Any good advice wanted!

[BuyOtherSoundEquipment]

Good evening, fellow Klipsch fans. I'm a total noob to this community (as of 3 minutes ago). I am no audiophile, but I am (fairly) well-versed in the basics of home theater. My project is a set-up that will be in my bedroom (I am in college, living with my parents). The room is certainly not huge, but it is nicely sized for a bedroom (roughly 12 x 14). I am able to get Klipsch gear for good prices through a discount at my
unnamed place of employment (two words, starts with a B and ends with a
Y) so I figure, might as well take advantage of a good thing, especially considering my starving-college-student condition. My main conundrum is (among others, like using parenthesis too often) that I want to go with a speaker set up that I feel is going to be overkill. I want to do this, however, because I want a system that I can take with me as I will be moving out within 3 or so years. Anyway, down to business:

My speaker choices are as follows:

• Fronts- RF-82s
• Rears- RB-61s
• Center- RC-52
  
• Sub- RW-10D
  

I am currently in heavy debate with myself on which receiver is more appropriate for my goals, the Harman/Kardon AVR 247 or the Denon AVR-687. Here again, I am concerned that I may be under powering my speakers (lethal!) or not doing them justice, and I am very worried about clipping. Please clarify this for me. The Harman is attractive because of its HDMI up-conversion of standard def sources and its beautiful body. The Denon is a contender in that I can save some money for similar power, and that I am very partial to the brand. Again, I am by no means an expert, so please feel free to correct me or hit me on the head with a shovel.

my other equipment plans are:

• Onkyo DX-C390 CD player
  
• Either the Harman/Kardon DVD48 or the Oppo DV-980H for both upscaling movies and playback of SACDs, please advise on which to use
  
• Monster Power MP HTS 1600 PowerCenter (gotta use protection!)
• I am also going to be using my PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii, connected via component cables
  

The TV is so far going to be the Sony Bravia 37" KDF-37H1000 LCD RPTV for cost and size considerations. If anyone here owns this TV, please give me your honest opinions of it.

The system is definitely going to be a movie machine, but I am far
more interested in listening to my classic rock (think Hendrix or Steve
Miller Band) and a variety of other genres (classical, alternative rock
[weezer], and ska, to name just a few).

This is a lot of info, but it is everything I could think of. My main concerns are my speaker selections and my receiver confusion. PLEASE give me your honest opinions on this and tell me whether or not my speaker selections are appropriate for my needs/wants.

I have asked a few (mostly uninitiated) friends for their opinions, and I have gotten things like "Why not just buy one that comes in a box with all of the speakers and a built in DVD player??" or "Oh, Bose makes awesome stuff! Go with them!" (see my username for my thoughts on that)

Thanks everyone

[oldbuckster]

HK is the way to go.................I don't like Denon............I also like Heritage speakers, you'll end up with Heritage before your journey is over !!!!!!!

[Hunt]

Like most companies, Denon mid and upper-end equipment sounds a whole lot better than the entry level stuff.

[oldbuckster]

Personal choices, I would never buy Denon or Onkyo, entry level, mid level or upper-end..........To each his own.....So many good choices out there, Marantz, Pioneer, Yamaha, H-K, Outlaw .............. many choices...........

[BuyOtherSoundEquipment]

thanks for the info, but what do you guys think of my speaker selections? Specifically, does anyone have any input on whether they are appropriate or not?

[oldbuckster]

Speakers are fine, not an RF series owner, don't know much about them, Heritage man myself. I would spend a few dollars more for a better receiver, but it's your money. Just because you can get a deal on them, doesn't mean they are the right choice...............Actually, Mr. Hendrix sounds great on tubes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[daveab]

Ok so let me tell you I pretty much have the same setup except I went with the RS-42 surrounds instead of the bookshelves.

I also have the H/K 247

Here is the info on that H/K model that you NEED to know about HDMI.

1. With HDMI outputs to your TV there is HDMI upconversion to 720p.

2. YOU CANNOT TURN IT OFF

3. If you have a 1080p signal, it will pass through. If you have a 1080i signal, it depends on analog or digital.

4. Analog 1080i (a la Xbox 360 non-elite) will be DOWNPROCESSED to 720p because of some HDCP digital signal integrity. You cannot pass 1080i analog in to analog out (YPbPr / component)

5. Only HDMI in, digital signals will pass through unscathed.

5. If your TV's native resolution is 1080i or 1080p, not only will this H/K downprocess your 1080i XBox360 image but then after that your TV will reprocess it back up to 1080! This results in game-lag (severe) or audio/video lip synch issues.

If you want to be able to turn off the upconversion/mandatory conversion you have to go to a much more expensive model.

I thought the upconversion was a feature -- until I got the product and read the manual. It really is a leash, not a feature.

Otherwise, the sound from it is great and warm.

[Mike Lindsey]

HK is the way to go.................I don't like Denon............I also like Heritage speakers, you'll end up with Heritage before your journey is over !!!!!!!

Personal choices, I would never buy Denon or Onkyo, entry level, mid level or upper-end..........To each his own.....So many good choices out there, Marantz, Pioneer, Yamaha, H-K, Outlaw .............. many choices...........

And exactly how much experience do you have with upper end Denon equipment? I have no problems with you preferring one over the other, but to knock Denon without providing any substantial evidence doesn't sit very well with me. Please elaborate why you wouldn't buy upper end Denon equipment.

I've had a 4800 for over 6 years and a Universal 2900 player, and have not had a problem one with either. Just curious what your beef is with them...

Mike

[BuyOtherSoundEquipment]

Ok, ok. clearly you guys have your brand preferences (or biases!) What I want advice on most is how to get the absolute best (or close) out of my speakers for the small-size room I am using. I have no idea about any kind of acoustical equipment (bass traps?) or if any of that stuff would help. The heart of what I am getting at is space utilization, I guess. Anyone let me know if you want pictures of my room. I can provide them.

[falcon20x]

Welcome to the Forum.

Every one here has a different opinion on things and trying to keep in mind the budget side of your question, there is mine.

If you go with HK, power wise it won' t be a problem and the Hk sound is also very good. However, I would give the receiver a good check up, Hk is known to have reliability issues as well as HDMI issues but they have a very good service and will take care of you.

I never used Onkyo with klipsch speakers so I can t comment.

Denon is decent but not my favorite

Try Yamaha I have one hooked up to some klipsch speakers and it is my second choice after HK

For the DVD player you should check Vanns.com, they have Toshiba HD -DVD players for 149. It might be worth it.

Everything else in your system seems to be ok, but if you are going to use the system for movies I would suggest that you look into a RC 62 center channel and may be a 42 inch screen or even a projector.

These days you can get a projector and the screen for less then $1000.

No matter what at the end of the day it comes down to what you like the best.

[daveab]

He can't get the 62, it isn't within that "great deal" he's able to get from this unnamed employer.

Also, I wasn't knocking the quality of the H/K 247. It is a great looking unit. It has great connectors. It will power your speakers nicely (don't compare 50 wpc on an H/K to something like 120wpc on the Denon isn't an equal comparison)

I second the statement above that H/K have periodically shown a tendency for Quality issues but H/K resolves them. The 247 has been in production long enough that they've fixed most issues anyhow.

I looked at the denon 2807 vs. 247 myself. If you have a record player: turntable. Go with the denon because you won't have to purchase a phono pre-amp which adds another 40-50 dollars to the overall cost. That's about the only thing I can say to sway toward the denon as being dramatically difference.

[RF7KING]

I THINK YAMAHA IS A GREAT MATCH FOR KLIPSCH BUT I ALSO LIKE PIONEER ELITE. YOUR SYSTEM IS A GOOD AS ITS WEAKEST LINK SO USE MID TO UPPER END OF LINE FOR BEST PERFORMANCE.

51" HITACHI REAR PROJECTION TV,MONSTER POWER HTS5100,YAMAHA RXV3300,MITS DVD PLAYER,RF7--FRONTS,RC7--CENTER,RF7--REARS AND REAR CENTER,MONSTER CABLE Z1 ON ALL SPEAKERS,AND RSW12

[oldbuckster]

HK is the way to go.................I don't like Denon............I also like Heritage speakers, you'll end up with Heritage before your journey is over !!!!!!!

Personal choices, I would never buy Denon or Onkyo, entry level, mid level or upper-end..........To each his own.....So many good choices out there, Marantz, Pioneer, Yamaha, H-K, Outlaw .............. many choices...........

And exactly how much experience do you have with upper end Denon equipment? I have no problems with you preferring one over the other, but to knock Denon without providing any substantial evidence doesn't sit very well with me. Please elaborate why you wouldn't buy upper end Denon equipment.

I've had a 4800 for over 6 years and a Universal 2900 player, and have not had a problem one with either. Just curious what your beef is with them...

Mike

My Beef with Denon goes back to trying to buy one through Tweeters advertisting a price for one and when you get there, they don't have them. Wrote Denon complaining, and received an "Oh Well"...........Denon use to be all American built, that is not true...........and they are dollar for dollar overpriced......as I so stated "Personal Choice'...now ask me about Onkyo..........3 different receivers 3 with the same problems...never to spend my hard earned dollars there either. No where do I see where I slammed them, degraded them, just said I didn't like them, and would never buy them............Opinion that's all...........Glad you like yours..............

[DrWho]

Hey B.O.S.E. - welcome to the forum!

The question I might ask is do you absolutely need to a surround setup for college? I'm in college too and have found that most of my listening has turned into dedicated 2-channel - mostly because when people come over to watch movies, the surround sound sounds worse because nobody is sitting in a sweet spot (and I've got a fairly large space to play with too). Also, you can usually get a crap load more bang for the buck with just two speakers and they take up less space too. You can also throw some killer tailgate parties with a nice pair of speakers too (don't think you'd wanna do it with any of the reference stuff though).

Nothing wrong if you wanna go with surround - I'm just throwing out the concept that you don't necessarily need to persue that route.

[BuyOtherSoundEquipment]

Thanks for the info, Dr. Who, but I have toyed with the two-channel idea for some time and I believe that the room I am using can readily support a 5.1 system. It may turn out that you are completely right, and then I'll just have me some crow.[]

Was there any reason I shouldn't go with the reference series from Klipsch??

[DrWho]

Nothing wrong with reference, but if you wanna drag some speakers outta your dorm (like for tailgates or whatever), then I wouldn't go with the reference since the damage factor is too high. Something like a used pair of Heresy, Forte, or Chorus would rock your socks off - unless of course you're already not wearing any socks. I usually don't wear any socks.

But seriously, you can get used heritage for real cheap and many people here think they sound better than the new reference. For a while there I was running Chorus II mains with 4 Heresies for center and surrounds.

Really I'm just throwing out ideas. You're the one that's gotta live with it []

[tagger]

If you went with a 2-channel set up for now, you could start with better front speakers (HERITAGE!!!) then build from there. What Doc said is very true -- with a small a room, a 5.1 or 7.1 setup will leave you with a tiny sweet spot that only one person can enjoy. Until you can get more room between you and the speakers, a 2 channel setup may sound as good or better. I had a 5.1 setup in a small spare room with Forte II in the front and Heresies for center and rear, and recently switched to only using the Fortes up front. It just sounded better. This room is about 10" X 12", so YMMV.

[Guest srobak]

If you are actually ready to drop that much on your receiver, then check out my thread and buy something like a 645 from the Harman Direct store on ebay...

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/thread/962600.aspx

[Mombo]

lol I just made a thread very similar to yours....I am having the same problems.....looks like this forum is not to big of fans for the onkyo recievers I just went and got the Onkyo 705 for my setup. So do y'all think the bookshelf speakers are a better choice for rears then the surrounds or does it depend on the room shape?

[BuyOtherSoundEquipment]

Not that I would want to take them anywhere, but if I did ... you're saying that reference speakers would be more fragile than heritage??

But I don't wanna pick a fight...

let's talk cables...

Is Monster cable M-series worth it??