If I didn't live in an apartment I'd definitely be interested in the R10 subs. I already own some Primus 363s and they really don't need a sub but I wonder how much better they could be with a sub. Anyone have experience with the R10 subs?
Let me give you some food for thought.
No experience with the R10 subs. I got dual R12's (along with RC263 and RS152's to go with the 162's I'd bought earlier) and I hope to get everything setup in the next 2 weeks. I am testing this out as a 5.2 system to give my daughter and her boyfriend.
However, I can tell you that a pair of R162 would be a nice upgrade to your 363's!
I used to have P363's, and it is a truly great speaker for what it costs. When I bought better, more expensive speakers, it became clear that there were two weaknesses to the P363:
1) The tweeter was not very accurate/detailed - it misbehaves graciously, in that it does not introduce bad sounds, but there is a lot missing when you compare to better speakers.
2) The tower cabinet has some significant resonance - as you increase the volume, it gets a bit muddy in the mid-bass. I remember several upgrade threads on adding damping/reinforcement to the cabinet to reduce this issue.
The Reference 162 improves greatly on both counts!
Do you currently have a sub? I'm kind of thinking that since your living situation limits your bass, why not improve the quality of the range that is not limited?
Some of the newer AVR's feature a control for bass to cut the low frequencies so as not to disturb neighbors, but I'm not sure buying a new AVR is worth it (assuming your current AVR does not have this option).
Disclaimer - It is not uncommon for people to get used to the sound of their own system and believe anything different is wrong. This usually changes with increased time listening to the new speaker. I think this is why many speaker companies recommend up to 100 hours "break-in" time when it is pretty well understood that a couple of hours will break in anything that needs breaking in (except for you)! I think the high end of the 162 will win you over quickly, but sometimes the bass resonance becomes a preferred sound (witness the bass humps many companies add to their speakers to compensate for a high roll-off point)!
I realize that you may simply like the look of towers. I think it is safe to assume the 253's will also improve substantially on the 363 (although I'm not sure how the bass compares with the higher quality, but smaller 5.25" woofers),but that is a $400 upgrade compared to the $180 upgrade of the 162's.
