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First home theater speaker choice.


jtbnin

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I am setting up my first home theater to replace the Sonos setup I just spent $1800 on and will be returning. It sounds good, but not true surround and pricey.

 

My question is this. I was thinking about using one of these two set ups and would appreciate some good advice. I am getting a 7.2 receiver for future upgrades. 

 

1.

Front and back - 2- R-15M

Center - R-25C

R10SW

 

2. Simply replace the front with the R-26F.

 

What are your thoughts...good first system?

 

Thanks!

 

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stay away from best buy "reference" stuff. look into reference premiere stuff

 

and welcome.  

 

what is your budget and location?

 

I had heard someone else mention staying away from the best buy stuff, why is that? I am returning the Sonos stuff I bought there but could just get a refund instead of exchange if need be. Is direct from Klipsch better?

 

Budget is not great, 1500-2000. I live in Iowa. This is my first attempt at building a home theater. 

Edited by jtbnin
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cause the best buy "reference" stuff is rebadged icon stuff. and the reference premiere stuff isn't actually much more money and you get a better product. are you trying to buy an entire 7.1 setup including the receiver on the 2000$ budget?

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In general for a 2K budget you might want to consider pre-owned.  Speakers are one of the things I think you can pick up on the used market and still get good quality and reliability.  I prefer to buy electronics like AVR's new, but that's just me.

 

I would buy an amp or AVR from a trusted forum member, but not on Ebay or CL.  Again, that is just my personal preference.

 

If you do want to go pre-owned I suggest you give the guys here a chance to guide you in choice of speakers, especially Klipsch.  They are very tuned in to what is available regionally and what products are high quality sound.  They can and will explain why one product is better than another for your individual needs.

 

And as you found out directly above ^^^ you will also get very straight forward advice if they don't think a certain product is in the best-bang-for-YOUR-buck category.

Edited by wvu80
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You can definatly do better if you already have 2k to spend.. IMO like scrappy said don't even get the reference "best buy stuff" go straight for the Reference premiere stuff it's not much more and the quality is a lot better. Some people claim it's as good as the Reference II stuff. Do you plan on getting Atmos? If you do the RP-280FA towers are amazing and will take a lot of the install time away from having to drill holes in the ceiling. Will still need two atmos speakers for behind the listening position though. Do what I did Just buy one pair of speakers every few weeks as money allows and before you know it you'll have 5k worth of Reference Premiere gear. If going for atmos setup you could definatly save by using the 2 pairs of the RP-160M direct fire speakers instead of the 2 pairs of RP-250S which are quite expensive.

Edited by toomnymods
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In general for a 2K budget you might want to consider pre-owned.  Speakers are one of the things I think you can pick up on the used market and still get good quality and reliability.  I prefer to buy electronics like AVR's new, but that's just me.

 

I would buy an amp or AVR from a trusted forum member, but not on Ebay or CL.  Again, that is just my personal preference.

 

If you do want to go pre-owned I suggest you give the guys here a chance to guide you in choice of speakers, especially Klipsch.  They are very tuned in to what is available regionally and what products are high quality sound.  They can and will explain why one product is better than another for your individual needs.

 

And as you found out directly above ^^^ you will also get very straight forward advice if they don't think a certain product is in the best-bang-for-YOUR-buck category.

Good advice here. Buying pre-owned can definitely get you more for your money. The only bad part is you have to wait till a deal shows up in your area, or pay for shipping. There's a smoking deal on a great pair of RF83s in the classified section here.

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Great advice, thank you. Leaning towards the premiere stuff I shared previously. Again, this us my very first system, I'm used to hearing my TV speakers until I got the Sonos I will teturn. One step at a time. Thanks again!!

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I had heard someone else mention staying away from the best buy stuff, why is that?

 

 

Because that stuff doesn't sound all that great.  They have an aluminum tweeter instead of titanium as well as cheaper crossovers.  The Ref Premier sounds better.  You should be able to put something together fairly affordably based on the RP-160M's.  

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There are two Klipsch dealers within 20 miles of Cedar Rapids (Marion and Coralville). I don't know their prices or just what they carry but it's always nice to try someone local first.

 

Bruce

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If I had your budget I would definitely go used with the KG series equipment which in my mind is by far the best bang for the buck, especially for HT. Then build some subwoofers from a kit which is easy and just need some clamps and wood glue (clamps are expensive but you can 'rent' them at lowes as long as you keep the tag on them and a receipt) . I would go:

 

Front Mains: KG 5.5 or 4.5- $150 to $350 a pair

Surrounds: KG 4.5 or 3.5 or 2.5- $150 to $200 a pair

Center: KV 2 or KV 3- $80 to $200 each.

 

Subwoofers:

Dayton Audio 15'' Ultimax Knock down kit X2- $600

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-15-ultimax-subwoofer-and-cabinet-bundle--300-7097

 

Sub Amp:

Behringer iNuke NU3000DSP- $280

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-NU3000DSP-BEHRINGER-iNUKE/dp/B005EHINAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466611592&sr=8-1&keywords=inuke

 

I am not well versed in AVRs so I will defer my suggestion to others.

 

If anything else, definitely go with the subs and amp. They are the best value by far in my book. :emotion-21:

 

For great home theater DO NOT skimp on subs and get a little 10''. Most people think bass is the sound of a small sub rattling in a corner but once you have experienced true bass that drops the floor from the entire room its a whole different experience and you end up addicted and building things like Scrappy. :D

Edited by twk123
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Subwoofers:

Dayton Audio 15'' Ultimax Knock down kit X2- $600 http://www.parts-exp...undle--300-7097 Sub Amp:

Behringer iNuke NU3000DSP- $280 https://www.amazon.c...&keywords=inuke

 

I am not well versed in AVRs so I will defer my suggestion to others. If anything else, definitely go with the subs and amp. They are the best value by far in my book. :emotion-21:

 

I cherry picked your dual sub package suggestion, but all of your suggestions would make a tremendous 5.1 setup!  You would not need to upgrade for a long time, if ever.

 

I pulled out the sub part of the post because of the Do It Yourself component.  I hesitate to suggest DIY because this is the Klipsch forum, not the DIY forum, but I am a HUGE fan of DIY and I recognize not everybody wants to that.

 

The two-sub package w/amp that TWK referenced is the current KING of bang-for-the-buck in dual subwoofers in the DIY world.  It hits that sweet spot in the price/performance ratio BECAUSE of the two sub setup.  A single sub would still be a great sub and a good value, but adding the second sub does not double the price and it greatly increases the overall sound.

 

I have Ulimax's close cousin, the Dayton Audio Reference 15 sub and mine is fantastic.  The kits mentioned are a notch still above mine in every way. 

 

The kits w/flatpack are not only easy to put together, they are fun.  The performance of the powerful dual subs would MAKE your theater tops for theater with virtually any speakers you would pair with them.

 

Bold suggestion, Mr. TWK.  Home run.

Edited by wvu80
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Is your budget including money for a receiver/pre/pro?....or is that money allotted for speakers alone? Which receiver are you using?

 

I agree with others, shop CL or Ebay for some used speakers if possible. There are some really good deals out there. Maybe you can look into some older Klipsch speakers like the KSB series, SB series or B series. Personally I like the old poly woofers better as they seem to dig deeper than the new copper ones do. Might just be personal preference too.

 

Also, the sub is a main component, shop around to see what else is out there. Klipsch are fine but there are much better out there and they are priced competitively.

 

 

Tim

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