2 Channel or Home Theater for best HiFi?

[pixelthis]

[QUOTE=nightflier]Never could get with Simpson. No wonder she's always wearing heels. Wasn't she a brunette, before the whole Latchey-fused rise to mediocrity?

[nightflier]

Ouch, I guess she's a lot more popular than I thought....

(still don't know why, though)

[Wits]

Wow, that pic of the Doc Savage book brings back memories! I used to read him in Jr. High school, way back in the day.

With regard to speakers being 'hard to drive': Is that something that's known after the speakers have been out for a while? What I mean is, if I told you what I had, is it likely someone here could tell me if they were hard to drive? I'd hate to buy a receiver and then later find out it wasn't up to the job.

I have been thinking of buying a center channel and using it with my existing Klipsch LF-10 powered sub and my two Klipsch RB-5 speakers and making a 3.1 to use for HDTV and listening to music. I had been thinking of buying an Onkyo TX-SR606, and a salesman said I needed to buy another Klipsch speaker for the center channel or it wouldn't match up properly-- 'be voiced'?--might have been the term he used. Sorry, it's like 5AM and I'm probably not making as much sense now as I could.

Thanks a ton for your advice! I'm going trying to figure everything out!

[Mr Peabody]

1. Klipsch are among the easiest speakers on the market to drive. Very high sensitivity or another way to put it, they play loud without much power behind them.

2. The sales person was correct, chalk one up for them, you should buy a Klipsch center, preferably the same series as well, for best voice matching. This is important for seamless panning of sound across your screen or front sound stage. And, very important if you plan to listen to multi-channel music. One typically would not use mismatched speakers for left and right, so why would they in a multi-channel system? When using all 3 front speakers it's really the same difference.

For what it's worth the Onkyo 605/606 and up have been good options. Very well loaded with up to date features, inputs and decoding as well as decent performance.

The buzz I'm hearing on Pioneer lately is starting to turn my opinion around some for them but I will reserve a firm stance until I hear for myself. It they were cost effective the digital amps would run much cooler and easier to place the receiver in a rack over typical amps.

[Wits]

Thanks, Mr Peabody. Unfortunately they stopped making my speakers nearly 10 years ago, so I'm unlikely to find another (Reference Series) unless I find one used, and frankly I'm not thrilled about that. Though if LauraStrickland ever responds to my post about buying her speakers that she advertised here, I may buy her used ones.

I know this next question is going to be nearly impossible to answer, but I'd appreciate it if you'd give it a try: What should I look for to try to figure out where the 'sweet spot' is in the best bang for the buck as the models increase? Or is the 606 pretty much it without going up several hundred dollars before seeing the next real performance upgrade?

My situation is such that I am able to spend more money if there is a clear reason for doing so, but I have so many other things to buy (tv, tv stand, blu-ray player) that anything saved here can go toward those things.

Thanks again for your advice and expertise.

[blackraven]

I would still buy a Klipsch center channel as it will still have the Klipsch sound and will match the best to your speakers.

The Onkyo 706 can be had for a couple of hundred $'s more that the 606. The 606 is going for $360-400 and the 706 $525-700

http://www.gosale.com/4947795/onkyo-...FQJNagodIlsc4A

I've bought a few things from OneCAll and they are reputable in my experience. $525 and free shipping is a real bargain for the 706. I'd jump on that gravy train while its available at that price if you are considering Onkyo.

[Mr Peabody]

In the Onkyo line, I really don't know if you'd gain a lot by going up in models as far as just sound quality. I don't think power will be an issue for you. But, then again, if you have it in reserve it will be there if you ever change speakers. To get better sound you may need to look at something like a NAD or Cambridge Audio receiver. NAD would probably be the best mix with Klipsch would be my guestimation. I haven't looked at them close enough to recommend a model that would be comparible to the 606 in features.

You may try emailing Klipsch to see what they recommend as the closest match center to your speakers. I agree, at least stay with a Klipsch center if you are going to keep your current models.

A couple guys here have found the Sony s550 online at $299.00 which is a killer buy for a Blu-ray player.

[Wits]

Excellent, thanks to all of you for the wonderful advice. That's inspirational to email Klipsch for their recommendation as to what currently matches best with my speakers. I live in a tiny condo; the living room where the tv and sound system will be placed is approximately 12' wide by 20' long with a high cathedral vaulted ceiling that's probably 15' high at its highest point.

I talked to a guy in Klipsch tech support today, and he gave me the model number of the center channel that I should get, the RC-62. We had a nice long chat, and I won't bore you with the details, but I guess the main thing I came away with was to make sure I had a receiver with sufficient power to drive the speakers. He recommended a minimum of 100w per channel of good clean power for my speakers.

Now, I know that the Onkyo 606 says it delivers 140w per channel; I have two reservations about that model after doing more research about it. First, I've read a lot about it getting extremely hot--as in, you cannot even hold your hand on it for more than a second or two. And second, the step-up models from the 606 actually state less power than the 606! That just seems strange to me. Just off the top of my head, I think the 706 claims 130w per channel and maybe the 806 claiming 120. If these numbers are right (if my memory didn't fail me), then doesn't that seem strange that the upgrade models would be offering less power?

Anywho, thanks again for listening to my drivel.

Turbota, I beg your pardon for hijacking your thread sir.

[Mr Peabody]

What ever the rating, Onkyo has one of the best amp sections available in the "mass-market" brands. I have heard as well they run hot but that's a typical side effect of amps with a high current design. Receivers don't seem to have the room for the type of heat sinks they need for high current 100+ watt per channel. In addition, users don't realize receivers need plenty of room around them to circulate air. Many have these wood furniture type things to please the wife where they stick the receiver on a cramped shelf behind glass. Not optimum for a powerhouse. I was advising a guy on his system, he got the 605 and all Paradigm speakers, so far, so good, after more than a year.

If you do decide to shop around more, I'd suggest a peek at Denon, Marantz or the Pioneer Elite.

[E-Stat]

Never could get with Simpson.

Nice legs, but she's dumb as a rock.

rw

[blackraven]

The onkyo 606 is rated at 90wpc not 130wpc http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...s=Receiver&p=s You are thinking of the 806 which is rated at 130wpc.

And the 606 should have plenty of power to drive the Klipsch speakers. Its 90wpc of high current and the Klipsch are very efficient speakers and easy to drive. If your worried about power then go for the 706 at 100wpc. Although you wont notice a difference of 10wpc. Buy some nice 10 or 12 gauge speaker wire from blujeancables and you wont have any problems.

One thing to remember, some manufacturer's under rate the power output of their receivers. Consumer reports just measured the power output of the Onkyo 506 at 106wpc while Onkyo lists it at 75wpc.

Onkyo's do get hot but are made to handle the heat. You should just make sure that its well ventilated as all equipment should be. You should feel the heat coming from my Tube/Hybrid preamp. So dont worry about the heat unless you plan on placing it in a cabinet.

If your considering Denon, look at their 3000 series amps which use Torroidal power transformers.

If it was me and I was on a budget, I would go for the Onkyo's.

[nightflier]

Not that it should matter all that much, but.... Onkyo does not make TVs, so having everything on one remote is not really an option. Of course, with the money you save over buying Sony, you could probably buy a great Harmony remote to go along with it (and it may also sound better than Sony).

[pixelthis]

Not that it should matter all that much, but.... Onkyo does not make TVs, so having everything on one remote is not really an option. Of course, with the money you save over buying Sony, you could probably buy a great Harmony remote to go along with it (and it may also sound better than Sony).

a GOOD LEARNING REMOTE will fix that, I have used one remote for years, and I dont give up anything, indeed, I HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY.
And sorry about the "traitor " logo, got a bit carried away there.
How about this instead?

[pixelthis]

Nice legs, but she's dumb as a rock.

rw

The perfect woman, in other words

[nightflier]

Pixel, she looks ok in this picture because:

A. She's wearing a striped sweater
B. She's sitting down
C. We can't see her profile
D. She's not saying anything.

And I haven't even mentioned air-brushing and make-up. But yes, with those qualifiers, she does look pretty good.

I'd still take Tricia Helfer any day, though.