sweeko

I am looking into adding the Atmos sound to my existing setup: RF-7 II, RC-64 II center, RS-52 II sides and RB-61 backs. Denon states that the AV receiver AVR-X7200WA will power my existing speakers and all the added ceiling speakers for a full Atmos sound. My question is, your statement above makes me think I will need additional power to run this type of system. Is this true and if so, exactly what will I have to add in the way of hardware to get the true Atmos experience? Also, aside from this wonderful forum, where do you suggest I go to begin learning how all these hardware pieces fit together? Seems very complicated to me. Thanks. Ron

Except for having no surround backs, my 5.1 speaker setup is all reference II, with the exception of a Velodyne 12" Subwoofer. the fronts are RF-7 II's. These are all pushed by an Onkyo NR-808 7.2 A/V Receiver. I asked for advise here as to whether or not I should undo my bi-amped fronts and add in surround back speakers. Bi-amping the fronts uses the surround back connectors and makes the setup 5.1. The replies here said yes, go with back surrounds. So I did make the change. No discernible difference, to my untrained ears at least. While doing this I also replaced virtually all the crappy speakers wires with pure copper wire purchased from Monoprice (thanks again youthman) and wired in a set of old, unused dusty PBS bookshelf speakers for the rear. I had to set the Onkyo software for old back speakers to a +4dB to match the other spekers. These old speakers are temporary until my newly purchased set of Klipsch RB-51 II,s arrive. To hear the sound quality and dynamics of a contemporary movie I put on the latest streamed Avengers, assuming it would have all the various sound bells and whistles. The sound imaging was fantastic. I cranked it up and actually had it at 0dB for a very short while. I use a velodyne 12" sub and didn't hear any distortion. Crashing, explosions, choppers, everything was right where it was supposed to be. I am very pleased with the results. I'll try a blu ray Batman video later today. I'll try to hear if there is a difference in dynamics and clarity between streaming and DVD. My next addition is putting a set of Aura Pro Bass Shakers under the couch to add to the realism of a movie. Got to do this while nobody is home because I have to modify the underside of the new couch. I am going to video the wife's expression when I put on Jurassic Park. As a side note, I am going to do the "subwoofer crawl" today. She is going to think I have gone over the edge.........later.

Your setup is very impressive. It is a Velodyne DEQ-12R, 225W RMS. What is interesting to me is seeing some of the gallery pics of setups that have up to four 15" woofers sitting next to each other. Can you ell me what exactly is the owner trying to achieve there? I am spending more time reading this forum and playing with my HT setup and am learning that the urge to make improvement never seems to diminish. That's where bang for the buck gets very important and I wonder where Klipsch falls into this category? Don't get me wrong, the sound Klipsch speakers produce is fantastic, I like it loud, and I love the way they look as well. I guess selling equipment and buying new is the way to go to keep up with new and better technology.

Thanks Youthman, last night I ordered 200' of the pure copper speaker wire from Monoprice and am going to replace all the wiring for my setup. I had been using speaker wire from Home Depot and did some research after reading your email to me, and low and behold their wire is partly aluminum and not pure copper.

I have the same speakers and you will love them. I also chose black so they would be "less" visible in a dark room watching a movie.

Thanks guys, Surround backs it is. Gonna do it today and let you know how it works out. Another question: The speaker wire. I use Monster wire. Forget what AWG but it is fairly heavy. What I did to the wire before I used it, is first measure the length needed, add some more and cut it. Then I went outside and tied one end of the wire to something stationary. I then attached the other end of the wire to a drill, pulled back very lightly and ran the drill to twist the +/- of the wire so that I get approximately 11 or 12 turns per foot. I forget most everything I read, so don't ask. There must have been something I read in the past that said on a long run of wire, this will improve performance. Go ahead laugh, but the sound is good, and no I am not an engineer. The surround back wire length will be about 45 feet So, now that you have stopped laughing, what kind of wire do you use? Please don't tell me $8,000 cable from the planet mars. Something reasonable I can afford please. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies, and yes I have been using the surround back posts for the front tweeter speakers. I absolutely love these speakers and the beautiful sound they provide me, (I do like my sound out loud), but of course change is good and making Improvements is always the way with me, and from what I am reading here on the forum, with you all as well. :-) Using bi-amp fronts is good, if you do it right (using vertical or horizontal?). What I am going to do is re-wire my system to 7.2, eliminate the bi-amp and "do it the right way", once I find out whatever that is. Hopefully with your helpful suggestions. Thanks again. Good to here. One other question. In going from 5.1 to 7.2, should I go with front wide speakers or add in surround back speakers?

Sorry, newbie here. Is doing a Bi-Amp of my RF-7 II main speakers worth going from a 7.2 setup to a 5.1 on my Onkyo NR-808 Receiver? Will the bass and treble sound be that much better? I do have a Velodyne 12" sub that sounds great. Also, what are the Topic Tags and how are they used?