE A->B. So, I preferred the sound of the HT Omega over the other cards but the software was lacking (ASUS & HT OMega use the same Oxygen processor so their software is basically the same). Some say that the creative software is "bloated", while i might agree I will also say that it is by FAR the most powerful & flexible when it comes to dialing in your sound system. Another thing that was VERY important to me, the HT Omega card was the ONLY one that did not crack/pop during start-up/shutdown of the computer. I am not sure how many people are actually interested in a setup similar to mine but when I was assembling this crazy mess I did not have a lot of resources to call upon. Hence I am posting this info to HOPEFULLY help others out. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I picked up a pair of these from newegg that arrived tonight. Since i already have a completed 5.1 setup with rf-7 ii's i was planning to put these on craigslist and never even open the boxes. But after reading a handful of reviews tonight i might just have to pull these things out to see what they are made of... With some light googling i haven't found anything short of great reviews all over. Anyway, if i decide that i don't want to keep them (or can't find room for them) I'll post them on here as well in case someone in the western IL area is looking for a pair.

Just for reference, with my current PC I am using a Creative titanium x-fi to process the digital signal and pass analog signal to my power amp (option 2). I am quite pleased with this sound most of the time but do get some hiss at higher volume levels. My boss is actually lined up to buy this PC from me so I will be losing this sound card. Hence, my search for something potentially better was born. It sounds like you guys are taking the other route (option 1) to deliver the digital signal to a pre-amp or receiver which then sends analog to your speakers. Shame on me for not doing more homework before posting the original question but I have 2 main concerns with option 1: ...1) From what I have read, the DAC's which the new Creative card and the Asus card use are "High end" stuff (Burr Brown PCM 1792A). This makes me believe that I would need to drop a fair amount of cash to get a pre-amp or receiver to deliver a comparable quality analog to my power amp. .......... Check out this link for specifics on the ASUS ...2) Does anyone have experience playing games with surround sound while 'bit streaming'(I admit to not knowing what this means...). I don't currently know anyone who I could borrow hardware from to test this...

Glad to hear from someone with some experience on the issue! Have you played any games with a surround setup? A factor I didn't consider before and am not totally sure how to figure it out is the quality of the DAC. Something tells me that I would have to spend a fair amount more on a pre-amp or a reciever to get a comparable analog signal to any of the sound cards listed above... dangit! one more thing to think about....

Okay... I am looking for some advice on the best way (sound quality) to get source material from my HTPC to my ears. I am build an HTPC from scratch which will double as a gaming rig (See stats below). This system will be used evenly for music/gaming/movies. I would like to say that cost is not an issue at this point since I have almost $10k invested into my speakers/power amp/tv/htp. But I would like to keep the solution below $400 if possible (not that it's written in stone or anything though). So here are the 2 main options I have considered: 1. Pass a digital signal from my motherboard (no discrete sound card) to a pre-amp or receiver (signal processor), then to the power amp, then to the speakers. ...a. I have not researched pre-amps or receivers for option 1. 2. Use a high quality discrete sound card to process the sound which would pass an analog signal directly to the power amp. ...a. Here are the sound cards I have been considering ......i. HT Omega Claro Halo XT ......ii. ASUS Xonar Essence STX ......iii. Auzentech Home Theatre HD ......iv. Creative X-Fi Titanium HD I am also polling some other forums which are more for computer nerds (as myself) and plan to post a summary (from all forums, to all forums) of my findings at the conclusion of this study. I have not been able to find any good information for someone in my specific situation. System Info Speakers: Front: rf-7 ii Center: rc-64 ii Rear: rf-63 Power Amp Sunfire TGA-5200 Primary HTPC Components: MOBO: Asus Rampage III X58 CPU: Intel i7 950 (will likely OC to 4 gHz) GPU: nVidia GTX 295 (may upgrade to GTX 580 for heat/power reduction) OS Drive: Corsair C300 SSD (128 gb) Memory: 6gb Mushkin Enhanced (998970)

$2300? That sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. Even if you pay tax on top. If you have the room 4x rf-7 II's would be awesome! Expecially if you can force stereo surround and use all channels to play what would normally be a 2 channel signal for music. I am currently running rf-63's in this type of situation and am loving it. I am not sure what your music/movie ratio would be but I don't know if I could justify the cost of 4 rf-7's if I wasn't going to be using them a large percentage of the time. If most of your time is spent on movies I would advise cheaper surrounds (rf-82's or smaller) and use the left over cash for a good sub since the rear channels won't see a lot of use. My pennies for what they're worth anyhow

So I ended up getting the 5 channel rf II set from Audioholics thanks to a suggestion from another on this forum (thanks again[]). I opted to get the rf-7 II & rc-64 II in cherry which look amazing. The center channel is much bigger in person!! When I unpacked it I put it on end next to my rf-63 and can say that this sucker could almost pass for a tower speaker if I didn't know any better. I have about a week on these things and they seem to sound better every day that I listen to them. Tonight I did a crude A to B with the rf-7 II and the rf-63's. I am using a computer for source material so I can switch back and forth between the different speakers with a click. I am using a sunfire TGA-5200 for power. Please don't scrutinize too much for the lack of technical detail as this is just a 'from the gut' comparison with only a few different types of music. Prior to the rf-7 II's I have owned a pair of rf-63's for a couple months and have been extremely pleased with them. That said, by comparison to the rf-7 II's the rf-63's sound somewhat hollow like something is missing. I wouldn't say that the 7's reveal more detail in the music but they do seem much more accurate.As in the 7's are much closer to sounding like like live music and not a reproduction. The 7's also have incredible bass!! I have a few songs with slow/heavy baselines that I didn't really pay much attention before. At normal listening volumes with nominal bass settings I can feel almost as much as I can hear with these beaasties! I did buy the rs-62 II's (also much bigger in person) as part of the package deal but can't say much about them right now. Tonight I set up the rf-63's as rears and am very pleased with the sound of this setup. They are definitely awkward in the rear of the room so this may not be a permanent solution.. Maybe worth mentioning, In some of the software I have there is a sub calibration program that runs from some higher freq >200 hz (not sure where it starts) down through 10 hz. Just for s&g's I ran this late last week and there was one small band on the curve which seemed to have been a resonance spike and another (lower in the curve) where the speakers almost went SILENT before finishing out strong as expected to some lower frequency >10hz. BUT, I ran this test again tonight and have found that the resonant spike is much less prevalent and the dead spot has all but disappeared. My hope (and suspicion) is that after a few weeks of usage these will become completely flat (well... as far as my ear can tell anyway). I can say that I have NOT noticed either of these during normal listening. Long story short. These speakers sound amazing and I VERY pleased with this purchase.

sorry to hear that bheinz, what about the deal with worldwidestereo? if they aren't local to your area that would make up the difference since you have to pay tax and they have free shipping. i'm close to biting the bullet on this one. <BR><BR>What is the deal you are referring to? I took a quick stroll through their site and didn't see any special deal. Thanks in advance for any help!

Does anyone know of their local dealers having these in stock yet? My dealer has been dragging me along since the end of July and I am about ready to give up...

I run RF-7s all the way around and love them as surrounds. When I play blu-ray concerts it's quite an experience! After hearing a few comments and thinking about it for a while I think I am going to use the rf-63's for rear surrounds. As you stated, I think having full surrounds will be awesome for stereo surround music. My dealer is supposed to call me as soon as they show up in his system so I can place an order. This is getting exciting!!

I have been waiting over a month for speakers from my local dealer and have picked up a pair of rf-63's get me through until the rf-7 ii's come to town. I am going to have rf-7 II mains and the rc-64 II center regardless but am struggling on whether to use the rf-63's for surrounds or if I would be better off picking up the rs-62 II's for this function...? I have just fallen in love with the 63's and don't like the thought parting with them!!... If anyone has any experience using towers for rear surrounds I would love to hear your opinion.[] As I see it my options are as follows: 1) pick up the rs-62 ii's to compare to the 63's as rear surrounds and sell the losing pair 2) pass on the rs-62 ii's, and pick up a used rt-12d for $1100 3) don't buy anymore speakers, move to the jungle and stop wearing pants to take my mind off of what i am missing

My dealer told me that at first too. But then this week I called about putting a down payment on a set and said I wouldn't commit until he gave me a delivery date. Then he came back saying they wouldn't get to his store for potentially 45 days (from 2 days ago)... I'll let you do what you want with that info.

The reason I bring this up in in reference to one of Dr. Thumps posts from 2006 comparing the performace of the rf-82 to the 63/83's: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/97917/990015.aspx "...Have you ever REALLY heard clean bass? Most people have not. If you havent you dont know what you are missing so it doesnt matter BUT if you have heard transient attacks kick drums that THUMP you in the chest. There is no going back..." I was originally set on purchasing rf-82's until this post begged me to extend my view into the 63/83's. For some reason I have it in my head is that the main reason the 63/83's are suggested by Dr.Thump for transient response is because the woofers used in the 63/83's are a step up from the rest of the reference series. i.e..."High Output.." If the new rf-7 II line will not be capable of producing ATLEAST the "THUMP in the chest" of the 63/83 as described by Dr.Thump I will certainly be looking purchasing the 83's!

This may be a mute point but something that I have noticed... The description for the new series does not contain the verbage "High Output" as the rf-83/63, rc-64, WF-35, and all Palladiums. Are the drivers in the new series a step down from what Klipsch has used in the series listed above (not including palladium of course) or what exactly is meant by "High Output?"... Yes they are beautiful speakers but I don't want to pay more for an rf-7 II if I can buy an rf-83 that will have better performance...[:S]

Can't say for sure but my dealer has told me they won't be "officially" released for a couple weeks.

As someone who is new to this whole game... What effect does the lower x-over have? Is that where the larger drivers hand off the sound to the Hi freq driver? thanks in advance

Why did they back out on the original discounted price? Sorry, missed your comment a while back. The first place claimed that they could not get 83's or 64's anymore (different rep than before). My personal feeling is that the first rep put his foot in his mouth and his manager isn't willing to back it up. I will give them the benefit of the doubt though. The second rep has stated several times that "they WILL get my business"... They are now trying to tie me up with the new set and started with 20% off without me saying a word. I am going to shoot for 30% but will probably pull the trigger at 25% without hearing them first if I can get them there. I'm gonna be putting a lot of faith in Mr. Klipsch if for this one...My sunfire just looks so lonely without anything hooked up to it[:^)] The second place told me NIB on the phone then the store owner called me when i was half way there and tried to swap 83's NIB for his "perfect" floor models for that price. Well.... lets just say that I don't consider peeling veneer and dents on the woofers to be perfect...They also said that they could not get 64's anymore once I arrived at the store (deal breaker for me).

Another update: Speaker_____Freq Response__Sensitivity____Hi Freq Driver_______Hi Freq X-over RF-7 II_______30Hz-24kHz_____101 dB______1.75" Ti Dia. Comp___1200 Hz RF-7_________32Hz-20kHz_____102 dB______1.75" Ti Dia. Comp___2200 Hz RF-83_______29Hz-21kHz_____100 dB______1.25" Ti Dia. Comp___1650 Hz RC-64 II______59Hz-24kHz____99 dB_______1.75" Ti Dia. Comp___1400 Hz (Only gave one level) RC-7________45Hz-20kHz_____98 dB_______1.75" Ti Dia. Comp___550 & 1950 Hz RC-64_______62Hz-21kHz_____99 dB_______1.25" Ti Dia. Comp___1150 & 1800 Hz RS-62 II______50Hz-24kHz____97 dB_______2x 1" Ti Dia. Comp_____1300 Hz RS-62_______50Hz-23kHz_____97 dB_______2x 1" Ti Dia. Comp_____20000 Hz The rest of the specs are the same for the respective speaker they are replacing I generally like sound to be a little more detailed (bright?) and I have only demo'd the rf-83's and rc-62 and loved them. Without hearing the speakers first hand but knowing the difference in hi freq drivers and X-over level, where will this set stand as far as being brighter/warmer (again i hope I am using this terms correctly) than both the original rf-7 & rf-83? I absolutely loved the 83's the few times I have heard them and don't know what to expect for the new series...I may be (ok yes i am) waiting for the new series to come and have a chance to get a good discount for buying early (may not get to hear them prior to $$) with a local dealer. My worst will be spending the extra cash and regretting it.... That said... I cannot find a dealer who has access to all 3 83/64/62 speakers and is willing to negotiate much. btw, Thanks Bill H. Worth a try but would not budge.

Quick Update Spoke to dealer again... He seemed to be a little confused/hesitant but said: rf-7 II replaces rf-83 rc-64 II replaces rc-64 rs-62 II replaces rs-62 same ol'boxes w/new drivers...? Lets just say the prices have gone up for the new line as well. He offered a decent discount (% wise) but the new series would end up costing me an additional $1450 over the original (soon to be discontinued) set at their current proposal. This was def not in the budget and I don't know if I can wait another month for speakers.... [] Any advice on a dealer in the midwest where I could still get the old 83/64/62 set at NIB?? Or will the new set be worth the extra $1450 (somehow doubt it)?

Wow! Your post explains exactly what I was going to ask... I was wondering if there would be a direct replacement for the RC-64. Since saturday I had 2 different dealers who told me they had 83/64/62's in stock and were also offering incredible discounts (~35%). But tonight I went to both of them cash in hand and BOTH told me that the 83/64's quote "No longer exist" (must have both spoke to the same klipsch rep). One claimed not to know anything about the new line until I called it by name and the other told me that I have to wait until thursday for pricing of the new line.... Why does it hurt so bad when I sit down... :-P

I got a call today from the dealer. He confirmed that he would have a set of rf-7 II's in his show room mid-August. He said MSRP will be higher than it was for the 83's. That is all he would give up. Bad news is he said he can only get 83's in black... (*sound of heart breaking*)

Thanks for the opinion/support!! Regardless of what the rep tells me Monday morning, I don't think I will be able to pass up on the 83/64/62 set for that price.

ya...i just caught/corrected that...

Long time reader. First time poster Interesting Part first: Called a store today about pricing on a 2x rf-83 / 2x rs-62 / rc-64 and they responded with, "The best we can do is $3199 (NIB) for the set. But you may want to hold off since there will be a new line to replace these in late August/early September." He said that he does not have any details at the moment but that he would call his rep monday morning and let me know what he can find out. If anyone is interested I can post the store name after I make my purch (don't want to be snaked). To me this seems to be an unbelievable deal but they are listed as an authorized dealer on Klipsch's website so I shouldn't have anything to worry about as far as warranty or support down the road. I presented an e-mail from the 6ave "name your price" promo and they beat the offer 6ave laid out. In the mean time I am probably going to make this purchase. Boring Part: After 6 months of trying to figure out what I want for my first real system I finally make the decision to fork over the $$ but now I am being teased with a new line!!! I REALLY would like to wait to see how the new line stacks up but I don't think I can pass this deal up... I will post info from the sales guy monday if anyone is interested