franticsled Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Hello, after selling my forte ll's i purchased a nice pair of RF-7 classic (not ll's) as I like the looks better. My fortes sounded great and I loved them but always wanted the 7's. After a good drive to get them, I hooked them up to the same avr with the same cables and changed nothing in the avr (Yamaha RX-A1000) there is a noticable hiss coming from the horn. I then hooked up my Yamaha M-70 and gave that a try and it is still there, just sounded a little ....flat. I then put a Yamaha EQ-70 inline and can adjust it out for the most part but I can still hear it and it changes the sound so much I don't care for it, not to mention I dont like adjusting the eq as I get confused on what I am after as there are so many changes you can make. I have read that they are picky buggers but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The 7's are 7' apart and slightly angled toward the listening area. and about 10" from the wall with the left one being 4.5' from the corner and the right 3' from the corner. I have a paradigm PS-1000 V.4 and have been playing with placement of the sub and speakers as I have read that some people have tamed them down a bit with placement. I can still hear the hiss no matter where they are so I put them back to the location that the fortes where in. I was thinking it may be as simple as the Yamaha amplifiers? I have read Rotel is a great match for them and was wondering what the rest of you folks think. I have a budget of around $500 to get a good used amp that is capable of driving these with the crystal clear results I had from my fortes. I feel as if I have spent more money and taken a step backwards as far as sound quality goes, I do not want to give up as I have heard the 7's many times at my dealer over the years and never really paid much attention to the amp. Any input would be great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I have a budget of around $500 to get a good used amp that is capable of driving these with the crystal clear results I had from my fortes. I feel as if I have spent more money and taken a step backwards as far as sound quality goes, I do not want to give up as I have heard the 7's many times at my dealer over the years and never really paid much attention to the amp. Any input would be great I think this Parasound will do the trick. http://app.audiogon.com/listings/multi-ch-parasound-hca-1500a-2-channel-power-amplifier-2013-01-04-amplifiers-53132-franklin-wi 205w/ch@8ohms, 315w/ch@4ohms http://www.parasound.com/vintage/hca1500a.php I think forum member Youthman has the 5-channel version. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted January 7, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 7, 2013 Yes, I have the 220 x 5 Parasound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Hook the amp to speakers, unhook pre, still got hiss ? I'm not so sure it's the amp, maybe pre ? Maybe amp, maybe other factors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 The heck of it is no matter how much I research an amp I always find bad reviews so it makes it hard to pull the trigger. I am not made of money so buying to try is not an option. I have heard a lot of good about emotiva and seems to be a few people on here using them. I called and talked to them and they suggested the XPA 100 mono because it has low gain. I guess I will have to research my current gear and see what its rated at. The trouble is I am by no means an expert and will not even pretend to know what all the specs mean. I do know the hiss is louder when using the M-70 as maybe it has a higher gain value? I talked to klipsch tech and he said that pretty much no matter what I do I will have the slight hiss as the speakers 101-102db rating is to blame and they will reproduce whatever signal is fed to them, even amp noise. I pretty much had that figured out which brings me back to a good clean affordable amp that I can use with the 7's. You think parasound should be my first try? Lets say under $1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompjs Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Is the hiss from the amp or the source. A lot of my classic rock CDs have tape hiss that you can hear at moderate to high volume Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 more pronounced in some tracks than others, but maybe double of what I heard from the fortes..... ever. I listen to the same songs a lot and know them pretty well. The more I listen to the 7's the more I like them but I do know I need a change for music. Movies it sounds great other than the fact the yamaha mic turns the center RC-7 up to +10 and it seems way to loud and can not handle that volume very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thompjs Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I have old Carver TFM-35x on mine and it seems pretty quiet. I tried running the Onkyo 809 amps on them and they clipped, so I went back. Of course you might come over and hear something I'm not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 After a good drive to get them, I hooked them up to the same avr with the same cables and changed nothing in the avr (Yamaha RX-A1000) there is a noticable hiss coming from the horn. I then hooked up my Yamaha M-70 and gave that a try and it is still there, just sounded a little ....flat. I have the RF 7's which are basicly the same as your classic 7's. I have 2 Yamaha M 70 amps and have had the 7's on both amps, the avr and Yamaha M 80. The speaker are dead quiet no matter what they are hooked up to. It may have something to do with the preamp. I don't think it is the amp. Others with more knowledge will chime in on the preamp as a possible cause, or ground loop issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 Movies it sounds great other than the fact the yamaha mic turns the center RC-7 up to +10 and it seems way to loud and can not handle that volume very well. Grab an SPL meter and mauually set the speaker levels using either a calibration disc or your receivers test tones. Something doesn't seem right about how your receiver is setting it up. I run QSC pro-amps on my 7's and they're extremely quiet with no input from a source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 I will do that, I think radio shack has them? Is there a good place to start with levels? I think its the m70 as after testing all day it is way louder with the M70 than with the AVR. I bought monster cable RCA cable thought that would do the trick......maybe not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I know other peoples level can't be used, but most of us sitting 10-14 ft away from the center have levels set in the negative numbers by MCACC and Audyssey autocalibration. Do the speakers sound ok on any channels? I would take the advice and get an spl meter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhenry Posted January 7, 2013 Share Posted January 7, 2013 I'll give you a vote towards B&K. Unfortunately, they are no longer in business which might scare some people away but my B&K gear has been fantastic for years and the sound is incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted January 7, 2013 Author Share Posted January 7, 2013 Yes i hear sound from all 3 drivers in the rc7. I have recently moved stuff around a bit and now the center is about 8" from the floor, not sure if thats why or what , I know thats not ideal, its temporary until I get my tv fixed which is happening in the morning, or lets hope.....i bought best buys warranty so we shall see. Thanks for all the help. I have been coming here for a couple years but have not posted much. I think this is a great site!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 Yes, Radio Shack has SPL meters. You'll use it more than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 There is a big problem, the rc 7 should never be set at +10 in any set.As mentioned I have never seen one in + territory, generally 0 to -4 in 20 avrs and pres I've used it on, in a large room.The db meter is a must if you have a HT, even if just to check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vital Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Best amp for RF-7's? I don't know, that is very subjective. What I can tell you from my limited personal experience is that out of the AVRs I have tried on my RF-7s, I preferred Harman Kardon AVRs. I would like to test a Pioneer against an HK someday just to hear the difference. I hear the Pioneer's sound really nice. Now on to the amp world... I have run Emotiva for about 5 years on my Klipsch speakers. I have several tube amps as well but IMO the bass isnt where I like it with the tube amps I have. A few weeks ago I picked up a QSC PLX-2402 - Oh my gosh... I love this amp. This amp has an authority to it, it has a punch with crystal clear highs that I have not heard in my system before. I will do a side by side with the XPA-2 vs the QSC PLX-2402 soon. The fan is loud so I'll be doing the fan mod next week, other than that this thing is amazing. It's not pretty like an Emotiva but it's all the amp anyone would ever want or need IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yura Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 If you need a high quality AVR, i would try top Pioneer from regular line (i believe it's the same as one of their Elite models). Or if you can - just got for the Elite versions. I don't have experience with Emotiva or other specialized amps, but I've tried a number of AVRs. My favorite in terms of fullness of sound and lows is a Pioneer Elite. I've had onkyo and it was very flat, now i run Denon, but want to go back to Pioneer. Also a highend vitnage amp/receiver such as early-late 70s Marantz, Pioneer, Sansui, etc will give you very pleasant sound. That's if you don't need all of the fancy AVR features. I'm a big fan of the retro gear, so i'm biased here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 I just bought the Yamaha a couple years ago and would like to replace sooner or later with individual units. Not sure where I should ask this question but I already have a yamaha m-70 what if I was to get another one and use both channels on one speaker....bi amping? never tried this before but would it not be like having mono amps....total channel separation? What would be the benifit on this setup, if any? Kinda new to this world of electronics and such but I am very eager to learn and would like input before I spring for anything else!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 One more thing.... I love the pandora and rhapsody features of the Yamaha. is there something out there similar in a pre amp or would this have to come from a different device? Not looking to do anything soon, just looking at options right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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