Home Theater Upgrades?

[Turnyface]

HT upgrades?

[derrickdj1]

The WF 35 is a beautiful speaker and will enhance your HT experience over the WB 14's as front speakers. As far as the avr goes, it depends on you listening habits. More power can give you more headroom to handle transients and peaks at louder levels, which is what most people want from a HT. As far as amps go, it starts to get into personal preference and the signature look that you want for your HT and it's foot print, since size is an issue A great HT can be done with bookself speakers and a couple of good subs. A second small sub for your HT will give you the most bang for your buckets. Others will chime in on this post.

[Turnyface]

A second small sub for your HT will give you the most bang for your buckets.

I like this idea. Do you think if I add another HSU SFT-1 to my system, it will overpower my bookshelf setup? What gains will I see from this - more rumble in the jungle?

EDIT: What about adding 2 more WB14's for a 7.1 system? Good idea? I can't seem to find anymore new WF-35's (newegg is sold out and everywhere else is overpriced).

[joshjp]

Adding a second sub will give you 3db's, and will most likley smoth out the bass responce in your room, it wont overpower you speakers.

[Turnyface]

Please excuse my inexperience with terminology. Could you please explain what "3db's" is? Decibels?

[joshjp]

Yes it is Decibels.

[Turnyface]

Will something like this work for the two sub setup?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021815&p_id=5611&seq=1&format=2

[Turnyface]

Or will adding the WF-35's be a better option?

[Scrappydue]

well first i was going to say yes, get the towers. they will make a difference over your bookshelfs in output and looks. but since you mentioned moving that set to the bedroom, and moving to the refrence line, i think it would be a waste of money to get towers when bookshelves all around in the bedroom will be perfect. if i was you and you really wanted to upgrade anything, i would keep the future in mind. you could get rf towers now ( wouldn't be perfect timbre match). or you could add an amp that you want to drive your towers with once you get them. or another option is a second sub for this system now but once you move what you have now to the bedroom, it would be your primary subwoofer. not sure how big you are wanting to go in your room now, so its hard to make suggestions. plus WAF (wife acceptance factor) will play a part in the refrence line as they are not near as pretty as the furniture grade stuff. but all food for thought. if you have any more questions let us know, that what we are here for []

[elitedemo]

I personally think your biggest weakness is the sub, my suggestion is sell the sub and use any money your looking at spending on towers to fund the purchase of a new and much stronger sub, the stf-1 is only rated to 32hz, your going to be missing out on alot, then decide what your budget is for that and ask around, there are tons of options depending on room size and budget

Get the best sub you can

[Turnyface]

I do agree that the bookshelf speakers would be perfect for the bedroom.

As far as the reference towers go, should I go all out and pick up a pair of the RF 7 ii's (which would prevent future tower upgrades - or would it?) or would I be satisfied with the 82's or 62's?

I'm about 50/50 music and movies.

[psg]

I personally think your biggest weakness is the sub, my suggestion is sell the sub and use any money your looking at spending on towers to fund the purchase of a new and much stronger sub, the stf-1 is only rated to 32hz, your going to be missing out on alot, then decide what your budget is for that and ask around, there are tons of options depending on room size and budget

Get the best sub you can

+1

Get a sub that goes to 25 Hz, at least, such as the old Hsu STF-3 (I used to have one) or even lower to 20 Hz. Great for action movies!

[Turnyface]

Okay. Seems like yhr consensus is a new sub. I'll keep my current sub for when we move the system to the bedroom. Keeping in mind I'll be upgrading to the RF 7 line, what are some sub recommendations? I've heard good things about SVS. Any specific models of subs I should pair with my system?

[elitedemo]

If your thinking about rf7s then make sure to get a very very good sub for them, I've owned 2 different svs subs and they are a great company, they have gotten more expensive since coming out

Whats your budget area and expectations?

[Turnyface]

I don't want to say my budget is unlimited for a sub, but I'm open to spending up to $3000 now to upgrade my system or start piecing together another system.

I guess I'm looking best bang for buck when it comes to a sub. Surely a more expensive sub may have better specs, but the price difference between multiple subs needs to be justified IMO. So with this information, suggestions?

[elitedemo]

I like the info I've seen on the rythmik it seems to compete right on par with the much more expensive svs pb13 ultra for that reason I won't put the svs in here

http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FV15HP.html

I have the a7-350 and it does a pretty good job, I would suggest at least an a5-350 or better from ed, the lt1300 amp is on backorder though so my first choice would be the rythmik

http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_41

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-15h.html

there is always the epik empire as well but I think the choices above cover the bases pretty good

Also you can take a look at seaton submersive, they are suppose to be killer subs at the 2k pricepoint, many reviews with them vs svs pb/pc 13 ultras

[Scrappydue]

Well I own the svs pb-13ultra and all I can say is wow! It is awesome! However I think you should let us know what kind of space you have as everything mentioned above are pretty large and can look goddy in the wrong room.

With that being said when I looked around at subs I read tons of reviews, everyone seemed to say the rhythmik subs are great, I however think they are very unaatractive. And I read a few reviews of their customer service being not that great. Big minus points for me.

Then people were suggesting elemental designs. Read up a bunch on their stuff too. Once again very unimpressed with their looks, and also read that their customer service was not on par with their prices. Everyone recommends these over the more expensive svs. But when I started reading on them. There is zero negative reviews! And everyone preached about their customer service. Some called them to get a feel for them. Two hours later I got off the phone with Ed in sales and holy cow! What a nice conversation with a complete stranger about stereos in general. So for the extra money the beautiful finish and zero negative reviews that put them at the top of my list. They also have a great warranty service and a forty day in home trial, as well as an update period for a year if you decided to go with a pb-12, then 9 months later decide you want the big daddy pb-13 you just have to pay shipping and they I've you exactly what you payed for the pb-12. All food for thought. Don't rule them out because they are a little pricier.

[Turnyface]

Sorry for the delayed response - I've been extremely busy lately. Regardless, I do have some great news (at least for me)! I got a pretty hefty bonus at work and am going to put that towards my HT system. I'm moving to a new place in June and have a medium-large living room to display my home theater system. The room is nearly square and is in an open space.. I'm thinking I'm going to get the SVS PB 13 Ultra as well as my first reference system! I'm wondering if the RF-7 II Home Theater System is the best system Klipsch has to offer without jumping to the Palladium line? And on top of that, is the Palladium line superior to the RF line? As stated earlier, this will mainly be used for home theater, but I do also like to listen to music. Would it be logical to use the RF-7 II's as a 2 channel setup when I'm not using the HT setup? And any recommendations on separates (or dare I say an AVR) to power this system and have the ability to switch between 5.1 and 2 channel, giving the listening situation? I'm pretty partial to Marantz because that's what I currently have now and what my father had growing up. I am though, open to suggestions.

Thanks!

[willland]

I do have some great news (at least for me)! I got a pretty hefty bonus at work and am going to put that towards my HT system.

Sounds to me like you have a blank check to work with.

I'm wondering if the RF-7 II Home Theater System is the best system Klipsch has to offer without jumping to the Palladium line?

It definitely is in the Reference line.

And on top of that, is the Palladium line superior to the RF line?

I would hope so considering a pair of P-39's retailed for $20,000.00 and are well designed 3-way towers.

Here is a good starting point if you decide to go Palladium.

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/klipsch-palladium-p-39-speakers--2

As stated earlier, this will mainly be used for home theater, but I do also like to listen to music. Would it be logical to use the RF-7 II's as a 2 channel setup when I'm not using the HT setup?

Absolutely. Many on the forum use their RF-7II's in a 2-channel rig as well as HT.

And any recommendations on separates (or dare I say an AVR) to power this system and have the ability to switch between 5.1 and 2 channel, giving the listening situation?

You may consider getting a high quality integrated amp or preamp with a home theater bypass feature so you can totally integrated two systems with one pair of main speakers.

I'm pretty partial to Marantz because that's what I currently have now and what my father had growing up.

Without knowing your total budget for this venture, let me suggest a Marantz integrated or preamp with an HT bypass to take care of the 2-channel part of the equation.

There are so many options and price points to choose from. An Anthem pre/pro may be the way to go because they are known to be top notch for HT as well as very musical in 2-channel. Their ARC on board EQ is considered to be the best of the best. Pretty expensive if purchased new.

Other great HT pre/pros brands to consider that are considered very musical as well are NAD, Arcam, Marantz, Parasound, just to name a few.

Bill

[psg]

I'm wondering if the RF-7 II Home Theater System is the best system Klipsch has to offer without jumping to the Palladium line?

The best Klipsch has to offer without jumping to the Palladium lineis the Cinema line, including the Jubilee as mains. Whether Heritage (Klipschorns) or Reference (RF-7) are better after that is a toss-up depending on preference.