ne_surfer Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 Just purchased pair of RP-3's at clearance and bi-wired them to a Marantz 7200. A few questions ... - Why are the RP-3's being discontinued? - Should I connect the RP-3 subwoofer's to a sub out of my receiver or is the main channels biwire connection ok? - I have a small room to put my speakers in and cannot place them in many locations. I have each subwoofer angled 45 degrees from but only 6 inches from a wall. Seems ok but I seems to hear some booming. The speakers a mid-room. OK arrangement? - I found that I needed to plug the speakers in on the same power strip as my receiver, or I get a "thump" when I power down the receiver. Seems like an obvious thing, but the manual does not suggest this. - Why can the RF-3 (a close kin of the RP-3) handle so much more continuous power and the RP-3? - Is the KSW-10 sub the same as the built-in sub of the RP-3. If not, how much better is the KSW-10? What are the differences? - Should I have bought the Bose 701's for the same money instead? (just kidding, really). - I used 16 guage AR speaker cable at 20' lengths, biwire. Is this adequate? (BTW, I looked at monster cable, but they do not say what the wire guage is on their labels, and their cable seems light. When I buy cable, I want to lift it and feel the weight of the copper. How can monster be so light and yet preminum? Yes, the wires are farther apart than usual). - Is there a break-in period for the RP-3's (read in various forums)? What can I expect after the break-in and do I need to do something special? - How durable should I expect the sub electronics to be? I was hesitant to get a powered tower because of possible reliability issues. I want my RP-3's to go for years hopefully. Guess the same reliability issue would be there for a separate sub. - BTW, I was impressed with the RP-3's performance at low volumes, since I am in an apartment and cannot crank them up. All the detail and dynamic range was there at low volumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 Where is Talk-To-Keith when you really need him... roll on... oh Rolltide Evangelist of Powered Towers! Seriously, ne_surfer, T-T-K is a long time, quality contributor on this Forum and speaks to your issue like no other I have seen here. He will give you straight from the heart advice and has the experience to make it particularly worthwhile. He won't be long now... HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 hey welcome ne, numerous recent posting by ttk & myself on the rp (powered towers) hook-up. if u go to the front page & do a search for rp-3 or rp-5 should find a lotta info - especially in just the last few weeks. (i owned both rp-3 & rp-5 on my way to the holy grail ). ------------------ My Home Systems Page This message has been edited by boa12 on 02-11-2002 at 12:25 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ne_surfer Posted February 11, 2002 Author Share Posted February 11, 2002 I did find a lot of info on wiring up the RP-3's by searching the forum, as well as a lot of other good interesting info. One additinal question: Could I turn off my RP-3 powered subs and add a separate powered sub (say the ksw-10) to my system, and get an equivalent quality sound? I'm thinking that I have a problem with speaker placement in my small apartment, and I might want to spend the extra money to improve the base by being free to place a separate sub. How does an RP-3 w/o the sub powered compare to a RF-3, which has the two larger mid-bass speakers as opposed to the one small mid-bass in the RP-3. Is an RF-3 equivalent to an RP-3 w/o power to the subs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 ne, i can't really see the benefits of doing that to the rp w/ their 2 10" powered subs. those should easily outdo a single ksw-10 even if not placed optimally. just hook up the lfe ins to the sub preout in addition to the speaker level connections & experiment w/ placements & settings. a seperate sub in addition to the rp could also cause some overlap/standing wave problems on the low bass. if the marantz as a setting to send LFE Only to the sub preout (like keith's denon, though my marantz sr8000 doesn't have that feature except for direct mode w/ a 5.1 channel source), u may want to try that setting & maybe add a sep sub only for LFE. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 GOD ALMIGHTY he asks a lot of questions! :^) Hey surfer dude, does your receiver have a sub output, as boa asked? (BTW,congrats on selling the amp boa.What buy now?) Assuming the receiver does have the sub out,I would recommend speaker wire to the speaker inputs on the rear of the RP's',leaving jumpers in place, and sub cable from receiver sub out to LFE input on rear of RP's.Set bass management in receiver to 'LARGE' front speakers and sub out to 'LFE ONLY'.Adjust LFE gain on speaker to taste,and let 'er rip! If interested in bi-wirng I would recommend something like AudioQuest Slate wire(8 solid leads)or maybe AQ type 6 with 6 solid leads.Or use other solid copper wire for hi's and a stranded for the low end.The Slate wire seems to brighten up the hi's,to my ears anyway.But the AR wire you have should be fine. Ideally the speakers should be away from the walls to avoid the boominess that you spoke of.If you have them in opposite corners with the sub speaker facing the side wall,why not switch the speakers and have the subs facing each other? Would be a waste of money to buy a separate sub with your space limitations.The RP's will supply all the bass you'll need for music and most HT. Hope this helps. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 keith, thanks. for now the proceeds will go toward paying off the credit balance on that B&K 7270. next upgrade is hopefully a new, bigger house to better accomodate the systems. unless a digital connection or firewire format produces a combo dvd-audio/sacd player that tickles my fancy. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 let's see. biwire the top & bottom speaker posts & run line from the sub preout to the lfe ins. guess you'd call that simultaneous triwiring and triamping. i like it! if i hadn't traded the rp i'm sure i'd probably be there by now. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 yeah, its always something boa.Lets all meet down at avman's house and party like hell! Seen his HT room? WOW! Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 11, 2002 Share Posted February 11, 2002 sounds right keith, if av will have us. & fat tues starts in a few hours. i need to get me 1 of them big basements. & w/ that carpet already installed would be nice. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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