Knorbu

Hi Matt, I had the F-2 towers along with the b-3 bookshelves, and was happy as a clam. I think they sounded great compared to what I owned previously. I had the chance to upgrade to some reference speakers and can certainly tell the difference. I think you made a good decision, and will also notice more "presence ". Although in my opinion the synergy's are still pretty nice, but starting with the reference line is economically a smart move. I bet you get a smile on your face when you get everything hooked up. have fun, Mark

I bought a used UMC-1 . All I had to do was supply Emotiva with the original owners name and email address and they transferred the warranty to me. Pretty painless, they are definitely consumer friendly.

I asked the wife's opinion about which seemed to be better between the 2 processors. She said we both decided that we liked the HK a bit better than the emo, as the movie soundtracks were richer with HK. granted, emoq may have missed the mark , and I probably did not have The UMC-1 set up to the best of its abilities , but that was our opinion....not to beat a dead horse. she also informed me I was going to sell the UMC-1, and get another HK for a theater room. I must have selective memory when it comes to selling things.

The UMC was probably a touch nicer for movies,as long as they were not concerts I think I just have grown used to Harman Kardon sound,the coloration,warmth,whatever you wish to call it. I have kept the UMC , and plan to give it a shot when I get a chance to set up a dedicated theatre room, so I must have thought it was good for movies. I remember when I first bought the 354 , I had to return it because it could not latch onto a hdmi signal , from reading AVS forums, that was not uncommon. If you have a problem free UMC -1 it may be easier to just keep what you have, as it may not be much of an upgrade.........unless of course you watch concerts:p

I have no experience with the 3600 ,but I went from a Harman Kardon 354 to a UMC-1,then back to the Harman Kardon. I thought the UMC-1 was fine for home theatre but was not so good with music. I tried adjusting the UMC-1 equalizer but could not get the "full" sound the HK provides. EmoQ was not able to replicate it either. A few things I liked about the Umc were the back panel layout, it was easy to get connections made( I have sausage fingers), the HK' s preouts are very close together,. The UMC seemed to give the surrounds a little more oomph, without turning the levels as high. I did/do not like the video processing on either, and use optical or hdmi splitters as needed,with the video going directly to my t.v....my 354 is still a little touchy at times with the hdmi handshake,but if I switch inputs on the remote it works itself out relatively quickly. Bottom line for me was how the music sounded, I way prefer the HK over the Umc in that department. Hope this helps, Mark

Hi Michael, Very nice system! I have a pair of rf-83's that are hooked up to an emotive xpa-3 ,(along with the center). I use a Harman Kardon avr-354 as the preamp,(I tried a UMC-1 , but prefer the HK sound), I could not be happier. I think it was Forum member Tmassey that said when he hooked an external amp to his 83's , it was like a veil was lifted from them. I agree. have fun, Mark

. The Huskers need all the help we can get. Hopefully we show up when we face Georgia, or we may lose some commits.

I bought a pair of cherry rf-83's a few months ago for more than the ad states. I do not feel I overpaid. They sound wonderful. They are very ,very large. I have an extended cargo van that was more or less full after loading them with the original boxes. If it were me ,I would go for it.

Because if retailers started seeing them used they would raise the price of a 99 cent item to a buck ninety nine.

I wanted thank Marvel for the paragraph tutorial,,,,thanks Marvel ! Tmassey, I just looked at your system, nice! I might be getting ahold of you if the umc-1 totally befuddles me. Thanks

It sounds immaculate, as Jim Morrison would say. I have not had the pleasure of hearing a " perfectly " matched system ,so I have nothing to compare it to. I was using a synergy c-2 center , and the b-2 bookshelves with the 83's when I first got them. That wasn't quite cutting the mustard. After I adding an amp , I see no reason for any upgrades other than the umc-1 I should be getting sometime this week, and eventually a different sub. It is all goodness that gets really loud.

Duder,, I have rf-83's for fronts,a rc 64ii center and a set of rb-75's for surrounds with a sub12. I think we can arrange for you and your buddy to give it a listen. I will pm you with my info.,

I have the same problem with the paragraphs. It would be in friend 2's best interest if you accompanied him while looking. I live in Omaha also ,and know the options he has to demo a setup. I am sure the salespersons who work at our local stores are wonderful people , and some may know what they are talking about, more often than not they are more concerned about their commission than the customer. I think it is probably better to buy " big" the first time , than to have buyers remorse later...I am more familiar with the later. ....Go...Big...Red !

I would not run speaker wire through the center of a room , or under any high traffic areas. Maybe rounding the edges will save some length , I have seen wood floors damaged from having speaker wire under the carpet, it can't be good for the wire if it gets walked on enough to embed itself into a wood floor. If you plan on running the wire under the carpet to hide it , make sure you chisel out a small piece of the tackstrip where the wire enters and exits,then duck tape the wire SECURELY to the floor wherever you choose to run it..do not put it between the tackstirip and baseboard ! Hope this helps

As a professional floor covering installer ( carpet layer ) , I prefer wood floors. Much cleaner , more airflow, etc and so on. If it adversely affects the accoustics ,you could always get area rugs. Just my opinion.

An ear to ear smile., I have never ( to my knowledge) heard the Polk Lsi, but I recently obtained a pair of rf-83's. I heart them.

The Who has always been one of my favorite bands, Quadrophenia one of my favorite albums. I have never grown tired of it, and still have not outgrown the "teenage angst" in the lyric's. I went to the Who's website to see if they were selling the DVD , and discovered Roger and Pete have assembled some musicians to do a Quadrophenia Tour. Gotta love it.

Anybody else catch the one night screening of the Quadrophenia documentary? Pete Townsend produced and nararated it , with a lot of "behind the scenes"stories about the making of the album . Hopefully it will come out on DVD as it was good enough that I would probably watch it a few more times. It was really good to see the boys performing parts of the album on a really big screen...damn theater didn't use the sound system appropriately though.

Thanks tmassey, I have all the fixin's, ,Apple t.v., Playstation,,X-box..I am short on the meat and potatoes. After a negotiation period with my wife ,I will get some pictures up. She does not like it when I rearrange things without her approval. As it is ,everything is angled in a corner,I have the 83's out from the wall about 8 inches and tilted toward where i sit, but at this point its kinda ugly. I'm thinking a bottle of her favorite wine is in order,,,

I started playing Starters Orders 4 about 2 months ago. Its a horse racing simulation game. You have the ability to claim, train and enter horses in all major U.S, European, and Australian racetracks, I just play the U.S version though. If you like horse racing you will love it...After looking at the thread title I just realized you said PC,I have an apple product, but I do try to be politicly correct without putting forth alot of effort.

Thanks Scrappydue, you deserve a scooby treat for the heads up. I will give eBay a shot. I bought my speakers from 99489redline .He sold his RC-64 for 450.00 , which was a helluva bargin. Maybe I will get lucky....Youthman, I looked at your build thread. You defiantly had a plan and had the good fortune of carrying it out, there's a lot of info I will refer back to on it. Thanks Everyone has been super helpful with good advice and good intentions, plus I have only changed my mind twice in a 12 hour period,,not bad!

Thanks guys.I appreciate your input. I think I will be focusing on an amp now. Elite Demo, you have the setup I am trying to come up with ,so when you say that in hindsight you had wished you got an amp sooner, i will follow your hindsight( ?) I got my speakers from a guy in town who was selling his whole system, he had already sold his 64 when i found his listing. Good for him , bad for me. Will keep my eyes open for one. Once again , thanks

I must have had my head up myarse when I was saying what sub I had,,it is a ksw12. In response to timber match etc,,I plan on tracking down a RC 64 at some point if possible,as it seems to be the only center meant for the 83's. I had originally thought about a 62 ,but after being exposed to the 83's I can't see not getting what is recommended. Then surrounds and sub ..or sub and surrounds. My main concern now is making sure the fronts and future main will be powered sufficiently .. I watch a lot of movies but listen to a lot of music as well. I have never really cared for 5channel stereo ,and have always listened to music in 2 channel. My 354 has preamp outputs, so I assume I can set it up with an amp.. Is this correct? If so, would a certain brand sound better than another.i see a lot of people using Emotiva, I could probably swing a xpa3,but down the road could I add another amp with it? Thanks

I am using the c-2 center, s-2 surrounds and have the klipsch 650 watt sub ( can't for the life of me think of what it is, or even if it's 650 watts for that matter, gonna have to look at the paperwork.) I know this is not the ideal setup, but am going to have to make do until I am able to upgrade all . I plan on having the complete rf 83 ht system eventually , but for now I would like at least a 3 channel amp to powere the mains and a center when I get one. The sub would be next on my wish list , with the surrounds being last. My basement is roughly 20 ft by 15 ft ,which is where I plan on using these when the time comes. Until then I have them in my living room / dining room, which is L shaped. It is not good for a surround system,,but , that's the hand I was dealt.

Hi all, I just signed up a few days ago, and after reading many, many threads I have a few questions that hopefully you can help me with. I had/ have a complete f2 syatem,with the Hartman Karden avr354 as a receiver.I was happy with the setup but was determined at some point to get some 83's ,( I have lusted after those babies ever since I heard them when they came out) To make a long story a little shorter...I have obtained the Rf-83's, with the intention of slowly obtaining a complete rf system. Yeah right. I got the 83's home , disconnected the f-2's ,hooked them up and listened to ELP's Lucky Man, ( in 2 channel ), I think I was clapping when the song finished. I immediately thought to myself if 2 are good, 3 would be better, I need to find a RC 64. But after fiddling around I have come to the conclusion that my next purchase should be an amp. I had always thought that if a speaker was loud ,it was getting enough power, but am now understanding that the Harman Kardans 75 watts x7 is not anywhere close to what I should be feeding the 83's. Is this correct? My wife likes to listen to music pretty loud ( bless her heart) , and I really don't want to damage the speakers because they are underpowered. So...if I were to get a 3-5- or 7 channel amp and then get the center, surround and upgrade my sub ,,what watts per channel would work best? I have already spent my allowance on the fronts , so money is a major consideration.as I said before ,the original plan was to take it slow, and have a dedicated theater room in the basement when my youngest leave the nest.(5-10 years) Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry about the grammar. Mark