StephenM

As a newbie, all I can say is..... sign of weakness. The Duke would have your balls for this.

Well in that case, I wish you luck with your endeavor. Hopefully there will be some pics as the project unfolds.

I wouldn't expect that the connection type would influence the sound dramatically, although looking through this thread at least one poster claims the speaker wire connection gives better quality. Shouldn't be inordinately expensive to test both out. Personally, I'd stick with the line level inputs using cables that look like they have some semblence of build quality (doesn't have to be $1000 cables or anything, but not the freebies they stick in with CD and DVD players either). As far as the hub, I'd recommend looking into dedicated preamps.

Hi hifido, Not to be rude, but is there a particular reason you require corner horns? This little DIY project of yours will undoubtedly take significant amounts of time and money for something that may or may not turn out particularly well. I understand some have a talent and passion for DIY,but I just wonder if you've considered the ramifications of what you're planning to do? It sounds neat if you have the time/patience, the requisite equipment (both the woodworking and the measuring), and the skill, but it also sounds like a heck of a lot of hassle compared with just buying a pair of Heresys and a subwoofer.

Hi A-one, The XF-48's are active loudspeakers; they need to be plugged in to the wall work. While it offers speaker line inputs, they will not drive the speaker. Frankly, I'm unsure why you would want to buy an active speaker and then try and drive it with a reciever. You would end up wasting money on the unused amplification. Moreover, consider that the amplification within an active speaker can be matched to the drivers in a way that an external amp driving passive speakers never could be.

IMO it's when you're inclined to sing along, or tap your toes, or dance, or otherwise get lost in the music. Frankly, if you're just sitting in a chair analyzing your speakers for all their faults, you're doing it wrong.

Ditto. I had some Romex laying around and tried to wire up my RF-5s. Didn't go so well. Solid wire is harder to cut, isn't flexible so it doesn't just lay on the floor without you forcing it there, is a pain to fit into closely packed binding posts on the back of your receiver, and at least in my experience, has a tendency to snap. Suffice it to say, I've still got a hundred feet or so of Romex, and my speakers are wired with 14 gauge stranded wire.

Let's just call it a work in progress. The wife calls it an eyesore at the moment (it's in the living room), but it'll be moved soon enough. Some day I'll get a real integrated amplifier and CD player to go with the speakers instead of just the cheapo Insignia box (not that it doesn't do its job).

That's what it's all about! Well that and actually listening to the system [] Can't say that I have, although it's definitely on my to-do list. Closest dealer to me that sells Heritage equipment is 70 miles away, which is rather curious given that I live in one of the major metroplexes of the country. I guess Chambersburg, PA is a much more happening place for hi-fi than Washington, DC...

Mostly not. Of the movies I watch, about 50% are chick flicks with the wife, and the bulk of the rest are in the comedy genre. Not at the moment easily, but the room is slated to be remodelled next summer. I'll wire it for surround because the option is always nice, but I doubt I'll be rushing to implement anything. I can't imagine why it wouldn't be. There is sound logic behind the decision to implement DRC, and nothing has really changed in that regard. Well that part I do have, and I agree. A dedicated subwoofer is for all practical purposes a must for movies.

A minor nitpick: it isn't that stereo can never deliver realistic imaging, it is just that situations exist where realistic imaging is not possible. However, all of those situations depend on one's point of reference. Be it in a movie or listening to a concert, in stereo you are always an outside observer, somewhat removed from the action. With surround sound you are in the middle of the action. IOW, you can feel like you're caught in a crossfire watching your favorite action flick, or you can listen to it unfold in front of you. Personally, I'm not that interested in the "middle of the action" feeling, or at least, that isn't why I'd go with surround sound.

Sort of. The problem I have is that I know that at least for movies, surround sound should be superior on all of those counts, regardless of how happy I am now. A dedicated center channel should certainly improve speech intelligibility, dynamic compression is an issue for downmixing Dolby 5.1 tracks to 2.0, and five speakers should make a much more interesting stage than two. On the other hand, three more speakers that match well with the RF-5s cost money and I'm a tightwad... Hence the internal debate.

So I guess I'm at a sort of crossroads at the moment, and I could go a few ways. I've got the makings of a very strong 2.1 system at the moment and debating with myself whether I should bother with surround sound or perhaps stay with the 2 channel system but start looking at a separate pre-amp and amplifier. I wonder how many other people have gone that route, hence the post. Personally I couldn't care less to hear anything behind me while watching movies. I like impact, clear dialogue, and imaging/sounstaging. None of those things seem to require 5.1 or 7.1...

1/2.Will it make a difference? Yes. Will it be a huge difference? Well that depends on your ears, your room, and what you demand from the speakers.Keep in mind that the crossover to your subwoofer is not a brick wall. If you cross over to your subwoofer at 80Hz, and you're pushing 120dB of volume, you might want a heftier center and surrounds versus crossing over at 80Hz or 100Hz and 100dB of volume. In the former situation, you'd probably want something that was reasonably flat an octave below the crossover point for "optimal" sound. In the latter situation, obviously you could get away with less and probably not notice. 3. Again, it depends on your ears, your room, and what you demand from your system. If you're perfectly happy with the Sub-10's performance, you don't need to upgrade because I think you should. If you feel that you'd like more and tighter, cleaner bass, then by all means, upgrade. 4/5. Separates will generally tend to be better than the best receivers. And as others mention, it will cost less over the years as an amplifier doesn't ever really need to be upgraded once you have a good one. 6. That's a yes and no question. Most receivers will tend to measure fairly flat across the audible spectrum, at least into a base 8 ohm load. The problems start because speakers are of course, not simple 8 ohm loads. Higher quality receivers and amplifiers will be robust enough to drive complex loads such as a speaker without significant distortion. That $150 value Sony receiver on the shelf at Best Buy...not so much. That's where "brightness" and "fatigue" tend to come into play. 7. Can't say I've ever really had ear fatigue to be honest and I've listened to some pretty chintzy car speakers at high volumes for long periods of time... Some people claim their ears bleed though! Sounds pretty bad []

I wasn't accusing anyone of snubbing me. I know it's a question that requires fairly in depth knowledge. I was hoping one of the Klipsch employees that surfs the forums might have a little more insight, but I'll survive if not. Like I said in my original post, it's more of an academic/for fun thing than an "I can't live without this info" type of deal. FWIW, other mags outside of Stereophile do include those measurements, ie Sound and Vision which reviewed the RF-83 system. http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/tests-reviews/speakers/2006/11/test-bench-klipsch-rf-83-home-theater-speaker-system While it isn't a curve, it is useful to know that the RF-83s do dip as low as 2.8 ohms and if the same can be said for the RF-5s, it might not be a bad idea for me to look into a more robust receiver. Of course, realistically I'm more inclined to get a new receiver for things like HDMI, but eeking a little better performance from the speakers would be some nice gravy on top too.

Bump.

Not exactly; the left and right channels are working off of different signals/channels, and the sound they produce together is intended as such.

Good morning folks, As the title suggests, I'm curious if anyone has impedance and phase curves for the RF-5s. Reason I ask is that I get the distinct feeling that my (admittedly entry level) receiver simply isn't up to the task of driving them full range, and I wonder what it would take to get the job done well. Of course its more of an academic/for fun thing since 9 times out of 10 I'll utilize the sub.

1.Can't help you there as I've never heard them 2. A good pair of bookshelves sound just fine, even as main speakers. Yes, limited box volume will have an impact on bass extension; on the other hand there is generally less box resonance to muddy the sound. Given that we're discussing surround speakers, I see no reason why bookshelves wouldn't be just dandy. I'd probably lean towards the 61s for your room size (which is actually reasonably big, although not huge). As another poster mentioned, there are dedicated surround speakers as well with a more diffuse sound field. I'd recommend trying both to see what you prefer. 3. Warmth really has more to do with the voicing of the speaker than woofer size; I've heard very warm bookshelf speakers that had a mere 4" woofer. That said, obviously a larger cone is going to tend to have an easier time handling low frequencies at high volumes. It isn't the only factor obviously, but for the purposes of this discussion, it's fair enough to say that the RF-82 will easily outperform the 52s in the bass department. 4. Can't help you there. As another poster mentioned however, there is no special need to limit yourself to Klipsch for a subwoofer. 5. See this recent post on why not to use dual center channels: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/138960/1411044.aspx#1411044

Audio enthusiasts seek a speaker that faithfully reproduces the original event, not one which attempts to mold the event to our hearing. In other words, we'd like to hear a guitar from our speakers sound the same as it would as if we were there live.

I'd wager it's a function of the market. I find most people don't like large obtrusive subwoofers; they want something that's easy to hide away. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the subs mentioned (I've used the Synergy Sub 12 and currently own an SVS PB10 NSD); however, I'd suspect all things being equal the sealed XW-500d might have an edge in the accuracy department.

That's the Gooch!

Pretty neat equipment, especially for "just" the garage. The Garagescalas are just plain cool. A shame I have no garage!

For what it's worth: As others note, thanks to the impressive sensitivity of the Chorus IIs (and most Klipsch speakers in general), it takes very little in the way of wattage to get them going reasonably loud. Seven watts probably won't get you to party levels, but this ought to give you some idea of how the wattage of your amp relates to volume: http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html With that said, the main reason people recommend high powered amplifiers is because such amplifiers tend to do a better job driving complex loads. Speakers aren't 8 ohm resistors, and sometimes it takes a pretty beefy amplifier to get the most out of a pair of speakers. However, since you seem confident in your amplifiers ability to deliver under a reasonably demanding load, I'd imagine it will probably do the job.

I'm in a similar boat. I've got what the humane society told me was a German Shepherd/Husky mix (but he's a year and a half old!). Of course he's small, even for a Husky, let alone a German Shepherd... Vet thought maybe some Collie, but really he's a GOK (God only knows). Either way, he's cute, and with a few obedience classes under his belt, he's pretty good too. Good luck with the pooch!