kini62 Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Aloha! I'm looking to upgrade my HT and am having a hard time deciding between the two. Will be paired with the RC500 and RS400 surrounds (the "limited" edition rebadged version 4 RF speakers). Room size is 13x14x9 sealed if wanted. LP is about 9ft, sub is SVS PC12+, AVR HK 1600. Currently running 5 NHT SuperZeros. Which I really like and actually have sufficient volume (most of the time). They do tend to get drowned out by the sub during really bass heavy movies and for some music lack volume and again can't keep up with the sub. So I want something with more mid-upper bass punch, more dynamics and that can better keep up with my sub. More clarity from the center too. Mostly TV and movies. Music is mostly blues and jazz with the occasional hard rock or metal moments. Nothing is available locally. So I'm looking at the cherry versions from Crutchfield, $399 for the RB61s plus $50-$90 for stands and $550/pair for the RF52. I live in Hawaii so I shop at Crutchfield and Amazon because shipping is just crazy $$$$ if not. Which option is the better buy and which would be better for my needs? Mahalo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 first off welcome! second off check with acoustic sound design to see if he can ship to you. google the number and call. his name is mike (owner) he is the one who will the answer the phone. best prices you are gonna find most likely. between those two i would go with the 61 as it has a bigger horn so it will have a larger sound for sure. but if you can save for a bit the 62's is the best value in the line in my opinion plus you wont have to buy stands. i think you can get the 62ii's for around 700-750. good luck and let us know if you need anything else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 just got off the phone with mike about the cherry reference. they have been discontinued. so what crutchfield has is warehouse stuff. and he says he is getting two large containers of the rf-82ii in cherry and rc-62ii in cherry. priced at 900 and 400. now that bad part, those prices do not include shipping to hawaii. so you would have to get with him to figure that out. that sucks you can't find a local dealer there and see if you can get them to match prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Thanks scrappy- but I already knew that very few offer free shipping to Hawaii. And the shipping is STEEP. So it negates any potential savings. Crutchfield has the cherry 62s for 800/pair. They just seem like they would be too big for my room. The good thing with Crutchfield is I can try the 61s and if for whatever reason they don't work out I can send them back for a couple of dollars or free. I also have 60 days for the trial period. I'm pretty sure the 61s will be enough for me though. And $300 is $300 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 id take towers anyday over bookshelves on stands. but hey do what you gotta do. 61's are great speakers i just sold a pair not too long ago that was the last ones left of my reference theater before i moved to the thx setup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 id take towers anyday over bookshelves on stands. but hey do what you gotta do. 61's are great speakers i just sold a pair not too long ago that was the last ones left of my reference theater before i moved to the thx setup Would that include the RF52s? I ask because of the two you recommended the RB61s. I'm sooooooooo confused. I'm going to be ordering tomorrow. Personally I'm leaning towards the RF52s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) sorry to confuse you. let me elaborate what i meant. i would prefer a tower over a bookshelf as long as performance wise they are the EXACT same. so they made a tower version RB-61ii. id take the tower over a bookshelf on a stand even if cost and everything was the same. now when you start talking performance, like i said the rb-61 has a bigger horn and will have a bigger sound over the rf-52. id still wait a bit and save and get the 62's as they are not gonna be to large for your room. in my opinion the rb-61's or the rf-52's would be small in that room. that is a descent size room. Edited October 31, 2013 by Scrappydue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 sorry to confuse you. let me elaborate what i meant. i would prefer a tower over a bookshelf as long as performance wise they are the EXACT same. so they made a tower version RB-61ii. id take the tower over a bookshelf on a stand even if cost and everything was the same. now when you start talking performance, like i said the rb-61 has a bigger horn and will have a bigger sound over the rf-52. id still wait a bit and save and get the 62's as they are not gonna be to large for your room. in my opinion the rb-61's or the rf-52's would be small in that room. that is a descent size room. Really? I find the room to be kind of small. For blu-rays with MA I rarely go above -10db even with my little SuperZeros. At that point I'm in the low 90db range at the LP. Which seems kind of loud. Loud enough I have a hard time talking to my wife sitting next to me. I just can't imagine how loud a pair of 62s would go. Thanks for the info. I've got some mo tinkin to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 well i mean its not a huge room but it definitely isn't small. my living room i think is 12x16 and the 62's i had were awesome in there. my icon w's wont play anything at reference in that size of room at all but they are nicer looking for WAF. got the big boys downstairs for serious cranking. if you rarely listen above -10 then go with the rb-61's and the rc-62 to match them and that will be fine. then if you ever move to a bigger room you can move the 61's to surround duty and buy some 82's or something up front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Thanks again. We just built and moved in last year to our new house. Not going anywhere for quite some time. The RC62 is too big for where I can put it for now. That may change in the future if I go to a projector. Currently using a 70" sharp and the center needs to go on a center stage bracket on top the TV. Limit is about 25 lbs. I already plan on getting the RC500 and RS400 surrounds. I know the RF52s match the center better so.................and they'll have a little more output too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I feel as if I should tell you on behalf of most of us who have spent thousands upgrading instead of buying what we wanted first. I'd say if you have to wait for bigger stuff then wait. Maybe just spend your budget in towers for now. And skip the center and surrounds till you know if you can get bigger. The center 42 and 52 center are ok but the 62 is where they start to get REALLY good! Anyways. Last thing I'll say. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tremors Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I feel as if I should tell you on behalf of most of us who have spent thousands upgrading instead of buying what we wanted first. I'd say if you have to wait for bigger stuff then wait. Maybe just spend your budget in towers for now. And skip the center and surrounds till you know if you can get bigger. The center 42 and 52 center are ok but the 62 is where they start to get REALLY good! Anyways. Last thing I'll say. Good luck Buy the towers now if you can. Buy the largest ones that you can afford. The upgrade bug can come swift and hard if you take baby steps, getting a larger sound from your front end early on is a great step towards preventing that. My two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 The guys are right, get the towers. Bookshelf speakers need stands so the tower ends up taking no more room. If you frequent audio forums beware of the upgrade bug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted November 1, 2013 Author Share Posted November 1, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I do frequent audio forums, hence me "need" for the PC12+, which I don't regret one bit. A huge improvement, well more than huge, compared to the overpriced Def Tech sub it replaced. Lot to think about, so I'll step back and take some time to mull things over. Chew on your advice. I'd hate to want to upgrade in a year, again. So maybe by the end of the month there will be some good sales and I'll have figured things out better. Mahalo nui loa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Good advise your getting here. I went down the same road. Started with small reference and upgraded a bunch of times. Like I have owned 4 different reference center speakers and the rc62 is what you want. You have a nice big tv and a great sub. Make the speakers fit. I would get the rf-82ii and no center channel (just run them phantom) before going with a rc52 and rf52. It would cost the same and be better. Plus you can allways get the matching center way down the road. Odds are very good you will upgrade again and that just means lost money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I know not running a center might seem strange but you won't even know it's not there if you get 82s ( or even 62s). It will sound just like the center is in the middle. Imo running nice big mains as a phantom center is much better than a small center. I run Cornwalls like this and you would sware there was a center hooked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 Thanks all! But I ignored all your advice and bought a Bose. For only $4000 The bass module smokes my PC12+ Of course just kidding. I did go ahead and order the RF52s from Crutchfield. 60 day trial and free return if I want. I also ordered the RC-500 and RS-400 surrounds from Amazon. All should be in this week. If I'm not satisfied I can return all for little to no cost and change up to the RF62s and no center as suggested. I have a feeling I'll be more than satisfied as I'm 90% satisfied now with just my little Super Zeros. I'm have a hard time imagining NOT being totally satisfied with the full Klipsch setup. It's as big or bigger a difference as when I upgraded my sub. I mean how can it not be a HUGE upgrade. 6 5.25" woofers and three compression drivers in horns versus 3 4" woofers and 3 soft dome tweeters with an 85db efficiency rating and I cannot run blu-ray MA at more the -5db. Not to mention the doubling of "woofage" in the surrounds. It should sound amazing (to me). My only concern is whether I will like the Klispch for music. The last time I listened to some at a BB Magnolia about 3 years ago, I didn't care for them that much for music. I'm hoping it was the room, setup etc...or they will grow on me. No matter, I have a nice long trial with the RF52s. I will be able to tell within a week how I like them. Thanks again for the nice comments and helpful responses. I'll be sure to post my findings and my "review" when I have them setup and have watched a few movies and listened to some music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 You will be very happy I'm sure. I know i was when i had smaller reference speakers. It was so awesome i had to know what bigger and better would be like lol. The main thing we are suggesting is a way to save money in the long run. What you bought will be very nice congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kini62 Posted November 5, 2013 Author Share Posted November 5, 2013 You will be very happy I'm sure. I know i was when i had smaller reference speakers. It was so awesome i had to know what bigger and better would be like lol. The main thing we are suggesting is a way to save money in the long run. What you bought will be very nice congrats. If they perform like I expect them to in relation to my Super Zeros I don't think I'll be looking to upgrade (at least for a year ) By then I'll be wanting to add another PC12+, a more powerful amp/AVR, some front heights, a projector and 110" 2:35 wide screen and a "keezer" with the taps right next to my seat so I don't have to get up for a refill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Congrats. You'll love them as long as you don't hear the 62's or 82's. 52's are awesome. I loved mine. Till I had 62's in the same room. So just stay away from people with bigger speakers lol and you'll be golden. And of course stay off the internet so there is no urges what if. You'll save toooooons of money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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