tmassey

Have you considered a UMC-1? The SQ is amazing. And with the money you saved, you could upgrade to the XMC-1 when it does come out, treat your room (which is actually fixing the problem of room correction instead of putting the Audyssey band-aid on it), and probably have enough left over to buy an Apple TV to make up for the lack of all the extra features if that is what you are looking for in the Onkyo. That is assuming you are able to sell the UMC-1 once you get the XMC-1 as well though.

I would say the Onkyo. It has better DACs which is where the magic happens. It also has an extra two channels, a proven room correction system, and a lot more features. I would say if you do not have an Emotiva upgrade card and like all the extra features, go with the Onkyo. If you don't want the extra features, buy a UMC-1 just for the upgrade card and resell the UMC-1, possibly saving you 400-500$ depending on how much you can sell the UMC-1 for. It also depends on how stable the XMC-1 is on release. It looks like a very good unit and has lots of processing power, hopefully making it easier for Emotiva to keep it current through firmware upgrades. The XMC-1 has a ton of potential, but as of right now, there are too many variables to tell. No one really knows how well the TACT room correction system it has will be, or how stable it will be, or even if it's already outdated right now because of the long time in development. Edit: Check out This XMC-1 Podcast. It's actually got me pretty hyped up for it. With the ethernet port on the back and it running linux, the possibilities for adding support for different things and features seem endless. I have to wonder how committed Emotiva will be though, to keep adding more and more features.

Very good! I am extremely happy with it. There are a few more major upgrades in the sub department I need to make, but other than that, I couldn't be happier with what I have and how much I paid for it. Out of curiosity, how are you powering your RB-81s? I am also looking to get an XPA-2 for fronts and getting and running some RB-61s off the XPA-5. If I am not going to hear much of a difference out of the 83s with the xpa-2 though, I would rather just get an Emotiva a-100 for the rear surrounds.

Awesome! When you get it all hooked up, let us know what you think!

I lost my mic for my old Pioneer AVR. I went to Radio Shack and bought a Karaoke mic. It seemed to work okay except for on the sub. If you buy a mic, make sure to read the frequency response on the box. You want something that can go at least as low as the lowest frequency response on your sub. You also probably want to be sure the highest frequency input on the mic is better than the highest frequency your speakers can go as well.

The XPA-5 is on sale, so at the moment, it is only about 120$ more than the XPA-3. The UPA-5 at 400$ is a pretty darn good deal, and if he really wanted, he could get an XPA-2 down the road for his fronts. Now you guys have me wondering if I will hear a difference getting a XPA-2 for my RF-83s.

The XPA-5 is on sale right now, so it isn't a whole lot more than the XPA-3. According to my calculator, it's about 110$ more. I would say that is well worth the extra 2 channels if he does decide to go that route. If he can get the UPA-5 for 400$ though, that would be a great deal, and he could always upgrade to an xpa-2 for his fronts if he felt the need as well.

He has the AVR already, just looking to add a UPA-5 into the mix.

That seems pretty odd the official spec sheets on pioneer's website are wrong. Sorry for the confusion, I'll have to start actually looking at pictures for now on. For 50$ more, I am thinking you would be much happier with the UPA-5.

If I am reading the spec sheet . HERE correctly, you would not be able to take advantage of an amp because it only has 0.1 preouts (only preout is for sub). I am a little confused now though, because it does say its a 7.2 receiver but only one preout for a sub. If it did have preouts, I think you would hear improvement, but not a whole lot.

I don't think it passes audio along with the video signal over HDMI. I don't know if any TVs can do it, but you can use the digital coax/optical out or just use component outs on the source to a separate input on your TV, or if your source has 2 hdmi outs, that would work better.

It would give the amp power, but as with mine, the amp would just be sitting in standby mode and not actually be on. Some amps may just automatically be on when they have power, not sure.

I think you can just stick the speaker wire right into the electrical socket on your wall. JK, dont try that.

I'm sorry, try clicking again or try HERE

Youthman wrote up a pretty nice thread here comparing both.

From my understanding, the RF-83s are known to not sound very Klipschlike. So for anyone who previously loved the Klipsch sound, the RF-83s probably weren't going to be as appealing as the 7s. That being a good or bad thing is dependent on the listener.

I would say the 891. If it's just for 2 channel audio though, I think there are better options out there.

That's pretty sweet you got invited to that event. You seemed kind of let down though by their performance. I have never heard anything worth more than what I have now in my living room, but I could see the price per performance not being so great on stuff like that. I am sure it would be amazing if you could hear from 16hz to 45kh, but it just seems way overkill for what the ear can actually hear. If I had a pair, I would probably have to get a dog to go with it, so at least someone is hearing them higher frequencies. Maybe I'll just go back to wanting to finish out my rear surrounds and a new amp for fronts. I'm not even sure I want an xmc-1 anymore. The more time I spend tweaking speaker settings on my UMC-1, the less I feel the need to upgrade.

McIntosh Flagship Speakers Now that would be amazing. 100k$ is a little steep for a couple of speakers not to mention the 35k$ amps each would need as well as the 6,500$ preamp. If I do happen to actually dream about them, I will let you guys know how they sound.

A pair of P-39f's each powered by a MC2KW (McIntosh 2,000 Watt Monoblock). I've not done a lot of research on stereo pre-amps, but C2300 looks pretty nice. On the other hand, I am not a huge fan of the looks of the McIntosh brand. I like discrete and not many lights, because I find them to be annoying and distracting when trying to watch a movie. My dream addition to my current system though would be a pair of RB-81s I can run off my XPA-5 and get an XPA-2 for my 83s and an XMC-1 (I know I know, it's not even out yet, but this IS a dream) to replace the UMC-1 If you win the lottery, are you going to buy all of us our dream systems? If you are, I think Youth should edit his post. I can kind of agree with him though. I really couldn't ask for anything more from the RF-83s. They are the first speaker I ever owned that turned a WAF into a SAF

The 62's would do nicely as a start. If you ever do decide to upgrade, they would be pretty good for rear-surrounds or surrounds. They might still not be as much as you want on the low-end from your fronts, but a good sub would always make up for that as well. You also might want to check out the Icon V series as well. They might offer you exactly what you are looking for at the right price. I had a pair of VF-35s for about 3 years and was always extremely pleased with them. I thought they were worth every cent at full retail.

Since you mentioned transformers, I am guessing you enjoy the low frequency sounds and bass. If that's true, I don't think that system would be able to deliver to your satisfaction, especially without a sub. I am with Youth, make sure you go demo before you buy. Klipsch is known to be a little fatiguing to some people but amazing to others. There are a pair of RF-83s on audiogon.com for a pretty good price. I've bought from the seller before, and he was extremely helpful. I am sure he would be happy to let you demo them. They might be more than you wanted to spend, but would offer you very good bang for your buck. The best thing about home theater is you can buy one thing at a time and eventually get the system you really want, without wasting money on 'upgrade fever' and 'what if's'.

Grats on the new house and nice setup! Also, thats pretty awesome your house had a HT. What you going to put in there if your RF-7ii's are out there?

Oh I am sorry, I didn't realize that was their policy on clearance products. Now I do

Sorry to hear you are not impressed with it. Have you tried running Audyssey again and messing with some of the settings? That might help it clean the sound back up.