New to the higher end game, looking for info on what i have and how to set it up

[bigdog9191999]

Ok, I will make this as easy as I can. I have some klipsch speakers!  we just inherited them (within the last week or so) and I will be looking to get it all set up and going.  the research I have done so far says that all the speakers are a little older ( 1996-2000 ish)  but all are in fantastic shape and sound good. ( have heard it a couple years ago when It was setup before)

part of my problem Is I am sure I have more equipment that is needed to run everything properly, but I am not sure. the other part is that when I took it all down to bring it home not everything was hooked up ( tiny apartment) and some stuff I think was upgraded and I believe I have the old stuff here too.

 

 

 

here goes the list

 

speakers ( all are pairs but sub and center)

 

KLF 20

KSB 3.1

KS .5

KSC C1

KSW 150

 

The receiver that was hooked up was

Marantz SR5007

 

and the amp was

 

BK AV5000 series 2

 

 

the additional equipment

 

 

BK Reference 20

BK AV5000 series 2  ( yes a second one)

 

 

I believe the Marantz replaced the reference 20 and 5000 as it has 650w of its own, and the referece 20 has like 35w.

 

 

so I guess on how to wire it all up would be a big thing. and how much power to use on what ect. my guess would be run all but the towers off the primary and the towers off the secondary amp.?    and there is massive wire to feed it all, but how to tastefully get power to the rear speakers without going under the floor or through the celling?

 

the more I look at this the way I have it listed out the more it makes sense, but a verification would be great!

 

 

a little more research just showed the bk vs the Marantz is 5.1 vs 7.2

 

 

btw I am Steve and I hail from S.W. Michigan

 

 

 

[derrickdj1]

It sound like you just need speaker wire for the most part.  The KLF are some nice speakers to build a system.  You have a complete surround system.  The B&K amp is 125 watt at least.  If the Marantz has preouts, it can be hooked up to the amp.  If it does not then that would explained the B&K preamp.  Give us your impression once thing have been up and running for a few weeks.

[twk123]

Nice setup and welcome to the forum! You inherited an awesome system that will sound just as good or better than most 'higher end' systems. Here are some suggestions:

 

The Marantz SR5007 has plenty of power to run everything so dont worry about hooking up the older AVRs. EDIT: It looks like the B&K is a standalone amp so as derrick mentioned if your AVR has Pre-outs you can use the amp instead. That being said, you will probably be fine running everything off the Marantz unless you are really comfortable setting up the separate amp and have the necessary RCA cords.

 

You technically have 2 different lines of Klipsch products, the Synergy Series and the KLF series. This is not a problem if you use the KLF 20's as mains, the KSB 3.1's as side surrounds and the KS .5 as rear surrounds. The center may not timbre match the KLF but you can try it out and see if you like it.

 

Here is my trick for wiring- always start at the speaker and go to the amp. That way if you have extra it is hidden behind the TV stand etc. Run the wire along the wall from the speaker to the amp as a loose 'dry' run to make sure you have enough for the run. It sounds like you inherited a bunch of different lengths so play around and see if you can make them work. Remember, you can always cut wire but if your too short you are hosed it its good to measure it out first. Once you are confident the wire is a good length for a speaker and you have the 'route' planned, if you room is carpeted you can run wire between the baseboard and the carpet as there is a little groove that can hold a surprising amount of wire. I like to use my car keys to push it in and it works well to hide everything. Instead of having to go around a door frame, its better to take a wire the 'long' way around the room as it will look cleaner.

 

If you are comfortable, post some photos of your room and people here can give you much for detailed advice on speaker and sub placement etc. Even a room drawing will help out quite a bit.

[bigdog9191999]

Have cables and everything to set it up. Rca's wire ( assuming is long enough fory needs) As it has been together for some time. He just didn't have it all set up when I had to take it out as he had moved and had a very small apartment. I didn't find a gauge of wire for the speakers. But it is some very fat monster cable ( just the copper wire strands are at least the size of the banana clips) most of the cables are the high end monster cables ( rca and such) 

 

 

I can work on getting pics and or a very rough sketch of the room.  But 80% of it is gonna change with the deletion on the current TV and such and some furniture changes. But the basic layout of the room is gonna have to dictate the general position of everything.  But I am unfamiliar with lite things like distance from the walls and such. 

 

BTW the bk amps ( there are two) are both 700w.  And even in the small setup he was using both the marantz and one of the amps. 

 

 

 

[bigdog9191999]

alright guys so far so good! dealing with a bit of a learning curve but I tend to learn pretty quick and have a decent idea of things and with a little research am doing well so far. I am sure things are not set up as perfect as they can be. but not too bad I think.  I do have a bit of an issue tho, I am pretty sure the main horn on the one tower is gone bad. I am contacting bob to see what we can do ( horns, tweeters ( titanium) and crossovers) for now here is how I am set up..

 

mains

center

and using the 3.1's as rears

 

was figuring to use the .5's as side fill or high mount main fill. as of right now I have the jumpers off the towers as to not use the broken horn and set the .5's on top of them to have the fill for now. ( banana into the low terminals, and wire up to the .5's)

 

have basic pics of the setup both old and new loading and hoping to post those shortly.

 

my overall impression so far is amazing. the overall clarity is a good step over what I am used to , and the actual surround is taking a little getting use to  ( had surround speakers before, but in a stereo setup. so all sounds ''surrounded" you). and have the sound  actually moving around the room is nice/neat and awesome .

 

 

so other than the horns not working correctly is simply awesome. also went from a 1080p ( which not getting the full out of as the hdmi crapped out a while back and had to go back to rca plugs)  old projection tv to a 1080i plasma is a nice upgrade too

 

getting the settings and balance around is taking a little playing ( voices were super quite and ambient/action super loud) but I think we are getting a very good thing going.  and the bass... I am not used to this much in the house ( play with some car audio) but I am loving and enjoying it now that we got it tweeked a bit too. ( was overpowering and boomy. is powerfull and shakes the room still, just not overbearing like it had been)

 

 

about the only question I can think of thus far that I haven't figured out or found an answer to is power to the towers!

the Marantz is 100 per channel ( of which I cant seem to get the mains to work correctly) but have the mains going to the bk amp and it pushes 125 per channel. which Is still less than what the towers can take. now granted I am probably just fine the way it is and is safe and sounds good. but how would I go about feeding more power to the towers with the equipment I have? there is several hundred watts not being used but how to hook them up? separate the horn/tweeter from the subs in the towers and power them separate? like highs off the Marantz and feed the subs off the amp? I may just see if I can get the towers working off just the Marantz and eliminate the amp. but if I am gong to / have to run the extra amp. I figure I should take advantage and get the full potential from everything.

 

I will also get a scetch of the room and dimentions made, but the layout kinda kills my options... oh.. how to mount these 3.1's to the wall?? kinda big and heavy.. was thinking a custom "shelf" and a couple screws from the bottom to hold them in place. right now they are siting on tv tables just so I could get everything up and going to test it out.

[bigdog9191999]

The old.  Bought the TV new. It was as the flat screens were very first coming out. I rhknk there was only like 3 in the store at the time. The stereo I got from a buddy that worked at rent-way ( a rent to own place long gone) before we got the TV.  The speakers had a separate high and low wire and the highs sucked on them. So I hooked the cheap surround speakers 2 to a side and made a decent "stereo" sound out of it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting everything wiped down and cleaned up before bringing it in the house  1. So it looks better and is clean. 2. Wife has developed allergies to dust and some other things. And dust that is not our own is worse. 

 

 

Roughly set in place

 

 

 

 

Sorting the mess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First round of testing / enjoying 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ricktate]

Looks like to me you have a BK amp and a BK A/V pre amp.....which sold new for big bucks.....not sure how you going to incorporate the Marantz and BK pre amp together but dam you got a pretty good system going on there.

  I'm sure the Marantz has pre outs so you can run the main fronts off the BK and run rest off the Marantz.

 Or you could also run all of them off the BK setup if the BK is 5 channel amp.

I'm sure more AVR guys will chime in.

  I'm new to the home theater game but I think the center channel maybe weak compared to your mains but we do what we can right  and needs to be closer to TV or aimed up a little.

  I going to be looking for first  AVR soon so your ahead of me..lol. Looks to me you got a great deal there. Best of luck to you.

[bigdog9191999]

yah I have the towers on the bk now. the bk pre amp was for the old setup and for 5.1 the Marantz took its place and is 7.2

 

I want to change the tv stand a bit but it will have to wait for now. not sure how I can place the center higher at this point. hopfully that will come with whatever replacement I can get for it .  so far it seems to be powerfull enough. but again I know I am not tapping the full on the towers, but under conditions so far is all doing good.. a few setting changes helped that balance a bit too.

 

so basically with this all set up I still have the bk pre amp as well as the other bk amp.. with another set of speakers I could do another 5.1 surround pretty easy. but will probably just let it all sit and keep for spares.