I've had the following for a while, and maybe because of the new house / maybe because of my progressing maturity (ahem), I'd like to mix things up. Yamaha RX-V995 A/V receiver (old enough to not know what HDMI is) Klipsch RF-82 fronts Klipsch RC-62 II center Klipsch KSW-12 sub (unmentionable) rears that came with the house, that probably need to be in-wall if I'm honest. I have always liked the Yamaha, which was an upgrade from a Harmon Kardon AVR-20 (old enough not to know what 5.1 was) that I also liked. The RX-V line had some of the strongest output sections for the money in terms of slew rate / damping factor. This one didn't have the Audyssey stuff but would let you adjust gain channel-by-channel using white noise and your ear. It's the only way I can tell there's a HUGE timbre difference between the center & fronts, and obviously the rears, which I don't like. I'd love to have the new Marantz SR-7005 or Yamaha RX-A3000 if they aren't junk, just to get the HDMI stuff sorted behind my TV. Too many cables. The stand I use for my TV is where I keep the RC-62, and what we didn't realize at the time was that while it fit on it's shelf, it is too big to clear the lip of the shelf above it. So I do not have those drivers 100% clear of furniture, and I think it very noticeably colors the sound. It's also low, and a coffee table does a good job of killing the highs. Combine all that with the fact that those horns are pretty directional, and it just doesn't work as well as I'd like it to. The fronts have always sounded great but I think familiarity breeds contempt, and I like just about anything else I hear more - even cheap stuff. The sub isn't complicated but it's dialed in pretty well, and when we need to blast out the squirrels & birds, it all does the job easily. I'd want to see what a modern room analyzer / EQ system such as the Audyssey could do with the speakers I already have. I did get to audition a Sunfire sub in my older house, complete with it's own adaptive room EQ, and while it shook a lot of glass it just didn't really sound all that great. No matter how I oriented it or adjusted the phase, etc., it was either silent or WAY too loud when it shouldn't have been. I was disappointed, because that KSW-12 is nothing special and that old house needed more than i could give it. This one has more tile in the family room and a much wider sound stage w/ a very effective corner, and it works great. I have heard Polk's, and wanted them as a kid but in person they're awfully bright. Everything by Infinity is off-the-charts bright to me, but they image better in my opinion (I'd still never buy them). We watch a lot of movies, listen to a lot of music from all sorts of genres - less classical than anything. I have done sound reinforcement stuff for nightclubs in the past and understand many of the principles of audio pretty well, but I haven't shopped for anything in a while - obviously - and hopefully that'll change next year. I play DVD's from an XBOX360, which we also use for Netflix. I have an older Pioneer 3-disc DVD player that I use for CD audio if not the XBOX, as both use optical digital outs to the Yamaha. Sometimes we connect an iPod, or a laptop to stream Pandora (w/ One subscription, it really does sound better). My wife had some old vinyl, and my grandpa left me a lot of 78's (some even on legit lacquer) with blues and jazz artists he loved, so we bought a simple turntable by Dual that does a pretty respectable job. I used Technics 1200's at a nightclub way back and we had quarters taped to the tone arm to keep it from bouncing - this one at home you could almost blow out of the groove with a feather, but it tracks well and really does sound great. It was cool to see Ben Folds release "Lonely Avenue" on a thick 12" platter last year, I hope more artists do so as well. I doubt we're buying B&W anytime soon but you never can tell. Would love feedback on things to try, stay away from, migrate towards, etc. from those of you who are in the shops more often.
That is a ridiculous source, and $31/foot is hardly a bargain especially when the the cited evidence is just a string of audiophile reviewer jizz.
These are unreal... Listening to Diana Krall, and it sounds like she's standing in front of me.
and is thinking about a Denon 5308CI. Is there anything else we'd need in order to play SACDs and the occasional Blu-Ray? Thanks in advance.
