Hey,
Electrical engineer and classical pianist of 17 years here (translation: I've got good ears, and you don't need to waste time patronizing me). I have about a $3000 budget for speakers. These will be mounted in a fairly small room (18x24', carpeted, with hard walls) so fidelity at medium-to-low volume is my primary concern.
Launching right into the questions:
1. Reference versus Icon W line--my impression is that the Icon W line looks nicer and costs more at a small penalty to sound quality. True or false?
2. Bookshelves versus floor-standing speakers--due to the geometry of the room, I'm leaning toward purchasing bookshelf rear surrounds instead of floor-standing speakers. In general, do bookshelves sound bad? If so, do I:
Skimp on them (ie, buy RB-51s)?
Buy oversized (RB-81s) to compensate?
Bite the bullet and get two pairs of floor-standing speakers?
3. In general, I've always assumed that larger cones = warmer, more accurate sound with less distortion at lower frequencies. Given the fact that I really don't care about power (at least right now), should I be looking at RF-82s (8" woofers), RF-62s (6.5" woofers), or RF-52s (5.25" woofers)? Where's that sweet spot in terms of price and performance?
4. Similar question, but for subwoofers. It bothers me that Klipsch sells so many 10" woofers. How do the RSW-10d and RW-12d compare at moderate volumes? Does your answer change if I bought a pair of them?
5. For my center channel, I'm looking at the RC-64 II and RC-62 II. Frankly, I'm not sure why I'd pick the RC-64 II unless I had a huge room--it just looks like a pair of RC-62s jammed in a longer case. Is there any reason to believe otherwise? Are there any tricks that I could pull with a pair of RC-62s as opposed to a single RC-64?
Thanks very much for your time.