Changing Home Theater Speakers

[Funkster]

n 2010 I decided to finish out the basement of my early 70’s ranch style house.
At that time, I thought I’d build a dedicated home theater and after moving trunklines, HVAC runs, etc. I ended up with a room 21 ft. x 12.6ft. x 7.6 ft.
The inside and outside walls are 6 inch insulated staggered studs with Green Glue sandwiched between 2 layers of 5/8" FR gypsum. The ceiling has the same gypsum and Green Glue. It’s pretty tight.
I made my ceiling, corner and wall traps using OC 703, and Roxul panels.
I originally wired the room for a 7.1 system.
My original equipment was:
Screen: Stewart Studiotek G130 123”
Receiver: Onkyo 5800
Projector: JVC U56
Disc Player: Oppo 83SE
Mains: Klipsch RF-83’s
Center: Klipsch RC-64
Sub: Klipsch RT 12D
Surrounds: Klipsch S-62’s
Rear Surrounds: Klipsch 5650W’s
I had my Projector calibrated and everything was good. Then came Dolby Atmos.
It was then that I realized my hobby had turned into a disease. I moved the Onkyo 5800 upstairs to my tv room. I had already replaced the Oppo 83SE with a model 95 and then a 103D to the delight of several family members.

Fast forward to 2016.
Replaced original with:
Screen: Same
Receiver: Onkyo TX NR3030
Projector: JVC R600 (calibrated)
Disc Player: Added Oppo 203 , (kept the Oppo 103D)
Mains: Klipsch RF-7’s
Center: Klipsch RC-64ll
Subs: 2 - JL Audio Fathom 113’s
Surrounds: Same
Rear Surrounds: Same
Overheads: Added 4 - Klipsch 5650ll’s.

Question
I am considering changing my speakers (I’ll keep the JL subs). I am looking for opinions and/or experience with Paradigm or Revel as replacements. I have Revel Performa3 206’s in my tv room and I like them but switching my entire Home Theater out is something I’d like to get some input on. Opinions and experiences appreciated.
Thanks,
Funkster

 

[KEW]

Since I just wrote it, read my post #9 here.
https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/does-klipsch-get-a-bad-rap.111752/#post-1255778

I am of the opinion that Klipsch does HT especially well! My biggest concern is you may be disappointed with clarity of dialog. Is there some aspect of the FR-7's that disappoints you?

What I like is not necessarily what you will like, but I would really try to audition new speakers against your existing ones before swapping them out.

 

[Funkster]

Thanks for your input on my question about Theater Speakers. I am not an audiophile but I am aware of the preferences some listeners have when playing their preferred music. I remember being blown away by a pair of Magnepans in the 1980’s listening to Natalie Cole. I have friends with everything from Martin Logans to Klipschorns and it appears that everyone gravitates toward speakers that best represent (at least to their ears) their favorite musical genre.

My problem is that after 50+ years of playing in bands, I have tinnitus and hearing loss. I remember waking up one morning in 1985 and realizing that the ringing in my ears hadn’t gone away. I now wear hearing aids and if I don’t wear them, I can’t hear a broad range of upper frequencies. I am not unhappy with my Klipsch setup, I really don’t know if I am missing anything or not! That being said, we all read about people trying new speakers and talking about how they made an incredible difference. I am curious about any possibilities being there for me and if I change to another line, I want to be confident that at the end of the day, I’ll be able to say they were worth the effort.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...
My problem is that after 50+ years of playing in bands, I have tinnitus and hearing loss. I remember waking up one morning in 1985 and realizing that the ringing in my ears hadn’t gone away. I now wear hearing aids and if I don’t wear them, I can’t hear a broad range of upper frequencies. I am not unhappy with my Klipsch setup, I really don’t know if I am missing anything or not! That being said, we all read about people trying new speakers and talking about how they made an incredible difference. I am curious about any possibilities being there for me and if I change to another line, I want to be confident that at the end of the day, I’ll be able to say they were worth the effort.

Welcome to AH.

With your hearing issue I would not upgrade speakers. Just enjoy what you have as best you can. Your condition even with the hearing aid may not allow you to hear the upper bands very well, sorry to say.
Unfortunately we realize late in life about protection our hearing for the future. If it is not an issue in the present, the future is too far away.

 

[ski2xblack]

new speakers...made an incredible difference. I am curious about any possibilities being there for me and if I change to another line, I want to be confident that at the end of the day, I’ll be able to say they were worth the effort.

You may want to go beyond simply new speakers if you really want to optimize things, e.g. ditching the horizontal center and using three identical speakers across the front can pay big dividends. Of course that would mean an AT screen and another RF7 (or three of whatever other speaker you care to audition).

 

[KEW]

... we all read about people trying new speakers and talking about how they made an incredible difference. I am curious about any possibilities being there for me and if I change to another line, I want to be confident that at the end of the day, I’ll be able to say they were worth the effort.

It looks like your room is treated and as long as adequate analysis/testing was behind your treatments, with RF7's, that is quite a nice HT system!
If I'm trying to come up with a speaker to beat the RF7's for HT, the only thing that comes to mind is the JBL M2. They won't win any beauty contests and they cost a pretty penny ($20,000/pr.),but they are probably the "most engineered" speaker out there! "Most engineered" doesn't necessarily sound like a desirable feature, but knowing JBL's and Harman Audio's legacy of research and development puts them in a special category, IMHO!
I'm still not confident they would be substantially better than RF7's for HT.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M2System--jbl-m2-reference-monitor-system?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=1233692239&rkg_id=0&campaigntype=dsa&campaign=aaDSA&adgroup=1233692239SA - Studio & Recording&placement=google&adpos=1t1&creative=248832405118&device=c&matchtype=b&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjtLZBRDLARIsAKT6fXx31Z_yW6lS9A9w4M_UgqeZS5CZm6-v7Y9Y0fM8WtHI3K7dAdZQOF0aAmCsEALw_wcB
These are pro audio speakers and if you have a Guitar Center or the like that sells JBL, you might enquire about them and they may be able to hook you up with someone or a studio that has a pair you can listen to.

Also, you might find out where the closest Best Buy with a Magnolia Room is and check out their Martin Logan electrostatic speakers (if you have not heard electrostats before). They have a unique sound without it being necessarily better or worse than a conventional speaker. If you have not heard any, it is a sound to experience so you can know whether or not it floats your boat!

Last, do you go to many live performances? Do they jump out as sounding better than your system? If not, you're probably best off enjoying what you have. Or perhaps a discussion with a good audiologist is in order. I assume your hearing aids are as "hi-fi" as you can find?

@TLS Guy , anything to add?

Edit: You also might want to post your general location, just in case someone reading this can help you locally. It is a long shot, but I know some guys here have wonderful systems and they do not mind showing them off to a fellow "passionate about sound" person!

 

[yepimonfire]

Rf 7iii is engineered with the new flatter sounding horn with better directivity control. Nearly all of the harshness and brightness issues of previous generations has been solved, and I recall Dennis Murphy remarking that the drivers are some of the smoothest measuring drivers he has ever seen. If you really want to up the dynamic range, three Forte IIIs will do it and they also incorporate the newer horn design. When it comes to the kind of dynamic range a dedicated theater deserves, Klipsch is very hard to beat without a very steep increase in price.

It looks like your room is treated and as long as adequate analysis/testing was behind your treatments, with RF7's, that is quite a nice HT system!
If I'm trying to come up with a speaker to beat the RF7's for HT, the only thing that comes to mind is the JBL M2. They won't win any beauty contests and they cost a pretty penny ($20,000/pr.),but they are probably the "most engineered" speaker out there! "Most engineered" doesn't necessarily sound like a desirable feature, but knowing JBL's and Harman Audio's legacy of research and development puts them in a special category, IMHO!
I'm still not confident they would be substantially better than RF7's for HT.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/M2System--jbl-m2-reference-monitor-system?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=1233692239&rkg_id=0&campaigntype=dsa&campaign=aaDSA&adgroup=1233692239SA - Studio & Recording&placement=google&adpos=1t1&creative=248832405118&device=c&matchtype=b&network=g&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjtLZBRDLARIsAKT6fXx31Z_yW6lS9A9w4M_UgqeZS5CZm6-v7Y9Y0fM8WtHI3K7dAdZQOF0aAmCsEALw_wcB
These are pro audio speakers and if you have a Guitar Center or the like that sells JBL, you might enquire about them and they may be able to hook you up with someone or a studio that has a pair you can listen to.

Also, you might find out where the closest Best Buy with a Magnolia Room is and check out their Martin Logan electrostatic speakers (if you have not heard electrostats before). They have a unique sound without it being necessarily better or worse than a conventional speaker. If you have not heard any, it is a sound to experience so you can know whether or not it floats your boat!

Last, do you go to many live performances? Do they jump out as sounding better than your system? If not, you're probably best off enjoying what you have. Or perhaps a discussion with a good audiologist is in order. I assume your hearing aids are as "hi-fi" as you can find?

@TLS Guy , anything to add?

Edit: You also might want to post your general location, just in case someone reading this can help you locally. It is a long shot, but I know some guys here have wonderful systems and they do not mind showing them off to a fellow "passionate about sound" person!

Sent from my LM-X210(G) using Tapatalk

 

[Funkster]

Thanks for the input. I think I'll stick with the Klipsch line and if I change anything, it will probably be changing to Klipsch RF 7 lll's. I don't get any complaints about how the system sounds but there's always seems to be an itch that needs scratched and sometimes it's good to have a little guidance from someone not as biased as ourselves. Thanks Again.