ron123 Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 i was wondering what would be a good preamp and amp to go along with my new rb3, rc3, rs3 and rsw12. i have an onkyo right now. but i want more power so i can have some head room to play with. also what be a good setting for the sub. i'm looking for clean power. thanks ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe11 Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 Ron~ I'm sure many people on the forum could help you, but you'll need to provide a few more details about your current setup and also what your desires are. Some things we'd need to know are 1) How much do you wish to spend for the combo, 2) Given that you list all your speakers I assume that you want a HT pre/pro combo and not simply a 2 channel setup?, 3) what model and specs do you have on the Onkyo?, 4) What parts of the Onkyo are you wishing to improve on? If you can give more info on these questions, you should get some solid help. I'm fond of Rotel gear as my signature shows. If you wanted high quality HT seperates setup, I'd look at the RSP-1066 pre/processor and an RMB-1075 multi-channel amp. This setup is around $2K. If you are simply looking for a 2 channel stereo, I suggest the RC-1070 preamp and an RB-1050. The RC-1070 is a simple, but competent stereo preamp for a low cost. I have the RB-1070 amp for my RF-7's though they are so efficient they don't even need that much power. Your RB-3's would get along fine on the RB-1050 which is 70x2. Again the amps are very fairly priced for the quality they provide. Lastly, if the Onkyo is one of the lower models, you may simply want to buy a new receiver higher up the price range. Many of us use mid level Denon, Harmon Kardon, and other receivers with very good results. For sub setup an easy reference for movies is to set switch on the sub to LFE and then if your setup allows, set your sub crossover point through the receiver. The mostly agreed upon setting is 80hz. For music, I'd enable the low pass crossover switch on the sub and then adjust my setting to slightly higher than the low rolloff point of the RB-3's. You'll simply have to listen to your system and adjust the crossover frequency until you find the setting that sounds best to you, but this info should get you started. ~shoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron123 Posted January 28, 2003 Author Share Posted January 28, 2003 thanks for the reply.i wish to spend no more then 4k. yes i just want a ht not to worried about 2 channel set up. i have the 575 2000 year model 70w by 5. i want to go with seperates because i feel you will get better performance from them. trying to cram all that stuff into a little box is not good in my option. my 575 does not allow for a amp to connect to it also there is no bass management in the set. i just want good clean power with some head room i do not want to clip my speakers. thanks again ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe11 Posted January 28, 2003 Share Posted January 28, 2003 Ron~ Are you saying 4k for the whole setup including your speakers or 4k just for the pre/pro and power amps? I'm assuming you mean the later. If 4k is your budget for just the seperates then you have all kinds of options, but honestly given the speakers that you have and Klipsch's noted efficiency, spending that kind of coin on power is way overkill in my opinion. You could really spend less than half that and have ample headroom for your speakers. I'm not really that big into HT and the only HT seperates that I've really looked at is the Rotel line, but for giggles let's say you wanted to blow the whole 4k on the Rotel gear. In that case I'd take the RSP-1066 which provides 7.1 capability for the pre/pro at around $1200 MSRP. Rotel does not make a 7 channel amp at this time, but I'd pair the 1066 with say a RB-1090 at 380x2 and add a RMB-1095 which gives 200x5. The amps would run you around $3k MSRP. With those pieces you'd have tons of power and it would be complete overkill with the speakers that you have. I'm sure others on the board could provide some other brand options. I've not heard any Parasound equipment myself, but I've read very positive reviews about their gear as well. If I were you, I would consider setting a $2k limit on my seperates purchase and either spend the rest on larger Klipsch speakers or other enhancements to your gear. Just a thought. HTH ~shoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron123 Posted January 28, 2003 Author Share Posted January 28, 2003 shoe thanks for all your help. just to let you know today i traded in my r3's and got the r5's book shelf. i was looking at rotel online it looks like good gear and there is a dealer close by. so this weekend i think i will go and pick the peoples brain. also read good reviews about the gear. thanks ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speed3 Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 Check out Outlaw Auido at outlawaudio.com. Look at their Model 950 in combo with one of thir amps. Their 755 is 200x5, the 770 is 200x7, and the 7100 is 7x100, so depending on how much power you want and what configuration you are looking for they pretty much have it covered. All of the power figures are with all channels driven 20hz to 20khz. BTW, I wouldn't know why you would need all that power with your speakers. It's kind of a waste considering the efficiency. The 7100 would more than suit your needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted January 29, 2003 Share Posted January 29, 2003 I have an RB1080 (200wpc @ .01THD) and while it is performing it's duties well there is one area it needs to improve on. That is at lower volume levels. The amp tends to sound a little flat (not the good flat) as it sounds that the bass output drops considerably. This has me reaching for the "Loudness" knob on my Mac C33 preamp. At upper volumes it sings with all of its program signal well blended. Lower bass notes are first felt and then heard. Midrange is mellow and sweet without being too subdued. Higher registers can have a sharp and piercing tone without being too lound or fuzzy (i.e- a percussion tri-angle for instance). Stereophile has this on their suggested gear list along with the RB1090 ($1k for the RB1080 and $2k for the RB1090). If I were to fo it again I would probably get a McIntosh MC202. But those are running a couple grand by them selves as opposed to the $1k for the RB1080. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted February 1, 2003 Share Posted February 1, 2003 i went from onkyo to rotel, and the level of sound is very different, i had the onkyo 797, an excellent reciever, but just that, a reciever. now as you can see in my sig, i run rotel exclusivly, with brilliant results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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