W27
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Posts posted by W27
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I was trying to stay out of this one, but I'll add my experience so Reference Head isn't alone. Long story short... I ordered an XPA-2, XPA-5, and a ERC-2 a couple years ago. The CD player was first, it's still in my bedroom and I'm very happy with it. Then the XPA-2 I ordered next. the first one I got was defective. The tech had me going through hours of ridiculous test to try to fix the problem. It would turn off and on by itself. It showed crazy light patterns on the LCD and then would just shut down. They had me go buy a can of compressed air to spray in the vents of the amp because they said it was common for static build up during shipping to wreak havoc on the circuit boards. Seriously? Of course that did nothing. They then asked if I was comfortable opening the unit up to check some of the connections. Any other company would have voided my warranty on the spot for cracking it open. I'm actually an Engineer by trade, but they didn't know that. After opening it all up and tracing all the leads, I did get the unit to function properly. I never pin pointed the problem, but it did go away by what I assume was a lose connection.
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The XPA-2 was powerful, and I liked the looks of the Emotiva stuff. It sounded good. I was running it on a set of B&W 804's. I then ordered the XPA-5. Then I connected everything to my Klipsch system which is 2 RF-7II's and 5 RF-7's. There was definitely a noticeable hiss from every speaker. That was tolerable, my listening position is far enough away I couldn't hear it from my seat. However, the low frequency hum coming from the XPA-5 to the RF-7's was not. Again hours on the phone with Emotiva... Their customer service is very good. However the first couple guys you talk to will put you through the most ridiculous steps before you get to speak to someone who actually works on the amps. I even bought all new wires and a Panamax M5400 PM with voltage regulation, which made no difference. They wanted to exchange my XPA-5 until I spoke with their lead engineer. I was concerned because by time they exchanged the amp I would have been over the 30 day return and would have had to keep it even if the new one hummed. I was told that there was a compatiblity problem between their amps and my Integra processor. After all that I just returned the amps.
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Conclusion... Even though they do offer a 30 day trial, I had to pay around $80 each amp and deal with repackaging the 90 lb boxes and dragging them back to fedex. Plus two weeks of aggravation and stress. The folks at Emotiva told me themselves that the high gain on the amps is what causes the hiss in the Klipsch. With less efficient speakers speakers it isn't really an issue. It also gives the illusion of being more powerful. You'll have noticeably more volume at the same level on your preamp than you would with most amplifiers. The XPR-5 looking at the specs has a lower gain. It may be a better match for Klipsch.
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When this initially happened I posted my experiences on the Emotiva forum. I was attacked from numerous members, blaming me for the amps. Before I responded to one comment the whole thread was deleted! I posted a new thread, was attacked again, and it was deleted. I'm glad there's a lot of you that have had god luck with your Emotiva stuff. Most I've talked to have had warranty claims on pieces less than a few years old. Thers's not much in their price range, but I believe they have some quality control issues.
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So much for not making a long story lol As far as the Parasound... I had a A21 with a P3 for a while. They were nice, but I felt overrated. They didn't do anything wrong, they were very neutral. The bass didn't have a lot of authority, really just nothing stood out as special with the combo. I saw in your other post you were considering a Marantz preamp. I'd take a good look at the matching Marantz amps. They match well with Klipsch to my ears. If you'll consider a used amp I think you'd have a lot of better options in that price range. A good amp should have no problem going 20+ years without service, and they don't go obsolete like your processor will.
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FYI... I'm a horrible typer. It took me a long time to write this. I'm exhausted now and going to bed lol I hope my post doesn't offend anyone. Just telling my experience with them.
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Thanks for the input. I really know nothing about it. I have about a dozen SACD's that I really enjoy. Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of selection. I mostly listen to Rock n Roll, but I listen to a little bit of everything. I picked up an audiophile quality bluray at the audio show. It's Patricia Barber Modern Cool. Not the type of music I would usually listen to, but the sound quality is amazing.
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I looked through HD Tracks. The selection seems to be mostly older stuff that I already have. Of course there is some new stuff, but not a great selection. The prices are considerably steeper too. Example: HD Tracks has a Norah Jones for $19.98 I found the same SACD new sealed on ebay for $13.99 buy it now with free shipping. I think I'd rather have the SACD for less.
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Like I said, I'm really new to this. I guess I am looking for an iTunes alternative. Anything that's better quality would be great. I've also got well over 1,000 CD's it would be nice to store them all digitally, but other than ripping them to iTunes I am clueless. My new laptop will have 1TB of storage or better. I'd like to put all my CD's on there without losing any quality. Are you saying it's better to store them on an online server?
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I was at the NY Audio Show last weekend and was surprised to see about half of the vendors were streaming their HD music from their laptops. Just last year it was almost all high end turntables. I know nothing about digital music other than the stuff I have on itunes. I'm about to buy a new laptop and wanted to know if there's anything I should look for specifically. I have a separate computer for work, so I don't need anything special.
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Initially I was going to buy a Macbook, but I recently had an issue with itunes. There's a glitch in their software and they want me to pay them to straighten it out. Plus I want better quality music. Also I was messing with the laptops in the store and everything is soo different from windows. I really don't want to try to learn everything all over again.
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My main questions are... Is there anything I should look for in particular? Do I need a special sound card? Do I need a separate DAC? What are the best sites for high quality music? How much are individual songs, compared to itunes $1.29 each? I've heard a lot about FLAC files. Are those the best way to stream lossless? Are any of these comparable to SACD quality? I know it's a lot of questions, but I really am clueless. Thanks in advance
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The thread was started to figure interest and a price. There's no need to wait a week. People that haven't read through all this may not realize they're for sale now. Start a new thread now that actually says for sale. They're great speakers that don't pop up for sale too often. We won't make comments not pertaining to the sale on your new thread [:#]
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Lighten up. Are you kidding me? It was a joke. Are you going to tell Amy? Ha! Who would even say something like that? Get over yourself. How exactly did that trash your beliefs?
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I use a B&K 200.2 and 200.5 on my RF-7II's and love them. I think you'll be very happy. I also had a XPA-2 and XPA-5 combo briefly that I never cared for. The XPA-2 was ok, but I could always faintly hear a hiss in the speakers. The XPA-5 had a horrible hum from day one. I spent days on the phone with Emotiva, they had me trying the most ridiculous things to fix it. They even exchanged them and I had the same problem. Then one of their lead engineers said it was a compatibility issue with the Amps and my then Integra processor. Like the others said, the B&K has a nice warm sound that goes very well with the Klipsch. I'll be interested to hear your review.
What would you say the biggest difference is with the emo and b&k as far as how they sound?
Wow! You guys are really giving it to him about the shipping lol I hate waiting on new stuff to arrive. It always seems like an eternity.
The biggest difference for me... First of all, no hum or hiss. The B&K are dead quite in quiet passages. I know a lot of people here use the Emotiva amps, but they're just not a good match for high efficiency speakers. Even the techs at Emotiva will tell you that. Usually when I buy a new component I do a lot of A/B comparison to make sure what I'm really gaining (or losing). I have a Niles amplifier selector that lets me switch between amps seamlessly. I level match both with a SPL meter. The box only has one button. Pressed its one amp, depressed its the other. There's zero delay in switching. There have been many amps that I can't even tell when they're switched. I'd ask my girlfriend "did you push it? Really? Do it again" That wasn't the case with the B&K. I didn't even need to A/B the difference was immediate.
I didn't go directly from the Emotiva to the B&K. I only had the Emotiva's briefly. The Emotiva's were supposed to replace a Nakamichi PA-7 and PA-1. I ended up returning the Emotiva's and put the Nakamichis back in their place. The Nakamichis bested the Emotiva and the B&K bested the Nakamichis. I also tried parasound and some others. The biggest difference to me was in the high frequency. The big tweeters on the RF-7's can be very nice and rewarding on a good recording. However, most of what I listen to on TV, CD's, and Radio is poor quality. When listening to that stuff the detail of the RF-7's can be punishing. Listener fatigue always set in for me. With the B&K that went away. The detail was still there but everything was smoother. Rough recordings became more enjoyable. It has a lot of the tube like characteristics without the headaches of tube equipment.
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I use a B&K 200.2 and 200.5 on my RF-7II's and love them. I think you'll be very happy. I also had a XPA-2 and XPA-5 combo briefly that I never cared for. The XPA-2 was ok, but I could always faintly hear a hiss in the speakers. The XPA-5 had a horrible hum from day one. I spent days on the phone with Emotiva, they had me trying the most ridiculous things to fix it. They even exchanged them and I had the same problem. Then one of their lead engineers said it was a compatibility issue with the Amps and my then Integra processor. Like the others said, the B&K has a nice warm sound that goes very well with the Klipsch. I'll be interested to hear your review.
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Thank you for the kind words. I could tell everyone what a pleasure you are to deal with, but I'm pretty sure most of the people around here already know that. I really hope your friend enjoys them... They will be missed.
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If I was local I'd be all over it. On Agon for $750
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/subwoofers-svs-pb-13-ultra-subwoofer-2013-04-13-home-theater-66503
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He's had that on eBay for about 2 months now. He recently raised his price. He was only asking $699. I was waiting to see if his price went down since no one bid each time. I emailed him after he raised the price. He was a little rude, but said open to offers.
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I agree that the RF-7ii's put out good bass, especially with a nice power amp. However Invictus76 never mentioned an issue with the bass. That's usually a pretty easy fix. His complaint was with the high frequencies and overall presentation of the speakers.
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I'm new to forums and not sure where to post this but I'll try here. I'm just getting into the higher end HT stuff. I year ago I bought the RF82 HT package from Future Shop. I was amazed at how they sounded. The music was great and the way the horns tickled your ears with everysound was awesome. Then I saw the RF7ii's and thought they have to sound even better. I've had my 7's for about 2 months now, have sold my 82's, and frankly am struggling with them a bit. The highs in some of the songs don't jump out at you like they did with the 82's, just not as in your face as the 82's and some of the songs you can actually her cracking. Don't get me wrong they sound good, but they don't seem as good as my 82's were. At double the price I would think they would be way better. So I'm looking for any suggestions on what I can do to remedy this as again I'm some what new to the higher end stuff. They rock when you put a movie on. There awesome. It's the music stuff I'm struggling with. My HTR is only 85 watts per channel so I'm assuming getting something with more power would help out a lot. I've also heard that Yamaha receivers aren't a great match for the 7's. Can anyone suggest a good receiver that will sound good for movies and music? The PS3 handles all my music and most of the MP3's I"m using are imported to the highest quality. Any suggestions would be awesome and thanks in advance for helping a noob.
Which Yamaha are you using? Does it have any kind of auto calibration/room correction? I'd start with some of the settings on your receiver. For music usually there is a direct mode that sounds best. I would try moving them around as well. Sometime just pulling them out from the wall a few inches or angling them in a little will make a big difference. Perhaps the place they're in worked well for the 82's but the 7's need a little more room to breathe. I've also had all the speakers mentioned. Although a little more power wouldn't hurt, I think your money could be better spent elsewhere. The RF-7ii's will handle the extra power nicely, but are very efficient and don't necessarily "need" it unless you have them in a huge room or like it extremely loud. I would suspect your source (PS3) to be part of the problem. While its a decent bluray player, I found mine horrible for music. If you have another CD player around, try it out. If you can hook your iPod or laptop directly to the receiver try that as well. The RF-7's are a more revealing speaker that will bring out the flaws in the weakest link of your system.
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Hey Youth, that's a beautiful cabinet your friend has. I have an extra pair of RB-75's laying around if interested. They work perfect, but the cabinets are rough. You'd never know in that entertainment center though. I planned on refinishing them, but never got around to it. PM me your email if interested and I can send you some pictures of them.
Chad
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Amy
in Garage Sale
I'd really appreciate if they made adding a picture on here a little easier. I've yet to successfully add a picture on this sight. On audiogon I click upload, select my picture and done. I'm selling some things right now. I didn't list here because I can't get a picture to load and fear the backlashing that would come with my add not being up to standards.
W27, hey bro. don't worry about the pics. Something may be amiss with your browser or such. Anytime you want to post a pic. PM me and/or send the pics to me on email. I'll be happy to post them for you. If you want to post gear for sale here, you've got the support to make it happen. no BS.Thanks Daddy Dee!! I really appreciate the offer. I'm getting a new computer soon. I tried to load some pictures from my camera and the memory card reader even stopped working. I'll admit I'm not the best with computers, but I usually can't even make a space for a paragraph on here! I have some extended family staying with me which forced me to scale down my audio collection. I just got rid of a lot of things, but I'd much rather someone from here end up with the stuff. Once I decide what else needs to go I'll be happy to offer them here first.
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Amy
in Garage Sale
I'd really appreciate if they made adding a picture on here a little easier. I've yet to successfully add a picture on this sight. On audiogon I click upload, select my picture and done. I'm selling some things right now. I didn't list here because I can't get a picture to load and fear the backlashing that would come with my add not being up to standards.
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Looks like he upped the price to $950 once he realized they were 83's and still doesn't want to ship. Scrappy, if you can get black 63's local for less than $650 I'd jump on that. Local is always a huge plus on these big guys. Use them until you find cherry 63's or 83's. At that price you shouldn't lose any money when you want to sell them. The cherry is nice, but I think klipsch lost some points with the black plastic front.
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You were at the guys house listening to them and didn't purchase them? Sounds like you were trying to lowball the guy, someone stepped up with cash, and now you're bitter about it. Everyone knows when those good deals come up you've got to jump on them. Especially when they're local. You were there, you should have bought them. Anyways.. This issue was already addressed, apologies were made, why try to start it again?
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I feel bad that people got upset. I'm sure Tom feels the same way. That really wasn't our intent, nor did we expect the thread to go sideways. Sorry all.
No harm done. We managed to keep the OP's thread on top[
] It would be nice if in the future problems with a thread were sent politely to the OP in a PM to avoid the derailment. It's nice to see you posting more Dean. I hope you're doing well. -
I agree with most of what you're saying. I don't see a problem with "or best offer". To me that's just saying you're not firm in your price. We're selling used audio equipment. There's really no set prices. When you're talking vintage stuff that is sometimes modded or rough condition it's not always easy to come up with a price. If something is rare, that drives the price up as well. It's worth what someone is willing to pay. I see way too often someone list a price and is attacked if that price is too high. Or they ask $1,000 for a pair of speakers. Then someone post "I bought a pair off Craigslist for $600". I think obo is the polite way of saying I'd like XXX dollars, but if this price is too high shoot me an offer. The more people are confrontational here and make it unpleasant to sell, people will just post elsewhere. I see a lot of post I don't agree with, I just hit the back arrow and onto the next
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Although I agree with you all, I think we could be much more polite on informing a new member. I think it's understandable for a new member to not know all of the guidelines. He has been nothing but polite and respectful. If I hadn't just ordered a new processor I definitely would have shot him an offer for this unit. In the future it would be nice if you post here first. If you don't get any interest then off to eBay. In general the people here are very nice and helpful. I hope you continue to post here. You have some very nice equipment for sale. Welcome to the forum.
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What the... I never noticed that it doesn't have high level inputs until you pointed that out. It really surprises me that a subwoofer at this level would leave something like that out. If you really wanted one there's numerous speaker wire to RCA adapters that are cheap and would work just fine. My analog rig has no sub out either. What a bummer.
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Nice finds... Still waiting on one within driving distance.
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I ordered the Marantz AV8801. Last week I picked up the little integrated PM8004 for a bedroom system. I was so impressed with it, I figured I'd give their processor a shot. Before that I was looking for the C45 to run with the Oppo BDP-105. I'm sick of buying a new processor every other year and selling my old for peanuts. That Mcintosh won't go obsolete. Plus you get that great analog sound for music. Excellent piece.. I'm really second guessing my order now.
] It would be nice if in the future problems with a thread were sent politely to the OP in a PM to avoid the derailment. It's nice to see you posting more Dean. I hope you're doing well.
RF-7II Owners Thread
in Home Theater
Posted
Welcome to the forum. That was a good first post. What listening mode are you using on your receiver? Is it just in stereo? I'm not familiar with that Pioneer. Is there some sort of direct mode with a tone bypass that doesn't go through all the processing circuitry? Also what are you using as a source for your music?