StephenM

Unfortunately, any amplifier can be pushed to its limits and beyond with the simple turn of a knob or push of a button. I'll have to disagree with TheFactor here and say IMO upgrading the amplifier wouldn't be the best use of funds. You should already have a very dynamic system, and switching from a really really powerful amplifier to a really really really powerful amplifier is only going to give you so much. There are a couple areas I'd look to. 1. The subwoofer(s): What is handling the low end of your system? 2. The room itself: What is the noise floor of the room? What can do you to reduce it? Have you done any room treatments to deal with early reflections?

Second pic:

Certainly not quite as impressive as some of the systems on here, but it makes me happy at the moment. I know you're jealous of the wood paneling and beautiful tile work. Actually, I moved into the house in July of this year after having the two upper floors remodeled. This (presuming things go according to plan) area will be updated next summer.

Well clearly it's time to ditch those no-name speakers of yours and upgrade to a Bose surround sound experience.

This may be the mature adult in me (I know it's there somewhere) talking, but turn it down. Look up the effects of hearing damage and envision yourself living like that in a few years. It isn't a fun picture. Sustaining 115dB+ for any significant length of time is a great way to get there. As far as the technical side of your question goes, keep in mind that doubling the power to a speaker only nets you a 3dB (barely perceptible) increase in volume. Even going with the XPA-1 isn't going to give you much more volume. There is also the issue that the RF-7 does have physical limits and will give you only so much volume regardless of how much power you try to pump into it.

20906

Unfortunately my wife enjoys watching the Jersey Shore. However, thats grade A quality programming next to her other favorite: The Bad Girls Club. Picture a bunch of girls in a house together trying to figure out how they can be the biggest beeootch. A little piece of me dies inside when that crapfest comes on.

Indeed. While weight isn't a 100% indicator of receiver/amplifier quality, it can be a useful and interesting metric to look. Generally speaking good quality amplifiers that deliver gobs of power under a variety of loads weigh a lot. As a simple comparison, that Yammy weighs in at a hair under 19 pounds. Harman Kardon's AVR-1600 is rated at 50W per channel, and weighs in at a hair under 28 pounds. Which do you think is more honest in their rating technique?

IMHO, I'd say it depends on how hard you intend to ride them. With that subwoofer backing them, either set will be pretty darned good. However, as the volume goes up towards reference levels and beyond, the RF-62 by virtue of being a larger, more robust speaker, will maintain its composure better than the RF-52.

Light up display optional.

A more Klipsch-esque costume: the horn loaded woofer.

That's what she said.

IMO, no. Your ears may disagree, and it wouldn't hurt anything to demo the RC-64 II for kicks; however, the RC-64 represents at best an incremental upgrade to the RC-7, not a quantum leap. If you have them, you might as well try them out, no? I can't imagine why they wouldn't work. Well, I'd opine that it is time to become informed. A crossover upgrade is fairly easy low hanging fruit, although I have no experience with the Dean G upgrade myself. However, swapping out the XO is a pretty trivial matter on your end. As far as amps go, you may note an improvement with an external amp, although your current receiver is no slouch. Then there is the wonder of room treatment. I'd wager this would make the biggest difference in sound, although it is more involving than simply swapping out a receiver. A little info: http://www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/Problem_Solved/What_is_the_First_Reflection_Po.html

And I thought my pooch had it rough! You know, I bet if you dressed up as the Emperor with the dog, you'd have it in the bag.

If the only reason you're looking to upgrade is to get something new and shiny, I'd advise you to save your money. The 82 certainly is not; you may find you prefer the sound of the 83, but I wouldn't exactly call it an upgrade, more of a lateral move. Maybe looking at the Heritage line.

I've had mine off CL for a few weeks now, and I've still got no buyers remorse if that's any indication.

Pretty good sized room to work with, and having had some experience with an old teac receiver myself, I'd recommend starting from scratch there. Now for starters, keep in mind that there are practical limits as to how useful reading forum posts will be for you; ultimately it is your ears and your money. What might be an acceptable compromise for me might not be something you're interested in. With that said, I'll offer what insights I have. The core of any audio system lays in its main speakers, subwoofer, receiver. If it were my money, I'd stick with those essentials and then buy a matching center and surrounds as funds became available. A few ideas to work with: For $400 on Amazon you can pick up a receiver along the lines of an Onkyo TX-SR608 that will serve you well for years. $350 will get you a Hsu Research STF-2, a solid sub for both music and movies. If you wanted to go the new route, a pair of RF-52 IIs would make a solid pair of fronts that would be good for both music and as the core of an HT system. If you wanted to go used, I picked up a pair of RF-5s in good condition for $500 to give you an idea of what pricing is like there.

To start with, $1500 can certainly buy a very good audio system. However, in order to give the best help, it would be useful to get clarification on your budget (1500 for speakers + subwoofer, or speakers + subwoofer + receiver, etc). It would also be good to have information on the room this system will inhabit: dimensions, layout, etc. Is this a one and done project, or is this something with room to grow (ie start with 2.1 and eventually move to 5.1)?

Several reasons. 1. Ultimately, people will pay it. 2. A floorstander is not "better" than a bookshelf; it is a matter of priorities and tradeoffs. A floorstander typically has a larger internal volume which is useful for bass extension; however, you can't just plunk a floorstander on your bookshelf, can you? 3. Realistically, both an RB-5 and an RF-3 would need to be mated with a subwoofer to achieve full range sound. Presuming both speakers are mated properly with a good quality subwoofer, there is little reason to believe that you're going to get substantially better performance from the RF-3 until you reach ear blistering levels.

For those that might be interested, the answer I got from Klipsch technical support was a 4 ohm minimum at ~200Hz. Not near as bad as what I was expecting, and not enough to move me to upgrade the amplification side real soon.

Can't say I've listened to both speakers side by side, so you can take my commentary with a grain of salt: From what I've read on this forum in past threads, the sonic differences between the RF-3s and the RF-5s weren't much to write home about. At the very least the upgrade isn't reputed to be as striking as the jump from the RF-5 to the RF-7. IMO, if you're simply aiming to get the most sonic boom for your green, I wouldn't bother. That said, there are other details to consider. First, there is pride of ownership: I don't know if your RF-3s were produced in China like most of today's reference line, but the RF-5 was and still is produced in Hope and has a real wood veneer; maybe that is worth something to you, maybe it isn't. Second there is relative condition: maybe your RF-3s are looking a little run down, and the RF-5s are in pristine shape? Might make a nice aesthetic upgrade for your living room. Then again, maybe not.

FWIW, the RF-3 used the K-1083-SB woofer, which is still in use with the reborn RF-5.

Under "reasonable operating conditions", there won't be any issue. As speakerfritz says, any receiver/amplifier can damage a speaker, be it from a clipped signal that fries your tweeters or so much power that the drivers are hitting their physical limits. Both result from carelessness with the volume dial.

Yeah, we all have to fight that urge. Heck, I've had the RF-5s just a few weeks and thanks to this forum I can do nothing but sit and drool over RF-7s and Cornwalls and so on. It's a sickness... Fortunately the wife is relatively sane and the RF-5s are pretty darned good, so I can fight it off for now. I suspect you could probably manage with that setup as well. At the least it is something to keep in mind as the upgrade and buyers remorse demons nag at you! Actually, with the subwoofer, your future setup should be more than adequate for your space so long as you have everything adequately configured. Then some day when you've got the resources, you can go hog wild and still have a solid second system.

It certainly wouldn't be a horrible setup, and the pricing is hardly shabby. As to whether you should wait or buy, that really depends on you, your space, etc. If you're looking to fill a fairly large space and are concerned that the RF-42 system won't perform adequately, or if you're the type of person that would want a larger speaker regardless of how the RF-42 performs, you might be better served by just getting a pair of speakers and the receiver to start with and building from there.