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RB 61 II


andrewko

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hi guys, i have been looking around for some time now, at first really wanted RB 81s but now settling on 61 II's, not sure why but doesnt seem like theres whole lot of info/feedback on RB 61's, so here is my thing... going to be my primary LR for everything i do on PC that is (music and some movie time, maybe games) going to end up with 2.1 for now (sub coming some time later) now how is the bass? deep? will it be too much with a sub later on? now here is where im having much trouble, deciding on a decent receiver!!! so PLEASE HELP !! was thinking about running it with Denon 2311ci (to be honest i do not know much at all about receivers so if RB 61 II's work better with something else feel free!!) oh and im sorry for not being so educated just yet, and thank you !

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The RB-61 IIs are very good speakers. They would be very similar sounding to the RF-62s, just less sound stage. That's the compromise you make with smaller speakers. The bass from the 61s will be excellent when compared to other "computer" speakers. It should be relatively deep and tight, but could benefit from a sub. When you do get the sub, you can use the receiver to change your cross-over point. That will send all of the deep bass to the sub and decrease the amount of bass you are getting form the front L/R.

You will want to set your bookshelves further away from you than you would for normal computer speakers. Maybe 3-6 foot as a guess.

The Denon will work great and will allow you to expand your system in the future if you choose. You could certainly go with a $200.00 2.1 channel stereo receiver if you wanted. That would save you some cash, but wouldn't work as a home theater receiver in the future. Kinda up to you.

Good luck!

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I was dissapointed with the bass response from the rb-61s. I used them for surrounds for a while and for that they did great. I only tested them without a subwoofer a couple of times. For computer speakers they would work good. Get a nice sub with them and i think you will be extremely satisfied. If you do not plan to upgrade then yeah a 2.1 receiver (these can be had for cheaper than a 7.1 receiver) will work great.

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hey thank you guys for some info!! yeah i will eventually id like to upgrade to more speakers so yeah getting the right equipment now will save in the long run. now there are different models of Denon available, my strategy on getting a Denon receiver is to put my eye on something i like ( around 800$) and wait it out or find a good deal for around 500 or so. anything specific that u guys think will work great?

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The great thing about 2 channel receivers is usually their simplicity and affordability compared to multi channel receivers. Denon is a great brand to choose from! I would look at the Harman Kardon 2 channel receivers, i have one and i love it, its about 10 years old but it has aged well! Also check out marantz :). You can usually find great used 2 channel receivers on craigslist.

The rb-61 II's should sound pretty good, i prefer a larger soundstage that the rb-81's put out but to each their own. When you couple it with a subwoofer, that will take care of the low end and things should be more seamless. I would like to note though, have a sub under your desk or to the side, you may not really hear the bass since you would be so close to it. I have a bose companion set and the sub module has a rear firing port whicch reverbs up the wall so i can actually hear the bass, it seems to work well. I had a rpw-10 under my desk and with a front firing driver and front firing port, i noticed the bass much less.

My only other suggestion is to keep your speakers a bit away from your desk as suggested above. This will give the speakers a chance to disperse the sound. I dont think your realize how large the speakers are, especially on a desk and trying to toe them in towards your listening position. They are big!

I am only saying this because i tried it with both a rb-5 (8" woofer) and rb-3 (6" woofer) and the results weren't too awesome, i had them flanking my monitor and toed in, they just werent far enough away from me to sound good.

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yeah but if i get 2 ch receiver now, later on ill have to dust off my wallet again for a 5.1 or 7.1 one, so id rather get it now unless im somehow convinced not to go that route....

also i have measured those speakers before to see how they gonna go with my desk and suck, should be good, the distance from speakers to listening couch will be about 12 ft or a bit more, now when im at the computer i think it should be ok for short clips and stuff...

so are there any specific model that you guys would recommend (receivers)

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Hey Andrew, Good to see people are getting you going in the right direction. [Y]

Thanks guys for helping Andrew out, he originally posted this in the "2 Channel" Section and I recommended he try the "HT" section.

Looks like he is in good hands!

Dennie

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hey hey, ur on it! thanks for regulating me here!!! if any of you have anything else to add please do it make it easier for me, and thank you guys for understanding and not just sending away!

Well, now that you mention it, I do have a little input. As far as the receiver goes, in your price range, get the features you need. If you need HDMI, make sure it has HDMI. If you plan on playing records, make sure it has a phono input. If you have an Ipod, make sure it has an Ipod input and so on.

It sounds like the RB 61 II's are a good way to start and you can move them to surrounds when you upgrade the main speakers.

.....and most importantly, don't be afraid to ask questions. We believe there are no such things as Stupid questions, just stupid people who don't ask questions!!!

Dennie

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When do you plan on needing your receiver to be used for HT? I ask because receivers change so much that you may find yourself wanting an updated receiver in 3-4 years. If your not planing on using it for 2-3 years then you may not be saving yourself any money by over purchasing now (for future use). You can probably find a decent 2 channel option (at least for desktop audio) for well under $100 just for use on your PC now. If I was gonna spend money sort of "inadvance" of actually needing something it would be on speakers as they can pretty much last forever if cared for properly.

Actually now that I am thinking about desktop audio maybe you would benefit from a set of Promedia's? They can be found for under $100 and sound great for PC use. I actually use them in my bedroom now that my PC is hooked up to my HT. You won't have the problem of having to back them off your desk and the little sub they come with is great for the price. Sorry to steer you off track just throwing out an option.

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im thinking that for the next year or maybe year and a half ill probably only be using 2.1 setup so i guess im going to look into two ch ones and see if anything and as far as receivers changing all the time im behind you 100%, so i thought if make a jump ahead will save but i guess its going to be outdated by then.

owned some of those smaller speakers before and after upgrading to sharp bookshelves i do not want to go back...

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Hey I've also gone that route. I started off with the RB 61IIs for my system and gradually upgraded to floorstanders from there. The 61s are great. Here are my impressions of them.

http://community.klipsch.com/forums/p/139514/1416598.aspx#1416598

As far as receivers go I agree that they do change all the time but the question becomes how far are you willing to take your home theater? If you're not going to incorporate 3d etc then you don't need the latest and greatest. Then most receivers nowadays come with 3d now anyway. But with you having a basic system I don't think you'll be affected by any of the changes in the receiver line next year. I say go ahead and get a receiver and if for some reason you see a feature in a newer model that you have to have then you can either keep the receiver you have and use it for a second system or sell it. Plus some receivers offer firmware upgrades which will add features so check into that as well when you're looking at receivers. Harman Kardon for etc added 3d support to their receivers this year via a firmware update.

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hey read ur review on these, sounds like a good place to put my money in, dont think ill ever be able to get floorstanding ones so rb 62 is final, now on my quest for a good receiver! ive looked into some 2ch ones and was not too impressed by what ill be saving, so a decent 2 ch is about 300 now i can get a decent denon 7.1 or 5.1 for just a bit over 500, yeah thats 200, i will not need 5 or 7 ch anytime soon thats obvious but when i do want to add center or something ill have to get on this quest again.... so kinda on a fence here,

i know ive asked this before, anyone recommends denon 2311ci ? or does anyone recommends against it? i did look into harman/yamaha but for some reason keep going back to denon so please guys let me know if i should get away from it or safe to get.

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Hey Andrew, the Denon is "safe to get" if it has the features you want/need. Lot's of us run Denon and are quite happy with them. You really can't go wrong with Denon, they make great AVR's. [Y]

If you've found the one you want, go ahead and get it.

Dennie

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I don't personally have any experience with Denon but the specs on the 2311 seem pretty good! The only thing I don't like is the fact that it doesn't have preouts......but pretty much any receiver in the $500 range won't have preouts. I know you said you don't ever plan on getting floorstanders but you never know......especially being on this forum. These guys will give you that upgradeitis rather quickly, lol. But on a serious note I made the mistake of getting a receiver without preouts....then when I upgraded my system I purchaed an amp but couldn't use it......had to get another receiver. Once again I'm not saying you will need an amp if you ever do upgrade but its a just in case thing. Unfortunately all of the receivers I looked at in that range were lacking preouts.

I haven't had any experience with Denon......with Yamaha they are pretty good units but I've never been a big fan of them. Great features but the sound never impressed me. My friends have Klipsch systems with Yamaha receivers and while they do sound good it never really blew me away. It also bordered on being too bright but I don't know if it was the receiver or something else such as the room etc.

I have an Onkyo receiver and I must say they impress me. Onkyo is a bright receiver too but its warmer than Yamaha in my experience. I've never had listening fatigue or had my ears bleed as some folks would say. The Onkyo paired up really well with the 61 IIs. Now the Onkyo is a more "theater" receiver. The sound effects in movies really spring to life with the Onkyo. They have a great presence and great dynamics. Music sounds good but it isn't as warm as some other receivers which lead me to the next brand

I also have a Harman Kardon receiver. As far as looks nothing can beat a Harman in my opinion. They are also built like tanks. Very heavy, everything about them exudes quality. The Harman lives up to its rep of being a musical unit. The sound I get from the Harman on my 7 IIs is VERY warm. Where as before the 7s were bright but not ear bleeding so. But that probably was because I was using them without any type of crossover management. The Harman tamed the speakers alot. Had a very warm sound and it sounded great with music BUT home theater wise that warmness hurts it a little. It sounds good with home theater but the impact....the presence that the Onkyo had is missing with the Harman. I still enjoyed watching movies with it but I just wish it had more presence. More of a sound stage. I found myself turning up the volume a few times to get the impact I felt with the Onkyo. But music-wise the Harman excels. It impressed me so much with music that I'm setting up a 2ch system with the 61s strictly for music. They have a nice 2 ch receiver for a little over $200 on Amazon.

Denon and Marantz are sister companies. Folks have said that Marantz puts out a very warm sound as well. Denon I've heard different things but for the most part I've heard they sound similar to Marantz. Don't know how close so you can't really go wrong with any of those brands. Here are some links to some units in your price range

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-NR609-Channel-Certified-Receiver/dp/B004O0TRD8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303756810&sr=1-6

or you can go for last year's model which is cheaper

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR608-7-2-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B003BIFOL8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303756810&sr=1-1

A Yamaha

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V667-7-2-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B003P2V52M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303758210&sr=1-1

Here is last years model of a Marantz....but you will lose some HDMI ports compared to the others I listed. And you will also lose 3d but it was the only midrange Marantz I could find in the price range, Others were $200 more

http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-SR5004-Audio-video-Receiver/dp/B002KKCPAG/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303758380&sr=1-11

Harman Unit

http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-Performance-compatible-Upscaling/dp/B002IKKFU0/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303758907&sr=1-4

All of those units pretty much have the same features. But here are a couple of differences.

Onkyo has upscaling and so does the Harman. So if you hook anything to the non HD inputs it will upscale it to 1080p and output it via HDMI.

The Harman has 4 HDMI compared to 6 on the Onkyo, Yamaha, and Denon.

The Harman has the lowest watts per channel but Harman are usually rated with all channels driven while the others are usually rated on 2 ch driven. So in real world usage the power of the Yamaha, Denon and Onkyo probably won't meet the 100+ wpc. But then again Klipsch speakers are so sensitive I doubt you'll notice.

Onkyo and Denon have Audessey which is a great auto setup system. Harman and Yamaha both use proprietary setups

They all have their own implementation of a music optimizer for mp3s.

Onkyo is THX Certified. That means the unit has been tested to meet the standards of THX audio reproduction. Not saying the others don't meet the standards....they just didn't pay for the test. Nonetheless its rare for a receiver in this price range to have the certification.

Onkyo has network capability which is also unheard of at this price. You can stream music from Pandora, etc without a pc. I know you're setting up a system based on the pc but hey you won't have to boot it up just to listen to music.

They all have Ipod docks that are sold seperately except the Onkyo which just uses USB. So they all show album art etc on your tv. Not sure if the Onkyo has ipod control via the receiver remote the way the others do.

Hope that helps you out

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wow you really took your time to address my need!! i greatly appreciate you going this extra mile to answer my questions and give great suggestions!! so thank you for that and it just makes this forum look inviting! great job guys for keeping this community healthy !!

i guess all i gotta do now is roll the dice!

so my next question is about pre outs, from what i got its basically a power boost for more speakers if receiver can not handle the capacity? i do not want to pay for someting that is cheap, and i also do not want to pay crazy money, how useful are pre outs? and how much would something decent go with pre outs?

thanks again guys!!

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Yes the preouts will give you the capability to give your speakers a power boost if needed. Basically the preouts are outputs that hook up to an external amp. So you will have to buy another component whenever you want to take advantage of them but amps do make a difference in sound. Don't get me wrong Klipsch sound great hooked up to the receiver but if you want more headroom and more power and if you want your speakers to really come to life then an amp will do all of that. Now I doubt you'll need or even want an amp for the bookshelf speakers but if you ever do make an unexpected upgrade to floorstanders and decide your receiver isn't cutting it as far as power goes then instead of buying another receiver you can just get an amp and hook it up to the preouts.....essentially allowing you to use the receiver as a processor or just use the receiver to power your less demanding speakers (surrounds) or your surrounds and center.

I didn't see any preouts on the receivers until I stepped up to the next level. So generally for about $200 more and up. As I said this is all based on a what if sort of thing. You won't need the preouts now and you don't forsee yourself going bigger but what if you do? But as i said before as a last resort if you do go bigger and if for whatever reason the receiver isn't cutting it then you can move the receiver to another room and buy a new one or just sell it to recoup some money and then buy a new one. But if you're pretty sure about not uprading then just save your money and go with one of the midrange receivers. Either the Denon you are debating on or one of the others.

And no problem. The research was pretty quick. But I know how intimidating this can be. But with help you will have yourself a fine home theater setup! So continue to ask questions. Thats the best way to learn. Before you know it you'll be giving out advice to other members! Good luck on your decision and let us know which receiver you decide to get

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