MrMcGoo

I use multiple Sunfire amps. They can handle any impedance the speakers show it. The sound is excellent IMO, especially in the bass frequencies. The Sunfire amp gets the job done with tight control of the woofers. Bill

There are two most likely causes for the poor bass on CDs. First, stereo direct may be engaged that bypasses the crossover, Second possibility is that you have an analog signal to your processor and your processor cannot do bass management on an analog signal. Do not replace the sub until you get your setup right. If the sub is playing with plenty of output, proper location etc., and the bass is not good, then get a more musical sub. But remember that your setup is THE most likely culprit and a new sub will not solve that problem. Bill

I've owned 3 Sunfire amps used with Reference speakers. The first generation Sunfire amps had -103 db S/N ratio for Signature amps. The later generations had a S/R of -118 db for the Signature series when Bob Carver owned the company. The 200 watt models were 3 db less quiet. My amps are quiet and never get close to clipping. They are effortless with material like Master and Commander in DTS. Sunfire amps in good shape are hard to beat. The RF-7s have an impedance dip to 2.8 ohms as do the RF-83s. Most amps are a bit challenged by the 2.8 ohm dip, but Sunfires have no problem with 2.8 ohms. The Signature models will drive even more difficult loads without problems. Bill

An RSW-12 for $350 is stealing, if the sub is in good shape. I added the 12 to my RSW-15 for twice that amount and am quite happy with the more even response of two subs and the added headroom. Bill

Welcome to the forum!!! If you use plain copper wire like many here do, It can become oxidized and turn green. The green gunk actslike a resistor. Use clean wire ends and see what happens. At the same time be sure that no loose ends are shorted out on the speaker wires. Another possibility is that the line voltage to your Sony may have dropped because of other equipment on the same cicuit. Now, for the bad possibilities. The Sony may have blown the amp section and be operating on only the OP amps that drive the amp section. An internal fuse(s) may be blown. Try another receive known to be good and see what the results are. Internal fuses can only be serviced by a tech. The RF-7s are not the easiest speakers to drive for any receiver. The impedance (which varies with frequency) dips as low as 2.8 ohms. Receivers do not do 2.8 ohms well. Accordingly, the receiver should have all speakers set as small, so that the most power hungy frequencies are sent to the subwoofer. This lightens the load on the receiver. Bill

Some makers of programmable remotes may have the code available for download to their brand of universal remote. If you have one like the Harmony, check their site. Bill

I like leok's solution to the problem. It has a good chance to work and should not be too expensive. The idea that receivers cannot work well with external amps is incorrect. Receivers do need extra engineering to quiet the digital noise created by the many DSPs used. Most consumers are not willing to pay the bucks needed to get the better preamp section. The biggest weakness in receivers is that they cannot drive difficult loads with 5 or 7 channels driven at the same time. They tend to lack the needed power supplies and sufficient output devices. Bill

Batman Begins is one of the best sound tracks on HD DVD. It has Dolby TrueHD and DD+ at 640kbps. If you connect by Toslink or coax and use the DD+ sound track, you have just added an unnecessay layer of compression. That is, you decode DD+, then you recompress it as DTS @1.5 Mbps. This is not good. The reason that the DTS output sounded better is likely to be from the fact that under cetain circumstances, the LFE channel is 10 db too low. The analog outputs are too easy to overload and the 10 db reduction found its way into PCM output. The PCM output needs correcting via firmware for this 10 db deficit. When the firmware will be avaiable I do not know. I prefer the analog output of TrueHD on Batman. I crank up my LFE processor by 10 db and all is well. Bill

The upper end Denon will have plenty of power to run the center and surrounds, if they are run as small. The Rotel will take a huge burden off of the receiver. Just keep an eye on the Rotel's gain ratio versus the receiver's gain ratio. Be sure to calibrate with a sound meter and all should be well. As far as brands are concerned, much of that depends on personal taste in sound. If you like Denon, you will be happy with the better models. Bill

The upper end Denon's have a S/N ratio of 102 db or better. Some use torroidial transformers for better power and lower noise. Other brands that I like are the upper end Pioneer Elites and the better Yammies. Marantz is now owned by Denon. I prefer to have THX post processing available, but this is a minor preference. Always get a processor or receiver with more inputs than you currently need. The only complaint that I have with my Pioneer is that the crossover is global for all "small" speakers and has 50 Hz instead of 40 and 60 Hz on the crossover. these are very small problems. Newer receivers handle bass frequencies better in some cases. I use a separate processor for bass, the Velodyne SMS-1. Look for better bass management in a processor/receiver and save a few bucks. Bill

The direct mode improvement tells me that the preamp section is not up to the task. The Denon 4xxx series should be more quiet as well as use better DACs etc. There are major model changes on the way at dates yet to be determined. HDMI 1.3 is on the way for higher end receivers that need to be hooked up to HD DVD and/or Blu-ray. Good deals will then be available for current models. I bought my Pioneer flagship whenthe local Magnolia closed up. Full retail is never a good idea on a receiver due to the rapid rate of obsolescence. Bill

Brandon, My best GUESS is that the Denon has digital noise in the preamp section. In any case, it is obsolete. Then ad a less than ideal output impedance and you have hiss. A separate preamp may be a good investment down the road, especially if you can get a good one with HDMI inputs for a reasonable price in the future. Receivers have better features, but lower end receivers usally have noise issues. When you get into upper end receivers, the signal to noise ratios get better. Look for signal to noise ratios of 100 decibels or larger. My machine has 105 db S/N ratio, but on certain recordings Dolby PL IIx post processing adds noise in the form of hiss. When I cut out the PL IIx post processing, the hiss goes away. Only a few recordings act this way and I have no idea what is going on. The process of converting SACD to PCM and then PL IIx Music post processing kills two cuts on the SACD. Bottom line is to try other forms of post processing to see if the hiss is reduced. All that takes is a few key strokes on the remote. Bill PS: See what stereo direct does to the hiss. B

The Denon may have too high an output impedance. If that turns out to be true, then a lower output impdance preamp/receiver may cure the problem. Other things to look at: Get a big (14awg or 12 awg) and long extension cord. Try plugging the system into different circuits. Sometimes, the system is on the same power leg as a noisey device. I've had trouble with halogen lights for example. The microprocessors in my garage door openers don't like halogen near by etc. Bill PS: Refrigerators are also very noisy in some cases. B

Brandon, The hiss may be from a impedance mismatch between the Denon and the Rotel. Dig out the manuals and look up the output impedance on the Denon's preamp and the input impedance on the Rotel. You can also try a different receiver if you can beg or borrow one. The manuals may be the easier route. My RF-7s are run by an outboard amp and receiver. There is no hiss. The last thing that I would do in your case is get rid of the Rotel. It should do very good work with the RF-7s, based on the information from other Rotel 1090 owners. Hiss can get into the signal chain in many ways, then the high sensitivity speakers faithfully reproduce the input. It taks more work to get the best sound out of Klipsch speakers, but the bottom like is that VERY few speakers can compete with the dynamics and sound quality once the klipsch are "dialed in." Bill

tkd, As receivers go, your Denon is way above average. However, the wattage figures given are likely for 8 ohm load resistors. The issue would be easier to analyze, if 4 ohm and 2 ohm figures were given. Per Ohm's law, when impedance falls in half, current requirements double to maintain a fixed voltage (fixed SPL level). If the current does not double, then frequency response suffers as the proper voltage cannot be maintained. The bottom line on any receiver is to run all speakers as small. The bass frequencies are much more demanding than high frequencies, i.e., more wattage is require to play 100 Hz than 10,000 Hz at a given SPL. Subwoofers usually have their own amps, so spreading the load between the receiver and the subwoofer is an optimal strategy, when the sub(s) is/are properly integrated. Bill

High current amps have big transformers, big caps and many output devices per channel. The other thing to look for on any amp running Klipsch speakers is a high signal to noise ratio, >100 db in a solid state amp. Always listen before you buy, if possible, or be able to return a poor sounding amp. Poor designs can have good S/N ratios and bad sound, but no hiss. The trouble with most receivers is that they have one pair of MOS-FETs per channel. A good receiver like the B&K has three pairs of MOS -FET output devices per channel. The Sunfire receiver uses bipolar semiconductors. Transients require big caps. The measure for big caps is the amp's output peak to peak. My Sunfires put out 120 amps and 100 amps peak to peak. On conventional SS amps, weight can be a good indicator for high current. The trouble with the weight theory is that there are many exceptions in one form or another of digital amps like the Sunfire. Bill

My RF-7s have been run on THX Select and Ultra2 receivers as well as separate amps all the way up to 625 wpc. The Ultra2 AVRs are ok, provided you set the mains to small and run them at an 80 Hz crossover. With the big amps, the mid-range improves and the bass tighens up on the RF-7s. I run the crossover at 50 Hz per BobG's recommendation, but only with the amps that have the current capacity. The total wattage is not really necessary, but a high current amp is what makes the RF-7s shine. A good tube amp with 4 ohm taps and at least 40 wpc will also do well with 2 channel music. Bill PS: The high current amps generally have very low output impedance, so they have no trouble with the complex impedance of the RF-7s. B

The place to ask this question is in the 2 channel forum where the Khorn users reside. Most folks over there use tube amps, but there are some that use solid state. Bill

All receivers and processors allow the user to set SPL levels so that your speakers' output is balanced. The added sensitivity of RF-7s is a plus as long as good electronics are used. Hum and hiss are increased with high sensitivity speakers. Again, balancing the output levels is easy with a sound meter. Meters are relatively inexpensive. Any form of equalization needs to be used with care. Adding room treatments is preferable to equalization. Bass frequencies benefit the most from equalization. Nulls should NOT be boosted, but peaks can be cut. Bill

If the only thing that does not work is the phone circuit, then a Radio Shack phone line suge protector will get you up and running. They are inexpesnsive. There is a model that is for laptop computers that has one outlet and dual phone output jacks. Bill

It sounds like your Monster unit took a power surge through the phone line and stopped it. Contact Monster under the warranty. Surge supressors with metal oxide varistors wear out due to stopping power spikes. It is better than loss of your equipment. I use series type supressors for my gear. The amps in particular sound better and so far, the series types have not failed. Furman is the brand I'm using. They do use an MOV for lightening hits, but most supression is series type that does not restrict current. Bill

While I'm a fan of the old RF-7s and RSW subs, there are plenty of options in the current lineup. For example, an all Heresey theater with the THX subs would be a killer theater. Just set the crossover at 80 Hz with an all small setting and go for it. If the Rf-83s are too big, try the RF63s or RF-82s. There is still a market in Rf-7s and RC-7 both new and used. Change is inevitable and nothing to be concerned about at a company like Klipsch. Bill

vman, You may be sitting in a null. Movement of the sub can easily help this. Since your mains are set as large, you could have a phase problem with your mains cancelling your subs output. There are several choices to deal with phase issues. First try the mains as small. Second, have another person flip the phase switch on the RSW-15, then listen to bass heave passages. Then rewind and flip the switch the other way. The SMS-1 has a sweep the is output to your TV to see frequency response. You can change phase settings in fifteen degree increments. You can get phase spot on. The SMS-1 can tell you where the nulls are in the room, but it cannot fix them. You have to move either the sub or the listening position. I had a null at my viewing position. I moved the RSW-15, added an RSW-12 and added the SMS-1. Bass is relatively even throughout the room and bass is very tight. Bill

Placement issues should be considered when you are torn between the RC-64 and RC-7. The RC-64 is designed to fit on a shelf below a flat screen TV, if the stand is wide enough etc. The RC-7 is taller and was intended to be able to be mounted higher. IMO, go with the better physical fit for the long term. They are both great speakers to use with RF-7s. Bill

Very cool!!!! It will give you a very nice multi-purpose room. Can you come over and do one for me???? Just kidding on the project for me, but many would hire you for such work. Bill