whell

Here she is again!

Hmmm....After reading your posts, I'm wondering if my daughter is after my RF-7's. This is how she appears on any given night when music is playing. Her fave is Nora Jones!

I'm confident that the better choice would be the RF-5's. They would be an easy speaker to live with for a very long time, even if, at some point, your tastes change and gravitate more to music. Also, I've paired my RF-7's with the RC-3 in my system for, if no better reason, the WAF (wife acceptance factor). While this is a bit of a compromise, I've found that I can live with it my making a slight adjustment (upward) in the output of the RC-3 versus the RF-7's to balance things out. Also, according to my Klipsch dealer, the RC-3 outsells the RC-7, due to size limitations in many people's rooms/setups.

What are your objectives with your system? What will the amp connect to (upstream electronics)? Speakers? Room size? Will the system be HT only, or will it be HT and Music? The answer might better dictate the type of amp that is the best match.

Robert Palmer - Riptide

Sounds like you're not going to be able to bi-wire. However, for a significant gain in sound qualify, get rid of the jumpers on the speaker terminals on the RF-3's, and replace them with good quality OFC speaker wire. You don't need high dollar speaker wire to experience an improvement...just about anything is better than the brass-plated jumpers supplied.

It provides consumers an additional excuse/incentive to buy more speakers.

I concur with Doug's assessment that the more amps (power supplies) you have working for you, the better off you are. As far as matching amps, I've got a single Monarchy SM-70 Pro running the L/R channels, and a Marantz HT receiver running the center and two rears. The Monarchy puts out a "paltry" 30 WPC (which is more than enough to drive Klipsch speakers to quite high levels), and the 130 WPC Marantz covering the center and rears. I have to adjust UPWARD the volume of the channels being run by the Marantz to keep up with the Monarchy, since the Monarchy has quite high input sensitivty.

Just my opinion, but there is absolutely no good reason I can think of not to check out the used market for an amp. Purusing sites like Audiogon or Ebay, once you're pretty sure what you're looking for, can yield some great values. Sure, you need to be careful about who you're buying from, ask good questions up front, check seller's feedback, etc. But, Speakers and Amps are two items that I'd try to buy used every time and save some big $$$. Some suggestions: while it might be slightly more expensive, I'd try to find a couple of used amps, rather than a single 5 or more channel amplifier. For each additional channel crammed into the same box, sacrifices must be made to achieve a certain price point. There are some exceptions to this rule, few if any in the price range you've stated. Certain Adcom amplifiers, some of the the older Acurus amps, and amps by B&K, by many accounts, pair well with Klispch. So, if you're starting out with a 5.1 channel set up, you can build from a good two channel amp for the L/R channels, and a good matching 3 channel amp for the front and two rear channels. You can then add an additional 2 channel amp later if you get the bug to go 7.1. For a pre/pro: if you go the B&K route, one of their Reference 30 units, or above, might suit your needs. These are available as well on the used market, and are upgradable as technology advances come to market. You'll also be able to find these on the used market. I've also used Adcom pre/pro's in the past, with decent results.

You've also got mail about the HK!

There's NO WAY you need to spend $1700 on an amp to get the most out of your Klipsch, whether Heritage or Reference. I continue to be amazed at the sound from my little Monarchy Audio SM-70 Pro, which can be had for about $500 or so used, and runs fully in Class A operation. You can run one amp in stereo, or buy 2 and use them as fully balanced monoblocks. For my Rf-7's, one amp is plenty, and it only puts out 30 WPC. Pair it with a good quality pre amp (possibly even your Myriad if it has pre-outs), or even a passive pre, and you'll have the detail and spaciousness you might be missing now. AND you'll have money left over to put towards a pair of RF-5's or RF'7's, which can be had used (I'll never buy another pair of speakers new again...there's no reason to if they are well maintained).

Mamacmil: I opted for the RB-5's for my rears in my 5.1 channel set up, as opposed to any of the RS speakers. My reasoning, and your objectives may vary, is that I'm a "music first" person. with multi channel music, my preference would be to have the instruments and vocals localized rather than diffuse.

I second ScooterDog's comment. The moderator was referring to the Reference Speaker line, which, IMHO, SHOULD be removed from dealers who do not set up and demo them correctly. As many of us who own these great speakers can attest to, they need to be set up correctly and paired with the right upstream electronics to sound their best. Dealers who are unable or unwilling to do so should get the boot.

Definately set my system to "Source Direct" for CD's, which not only bypasses the sub, it also bypasses most of the preamp section. As others have mentioned, as long as your amplification is sufficient, and you've followed Klipsch's guidelines for speaker placement, no sub should be necessary.

The site says these will be the "entry level" speakers for the Reference line. Possibly a smaller, updated version of the RF-3.

$300 for a pair of RF-3's is a good deal. In terms of amplification/receiver, most here in the two channel forum would suggest that HT equipment does not do the best job of reproducing music satisfactorily for their tastes. However, your milage may vary. If you don't do much critical listening for music, and place an emphasis on HT/Movies/TV viewing, than a HT receiver might be just the ticket. With Klipsch speakers, the "warmer" the sound, the better. Many, including myself, have had good results with some of the better Marantz HT units. Harman Kardon units also get positive reviews here. You should have no trouble at all finding center channel and surround speakers to match your RF-3's. The RC-3 II and the RS # II are readily available on Ebay, just make sure the seller is reputable: check for good feedback from a variety of buyers. You might also find some on-line retailers that carry these units. Be careful, here, as most of these retailers obtain their product via the "gray market", and are not authorized Klipsch retailers.

I've got both vinyl and CD, and I've found that both have their advantages and drawbacks. Its hard for me to say conclusively that one format is "better" than the other, but they do sound different. As far as CDs, one of my latest is the Blue Note release of Van Morrison's "Whats Wrong With This Picture". It is truly a joy to listen to. Listening through RF-7's with the Monarchy's doing the amplification, and an older Adcom CD player with Class A output, sounded like old Van was right there with us in the room.

Can you play a DVD-A music disk on ANY DVD player, or only one that is compatible with DVD-A? OR, if your preamp/processor has up to 192khz/24bit processing capability, can you run the digital out of your DVD player into the preamp/processor to play DVD-A disks?

My RF-7's are powered by a Monarchy SM-70 Pro. which is connected to the L/R Channel pre-outs of my Marantz SR-19 EX receiver. To be sure, the upgrade in sound quality a noticable, and the Marantz's amp section is pretty darn good. However, the SM-70 is putting out only about 30 WPC in pure class A, and it keeps up more than adequately with the other channels of the Marantz in HT mode, which are rated at 130 watts. Go figure.

I feel like I'm listening to a bunch of adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon.

Art Pepper meets the Rhythm Section.

My old Sansui 9090 receiver (the non "DB" model) sounds great on my bedroom system, and sounded pretty good when hooked up to my RB-5's. However, IMHO, my newer Marantz PM-7000 integrated makes the RB-5's sound a bit better.

I'm with Dean on this one. I now own a pair of RB-5's, RF-3's and RF-7's. Each speaker took a week or so of "average" use to come around. The highs smoothed out nicely thereafter, and now, particularly the 5's and the 7's, are truly a joy to listen to.

Maybe a dumb question, but have you opened them up and checked the internal wiring to make sure that the wiring hasn't come loose from the horn? I had a pair of KG-4's and had this issue once or twice with them.

http://www.dakiom.com/ Saw this on Audiogon and hopped over to their web page. It seems to be an active circuit that "corrects" problems that are some believe are inherent in RCA incterconnects. Interesting that they are selling it for about $100 on Audiogon, but of you hop to their web site you can get a set of them for $57! P.S. The title of the post should be "snake oil".