crappy receiver = crappy sound?

[banasikdrummer]

I just bought RF-35s yesterday and was extremely excited about them. When I listened to them before I bought them, they sounded fine. I got them home, put them in my room, and started listening to music. On a lot of songs, they sound somewhat fuzzy or muddy.

My friend told me that he didn't play anything that he felt uncomfortable with when he was at my house (he used to own RF-15s and now has RF-7s) and told me the problem is probably that I'm not running them off of a nice receiver. At the guy's house who I bought them from, he was running them off of a Rotel something or other, and I'm stuck here with a Philips FR994 (which came in a complete 5.1 system for two hundred dollars).

Can having a piece of crap receiver like this make my Klipsch sound like crap, or do you guys think something happened in the last day of playing music that would have completely screwed them up?

[wuzzzer]

The quality of the source (such as the CD player you're using) and the quality of the amplification will affect the sound quite a bit. Also, the room they are in will make a huge impact on the sound you hear as well. How far apart are the speakers? How close to side or rear walls do you have them? How close do you sit to them?

Your Philips HTIB's receiver is probably made to specifically drive the speakers it came with, not high quality speakers. Your next step should be to look for a good quality receiver.

CDs are also recorded differently as well. Some are great recordings, some are very poor.

[DrWho]

If you're worried about the condition of the speakers, you can just put your ear up next to every driver to make sure they're all playing. If they are all reproducing sound, then the speakers are fine. A crap receiver can definitely sound the way you describe though - garbage in, garbage out.

[jheis]

In a word; yes.

James

[oldbuckster]

Another......................YUP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cwwrig]

Yes,

I have not done this with home audio (because I already have a good one), but my car system had a receiver updgrade. Let's just say I could instantly hear the difference (Clarion to Alpine).

[tommyboy]

Yes, a crappy receiver will make your speaker sound like...... well crap. If you had a car that could run a 9 sec. quarter mile, you wouldn't put regular pump gas in it, right? No, you would put race fuel in it. So you need a better receiver. Or at least one that puts out more power. And another thing is that in your avatar, it looks like you only have about 3 feet between thte speakers. that will definitely affect how good/ bad they sound.

[banasikdrummer]

The quality of the source (such as the CD player you're using) and the quality of the amplification will affect the sound quite a bit. Also, the room they are in will make a huge impact on the sound you hear as well. How far apart are the speakers? How close to side or rear walls do you have them? How close do you sit to them?

As of right now, the speakers are in no way set up in "optimal position." I moved them into my bedroom and they are sitting about four feet apart, with me two to three feet away from them. I tried to keep them away from the walls, too, as I've heard you should keep the backs at a minimum of six to eight inches away, and mine are probably located about a foot from the back wall.

The thing I was worried about, though, was when I put my ear right next to the speakers. That's when I heard what sounded just like complete crap. In addition to having a horrible receiver, is there a possiblity that I'm picking up some electrical interference from the electronics (computer, printer, PS2, TV, and receiver) sitting all within a few feet from the RF-35s?

[DrWho]

It should sound like complete crap with your ears right next to the

speakers. With the RF-35, you should be around 10-15 feet away from the

speakers to allow the sound enough distance to meld together properly.

3 feet is way too close...and so is having the speakers ~3 feet apart.

Having electronics near the speakers is not going to cause

interference. Do you hear "electrical interference" when there is a

pause in the music? If not, then electrical interference isn't the

problem. It sounds like you're suffering from the compounded effects of

poor electronics and poor acoustics. Proper speaker and listener

position would go a long way in improving your sound. There is no need

to worry about any other possible effects until you get these issues

sorted out first...

[banasikdrummer]

Having electronics near the speakers is not going to cause
interference. Do you hear "electrical interference" when there is a
pause in the music? If not, then electrical interference isn't the
problem.

This
morning, I turned on my receiver and put it on my normal listening
volume. From three feet away, there was no audible interference, but if
I moved within a foot or so, I could hear a slight hissing. I know that
I'm probably making all of my "problems" out to be a big deal, but this
is the first time that I've spent a large amount of money on speakers,
and I'm just worried that somethign could be wrong.

[DrWho]

Amp hiss is 'normal too' [] and not an indication of anything wrong with the speakers (in fact, it's a good sign that everything is working with the speakers). One of the annoying things about this hobby is that upgrades almost always bring out flaws in other areas of the system. You've simply got poor amplification and your speakers are letting you know it. I noticed you started a thread about reciever recommendations...I think Denon is a great way to go.

[banasikdrummer]

I noticed you started a thread about reciever recommendations...I think Denon is a great way to go.

Yeah,
my friend bought the Denon AVR-1906 when he was using RF-15s, KG-1s,
and an RC-3 and reccommended that I buy it, because I can pick it up
for about $260 and it would let me upgrade to 7.1 in the future. I just
wasn't sure if I should buy the 1906 or 1907 for forty dollars more...

[Fish]

You should buy the best avr you can afford.They cost different amounts for a good reason,the better they are the better they sound.Even a $1000 avr is gonna be way short of fantastic.Klipsch speakers need a good avr/cd/dvd player etc... even more than most speakers.You will be rewarded.

[jheis]

If you go with Denon, & you can swing the price, I'd recommend that you stay high enough up their food chain so that you get a made in Japan model (the low end stuff is made in China). Things may have changed, but I bought a Denon AVR 1804 awhile back and I thought it really sounded like crap. Stayed in my system for less than a week before I took it back. YMMV.

James

[Islander]

It may sound odd, but it'll be cheaper to spend more money on a better receiver. Chances are that you'll want to upgrade from a $260 receiver before long, so it wouldn't be money well spent. It costs a lot more to move up in many small steps than in a few big ones, and it's not as much fun. Get the receiver you really want, even if it sounds expensive right now. If you choose well, you'll be enjoying it for years after you've forgotten what it cost.

[falcon20x]

The answer is yes !

You don't expect a $ 200 receiver to be as good as the  $ 3000 one, do you ? Because if it was the case most of us would probably be idiots for spending so much money on audio/video equipments.

Now there might be different reasons why the system does not sound as good as it should be, some easy to fix, some expensive.

The first thing you might want to do is calibrate the system ( you would be amazed of how many speaker systems sound bad becasue this is no even done)

Second the position of the speakers does matter as well, to close ot the wall is not a good idea.

Third the sources you are using might be a problem as well as, for example this is what happen to me. I got a new dvd player ( got it mostly for the upconversion) which I used to replace my sony SACD with. I did not noticed right away (due to the fact that I did not use the system for awhile) but the sound  out of the speakers was like what you described on yours, first I thought the receiver was messed up so I bought a new one. To make matters worst the new receiver was broken right out of the box, so I returned it for an another one which worked for about week, during that week I was blown away by the sound quality but what I did not say is that I had the sony hooked back up to the system.

So once the second one broke I returned it as well and up  end upgrading to  a more expensive unit in of the same name  brand. After hooking up the third receiver the sound was bad again, of course you guess it, this time I had the other DVD player hook up. Come to found out the DVD player it self was not set up properly and the sound board was not really good either, going back to my sony player fixed a lot of the problems, setting up the receiver did fixed some problems as well.

[banasikdrummer]

Well, the boat that I'm in right now is one where I dropped
nine-hundred on my speakers (which wasn't a bad deal) and I'm still
living at home with limited space, along with limited money. Having no
job makes it somewhat illogical to drop three grand on a receiver...

I've
decided that I'm gonna go with a Denon AVR-1906 that I can get on ebay
for about $250. I know it's not top of the line, but my friend powers
his RF-7s off of it, and he says when he switched from his Philips
FR994 (I bought that receiver from him and am currently using it) to
the AVR-1906, everyone noticed an immense change in how great his
speakers sounded.

Hopefully I can expect the same type of result for my speakers.

[falcon20x]

Here is a idea, why can't you get your friend to come over with his receiver and hook it up to your speakers?

At leats you will know if it is your problem or not, for that matter get him to come over with his player too.

That way you can go by process of elimination, that is the cheapest way to do it, isn't it?

[LarryC]

If your speakers were new out of the box and not demonstrators, I wonder if part of your reaction hasn't been to them not being broken in. If so, you may find more bass and a smoother sound coming in after around 40+ hours of playing (not everyone believes in "break-in," incidentally).

[PrestonTom]

I think there is quite a bit of guessing going on. This is because the original complaint was not very specific ("crappy" is not very diagnostic). Mike gave some good advice about listening to make sure all the drivers were working. I assume this diagnostics has been completed.

The bass response of the speaker will vary depending if the cabinets are near a wall or a corner and the imaging will certainly depend on where you are sitting relative to the cabinets (and how they are pointed toward the chair).

The cabinets are somewhat efficient and I don't believe the impedance is very low. Therefore changing the amp will make some difference but it will not go from "crappy" to superb (unless the receiver was marginal to begin with). Perhaps your definition of "crappy" and mine are different. What exactly is the problem?

-Tom