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Happy new owner of some Klipsch Chorus speakers! What center to use?


AaronB123

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I'm with you on the performance of the bass in the chorus. I was not that impressed with that as well compared to my previous RF 83

If I'm not mistaken doesn't the RF-83 have powered 15 inch subs? That's one thing I've come to know is a passive sub will never output as much as a powered. I have to say on another note I just checked out your home theater video tour and that is insane! Looks incredible! Definitely a dream of mine to someday have a theater like that! 

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Look into a pair of Heresy speakers for surrounds, and swap one in and out temporary like for your center and see if you can live with that Academy center :emotion-14: 

 

Personally, I like the Heresy 1.

 

Another thing you will find about your Chorus speakers is that the Bass will really come alive if you add a big amp to them, like 200-350 watts per channel :emotion-21: 

 

Roger

Ya, I've heard a lot of people say that. 

Edited by AaronB123
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I started out with the Velodyne CT-100, then Velodyne F-1500, then Velodyne HGS15, then a pair of Velodyne HGS15's, then a single Klipsch RSW-15 (performed as well as the pair of Velodyne HGS15's), then purchased a second Klipsch RSW-15, and now I have (3) RSW-15's.

 

It's a slippery slope around here....just wanting to give FULL DISCLOSURE!   :o:P:D:lol:

I have to fully admit that pretty much what you said is very similar to what got me into klipsch. I bought the Velodyne around 10 years ago when I first bought the JBL's before I ever knew about Klipsch but as I said then I got the Pro Media's for a computer setup and was completely blown away but then my brother bought the Energy take 6 classic's and that little 8 inch sub performed right up there with my 15 inch Velodyne. I was absolutely blown away by that! I can't even imagine what a 15 inch Klipsch would do haha honestly I would probably have to reinforce the windows in my house! 

 

As of right now though my main concern is the center and rears. I might upgrade the sub down the line but I wouldn't really be able to afford it right now unless I found a really good deal on a used one. This actually leads me to another question that I have though. I see here and from many people say these speakers have insane amounts of bass and truthfully I am not seeing that with my setup. I mean don't get me wrong they have really great bass but I am not finding that I'm blown away. Maybe that's because I'm comparing it to the bass output of my stand alone subwoofer? Could be a placement issue? I posted pictures of how I have them placed. Any critique as far as that goes would be welcome. 

 

you can easily lower the bass tuning of your Chorus by inserting extended vent tubes 7 inches long. This will re tune the system lower for deeper bass response. You can experiment with some Bristol board taped up into a tube make a smug fit. This will let you hear the difference quickly and inexpensively and will work as well as any solid piece of tube be it paper or plastic. Enjoy your Chorus.

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If you run across another Chorus you could make a cabinet to hold everything. This is a Forte ll center which is not far off from a Chorus as far a size. Good luck, until you find something just run it on phantom, it's better than something that don't match at all. imo 

 

Have fun, you did great so far. :emotion-21:

post-9700-0-31240000-1455981651_thumb.jp

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If you run across another Chorus you could make a cabinet to hold everything. This is a Forte ll center which is not far off from a Chorus as far a size. Good luck, until you find something just run it on phantom, it's better than something that don't match at all. imo 

 

Have fun, you did great so far. :emotion-21:

Wow, you guys have some really nice set ups! What do you mean by run it on phantom? 

Edited by AaronB123
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I had Chorus II in a 15x25 living room with 12' ceilings in an open floor plan design. Even feeding it 200wpc, I did not get the amount of bass I liked. They sounded great, they just didn't slam like some had suggested they could

My thoughts exactly. Not to say I don't love the speakers because I do! Never heard a better soundstage with stronger vocals in my life! That's what I love about Klipsch the horn brings vocals to life! 

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This actually leads me to another question that I have though. I see here and from many people say these speakers have insane amounts of bass and truthfully I am not seeing that with my setup. I mean don't get me wrong they have really great bass but I am not finding that I'm blown away
 

 

 Like Rog was saying.....put some power to those things.... some real power.... Ya know we all like our own sound....and I for one am not the "knower of all audio" But years ago a friend of mine was getting into home audio. He went with the Chorusii's and a Carver TFM-55.. well when I heard that system I was hooked.... That's what I wanted Klipsch and Carver.... again the 1st Klipsch I heard was the Chorusi and the guy had them powered with a little Carver Cube... a M-400 I could not believe that "little Cube was making those Klipsch sound like that..

 

Now don't get me wrong.... I don't play my Chorus at ear splitting levels all the time... But when I want to really feel the music I'll put just about all of the TFM-55x into em... Even my wife has no problem turning that volume knob to the right ;) ..... When those power needles are well into that 375 watt mark.... it's like a wall of sound hittin ya that you can just fell in your chest... it's concert level in my living room....

 

I like it like it yes I do............       Hey that just me....

 

MKP :-)

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Late to this thread, but congrats your Chorus'! There really should be a disclaimer about the rabbit hole you just went down with Klipsch. I started with a pair of Heresy's, then Cornwalls, then Forte's, then Chorus II's, then finally to a pair of La Scalas, and that's just the Heritage line of Klipsch that I've own/owned. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that Klipschorns will eventually make their way into my listening room  :)

 

Like some of the guys were saying get some good power to those 15's. It's not going to be the deepest bass you've ever heard but they will definitely be tight, and chest punching.

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Late to this thread, but congrats your Chorus'! There really should be a disclaimer about the rabbit hole you just went down with Klipsch. I started with a pair of Heresy's, then Cornwalls, then Forte's, then Chorus II's, then finally to a pair of La Scalas, and that's just the Heritage line of Klipsch that I've own/owned. However, I have a sneaky suspicion that Klipschorns will eventually make their way into my listening room  :)

 

Like some of the guys were saying get some good power to those 15's. It's not going to be the deepest bass you've ever heard but they will definitely be tight, and chest punching.

Yup my dream speaker is the Klipschhorn as well! Funny story, before I really was at all knowledgeable about audio I was raised to believe Bose was the best. When I was younger I purchased a pair of 301's which in all honesty weren't bad so I wanted to step it up and get the 701's because the 901's were out of my price range but after talking with many people that said Bose was really overpriced and nothing special I went with JBL S310's which served me very well for years but at the time I didn't even know about Klipsch. As I stated before, as soon as I heard my first pair, I wanted them bad! 

 

As far as amp's go do you guys think I would be wise to replace my receiver? I am very satisfied with how it sounds overall. As I said before I thought they would have a little more bass but I do have a pretty good sub so that's not the biggest deal. I've heard these things play very nicely with tube amp's but I made a thread about that on AVS forums and the majority of the people said I wouldn't even notice a difference. The big downfall I have with Tube amp's is the loss in all the technology. I use my reciever for 4k pass through and 5,1 so I would most likely stick with a solid state modern amp. As far as that goes, what brand do you guys recommend? I have always used Yamaha, and have always been very happy with them. 

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I've personally never liked the Academy center, its barely a step up over the KG 2.2 / 2.5 to me. Also, there is a big difference between the RC-64 and the RC-64 II, kind of like comparing the RB-81 to a RB-75. In my experience, with movies and TV shows timbre matching hasn't been an issue with mis-matched gear, so long as sensitivity and output are close. I could definitely see if you were running 5.1 music where you'd want everything matched but for TV? Most of the sound comes from the center itself.  

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I've personally never liked the Academy center, its barely a step up over the KG 2.2 / 2.5 to me. Also, there is a big difference between the RC-64 and the RC-64 II, kind of like comparing the RB-81 to a RB-75. In my experience, with movies and TV shows timbre matching hasn't been an issue with mis-matched gear, so long as sensitivity and output are close. I could definitely see if you were running 5.1 music where you'd want everything matched but for TV? Most of the sound comes from the center itself.  

So, what are you saying you would go with the RC-64ii?

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AaronB123,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

You have yourself a very nice pair of Chorus I's.

 

This actually leads me to another question that I have though. I see here and from many people say these speakers have insane amounts of bass and truthfully I am not seeing that with my setup. I mean don't get me wrong they have really great bass but I am not finding that I'm blown away. Maybe that's because I'm comparing it to the bass output of my stand alone subwoofer? Could be a placement issue?

 

It could be a placement issue but it also could be a quality(or lack of quality) of amplification issue you are using to drive them.  My buddy had a pair of Chorus I's in a 13ft x 21ft family room/kitchen and was driving it with a mid level Pioneer AVR and though they sounded good, they just did not have that midbass snap and rhythm that many prefer.  He added an Acurus A200 stereo amp to the mix and voila', serious thump and punch was a happening.

 

Just a thought.

 

Bill

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I agree don't shot the messenger, the Chorus can whoop butt you need to do your part get a solid quality sounding amp. Oh the modern part that's a joke right? There has not been a new amp circuit design in about 40 - 50 years everything is just a twist on some other design, new devices yes there are but the circuits are all the same feed forward feed back nothing new in a switching amp or an analog amp. It is really simple there are good amps and bad amps most are poor to bad some, a few are excellent find one of those. Tubes SS same applies. Manufacturers would love you to believe they are inventing new ever day but it is not the case. You are for the most part buying bells and whistles along with poor to very average sounding amplifiers. Astounding so many get it so very wrong. Get a solid mosfet output amp they are near impossible to blow up the output devices look to John Hillig at Musical concepts for a top quality American source of sota amplifiers he can build you a better amp that you can take to the grave.

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I've personally never liked the Academy center, its barely a step up over the KG 2.2 / 2.5 to me. Also, there is a big difference between the RC-64 and the RC-64 II, kind of like comparing the RB-81 to a RB-75. In my experience, with movies and TV shows timbre matching hasn't been an issue with mis-matched gear, so long as sensitivity and output are close. I could definitely see if you were running 5.1 music where you'd want everything matched but for TV? Most of the sound comes from the center itself.

I disagree. Nothing worse than when sound pans from one side to the other and it's obvious which speaker is outputting it. I'm a big fan of timbre matching for a seamless sound stage. But that's just me.
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I've personally never liked the Academy center, its barely a step up over the KG 2.2 / 2.5 to me. Also, there is a big difference between the RC-64 and the RC-64 II, kind of like comparing the RB-81 to a RB-75. In my experience, with movies and TV shows timbre matching hasn't been an issue with mis-matched gear, so long as sensitivity and output are close. I could definitely see if you were running 5.1 music where you'd want everything matched but for TV? Most of the sound comes from the center itself.  

 

Actually, I just brought home a pair of KLF-10 speakers, with Crites tweeters (had never heard any Crites improvements, so I simply wanted to experience a little for myself).  Having just sold my C7 center 2 weeks ago, I put my KG 2.2v center between them.  I thought they (the 3) sounded great together.  Now, I have not experienced a long and varied run with that combination, but surely sounded excellent to me.  But then, I may be more modest, because I like the KG 2.2 sound.

 

My opinion, anyway.

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I had Chorus II in a 15x25 living room with 12' ceilings in an open floor plan design. Even feeding it 200wpc, I did not get the amount of bass I liked. They sounded great, they just didn't slam like some had suggested they could

thats cause everyone's opinion on "slam" is different.
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Just some eye candy for you :P

My Chorus pair, completely rebuilt cabinets (with the help of Forum member Mookie). Sold them about a month ago to fund my obsession with tube gear.  The second photo is of the recommended/optional port tubes.  They certainly make a difference.

post-36834-0-32640000-1455995146_thumb.jpost-36834-0-50240000-1455995153_thumb.j

Matt ♪ ♫ ♪

 

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First of all welcome to the forums and congratulations on owning one of the finest speakers that Klipsch has ever put on the market!

 

That said, I feel I must be "that guy" and point out that you have set yourself up for years of frustration.  How so?  You are trying to make a speaker designed for stereo (aka "2 channel") reproduction fit into a modern home theater set up.

 

You're already feeling some of the pain too: what center works best with the Chorus?  what surrounds?  do you need a different receiver?  should you try tubes?  and on and on.

 

I totally understand if you only have space for a single system and have decided to make it one with a screen and lots of speakers.  This is a fun way to watch football games and concert DVDs, play Xbox/PS/etc, or get a thrill out of movies with lots of explosions.  After all, we are on the Home Theater part of the Klipsch forums.

 

About 20 years ago I was in your shoes: I had a nice stereo in my (one and only) living room.  So I decided to just live with my TV hooked up to my stereo.  It was OK. Then, as I slowly got into DVD and Dolby Digital/DTS, I decided my stereo (including my Klipsch Heritage speakers) needed to have their own room.  First it was a bedroom, then it was a basement, then I moved to a house with two living areas and set up a dedicated two channel system in the smaller of the two.  The Synergy speakers I decided to use in my home theater simply do movies/sports/concerts in a more convincing way than my Heritage speakers (which, alas, never found their matched centers or surrounds).  Of course, I wouldn't dream of doing critical listening to stereo source material on my home theater rig.  That's not what it's designed for.  And I'm not alone.  I would venture a guess that a slight majority of members here keep a separate 2CH system in a different room that is optimized for just music.  I have heard hundreds of audio systems in my life but I've never heard a system that excelled at both music and movies.  I will say that a rig that is optimized for music will do better with movies than a home theater system will with just 2 channel music.

 

There is a psychological effect in play here too: some people can't maximize two senses simultaneously.  I am one.  Sit me in front of a 50+ inch hi-def screen and I will see everything.  The accompanying audio almost fades into insignificance.  But turn off the screen and I am suddenly aware of the audio.  Better still: pick that TV up and completely remove it from the room.  Now you've relaxed the visual cortex of my brain (it is no longer anticipating something to watch) and my hearing becomes very acute.  I am totally unable to do "critical listening" when there is a screen in the room.  From my experience, this is not at all uncommon.  You walk into a room with a big screen in it and your brain says "Goody!  What are we watching?"  That's not conducive to effective listening.

 

Consider the option nobody has yet mentioned: put those mighty Chorus speakers into their own stereo system and stop stressing about finding matching center and surround channels and AVRs and such.  Just get a nice 50 watt tube amp and a high quality source (CD, vinyl, or HRA player).  Keep the screens out and use that system for LISTENING.  I predict you will quickly find yourself caring a lot less about trivial things like bass "slam" as you let beautifully lifelike and dynamic stereo sound produced by vintage Klipsch speakers wash over you (eyes closed for best effect!)  Meanwhile, get whatever 5.1 speakers-du-jour are recommended to you here.  Hook them up to your Yamaha AVR and fire up that big screen with a good flick.  Be binary.  Be happy.

 

Good luck!

Edited by Krispy Kirk
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