HT newbie with Quartets - need advice

[carjulreyes]

Hi - This is my first post on these forums. I'm a newbie to home theaters and I'm looking for some advice. I own Quartets and absolutely adore them. I also recently obtained a SW 8 powered subwoofer off of ebay that I haven't hooked up yet. I'm just starting to read through these forums and learn about matching speakers and such. So here are my questions:

1) Is the SW 8 sub ok or is there another sub that would go well with the Quartets?

2) What's a good center channel speaker with the Quartets? From these forums, it seems like Academy most recommended.

3) What are good rear surrounds with the Quartets? I don't have room for floor standing speakers so another pair of Quartets is out of the question. I'm hoping to mount the rear speakers from the ceiling.

4) Lastly, how do the current Klipsch speaker lines (ie. Reference, Synergy) compare against the Quartets. I'm entertaining the idea of selling the Quartets to get the whole matching set of new Klipsch models instead of searching high and low trying to find good matches for the Quartets and having to pay for rare speakers. But I think the Quartets are jewels and would hate to part with them.

And I'm looking to get the Harman-Kardon AVR-635 as the reciever for this. Looking forward to any advice. Thanks.

[MrMcGoo]

Welcome to the forum!!! We will be happy to help you spend your hard earned dollars.

The SW-8 is too small and is under powered for home theater. The Sub-12 or RSW-12 or 15 would be better choices.

A complete Reference theater will not be inexpensive. An Academy and two surrounds to go with your Quartets are likely to cost less and sound as good or better. Academys seem to come up regularly, but are somewhat expensive.

The best surrounds would be two more Quartets. Other choices would be Heresys. RS-7s are a possibility, but the sonic match would be off a bit. The front to back match is not as important as the match across the front.

The H/K AVR 635 is highly regarded on the forum, but would not be my first choice.

Bill

[Bill H.]

Welcome to the Form. MrMcGoo's comments were spot on! For a Receiver also look at

the Yamaha RX-V657 model...........

*Book mark me, if you ever decide to sell. I am in Indiana!

[Audible Nectar]

McGoo has the idea: Think MORE QUARTETS.

But I want to expand further on that idea - think Quartet for CENTER, too.

Trust me on this one: You have NEVER heard home theater until you have heard perfectly timbre matched sound all around you. In the right room, 5-7 identical speakers provide a seamlessness that must be heard to be believed. It's a big part of how your HT goes from average to better-than-cinema sound.

And that starts with your center. Remember that the majority of movie soundtrack sound is routed through that center channel - it isn't just the center, it is THE MAIN SPEAKER IN YOUR HT SYSTEM. I would no more do without a full sized center in an HT than I would smaller-than-other mains. In HT, the center IS the main, it pays off to plan for it.

Given the cost of the Academy, why not buy a pair of Quartets for center? The 2 Quartets can probably be obtained for less than ONE Academy, and you will have a full sized speaker to boot. Depending on the number of channels used, you may have a need for two center Quartets (one front center, one back center), or if 5.1 or 7.1, you'll have an extra speaker for drivers or spare speaker if you need it down the line.

I always tell people who are building an HT to deal with the center speaker issue FIRST, BEFORE selecting a video display. A full sized floor standing main can cause one to reconsider the display to be used - and it should. In my book, a big screen is no good without the BIG SPEAKER running center channel sound. It's that important. It makes the difference between a good HT and a GREAT HT.

No room for a floor standing Quartet? Think some more, to be sure all options have been exhausted. If you still cannot find a way to make that work, think custom (where a cabinet is fabricated/rebuilt using timbre matched drivers, yet offers full range performance that fits in with the video display).

You want a full sized main, equivalent to the left and right, making three identical mains across your front soundstage. It will make your HT shine - BELIEVE IT.

[dougdrake]

As you don't have room for Quartets all around, you will have to

"settle" on a surround speaker. Unless you plan on doing a lot of

multi-channel music, though, you probably won't be too hurt by using

surround-style speakers such as the Reference series surround models.

Of that style, I think the Reference series would best be able to keep

up with the Quartets, although they won't be a real close match.

However, if you're mostly going to be using them for movies, it's

mostly effects that come out of there so it's not the end of the world.

Might find some used RS-3s on Ebay, which would save you some

money. If you ceiling mount them, though, keep in mind they

aren't designed for that position (all weight hanging straight down off

the mounting brackets, versus at a 90 degree angle as they would be on

the wall) so you'll need to provide adequate safety measures to keep

them from hurting someone if they fall.

[Audible Nectar]

"As you don't have room for Quartets all around, you will have to "settle" on a surround speaker".

What has just occurred is Doug's unveiling of a simple fact. I cannot read. I can write, but when in comes to reading, I'm a bit off the mark[].

Advice regarding the center still applies. In that smaller environment, I wonder how a set of KSP-S6 or other dipoles would do as surround speakers - the KSP-S6 is a substantial surround model that has possibilities where mains will not go.....and the RS-3 or 7 would also be possibilities - but neither of these would be timbre matched to the Quartets. For movie soundtracks, both options would be adequate.....for multichannel music listening, less so (that's where the perfect timbre matching in the back really pays off). I wonder if there is room in the threadstarter's room for Heresys - another possibility that would match timbrewise better than the KSP or RF models, since the Heresys are Heritage (as are the Quartets). If dipoles are the necessary remedy for the rears, however, the poster may consider switching to RF series all around, which would allow dipole rear speaker use for the smaller environment.

But in my world, all identical mains and series are the best. I didn't think 6 Cornwalls and twin JBL 15" woofer cabinets were feasible in a 15' x 18' room, either, but I made it work. I crossfired two Cornwalls in the rear set up on coffee tables, to get them above ear level while giving effective rear sound (HINT: you do not have to place the rear Quartets on the floor - be creative. They are better off if they are a bit above ear level anyway). The front is also a wall of Cornwalls. Granted, this is all a bit "much" for that size room, but this is Klipsch, where too much is just right[] It also took some additional time, because Cornwalls have been out of production - but the two years it took to find them made it all worth it. If the original poster decides to take the time to get more Quartets (not as expensive as he thinks), I guarantee sonic satisfaction[]

I can certainly see why the threadstarter wouldn't want to give up the Quartets. Maybe you can come back and post more specifics on the room, and maybe we can give some more concrete answers for you.

[carjulreyes]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. Looks like I'm going have to do some serious thinking about all of this to really decide what is in my best interest. Here is a rough diagram of how the room is currently:

dimensions are 20'x11'

[Olorin]

If you are using a projector and screen for your display, definitely

consider another Quartet for the center. Otherwise it's the

Academy. For your surrounds, consider the Tangent 10. It

uses the Quartet's K-76 tweeter in a bookshelf format.