Klipsch Synergy III Complete System Help!

[erickoegle]

I have a question. Through work, I am eligible to purchase the Klipsch Synergy's at a super low cost. For a complete 5.1 system, I can get it for 720$, no shipping costs and no tax. Thats the 12" subwoofer, two front floorstanders, two surround speakers and the center channel. A 2000$ value for only 720$. Crazy, I know. Mind you, I am in college and only 22. I am very sure I will be purchasing a Reference system when I finally move into a permanent home within the next 5 years after graduating from college. I definately will purchase this system, but I was just wondering which wires to get. I see that in the manual for the synergy's it says that a normal 8ohm 18 gauge cable is good enough, but I was planning on going for either 12 or 14 gauge wiring. What would be the best to run these? I need about 50 feet of cable for each of the rears, and probably about 25 feet for the center and two floorstanding fronts.

Also, I was planning on purchasing a receiver for around 1000$. What seems to have the most bang for the buck. I will probably also purchase the Synergy Bookshelf's to add as side channels for a 7.1 system.

I am currently using the 5.1 ProMedia's with a Klipsch Digital Decoder on my Rear Projection 47" Panasonic HDTV, PT-47WX53. My TV does not have HDMI connects but it does have 2 component inputs and a DVI input. I bought this TV in August of 2003. It has served me well but I will plan to upgrade when I get a Reference system.

Thanks

[dtel]

There is nothing wrong with Synergy, the new ones are much better then the older . When you get them home you will be shocked what they sound like, you can't even compare it to what they sound like in the store even it is set up correctly in the store.

Wires, i would go with the #14 that will be plenty enough,and i would bet money you can not hear a difference from #14 to #12 to a $500 wire. Some say they can hear a difference with very $ wires, but even if they do it would such a small difference in sound, there would be some place the money could be spent for much bigger improvements. IMHO

Very nice setup for " in college and 22", much better than the average person at any age and income, or any HTIB.

[Steve_L]

WOW!! That's a great price for those speakers. I have those exact speakers and I have them paired with a Pioneer VSX-1015TX-K and it rocks! I've got a 23X15 foot room with catherdral ceilings and it creates huge sound in this room. I like it loud, sometimes, and this receiver delivers and works well with the Klipsch. I also used to two extra surround channels as bi-amp for the front mains. as the receiver has that option.

Movies are fabulous too.. You'll be amazed at what that sub can do and those the Synergy IIIs are crystal clear.

Enjoy!

[erickoegle]

I went to Audio Visions in Strongsville, Ohio a few months back, well about a year now and got quoted on a RF-35 system and I was recommended this Yamaha RX-V1600 receiver. I was just wondering what the difference is between the RX-Vand the HTR Series of their amplifiers. Is there much of a sound quality difference between the RX-V and the HTR receivers?

I was looking at gettting the HTR-5990 though Best Buy because of a massive discount I could get off of it. Let me know what receiver would be best

Thanks again!

[rlr267]

I was just wondering what the

difference is between the RX-Vand the HTR Series of their

amplifiers. Is there much of a sound quality difference between

the RX-V and the HTR receivers?

According to a Tech at Yamaha, the RX-V and the HTR are built on

"almost identical platforms" but the HTR line is specifically built for

mass retailers where the RX-V is built for the "High End Audio"

shops. The Tech would not verify for me that the RX-V is better

or worse, but when pressed told me if the price was anywhere near the

same, to buy the RX-V model. So, I did.

Yamaha RX-V757

RF-82 mains

RC-62 center

CDT5800 rears

CDT5650 side surround

RW-10 sub

AW-650 for the neighbors []

[Buckeye_Nut]

Jezus...

When I was a college student, we didnt have TV or audio systems that nice....LOL

Ok, back on topic!! I recommend going to "Lowes" and buying 12AWG

wire. They sell it by the foot, and it costs less than .40/ft. I

cant remember the exact price, but it's pretty reasonable. With

wire like that.......You'll be good to go!!

Good luck!

[Buckeye_Nut]

Very nice setup for " in college and 22", much better than the average person at any age and income, or any HTIB.

LOL...yea no kidding!!

[rlr267]

Jezus...

Ok, back on topic!! I recommend going to "Lowes" and buying 12AWG

wire. They sell it by the foot, and it costs less than .40/ft. I

cant remember the exact price, but it's pretty reasonable. With

wire like that.......You'll be good to go!!

I bought 12AWG at my local Lowes last weekend and it was actually less than .30/ft so it is most definately reasonable.

If "professional looking" (ie: expensive looking) cables are important, you can get Banana Plugs for about $1.25 each at:

http://stores.ebay.com/ACCESSORYKING-SALES

and cable pants for $5.50 (pack fo 10) at:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=3

[TheSoundBroker]

Hah! When I was in college, I had a pair of Acoustat 2 + 2's with a powered sub, Bedini amps and an Audio Research preamp...in my dorm room. I took the money for school and put it into audio gear...then sold equipment to locals plus worked another job to pay for room/board and tuition. Yeah, it was crazy and look where it got me for a career []

Very nice setup for " in college and 22", much better than the average person at any age and income, or any HTIB.

LOL...yea no kidding!!

[DrWho]

Very nice setup for " in college and 22", much better than the average person at any age and income, or any HTIB.

LOL...yea no kidding!!

It's all about finding the right deals...I think the last time I

counted it all up I have over $10k worth of system...I certainly didn't

spend anywhere near that much though [H] ($2k? I forget).

[erickoegle]

Thanks for all the props, I am a really big movie nut and it helps when I have a brother who manages a move store part time. (Free movies and new releases 1 week before they come out!) I was looking at getting some 12 gauge acoustic research wire at BestBuy. I can get a 50' spool of it for around 13$

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6841867&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08055&id=1093467528401.

My other option is Monster Cable probably 16 gauge which is about 2.5 times more expensive . I was chatting with an associate at BestBuy and he said that I should go with monster cable brand. He said that even though the acoustic research brand is 12 gauge, the wire in the monster cable is more pure of a copper and thus a better conducter.

What do you all think?

[DrWho]

I was chatting with an associate at BestBuy

and he said that I should go with monster cable brand. He said

that even though the acoustic research brand is 12 gauge, the wire in

the monster cable is more pure of a copper and thus a better conducter.

What do you all think?

Seems your associate has fallen to the world of marketing and audio magic.

You will find the "great cable debate" to be a rather hot topic, but

no matter which side of the fence everyone would agree that at most the

top 1% of listeners with the top 1% sound systems MIGHT POSSIBLY be

able to tell a difference....knowing that and then looking at the

system you have...the synergy system is great, but nowhere near top 1%.

In fact, there is a million dollar prize to anyone that can pass a

double blind ABX test to verify the difference between two wires...you

should have your associate go take the challenge, fail miserably, and

then have him recommend the expensive cable again []

And for the record...there is nothing special at all with the metal

inside Monster brand cables. Back when I was working for an audio

install company in Michigan there were a bunch of wire vendors trying

to peddle their products....and instead of listening to their marketing

mumbo jumbo we asked for samples of their wire and ran out own tests

(both subjective listening tests as well as objective measurements).

Nobody could tell the difference and even the instrumentation didn't

show much (sure, there were some minor differences, but nothing

anywhere close to being audible). Ironically, of the totally inaudible

differences the Monster Cable measured the worst....go figure.

[Steve_L]

The only reason to use Monster cable, or any Monster products is the both BB and Monster get Monster Profits.

The only important things about thta cable are that they are a good 12 guage cable and that you make nice clean connections at both ends. I'd suggest these connectors.

They send you shrink wrap too, to slip over the connectors so they don't short in close quarters.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

[erickoegle]

Thanks all,

Now on along the lines of power. Should I just go with a normal decent Surgeprotector or should I fall into the lines of purchasing a power conditioner

I can get this one

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7179983&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat72100050012&id=1110267219710

for about 300$. Would this be a worthy investment?

[rlr267]

I don't know if they are worth the cost but they do look cool.

You may want to consider getting the HTS3500MKII. You can get it

on-line for $150 and IMHO it is overpriced, but at half the cost of the

one you are looking at, a much better deal.

As for the Joule ratings on these, can someone with an electrical

background can answer this? How much power from a lightning

strike can actually make it into the house? Assume a direct

lightning strike on the power line leading from the pole to the house,

wouldn't the power meter blow out of the socket and affectively provide

circuit protection to the house, alternatively, wouldn't the power

breakers keep anything near a joule from reaching my equipment?

Stated another way, how much protection is realistically enough?

I think Monster charges according to the Joule Rating (ie: higher

rating = higher price).

[erickoegle]

Probably 1.21 gigawatts, just the right amount of energy needed to charge the Flux Capacitor...

LOL

[DrWho]

I don't know if they are worth the cost but they do look cool.

You may want to consider getting the HTS3500MKII. You can get it

on-line for $150 and IMHO it is overpriced, but at half the cost of the

one you are looking at, a much better deal.

As for the Joule ratings on these, can someone with an electrical

background can answer this? How much power from a lightning

strike can actually make it into the house? Assume a direct

lightning strike on the power line leading from the pole to the house,

wouldn't the power meter blow out of the socket and affectively provide

circuit protection to the house, alternatively, wouldn't the power

breakers keep anything near a joule from reaching my equipment?

Stated another way, how much protection is realistically enough?

I think Monster charges according to the Joule Rating (ie: higher

rating = higher price).

Well Joules are a measurement of energy, not power....and that's about

all my electrical engineering background can tell you on the matter []

I believe the voltage require to arc electricity through air is about

60,000 Volts...so assuming a 1ohm impedance to your equipment and

assuming that the lightning bolt has enough current to send down the

line, you are looking at about 3,600,000,000 Amps of DC current going

into your system. And Power = VI so you're looking at 3,600,000,000

Watts (that's 3.6 billion watts...or 3.6 gigawatts). [] And Energy is Power times the change

in time, so assuming the lightning bolt lasts for 1 second you are

looking at 3.6 billion Joules. (3.6 gigaJoules)

Hmmm, but according to Wikipedia:

"An average bolt of negative lightning carries a current of 30 kiloamperes, transfers a charge of 5 coulombs, has a potential difference of about 100 megavolts and dissipates 500 megajoules (enough to light a 100 watt lightbulb for 2 months)."

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

So I was off by a factor of ~7....not too bad for pulling numbers out of my butt [H]

[erickoegle]

So whats the answer? Power Surge Protector or Monster Power Conditioner?

[DrWho]

It's not your prettiest piece of gear, but it's got everything you

could ever want. They are very handy when mounted in the top of your

rack because the round handles on either side of the votlage indicator

pull out and there is a lamp inside (which has a switch and dimmer

controls on the left). The LED display might be a bit annoying if the

gear is mounted in the front of your room, but it's easy to throw a

piece of electrical tape over the top to block it out.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=248-751

[rlr267]

Head spinning around ala' Linda Blair.

So the answer is . . . more freaking power than my a power

conditioner or surge protector can control! Therefore, I believe

the answer to the original question on power conditioner vs. surge

protector is a matter of form over function.

If your house/apartment has weak wiring you may consider a power

conditioner. For example, as a poor student, I lived in an

apartment that when the refrigerator came on, the TV dimmed for a

moment and if I turn on the TV, the lights would flicker just a

moment. If I still lived in that apartment, I would definately

invest in a power conditioner, then again, if I still lived in that

apartment, it would be because I am too poor to afford a power

conditioner.