KLIPSCH speaker system sound better with HDTV and 5.1 surround broadcast

[holyangelu]

I just bought a Synergy system with F-3, S-3, C-3 and a subwoofer at Best Buy. They sounded pretty good in my opinion. However, I cannot duplicate the sound I heard at the demo. I have an Onkyo 602B powering the speakers. I also noticed that the sound is much better when receiving dolby 5.1 signals from HDTV broadcast. I have a JVC CD-player with a DAC but I am not satisfied when listening to the Brothers in Arms Album from Dire Straits. Sounded pretty good at the store. The receiver has 85w/c. Do i need a better amp?

[Born2RockU]

Are you using the S/PDIF Optical Output from the cable box?

I connected that up this week and HOLY-MOLE' Y...man-o-man...my system came alive when we were watching the football games this weekend.,

As far as your set-up..., what amp and preamp was used at the store that you liked so much? Go back and buy that, if it sounds better then your setup. Preamps and amps are not all created equal just because they have 'X' amount of watts.

Good luck.

[JeffDurbin]

I am assuming you are comparing a stereo recording of the Dire Straits CD (and not a 5-channel mix on a SACD) to a 5.1 channel broadcast. I experience the same thing because the music sounds 'fuller' and more enveloping.

There are a few things you should do when you set up a new speaker system. The very first thing is get a $40 Radio Shack SPL meter and test all five (plus the sub) speakers at your listening position. You would be amazed at how much tweaking is necessary to get them all at the same volume. This is because of different distances to your ears. I did mine yesterday after I installed a new (used) amp. The other thing I learned from this is that my center channel sounded a LOT different than my other front speakers! They are the same brand but different speakers obviously. Even though they supposedly have the same efficiency rating they 'sounded' much different even though I was getting the same reading once I tweaked the volume settings. It was an eye-opener! I am saving my pennies for the THX Ultra2 system and it uses the exact same speakers for the fronts.

Also, set the distances from the speakers to your listening position because that affects the timing of when the signals reach your ears. The receiver will delay each signal for the five channels so they all arrive when they are supposed to.

If you want the five-channel effect with a stereo CD you can always use Pro-Logic to get it. I have the DTS version of the Eagles Hell Freezes Over and after I got everything plugged in I played it because I have never owned a DTS decoder until this new pre-amp. It wouldn't decode the DTS. It defaulted to a Dolby Pro-Logic decoding. It sounded pretty darn good.

(Figuring out my DTS problem is a future issue for next weekend.)

[Hellshound]

Well you have bought a great set of speaks the problem is your receivers output is not good enough for those speakers. the min watts for those speaks is 140 and you are using 85. So you are not even touching the min required to drive them. The Denon 3808 is a great receiver for these speaks and it is a 7.1 surround and has 120 watts per channel although it's not 140 it still creates great sound also you might want to invest in a sub as well the klipsch sub-12 goes well with these speaks. welcome to the home of high end equipment if you want great sound you have to pay for it. Yamha also makes a great receiver hope this helps

[IndyKlipschFan]

Are you using the S/PDIF Optical Output from the cable box?

Ditto for the DVD player too.

When Comcast came out with the HDTV box 2 years ago, they claimed to get it over a left and right RCA cable.. I begged to differ... and showed him. The results were HUGE.... He told his boss.. His boss visited me the next day and agreed. They told them wrong in training.

I got free cable for one month. But I do not think Comcast provides an optical cable to this day. But you will need it.

[woodsman]

Is that optical out different from the digital out. I'm not familiar with the optical one. Been using the digital cable, and get hdtv broadcast in 5.1. Can anyone explain the optical out a little more. Is it a different type cable used ?

Jeff

[holyangelu]

OK. I think I am getting closer to figuring out what I need to get the most out my setup. One important aspect when trying to play a DVD with DTS that you have to select the audio options in the disc menu. It created wonders for my system. Much fuller sound. But I played a SACD disc but didnt get quite the quality I expected as compared to DTS. The concert DVD's with DTS sounded much better than the SACD.

[sunburnwilly]

You need a dedicated 5.1 imput on your receiver to play SACD's . The signal won't go thru the optical or digital coax . []

[Steve_L]

Well, you have a really nice set of speakers there. Now you need to get set up properly. You need to make all the right connections from your receiver to the speakers, set up the bass management (LFE) properly, and tune in the speakers/placement SPL levels to your room. You also need to make sure that all of you other connections and component settings are correct for various modes of playback.. ie SACD, DD5.1, DTS etc.

Don't worry about your receivers power, although at 85WPC it may not be adequate for window breaking sound, it will have plenty of power to bring the efficient Klipsch speakers to very loud volumes. If you want/need a new receiver it will be to handle all of the other tasks of the AVR, not just for power. Things like input switching and supporting all of the various input signal processing protocols.

You need at least a test disc, and a SPL meter to set up your speakers. Get the sound levels of your speakers all tuned in and come back and tell us whats up.

Also make sure you have the correct connections from your DVD/CD player to your receiver. If you are trying to listing to a Multi-Channel SACD you will need 6 audio cables, from the back of your DVD/CD player and a player that supports SACD. Does your player support SACD. You weren't real specific with some of what you are trying to do here and what you were comparing it with. If the audio in the showroom was multi-channel, which I'm pretty sure it was, then you need that to get similar results back home.

Give us more info and we can help more.

PS I have the same speakers and have mated them to a Pioneer VSX-1015TX-K, which also provides MCACC auto room equalization to set the levels and balance out the speakers, and it is a super combination. SACDs, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS etc all sound fabulous. Especially like the DVD concerts like Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in multi-channel DTS! Yahoo. Crank her up!!

[ironwoods]

......the problem is your receivers output is not good enough for those speakers. the min watts for those speaks is 140 and you are using 85. So you are not even touching the min required to drive them.......

Where does one gather this info? They're at 97 dB with just *1* watt at 1 meter!

They can handle 150 continuously, with 600 w peaks, although I would not want to be present for this demonstration. [:'(]

[Cal Blacksmith]

There does seem to be a new crop of members who are not yet dialed in

to Klipsch and efficient speakers. Several of them have put out a bunch

of less than accurate info in other threads and we just need to do a

better job of informing them as to real life[]

[ironwoods]

.....we just need to do a better job of informing them as to real life. []

Oh now that's just great, ......so in other words your saying my work will never be done here?

I'm contemplating jumping over to world hunger. [{] [sn][pi][^][&]

[Doug C]

I drive a pair of RF-7's with a 2-watt amp and listen to a lot of Rock at high volumes and never get past 80% on the volume pot at the amp (I do not use a preamp). I see a lot of posts claiming the RF-7's are power hungry and require at least 200 watts?

Doug C

[Steve_L]

But Doug, everybody knows that the specs on that 2 watt amp of yours are highly exaggerated!

Sheesh! prolly more like 1 watt if it were an HK!