mattearn2 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hi, I finally bought my first Klipsch speakers yesterday. I was so close to going for soundbars but ended up with a pair of RB61 ( hopefully right decision). These are the previous version ones. At the moment these are going to be the only speakers in the system and mostly I will use it to listen to music (and occasionally for movies etc). In the near future I will look to add a center speaker to the system (RC series probably?). I have searched through the forum and it seems like Klipsch's performance is very sensitive to right AV receiver. I am looking to spend under $300. Thanks in advance for your help. Hugely appreciated. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Hi Matt and welcome to the nuts-ness of this hobby. I have a pair of 61's and so far I've noticed that the distance from the surrounding walls has quite a bit to do with the bass output. I use them in a B-Zone and at first I had them snug up against a rear and side wall in a corner of the room on speaker stands. The problem was there wasn't much bass. Then I applied the same theory to these as I did to my livingroom system. I moved the speaker stands out from the rear wall about 4-inches and a fair amount of bass came back. Not a LOT of bass but some. I would have moved them from the side wall too but there's no room. As far as what A/V receiver to use? I guess I got lucky there. I was cruising Craig's List and found a sweet Pioneer ELITE VSX-49TXi for $400 in great condition (MSRP $4,500). It's 130 wpc and spits out 7.1. I don't use it for home theater but just play it 2-channel going to 3 sets of speakers. After using the accoustic auto eq setup I boosted the bass a couple of notches for each channel and the 61's sounded fine. A little background: the main speakers on this Pioneer is a pair of KLF-20's and after the auto eq setup was done they were a bit bright. But you can always readjust the eq settings after the "auto" does it's thing. One more thing; These Pioneers have one thing that kind of bothers me a bit. I'm one of those people that likes to use the "Loudness" button. But on the Pioneers they will only let you use the auto-eq OR the loudness, not both. Sorry, but I feel that some rooms just need both. So Craig's List or a decent used unit might be the way to go. A new unit for $300 might be hard to come by if you want it for A/V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattearn2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thanks for your reply. I am a bit disappointed with this bass issue already then. Is it possible to use these with stands or are they too big for that? Also for the receiver any specific brand / model to look for? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I do have mine on stands, they're not too big for em' . I have mine on a pair from AudioaAdvisor, Pangaea DS3. They're pretty heavy and sturdy and $125/pr. with free shipping and no tax if you live outside of MI. I filled mine with play sand from Home Depot for $3. The RB81's, I think, would be too big. I've heard Yamaha was too bright as far as A/V receivers go but I haven't heard one. Before I got the Pioneer I had mine on a Carver Receiver ( MX-150 @ 150 wpc) and it put out plenty of bass. But that unit died and parts are scarce (namely speaker relays) since Carver has gone belly up at least twice. Plus when using 4 speakers the power just gets divided by 4 so it's no longer 150 wpc but only 75 wpc. And it sounds like it too, the dynamics and detail just go down the crapped. Then again, the B-Zone on the Pioneer I'm using may not be using the same eq curve that gets applied to the A-Zone. But for the price I paid I can't complain. Putting another McIntosh system together would mean a long turm loan or taking out a large bit of equity out of the house. If I were you I would look for a Denon since they have ties with McIntosh. Oddly enough I have my doubts with Marantz but I would give them a try. You may even want to take the 61's to the store and see how they sound with XXX receiver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattearn2 Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Let me look what devices I can find for receiver. I will probably bother you again, checking specific items once i find some. So i should aim 100wpc or higher on 8ohms? For the stands, how did you attach them? They don't have mounting holes? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 100 wpc or higher is a good goal. Also, I would keep the THD under .09 if you can. Just be sure the power rated goes to EACH speaker and divided if you play more than a single pair. The speakers are just sitting on the stands by gravity only with little button rubber feet. The stands do come with spikes if you want to get the most out of the bass. Also, be sure the speakers are level. I used a bubble level for a pool table. At first I didn't think that mattered til I attended a seminar by Nordost at my local "salon" dealer. I went home and did it to my main system and it made a sizeable improvement in imaging and detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattearn2 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 I can find refurbished Denon AVR2308 for quite a good price. Seemed quite good to me. Any experience with this, anyone? Just from specs, is it a good choice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattearn2 Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Also how about Sony STRDH510 or Sony STRDH520? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 For some reason I never gave Sony a lot of respect when it comes to stereo gear with the exception of source gear (my first CD player was CDP-111s). Personally I would stick with the Denon's, Marantz's, Yamaha's, Outlaw's, B&K's, et al. However, I'm in love with their TV's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_benjammin Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Sign up on newegg.com's mailing list, they have regular weekend sales for decent receivers in your price range. I have the same RB 61s with a sub from mewegg and an old Denon (75wpc) from craigslist, sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 The Sony STR DH 510 does not have a mic for autocalibration on US models. I have one and do not like the setup. Get an avr that is at least 100-110 watts/per channel. I don't know about the STR DH 520. But, Sony does have some higher scale avr that are last years models( deep discounts) and they are pretty good. Most of the name brands such as, Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo, HK and Denon are all pretty good. Pick something with the additional features that you like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattearn2 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 ordered one of these: http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/42/98/405/VSX-421/index.html anyone has any experience with it? or how does it sound just from the specs? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattearn2 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 hi, also why are there 4 inputs in each of these speakers? how do you connect them? what type of cable, thickness etc? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 In case the user would want to bi-wire or bi-amp their speakers. Just be sure to remove the metal straps that connect the pairs of binding posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Teresa Wright Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have rf-62's and I thought I read somewhere on this forum, to not remove the metal straps, unless you are going to bi-amp/b-wire the speakers?? Mine are still on, they sound fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have rf-62's and I thought I read somewhere on this forum, to not remove the metal straps, unless you are going to bi-amp/b-wire the speakers?? Mine are still on, they sound fine. You are correct Teresa... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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