Rudy81

Tom: E-mail coming your way.

Colin: Agreed. When I added my SVS sub to my system, I was amazed at the differance. BTW, the SVS integrated very well with my Belles. You can hear the differance when running AVIA's test disk through the frqency sweep. It becomes very obvious when the Belle's taper off and the sub continues to plug along.

artto has some good points. Just for referrence, I will tell you what I did, besides spend a lot of time analysing my room. I used a few computer programs to forecast the problem frequencies in my room. I then focused on treating only those frequencies, as well as the first reflections. From my reading on the subject, it is very difficult and expensive to totally treat a room properly. I worked on just the basics to reduce the major standing waves as predicted by my room dimensions and the early reflections. As artto mentions, it is important to not just absorb frequencies, but you must also diffuse frequencies. Otherwise, you will end up with an anechoic chamber, and things don't sound very natural in there. In my case, I used a sound meter and a couple of test disks to work on the predicted trouble frequencies. I also used treatments that were not permanent in nature. My room is not that large, 14x27, so large permanent objects were something I wanted to avoid. There are also the pricing considerations as well as availability of these treatments. If I recall from your pictures, your room is rectangular, that should make the calculations fairly easy with the readily available programs out there. There is also an Excel spreadsheet that does the calculations for you. I wholly encurage you to play with these concepts. I learned a lot about sound during the process. Enjoy the journey. Now, if I could only get my wife to let me place an absorber on the angled wall over my right main speaker I'd be home free.

Darn, I must be looking in all the wrong places. Here in the Dallas area, Best Buy, Virgin and other music stores have many more DVD-A than SACD. What gives?

I agree, that is why I got SACD. However, my experience is that most retailers carry twice as many DVD-A's as SACD's. This is like the old VHS vs. BETA story. Don't they ever learn.

M00n: If you really want to take the time and treat your room properly, I suggest you the F. Alton Everest's book "Acoustic Techniques for Home and Studio". This is a must have for any serious audio enthusiast. I used many of the suggestions for getting the right materials to treat my room. The problem comes in getting the materials, many manufacturers will not sell to the public or unless you buy the stuff by the truckload. I do know that getting a bass absorber thick enough to be useful can be cost prohibitive. You might consider bass traps of one design or another. In my case, I made some bass tube traps, and they worked extrememly well.

Goldown: You really should take your time and listen to the Reference and Heritage series. My personal taste runs to the older heritage series. I have yet to hear anything that is better than my Belles or other Heritage series speakers anywhere near the price range. At one point I was going to sell my Belle's, but could not find any newer Klipsch that came even close to the sound I had become accustomed to. Find someone that has some Heritage line in your area and take a listen. Then go listen to the newer lines and make an educated decision. We are all partial to the gear we already own, so we are generally not the best of sources.

Other things to try. See if you can have the power cables cross the audio and video cables at a 90 degree angle. If you can't, I have read that seperating them using foam blocks about 1 inch thick will help.

You are correct. You will need to run the analog and digital connections. The DVD-A and SACD formats should be listened to with your processor using the analog inputs. That is a nice player, my brother has it and I wish I had the DVD-A capability. I have a Sony and only SACD. It seems DVD-A's are more popular with more titles out. Enjoy!

I would suggest a thorough troubleshooting session. Start by unplugging everything from your system except the speakers. The hum should not be there. Then, connect each piece of gear, one at a time. Be careful and don't connect cables to the receiver/processor with the power on. You could trash your speakers. That should tell you where the problem lies. You will then be able to focus on just the problem and not have to guess as to where the problem is. I had to do that and was able to figure out that my dish coax was causing a ground loop. The antenna is grounded to a different source than all my other gear.

Other issues to check are coax connections from antennas, cable providers and satellite. In my case, the satellite coax causes ground loop problems. I was able to isolate it by connecting the coax to the surge suppressor my system is hooked to and then bringing in the source to my system. Good luck.

FWIW, I have the A52 and A23 powering my Belles, Chorus, Forte and Hereseys. I am thrilled with the sound. Not at all harsh. Just accurate and clear. I have found that with these speaker's efficiency, those amplifiers are more than enough for my listening.

Where are they located? As in, what State?

Thanks again. I must say I have gotten many ideas from forums like ours and AVS. The sound does rock! My wife even raves about how good it sounds. Movies as well as 2-ch audio is superb. I did have to treat the room for standing waves and some other issues. My remaining problem is the angled wall you see on the front right. It makes the front right speaker seem "louder" than the left. The funny thing is that when calibrating the system with a sound meter, the speakers are balanced at the same db level setting. However, when listening to 2-channel imaging, the center image is shifted slightly right. So, I have to reduce the right speaker level to center the image. My guess is that the angled wall is reinforcing the right speaker, causing the image shift. As far as the projector, I looked at many, mostly ones I couln't afford. I had always liked the Z9000 since I have total light control in that room. The HD picture is phenomenal for a $10000 projector. I was able to get this one slightly used in mint condition from a dealer for $3500. That was one deal I couln't pass up. So, that's how I decided on the Sharp. I am still very pleased with that projector. It is very quiet, light and performs extremely well.

I will have to check out that club. I'm embarrassed to say that I have not even used my T-3. To be honest, I got it to have the "set" complete. Between work, honey-do's, the lawn and the HT project I have not had time to just sit down and listen to the tuner. Not only have I worked on the HT, but We just moved into this home about a year ago. I have yet to stop and take a breath. Heck, I don't have the antenna connected to it yet. With DVD, CD, SACD and all other available media, listening to FM and AM at home just has not been a priority. I will check out the HALO club.

Thanks again. M00n, your place will be even better. I have been following your progress for a while now. I had the advantage of a room already in place. Just needed some paint and lighting. Chairs were 2 for 1 on sale at La-Z-Boy. The rest just took a little time. The paint color is a deep red and works very well to darken the room for my DLP projector. The ceiling is actually grey. Now, I just need to work on some minor touches and I should be ready to go. I cannot beleive how well a $14 piece of commercial plastic works. I had a Stewart Videomatte 2000 4:3 screen until a few days ago when I finished the DIY 16:9 screen. I will be putting the Stewart on eBay in the near future. The Parkland plastic is almost as bright as the Stewart.

CD: Just sent you a PM.

See, that's what I love about Klipsch groupies, you are too kind. As far as the sound, I absolutely love the HALO gear. Sound is clean and powerful. Those amps are really well balanced with my Klipsch. The sound is not at all bright. My previous set up used integrated amps. I have used a Marantz amp and later a H/K AV receiver. All of those were nice. However, the HALO gear is so much better, it was well worth the expense. I would describe the sound as very spacious, clear with great imaging and prescence. The HALO C2 has tremendous features. I pass all my signals through the HALO, audio and video and it handles everything very well. Funny, I have always heard critics as saying that Klipsch is too bright. I don't find that to be the case for my taste. If you decide to go HALO you won't regret it. BTW, Parasound has outstanding service and support. The 10 year warranty is nice too. If you are serious about buying that gear, let me know and I can put you in touch with my HALO dealer.

Just thought I would post some pictures of my HT project. It is just about done...I think. Many things are DIY projects, like the acoustic treatments, screen, screen wall and shelving. I just finished the new DIY screen and adding ligthing to the room, thanks to Lutron's IR dimmers, the lighting is really a nice touch. Comments are welcome, but no jokes about the woodworking. The cost of the gear prevented buying woodshop equipment, and I have my priorities. If any kind soul would like to trade a single working Klipsch Belle for a pair of Chorus II's, let me know. http://www.prontoweb.com/klipsch_HT.htm' /a>Pictures here.

It's funny, I have noticed many comments by others telling people to move the speakers away from the corners. This contradicts what PWK describes as optimum setup. My room has some acoustic problems due to it's location on the second floor. The right side has a sloping ceiling next to the right speaker. This causes a slight emphasis on the right side. I have treated the room well with acoustic absorbers and tube traps. Most frequencies are controlled and there is very little flutter echo and a great reduction in standing waves, particularly bass frequencies. I am waiting on some egg crate sound absorbers for the sloped ceiing, hoping to tame the right speaker emphasis. After further listening, I'm still amazed at the difference the 45 degree toe in has made. Imaging and stage depth have greatly improved. While playing some vocal tracks I switched from Stereo to Dolby PL II and there is a very minimal difference with the center channel switched on and off. I've had my Belles since 1988 and can't beleive I'm just now getting around to finding this setup as optimal. Thanks to Justin for the Dope from Hope articles on Toe in. All your inputs are appreciated. BTW, any suggestions on favorite tracks for determining good imaging? I have been using some Frank Sinatra and Fleetwood Mac tracks to evaluate the imaging.

After reading some Dope From Hope articles concerning toe-in, Paul Klipsch recommends quite a bit of toe in for his speakers. He addresses Imaging and other stereo characteristics. I followed his suggestions and toed in about 45 degrees, right at the listener and moved the speakers to the very corners. This made a significant improvement. The interesting thing, is that the sweet spot widened when I did this, instead of narrowing. I am much happier with this set up.

Overall, I'm satisfied, but am always looking to improve things. My seating and speaker placement are fixed due to the HT and room size limitations. I have a 100" screen between them, so can't move them in any more. My last option was to play with the toe in. Problem is, those things are not easy to move around on a carpet.

The room is my HT, which I also use for 2-ch listening. The Belles are the mains, 11' apart on center. My seat is centered between the two and 11' back from the CL of both speakers. Currently, they are toed in about 15 degrees. I can't toe them in any more due to their location.

I continue to search for the optimum set up for my Belles. I currently have them toed in, but wonder what the optimum set up is? For those of you with Belles, how do you have yours set up? I am am trying to optimize imaging with these beasts.

I got my SVS 20-39 PC+ a few weeks ago and am so very glad I did. This sub will move your house!