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+1 I have Macs and use Airplay to reliably stream everywhere. If I get a drop-out, it's usually because one of my Airports has connected to the wrong hotspot. OS El Capitan had some Airplay reliability problems a while back too, fixed by following the steps here: http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/16/fix-wi-fi-problems-mac-os-x-el-capitan/ I saw this too. I have the "Pandora Plus" service for $3.99/month that allows 192Kbs streaming (depending on device.) A few weeks ago, they rolled out a new interface and announced "Pandora Premium" available only on mobile device apps with additional search features, playlists, and offline stuff, but no info on bitrate that I can find... Free Pandora tops out at 128Kbps IIRC.

Correct. The underlying network layer has no impact on sound quality. The packets either make it or they don't. And if they don't, they get retransmitted which causes hiccups and drops. But this is a sign something is wrong with your network.

Pandora streams at a bit rate between 64Kbs and 192Kbs depending on your subscription, device, and connection type. This bitrate range should be easily handled by any decent wifi network. If you are experiencing streaming drops on your wifi network at this low bitrate, then there is definitely something amiss. I suspect, wifi drops aside, that the improvement you heard is a function of the Pandora service built-in to your Oppo devices. Maybe it just works at a higher bitrate when it detects a hardwired connection.

Sounds like you have a perfect little setup there. You can incrementally improve the sound by going with a higher quality receiver with more oomph. Check out crutchfield.com 2-channel receiver page - lots of options. Or, there are lots of folks on this forum that have experience with restored receivers from the golden age '70s and '80s.

That's a good article Chris, thanks. When you ask 10 Klipsch owners about toe-in, you get 20-30 different answers, but I think most fall into a range from "they cross a little bit behind my listening position" to "they cross a little bit in front of my listening position." A lot depends on room geometry and distance from the speakers. I wonder if it also depends on the horn itself? For example, if I toe-in my La Scala II's too much, and then sit in position "O" on the outside right of my listening position as the article shows, I can hear the more-distant left-hand K401 horn beaming directly at me much louder than the closer right-hand squawker at an oblique angle. REW measurements confirm this. If I back-off the toe-in a bit so that "they cross a little bit in front of my listening position" the sound stage is much more consistent without the "head in a vise" deal. Somebody with a tractrix horn might have a different experience? There must be a way to represent this with math that's beyond me, but my theory with the K401 is, regardless if you prefer them crossed in front or behind you, when one horn is pointed at you, the other horn shouldn't be too far off. I'm guessing Northman's experience with the Cornwalls would be similar.

I mostly have them on the floor of my small office (with Audioengine's wedges to angle them up) and play music via Bluetooth. They support aptx. I also use the line-in occasionally but not with a turntable, so I have no experience there. They sound excellent to me - especially for their size. Here's a good review on CNET comparing them to the A5+ https://www.cnet.com/products/klipsch-reference-premiere-r-15pm/review/#p=klipsch-reference-premiere-r-15pm-klr15pm/

The USB DAC inside the R-15PM advertises itself as 2-channel 24bit 96kHz capable to my Mac, according to AudioMidi. I'm not sure on the sub question but the R12-SW is on sale for less than the R10-SW at Crutchfield right now.

If you are a vmware admin, you are in a good spot even if the current job sucks. (If you are a hyper-V admin, I'm sorry that does suck.) Keep the job - nobody hires a vmware admin with rusty skills or a 6-month unexplained gap in their resume. All options stay open for you if you keep your current job. As far as options go, if you like being a vmware admin and don't want to be outsourced to the cloud, use your current company to get a VCP/VCDX certification. Or better yet, move up the stack to become a VRO/VRA expert or get trained on NSX. Or, download CE from Nutanix and become the champion of a future technology at your company (or the next company.) If you want to get out of virtualization, find a job as a Splunk or ELK engineer in the security department of an enterprise with a mandate on fraud and intrusion detection - you'll have job security for the next 10+ years.

I'm a big fan of liking your job, quality of life, and work-life balance. Stress is a killer - literally. In 26 years, I've left a job 3 times for a lower paying job with a better work-life balance. All have eventually worked out for the better. HOWEVER, you should think long and hard before quitting a job with nothing lined up. I'm not sure what line of work you are in but when you are interviewing for a job and you already have a job, that looks much better for you in the potential employer's eyes. Not to mention you feel much more confident. Try to line up a job where you don't have to start for a few months. But have something lined up. Even the most choice prime rib spoils when it is out of the refrigerator for a short time. Few things raise more red flags than a candidate with large unexplained gaps of time in their recent resume. In other words, use your current crap job to pay you to find a new job. Whatever you decide, best wishes.

For your "extreme forms of music", would these be 2.0 or 2.1 channels? Would they be different sources than what you are using for "daily tasks?"

I have an MA6500 powering some H3's and an MC58 powering some LS2's. Sounds good to me although my comparisons are limited. When my MA6500 replaced an old HK integrated amp, I noticed a nice difference although my wife made a smart-alec comment "sounds just like the other one..." Pretty sure she was just pulling my chain. Same when my MC58 replaced an old Yamaha AVR's amp section, it was also a nice upgrade - not huge life-changing differences but definitely noticeable.

When you turn on the speakers without anything connected, do them hum? Do they hum on the bluetooth input for example? Or do they just hum when connected to your turntable?

Just tying off this loose end. The problem turned out to be the turntable - not the speakers. See: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/168739-heresy-iii/&page=2

Everybody has a different idea of what's "best" with Klipsch. You have efficient speakers in a small room and listen at moderate levels, so the amps builtin to most AVRs will be fine to start. The Marantz SR5011 is a good recommendation - the other manufacturers have similar AVRs in this price range- Yamaha RX-A860 for example. Get an AVR with decent power and all the features you want - especially pre-outs so you have the option of adding a dedicated amp in the future. Enjoy.

Welcome! Please provide some more details on how you plan on using your RP-280s and the environment they sit in. 2-channel or part of a home theater? What do you listen to and how loud? Room size and details. What other components are in the system? The Marantz SR5011 is a fine feature-rich AVR and probably does fantastic for 2-channel as well.

Been watching for this deal for a while, and I always seem to be too late. But this morning, I didn't need an RC-62II but for $134, I had to grab one. Pick up tomorrow at my local store. Hopefully it's a big upgrade over my R-25C like everyone claims. I'll have to sneak it into the house tomorrow...

It seems to be a common issue with windows 10. Doing a quick search, I found this: https://www.drivereasy.com/knowledge/fix-sound-issue-this-device-cannot-start-code-10/ Might be worth a look.

Just to confirm, the sound quality of the turntable is great, but the problem is the speakers can't amplify it loud enough to your liking? Even after cranking up the volume on the speakers, the turntable audio isn't loud enough? Other sources (usb, bluetooth) also sound great and loud?

Something is wrong with your new pair or your setup. We're trying to help you on the other thread you just started. This is a 6-month old dormant thread.

Can you pop off the front grills and make sure there is no packing material stuff in the horns? Put your ear up to all the drivers and make sure the are working. I have H3's - usually people describe them on the opposite end of the spectrum from what you are experiencing.

Double check on the back of the Klipsch that the line/phono input is set to phono when your Rega is connected to it. Your Rega Carbon cartridge has average (2.5mV) output for a MM cartridge, but I wouldn't expect it to play as loud as your other digital sources.

You should have plenty of power there with the RX-A2060. Check your connections. Is the distortion on both speakers or just one?

How could they keep straight faces during the funeral? LOL. Great cast - loved Ted Knight.

I have had good luck with Schiit products but I don't think they make a single combined device like this. If you are not opposed to two products, I'd look at a Schiit Mani phono-pre-amp $130 (I have one - very good) and then a Schiit Magni-2 Uber headphone amp ($150), which also has pre-outs for your R-15PMs. Note when you plug your headphones into the Magni-2 Uber, it mutes the pre-outs - seems to make sense. If you want one combined product, doing a quick google search, I found this but I don't have any experience or recommendations in this area: https://www.amazon.com/Bellari-VP130-Preamplifier-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B002TD4GME/ref=s9_simh_gw_g147_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=2V5XXVKT1YYJBFTZTB50&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=a6aaf593-1ba4-4f4e-bdcc-0febe090b8ed&pf_rd_i=desktop

Unless that subwoofer-out puts out a full-range signal, which I doubt, I think you need some sort of combined phono/headphone pre-amp that would receive the signal from your turntable and then drive both your headphones and the phono input (set to line) on the R-15PM.