HenrikTJ

What model is your current klipsch surround speakers and sub?

Yes, every component mentioned here are compatible and safe to use together

Just so its mentioned: If you insist on a klipsch sub, they do offer front firing subs as well

series wiring

I'd say sonos is good for what they are... Especially when comparing them to bose. However, sitting in a dedicated stereo room in front of some kick-*** hifi speakers and an amp that could potentially power your entire street, can not be compared to the simplicity that is sonos and bose. In other words, I don't think you're going crazy. You might've just gotten yourself temporarily taken away by the hype. Shake it off!

Hi David! Spec-wise, the R-52C is a better performing center channel than your RC-42C II in my mind. The 52 goes lower, has bigger and better woofers, but won't go as high as the 42II but thats only by 1khz. Now, 1 khz tone difference is a substantial loss, but as far as movie tracks goes, I think you'll be fine. Having said this, the 52 is an older speaker than your 42II. I know much haven't changed in the speaker engineering scene in a LONG time, but I think you will be better off with the RC-52II. It is basically the same as the R-52C, but with the addition of the RC-42II distortion minimizing features. If you on the other hand take into consideration your system as a whole, you do have a sub that hopefully goes down to 20hz(and definitely goes lower than your center). This means that if you set your sub correctly, your sub will basically take care of the lows no matter how low even though your center couldn't achieve those lows. In other words, the sub takes the low no matter how low, and the only realistic thing you need to worry about with the center is how high it can go. The higher, the better. But just to make sure your time doesn't go to waste... Don't bother going out and testing the speaker that you consider buying. There are several key factors that will make the same speaker sound TOTALLY different. The room, the amp, the wires, the sound material source, and of course your own mood from time to time. Best thing would be to just order the speaker with the possibility of returning it should you not like it better than your current 42II. Before going out and buying though... I would recommend fiddling around with your db levels and crossovers on your receiver. Your problem might just be that your speaker-settings are a bit mismatched and therefore ending up with a seemingly underpowered center channel. if you have your system settings set by a calibration software such as audyssey, AccuEQ, YPAO and such, chances are they've done it incorrectly. In contradiction to what these receiver brands would have you believe, they're calibration softwares aren't perfect. Sound is subjective and therefore can't be perfected by any software. Thats why I always recommend doing the settings manually, however tedious it might be and totally is. Both you and your system will be better off afterwards though. Good luck to you and don't hesitate should you have more q!

The matching center is the rp-250C

https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/tip-of-the-day-mixing-and-matching-speakers

Hi! Personally, I'd place the tv diagonally between the L and R on the picture. The RP-280F and 8000F is more suitable for front speakers and not surround. I'd go for any of the bookshelf speakers for surround. I've no idea where I'd place the surrounds though... It's hard to say considering that wherever you could place them, some positions on the couch might perceive the sound as front wide, and other positions might perceive the sound as surround back... One thing that might help is moving the couch as far away from the back wall as possible and placing bookshelves on stands behind the couch. In addition, you could go for an in-wall solution for the surrounds as well. Good luck with the project!

Can't say I've ever tried filling the rear port with foam. Personally I'd never do that considering that there probably has gone a ton of engineering into the shape, size and material for the rear port. But in the end, whatever sounds best to you, will be what you should stick with. Gotta admit, I'm a bit intrigued and will definitely try this out myself. If at all possible, I'd try to move the speakers a bit further away from the back wall. (Just a side-note here. If you prefer your ports sealed, klipsch might not be the brand for you. Sound is subjective and finding what sounds best to you should trump everything else.) Don't understand what "toeing" means, but guessing it means facing the speakers inwards towards one listening point. In that case, yes, it is recommended. From personal experience, it makes for a better listening experience. However, if you prefer any other way, go for that. Normally, subwoofers are heavy enough to not move around whilst being used. If the sub moving around is a concern, I don't think you need to worry. Although if you really want to anchor the sub to one spot, I imagine any rubberised product should do the trick.

seeing as there wont be any distance between the back wall and any back surrounds you might get, I'd keep it to a 5.2.2 at the maximum

Im sorry, but no. The RP-640D (140D, 250D, 440D SA) is part of an on-wall speaker assortment that doesn't really have designated front, center and surround speakers. However, what you can do is buy any number of any type of speaker within this on-wall speaker series and fashion a surround system yourself.

Its a bit hard to explain. Its kinda like a "you have to experience it to know" type of situation. What I can remember from listening to both of them is that the RP gives a cleaner and more natural high and mid. The lows I felt were "better" in the sense that I felt more enveloped by the woofers even though both RP-280F and R-28F were run with the same amp, song, volume and all. With every speaker, you should always listen before buying. When I bought my system, it was all down to the RP-280F or the R-28F. When listening to both of them separately, I feel the RP is the obvious choice, not to take anything away from the R-28F though! My point of view is that upgrading to the RP line when you already have the reference line might not be worth it. Just my opinion. Your money might be better spent on surrounds and atmos if thats something you want.

Well... what center speaker you get kinda depends on what fronts you have. Since you plan to make your 160m surrounds, you'll need new fronts which should match your center. Had you sticked to a 2.1 with 160m as fronts, I would've recommended the 250c. In hopes of you sticking to the old RP line for you new fronts, any of the other two centers (440c and 450c) will do. Since this is a living room setup, you don't necessarily need the 450c, but if you have the space, I'd definitely go for the 450c.

Does your avr have an option to turn subwoofer on/off? Is the gain nob on the back of the sub turned to your liking and not all the way down? The cable is rarely the problem, but could be whats wrong. Most of the time its the built-in amp. Seems like, from the pictures i've seen, it should be pretty easy to take out the woofer from the cabinet and have a look. Might be a loose wire in there connecting woofer to amp, although I doubt that very much. You pretty much won't know until you try. What you also can do is have your sub turned on and have the signal cable hooked to the sub on one end, but not hooked the other end to the avr. Try to lightly tap the cable terminal and see if your sub responds. If not, its definitely the sub or cable.

Seems solid to me yes. Especially seeing as I basically have the same setup you're going for haha. On my page you can see my whole system. Same receiver, but contrary to you, I have the old RP speakers equivalent in size to the ones you mentioned.

Sadly they sold shortly after posting that post. Kinda lucky for me that they sold, because I just know I just wouldn't end up painting them... Would probably just use the black one as a center and finally get the acoustic transparent canvas i've always wanted. The white one would basically be spare parts should anything happen

Hi, welcome to the forum! Yes, the combination of Klipsch and Denon is good, though with Klipsch speakers, any amp/avr is a safe choice. Denon might not be the best choice for music listening though. Nice space you got, but vaulted ceilings can be a b!tc# if you're considering atmos. Nice tv, however at which height you should wall-mount it, I couldn't tell you. Nice entry lvl receiver, good choice. Personally, I wouldn't go with the "R" reference series, but they're definitely good for the price. Any of the two matching center speakers. I'd go for the R-34c but the 52c would also work. Overall nice choices all across the board. Would even do as you did with getting the sub before the center even though the center is kinda the most used speaker in a full setup. I would argue that the fronts are more important in a setup in the sense that you could always watch in stereo even though it might not be ideal. As far as next steps go, get a center, then the side surrounds, then the back surrounds or atmos speakers. If you want both, you'll need a new receiver.

Hi all! A very unusual question here. An offer for a pair of used RP-280F popped up on my radar for the price of 3500kr which is about 400usd. Don't know how the prices are everywhere else, but in my country its 1/4 of original price. In other words, VERY cheap. Only problem is that this guy painted only the one speaker white. Don't know if any of you have experience with removing paint from polymer veneer, but is it possible to remove without damaging the cabinet or the black colour underneath?

Hi there! This is going to be a long one, my apologies in advance. Slow-building your system is a very smart move. Better to use smaller amounts of money across a longer period than one one large sum all at once haha. Since you're aiming for a 5.2 system, my recommended order of purchases would be as follows: TV, blu-ray player/gaming console, AVR and cables, front speakers, center speaker swiftly after the fronts and in the end your surrounds. Since you've already picked out your TV, choosing a blu-ray player/gaming console will be easier. There is no point buying a TV that can't handle all your player's features and there is no point in buying a player that might support features your TV can't. Buying a player that can do everything that your TV can handle is perfect and might save you from buying something more expensive with features your system can't handle. Speaker cables should be made of at least 99.9% oxygen free copper. Only step up would be silver, but thats only for people with money to spare and the need to bedazzle. To the human ear, there is no difference in sound between using copper or silver. In addition, the awg/girth of your cables can be determined from guides online saying that the awg you need depends on the length of the cable and what the speaker's ohm is. In much simpler terms, you need not go smaller than 16 or bigger than 12. (Yes, the smaller number awg, the bigger the girth is). Now, since your only previous experience was a soundbar system, you are in the most amazing position where you get to experience different components and hopefully find what sounds the best to you. And yes, I get that this is the Klipsch forum, but klipsch might not be the one for you. The first thing I would have done is to get out and try different speaker- and receiver brands. Since you mentioned best buy, im guessing its through them you will mainly acquire your system from. However, look out for sales. I don't live in the US or Canada, but im given to understand you get some great deals over at your end of the ballpark. The Great news about best buy though, they have a good amount of mainstream brands in the HT market. Don't know if its possible at best buy, but try to get a demo of any speakers you might be interested in. Its important to try a speaker before you buy, but you also have to remember that it will sound differently in your home than what you might experience at best buy. Also remember that different avr/amps will make the same speaker sound differently, not by much, but noticeably yes. Looking at your purposes for your system, I see you included music. Now, for me, that excludes any and all Denon products. They're one of the best for HT, but most would not pick a Denon for music. Thats kinda where Marantz comes in. They are a bit more pricy, but are thought of as a good blend of HT and music. Just as a rule, don't get an Onkyo. I myself love Onkyo. My speakers have never sounded better with any other avr brand, but the HDMI ports on Onkyo receivers are not consistent at all. You're basically playing 50/50 when buying and Onkyo avr these days. Yamaha is great, but haven't exactly got the best room correction software. Obviously, you should get to accumulate your own opinions of these brands, but this was just some common opinions of the overall market on some mainstream brands. All of these modern receivers do support all/most of the streaming services you mentioned. When buying a receiver, you really shouldn't buy the newest version. I myself have a marantz and there was recently launched a new model. I looked at the differences and there was about 4 differences in total that would not in any way improve my experience with the new version of the receiver. Many, including I, will recommend you look at the previous models that will have the same functions and abilities. Maybe even some refurbished ones as well. After you've settled on a system, there is much more to know about how to place your speakers depending on if they're rear/front ported, how to sonically improve your room, if using spikes on your speakers is something you need, how big your subs need to be which depends on your room's total volume, how to mount bookshelf speaker if you get a pair of them, how to setup your avr, if you should do room correction manually or through the software, just to name a few haha... These topics and others such as them, I think would be a better fit for one of your upcoming posts. Good luck with your system. and please say hi to the cat from all of us.

Hi These types of atmos speakers doesn't necessarily need to be placed atop a floorstanding speaker such as your rp4000. You could place them on the floor for that matter, as long as the angles are correct with the sound hitting the ceiling and down to your sitting area. As you point out yourself, there is great space on top of your entertainment console. It would be a good spot to place them, so no worries there. Only thing you need to concern yourself with is the angles being correct, giving you the best atmos experience from these speakers.

Hi Yes, getting a klipsch center would be a good upgrade. Since you've already started on a reference line setup, I would suggest continuing doing so, at least for appearance sakes. Getting another receiver might be a good move for you too. Onkyo's AccuEQ isn't the best of room correction softwares out there. However, before making any quick purchases, I would recommend trying out different receiver brands to get to know what you like the most. I'm assuming this Onkyo is your first avr, so getting to know what else the market has to offer will only be good for you. In addition to getting a klipsch center, speaker placement should also be a focus. Since all of your speakers are rear ported, it is important to not place speakers too close against a wall. We're talking at least 15 inches between speaker and back-wall. All speakers should also point inwards towards the main seating area. If space is a problem, surrounds doesn't have to be directly to the side of the seating area. Don't remember the recommended angles, but they can be a bit off axis. Calibration wise, you can run AccuEQ and do some tweeks later on to crossovers, db levels, distances and such. A common thing with all room correction softwares is underpowering of the center channel. Most people choose to up the db lvl on the center to make it more present. On the other hand, you could also do everything manually. It will take considerably more time, but your understanding of your own system will be a lot better. Most people just run the software program and call it a day, thinking they're getting the best the avr has to offer. Now onto what you're saying about your systems inconsistency of sound. Having to move speakers around based on what movie you're watching seems bizarre. Can't actually think of any reason why that is. Someone else will have to figure that one out i'm afraid, though correctly calibrating your speakers whilst they are placed in the correct positions in the room should help. As for your music, is it possible that you've been listening with different sound modes? For music, I recommend "pure audio". This may also be called "pure direct" or "music optimizer". It should be a button on the left side of your Onkyo's front panel. This setting shuts down everything going on with the receiver that can't contribute to getting the cleanest sound out of your receiver. It basically turns your surround receiver to a 2ch amp. Subwoofers usually don't work when this setting is on. Pure direct is supposed to only support the front left and right, but sometimes it gives signal to the sub too.

Yes, the results there are within reason. However, AccuEq isn't exactly the most accurate of room correction softwares. I'd recommend trying to experiment with different crossovers and sound settings on your Onkyo.

Acoustic panels would do you some good here, but I wouldn't recommend it for you. Sorry if im wrong, but it seems like, from the pictures, that your HT is part of your living room and extends beyond that which is visible in the pictures. Mounting acoustic panels is only done right when you cover ALL places that need to have sound absorbed. This means that you would have to not only get panels for the part of the room where your system is, but the entire room as well. I think you would agree when I say a living room with random acoustic panels everywhere would not look good. Yes, I see you already have curtains there, but as I am able to see through them, it's safe to say they aren't suitable for bouncing off sound waves. They need to be thicker. Just to answer your question about power amps as well: The problem is never the power. Klipsch's speaker are some of the more sensitive on the market too, so they don't require a whole lot to be driven. My guess is that you might not be all that satisfied with the pairing of your marantz receiver and klipsch speakers. If you haven't already, I recommend you try out other receiver brands and find out what sounds the best to you.

I'd switch out the RF-5 with the RB-61 II. Other than that, I agree with the setup you mentioned in your post.