New here! My Klipsch/Yamaha 663 setup and questions

[ericatunc]

Hi everyone!

I've been upgrading my HT equipment piece by piece over the last couple of years. This past weekend I purchased the awesome Sub-12 from HHGregg, along with a Yamaha RX-V663 receiver. Last year I upgraded my center channel to a RC-52.

Now, for my front left/right...I have limited space on the sides of my Pioneer 6020. I decided to go with the XB-10s for my L/R. I really liked the sound of them, this past weekend I was looking for new front L/R so I could move the XB-10s to the back as surrounds. I know the RB-51's are 'matched' to the RC-52, but I couldn't find ANY to listen to, and I really won't buy anything without listening first. I bought the WB-14s from Best Buy and returned them the next day and got the XB-10s for $399. So now I have XB-10s all the way around.

I don't see a lot of reviews for these XB-10s, or a lot of people using them as surrounds. This makes me somewhat nervous, but the sound is really great I think. Is it really that big a deal that they don't match the center? The auto settings of the Yamaha set the XB-10s to small and RC-52 to large, should the center be small as well? Any opinions on this?

Also, my sub-12 seems to stay in standby and it's hard to get out. I do have a RCA Y cable, should I use that and go into the L/R on the sub? The crossover knob on the back of the sub is turned up all the way, and my receiver set the crossover to 80Hz.

Thanks!

Eric

[tommyboy]

First off, welcome to the forum! Yes, set your center to small. (set them all to small) Large is for speakers capable of producing sounds below a certain Hz. Timbre matching is very important in HT. (in a nut shell that means that all your speakers produce the same sound) And your center is not matched to your other speakers. But, you said it sounds good to you, so if you like it, then roll with it. You probably can't find reviews on yoru speakers because they're some what new. You should hook up your sub with an actual subwoofer cable. Hook it up to the LFE on the back of yoru receiver, then into the white input on your sub 12. And abotu the standby thing, just leave the sub on. Put it on on instead of auto. And yes, it's perfectly ok to do this..............

[ericatunc]

Thanks. I do have a subwoofer cable hooked to my sub-12. I have a Y cable, should I use that go split to the L/R on the back of the sub? I've read other discussions on here about this issue. Maybe my next upgrade can be to a center channel that matches the 4 XB-10s I have.

[Eskimo1]

Maybe my next upgrade can be to a center channel that matches the 4 XB-10s I have.

Upgrade would be RF-52 fronts that will timbre-match to your center, and use the XB-10's for side and rear surround! []

(And there's nothing special about a "subwoofer cable", it's just half of a RCA cable pair. More marketing magic smoke from our "friends" at Monster, et al) Sometimes using both inputs with the y-splitter can help "wake-up" a lazy input like you're thinking... give it a shot!

[ericatunc]

Hmm, now I'm wondering if I should return the 2 front XB-10's and get the RB-51s or RF-52s. What do you guys think? I'd probably get the 51s just because of space considerations. They seem to be a lot larger than the XB-10s and have more watts.

[Eskimo1]

I would absolutely do that! If you don't have the room for the towers, than ya don't have the room.. Not a big deal.

Don't really pay any attention to "watts" on a speaker, it's not an indication of any kind of sound quality.

The fact that your mains will match the center channel WILL help quite a bit, and should be very pleasing.

But since I'm so darn good at spending other people's money, keep in mind that the RF-52's are basically the same width, only 4" deeper, and overall height will be basically the same height once you put the RB-51's on stands to get them to the proper height. They WILL give you a "fuller" sound and will dig down deeper thanks to the larger cabinet.

Either way, you're much better off than with the XB-10's.

[ericatunc]

Eskimo1, I just want to thank you for your advice. I ordered and received the RB-51s from Crutchfield and hooked them up front with my RC-52 center. Man, what a difference! It really does pay to have the front L/R match the center. I really didn't think I'd be able to hear the difference but I can. I am a very happy guy right now!

Now if I can just get that darn sub to come out of standy mode easier....

Thanks again,

Eric

[carbon summit]

I'm having the same issue with my Sub-10 not turning on with my 663. Did you find a fix?

One hint that I've found else where on the 663. Go into the set up menu, go to volume, and turn off DRC. Try it for yourself but for me the sound quality difference was night and day. I don't listen to my music that loud most of the time and with DRC on it sounded so flat and dull it was terrible.

[carbon summit]

I guess I should say I'm having the same problem when I listen to music, movies work. I wonder if I've set something that my sub is only for LFE? Man I hate to get the manual out but it may be time...

[carbon summit]

Ok, no manual, just blind luck.

If you go to manual setup, then basic set up, then speaker set, then arrow down (which was a mistake that worked!) go to LFE/bass out and mine was set to front so I switched it to both and the sub jumped to life.

I know its said you should have the sub in the front but I've got mine in the rear left corner of my room with KG 3.2s set for small for the rear channels. For fronts I'm using Forte IIs set for large. So when I listened to music the Forte IIs did fine with the bass but with the sub it seems to fill better now with the sub in the rear and the Forte IIs up front.

I'm no expert, just learing as I go so if anyone sees something wrong let me know.