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Which center?


JTLove

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Hello,

My name is Jeff and I am new to the forum. I have a 5.1 setup with some older Klipsch speakers I am mostly happy with. I use them both in a home theater setup and to play both records and CDs. My setup consists of a pair of RF30s for mains, an RC10 as a center and a pair of RB15s for rear surround. I also have an RW 10 for my sub.  I power them with an Onkyo TX-NR 656. When listening to music, I really like the sound I get but when I watch movies the small center gets dwarfed by the RF30s. I am on a budget but a couple of used opportunities that have presented themselves this week. For a $195 asking price (negotiable) I can get a pair of RS 35 surrounds and a RC3II center. I know these speakers are a generation older than my current speakers but they are in very good condition and sound great. I also could set up a 7.1 setup with these. For $175, I could get a RP250C. Finally for $340 asking price I could get a RP 450C. All of these options are in excellent condition. My listening room is a typical Ranch house living room 12x18 and the Couch to Center speaker distance is about 10 feet. Is the RP450 overkill? Is the RP 250C that much better than the RC3II? Thank you in advance for any advice.

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Alright so if im not mistaken, the primary problem here would be a lack luster center? It is normal for a centers sound-presence to feel dwarfed compared to the fronts, especially after running a calibration software or not doing any manual tweaks to your systems many configs to begin with. Its therefore quite common to up the db-level on the center channel through your receivers settings. If this is the primary problem, then buying any other center won't fix this. 

 

Now, its been awhile since i've had to do with an Onkyo so im not 100% on this, but I am 90% sure that db-levels for the different sources can be adjusted separately. Alteast its possible on my marantz and yamaha, so im fairly certain onkyo has that feauture aswell. So for example, you can lower the db on your fronts for your movie source without that change being present on your music source. Or you could just up the db level on your center to your liking. 

 

Even though im quite familiar with the RP speakers you mention there, Im not at all familiar with the older models you have up there aswell, and so im regrettably in no position to compare these speakers and give you a better image of what you're looking at here. However, I would recommend staying with your current setup and maybe going for those two speakers to the negotiable price of $195. Im afraid introducing an RP speaker to your setup could cause some unwanted timbre mismatch between the different tweeters. 

 

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I do have my center turned up 5 db louder than my Floor speakers. With the center only having 4 inch speakers compared to the 8 inch on my RF30s, I think the sound is a bit "smaller". I think I am going to buy the RC3II and the surrounds even though the center is a series older than my current speakers the horn should be the same and I will be stepping up to 6 inch speakers. The new surrounds will be the perfect match and if I don't like the new center I can probably get my money out of it. I also found a pair of RB35s for $100 that I am going to pick up as my B channel speakers. Same series as my current setup with the same 8 inch speakers. Not a bad score for $300 total.

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47 minutes ago, JTLove said:

I do have my center turned up 5 db louder than my Floor speakers. With the center only having 4 inch speakers compared to the 8 inch on my RF30s, I think the sound is a bit "smaller". I think I am going to buy the RC3II and the surrounds even though the center is a series older than my current speakers the horn should be the same and I will be stepping up to 6 inch speakers. The new surrounds will be the perfect match and if I don't like the new center I can probably get my money out of it. I also found a pair of RB35s for $100 that I am going to pick up as my B channel speakers. Same series as my current setup with the same 8 inch speakers. Not a bad score for $300 total.

you can turn your rf30 down to achieve a balance rather than turning up the centre.

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I've not heard the RC-3 II but I am a fan of center speakers with 6"-7" woofers.  The price looks good at $195 for a center and a pair of surrounds. If the Seller says "negotiable" offer him $150 and then accept whatever he comes back with.  I own a nice Usher MTM center w/7" woofers and the sound is excellent.  I think this would be my first choice.

 

Of the rest the RP-450c looks solid.  Always get the best center speaker you can afford.  You don't have to worry about "timbre matching" because in multi-channel setups the mains and the center have a discrete channel;  they don't play the same exact content.  The center plays mostly dialog/vocals and the mains play music.  Getting a quality center speaker is the key, you want clear, accurate voices and then you are good to go.

 

Price:  I'm not familiar with RP used prices.  The $340 sounds good, but $300 sounds better.

 

I have not heard the RC-3 II nor the RP-450c.  I own the RC-64 III. Shown  here with RF-83, RP-600M.

 

591494550_RP-600Mbi-amprightsideview_800.thumb.jpg.b8712124600503367435c1ae83b68773.jpg

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