Sawyer Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Howdy folks, first time posting on here, looking for some advice. I apologize in advance as this will be a long post. A little about me. I'm in the Boston area, I work at a brewery, I love movies and TV and when it comes to things I want, my impulse control goes out the window. Anyway this all started with wanting to upgrade my TV. Decided on going 4K even though I'm well aware of the limited content at this point. After that decision I figured I'd need a new receiver. I'm a Marantz lover so I'm leaning towards the SR7010. While reading all about it I came across all of the Atmos and DTS:X information. Well gotta have that so...here I am on the Klipsch forum. I currently have a 7.1 surround system comprised of 10 year old Cambridge Soundworks speakers. The company is no longer in business but at the time I had a friend who worked there who was more than willing to hook me up for a bunch of cases of beer. So first off I want to replace my tower speakers. Do I go with the RP-280FA or save some money and go with the RP-280F and add the RP-140SA on top of them? I really don't know the difference which is why I'm on here. I defer to your collective expertise. Please educate me. From there with the receiver I'm leaning towards, what other heights should I be getting? I prefer not to cut into my ceiling so I'm going to get another pair(unless I go with the 280FA's,then it will be 1st pair) of RP-140SA's. Do I mount them behind with my rear speakers or on the sides with the surrounds? Both? What else am I missing? The RP-450CA center channel is clearly a beast and at $850 it better be. I will be getting that. Will I need to add a pre-amp to power any of this or can the receiver handle the load. I'm sorry for the long post. I plan on eventually replacing all of my older speakers with Klipsch but I need to do it a little at a time or my wife will disown me. Last piece-the room is 17'W x24'L with 7' plaster ceiling. Thanks for reading all this, I look forward to your input and advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 first off welcome! ok totally your call on the towers. the atmos tower has wood veneer. some prefer that over vinyl wrap of the rp-280. they will for sure be nicer. my opinion would be if you were going black, no questions save your money on the towers and the center. the 450a center is the same just wrapped in veneer. if walnut is a must well then you know which way you have to to. and for rear heights you just get a set of modules and set them on your rear speakers so they fire up towards the ceiling. the receiver will handle the load just fine. klipsch are very efficient. you have a huge room make sure you get a couple big subwoofers. otherwise your experience will not be near as good as it could be. and please, PLEASE shop around for the best pricing! i'll send you a PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K5SS Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Solid advise right there^^^, especially the subwoofer part and shopping around before you buy. Welcome to the group! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Starting from scratch, go 280FA, 450ca center, RP250s or RP-160M for all surround duty, and use rp-140sa for rear atmos channels. And 2 R-115SW subs to fill out the low end. No one who has heard this has had a single negative comment. Ok maybe one, I heard a complaint of too much LFE. I ignored it. Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizik Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 The other difference to consider in the towers is that the RP-280FA uses a 6.5in driver for the height channel, where as if you adding the RP-140SA on top of the RP-280F only gets you a 4in driver for the height channel. I'm not sure how much difference that would make (maybe someone else can chime in on that) but its something to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 The other difference to consider in the towers is that the RP-280FA uses a 6.5in driver for the height channel, where as if you adding the RP-140SA on top of the RP-280F only gets you a 4in driver for the height channel. I'm not sure how much difference that would make (maybe someone else can chime in on that) but its something to consider. The tower gets you more of everything. Higher directivity to a lower frequency, more power handling, more of that "holy crap it really sounds like it came from the ceiling" effect. Best way I can describe it. It is bigger, better, faster, more... Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 The other difference to consider in the towers is that the RP-280FA uses a 6.5in driver for the height channel, where as if you adding the RP-140SA on top of the RP-280F only gets you a 4in driver for the height channel. I'm not sure how much difference that would make (maybe someone else can chime in on that) but its something to consider. The tower gets you more of everything. Higher directivity to a lower frequency, more power handling, more of that "holy crap it really sounds like it came from the ceiling" effect. Best way I can describe it. It is bigger, better, faster, more... Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk you know this is funny to read and almost irritates me. i asked early on why the module has 4" driver and the tower had a larger driver. and i was told a bunch that the 4" driver would be plenty and it meets dolby spec. thats all i needed to know. i also asked that if a rp-140a would keep up with the rf-7ii. i was told it meets spec and thats all that matters. yet this bigger driver offers more "holy crap" effect. the dolby guide that was posted in my thread earlier said its important to match speakers where possible. so panning sounds good all the way around. yet these 4" modules dont have as much of the "holy crap" effect. i dont get it. seems like we are being fed stuff from a pushy salesman to just make a sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 It is tuff to explain why one is better than the other without deminishing the smaller guy. Look at it like any other progression of models. The RF7 is highly regarded right? Now move up to the Jubilee, the RF7 seems like? You get the idea, you make bigger toys for bigger boys. The "lower tier" stuff is still kick ***, but you want even more. Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 It is tuff to explain why one is better than the other without deminishing the smaller guy. Look at it like any other progression of models. The RF7 is highly regarded right? Now move up to the Jubilee, the RF7 seems like? You get the idea, you make bigger toys for bigger boys. The "lower tier" stuff is still kick ***, but you want even more. Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk maybe to newbies or your average customers. but to the forum guys who have been around a bit i think it would be easy for you just to say hey we built these for most people but YOU GUYS might want something a little more. and to me saying one thing is better without diminishing the other is also easy. i have owned the rf-42ii home theater. and that setup was sweet. for the money and for its purposes it is super awesome setup. now does it compare to my cinema setup? nope not even close. but doesn't mean its crap by any means. i would have never questioned anything had that explanation been shot the first time it was asked. but thank you for finally doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I posted this question awhile back... based on the RP-280FA (with integrated 6.5" Atmos Speaker)..... curious to see if a 6.5" upward firing module is in the works? Or a larger 8" version for us guys with RF-7's: Question for Jay L on the differences of the elevation speaker between the 280FA & the 140SA.The (integrated) height/elevation channel of the floorstanding 280FA has a 6.5" driver (75W/300W) (Cont/Peak)The add-on height/elevation module of the 140SA has a 4" driver (50W/200) (Cont/Peak)I was curious if you've performed any A/B comparisons with both as front heights?If so, how does the smaller 140SA hold up with the same source material?Are the differences significant enough to be audible between the two? Or are the differences negligible in a real world setting?I have not A/B'd them with a real time switcher. I do not have time right now or I would set that up. There is an appreciable difference from memory. I know in the direct axis the integrated is a big step up. It also has more bass output if that is important to anyone. If I haven't said it before, the direct axis is what you hear while sitting down. The less of it, the better.Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk Interesting. Thanks for the insight. Of course that begs the question; any future plans for 6-1/2" add-on modules? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I have a few Atmos concepts floating about. A couple I have not even put on paper yet. You never know what might come about. For now, the answer is not sure. Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Well, I have no doubt the RP-280FA's are great (with the integrated 6.5" Atmos driver) ....but I have no plans to replace my RF-7's. So for now I'm happy to have the 4" driver with the RP-140SA. But.... sign me up for a 6.5" or 8" upward firing module. I'll be the first one to bring them home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I have a few Atmos concepts floating about. A couple I have not even put on paper yet. You never know what might come about. For now, the answer is not sure. I can send you some paper if you need it. In fact... I can drive to Indy tomorrow & bring it personally if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawyer Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Good morning, Thank you for all of the replies. Very helpful to a Newbie like myself. Like I said before, looking to be educated and it certainly seems like this is the place for that to happen. I will update with what I end up getting but you guys certainly gave me plenty to think about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 It is tuff to explain why one is better than the other without deminishing the smaller guy. Yall sure did a good job of doggin the crap out of Reference II when Reference Premier came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I have a few Atmos concepts floating about. A couple I have not even put on paper yet. What seems like would be awesome is if you brought back the larger RS-62ii and had an upfiring module hidden in the top of it. These modules are already within 2" of the depth of those surrounds. You wouldn't even see anything. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K5SS Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I would jump all over a pair of RP-260FA! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay L Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 So would you buy a surround that sticks 11" off the wall just to cram an RP-140SA in the top of it? Actually it would probably be even deeper than that. Things don't translate like they seem to on the surface. Building in Atmos to a surround is on the top of my want list, it is a lot harder to do than you might think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I'd be down for an Integrated Atmos Surround. But only if the Height Channel could have a 6.5" or 8" driver.... along with a 6.5" or 8" Main Channel. That & a possible new 6.5" or 8" add-on module,,,,, certainly gives us something to look forward to. Until then, this works pretty dayum good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) So would you buy a surround that sticks 11" off the wall just to cram an RP-140SA in the top of it? Actually it would probably be even deeper than that. Why is a separate horn non-negotiable? That's the biggest problem with the current design in terms of space. Atlantic Technology fits recessed 5 1/4" coaxials that meets the dolby specs in an 8 3/8" by 9 1/2" square. KEF is using coaxial'ish concentric 5.25's as well and their box is only 7.1" wide, could probably be about as deep too, it's just wasted space. Maybe a baffle design size issue, I dunno. Pioneer Elite is using a 4" concentric in a 9.75" x 7.75" bookshelf with all kinds of room left over. In comparison, these are 11" deep for a 4" woofer and it barely fits even though it's not recessed. Do these other designs suck for some reason? If a co-ax was used seems like you would have plenty of room. Edited September 10, 2015 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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