Yamaha RX-V550 Question

[Sublime40]

Just purchased the RX-V550 receiver to go with Quintets and my KSW-12. Cut me some slack, they're the only Klipsch I could afford. Anyway, it seems to me to lack some power and punch. I replaced 7 or 8 year old JVC with 70 watts a channel. The old JVC seemed quite a bit louder at the top end. According to Yamaha's website, the usable range is about -45 to -15. -15 Doesn't seem to cut it for me, and any louder risks the auto shutoff protection. Anyone else have this complaint with this line of Yamaha? Just looking for some opinions trying to decide if I should keep it or try another. The store is nice enough to give me 30 days to trade in or up. I like the features and the sound is very clean, just seems a little down on power. Wondering it there may be an issue with my particular unit. Thanks for any input.

[gcoker]

If it's not enough try the next one up the line.

I guess it depends on what level you like to play

your music and movies. The model I have is 100 watts

per channel and it's more then enough. In fact I have

never listen to a movie or music greater then -30.

[colterphoto1]

Welcome to the world of KLIPSCH!

I did a home installation for my little brother very similar to yours. Qunitet/KSW12 hooked up to Yamaha surround receiver. His WAF (wife acceptance factor) and budget would not allow any larger speakers and he desperately wanted a surround system. Although he was pleased, I found the sound very thin, despite the KSW12 (which I have in my own system) Even though I dearly love the entire Klipsh philosophy and line, I feel that the satellite/sub combo does not work for the following reasons:

Since the sonic improvements from ProLogic to 5.1 (all speakers now being full range) the rear surrounds suffer greatly due to the unusable bass from the Quintets.

Even though in theory, bass sounds are 'omnidirectional', I feel that the human ear is much more sensitive that engineers give them credit for. Just go outside and try to localize thunder for instance. My opinion is that even with a sub, today's listener requires a more full-range system for the 5 balanced speakers. Especially for stereo listening, I find this type of system unusable. You're using the full range for your sub, from 20Hz to 200Hz, which is 20-40, 40-80, 80-160, at least THREE octaves out of ten. Combine that with the fact that the bass tones are a majority of the sound 'energy' and you've got a lot of sounds coming from a little box in the corner, not surrounding you as you intended.

The Quintet is rated at 100 Hz-20kHz +/- 3 dB, so it's possible that it's only flat down to 200Hz. The KSW12 is rated at 28-100Hz +/- 3 dB, so it's usable flat range may only be up to 80Hz or so. (hey, it's just a guess, I dont have the response curves here and it all depends on room placement anyway. THE POINT IS that this system does not have much of an overlap in the critical crossover region. Each of the systems should be FLAT beyond the crossover point or you are going to have a 'hole' in your overall response curve. You may have a serious dip in response in the 80-200 Hz range.

Let's face it a 3.5" woofer is just not going to cut it. At least get a Synergy SB1 or compatible system (forget the surround style speakers, just get 4 matching and a center) They will be a much better match to the KSW12.

THERE IS NOTHING wrong with your Yamaha receiver or subwoofer! Just upgrade a bit and be happy!

Hope this helps!

Michael

[drewzter]

you will never get "power and punch" from the quintets...

use them for your PC or something, and at least go up to the synergy bookshelf set...