Requesting some opinions, home theater speaker setup

[ndk01]

First time poster here. I've been reading posts here for maybe a few weeks.

I wanted to solicit some opinions on a 5.1 surround sound setup before I decide on anything, as the world of audio can be rather overwhelming at times, even though I am technically inclined and reasonably electronics savvy.

I have a pair of Klipsch Legend 10 towers that I bought about 11-12 years ago, mainly for music. I've been pretty pleased with them (still in great shape, no problems, etc) and been happy with the sound I get from them. Now, I'm exploring options for a good 5.1 surround setup for our primary A/V room.

Are the Klipsch Legend 10s a good option to build a 5.1 system around? Will these fit well if paired with surrounds, sub and center options from, say, the Klipsch Reference line? Or should I be looking to replace these towers for a better match sound wise? (I'm not binding myself to Klipsch as a brand, I'm just using them as an example; I'm very much open to other vendor options as well).

Absolute max budget is going to be about $5000, which must include a new A/V receiver (I'm open to opinions here too, although I like some the Denon offerings). I can provide some room size information if necessary.

Thanks in advance for any advice and opinions. I'm just trying to become as informed as possible before I drop any cash on anything.

 

[GranteedEV]

Klipsches aren't my thing so I won't say much in that regard but I will suggest to look into a non-Klipsch subwoofer. There's some amazing subs out there and you don't want to limit yourself to any single brand.-

 

[zieglj01]

Find a Definitive Tech dealer and go audition their stuff. It is hard
to audition NHT - however, I would put them on your short list. Go
to www.nhthifi.com and look at the Classic Four towers and the
Classic Three speakers for surround, plus the Classic Three center.
I agree about using a non Klipsch sub. Marantz makes real good
receivers. I woud stiil consider a good subwoofer to smooth out
the room with the NHT speakers. However, I don't know your room
size.

 

[shadyJ]

Your going to have a tough time finding a matching center for the KLF10. I would just move them back for use as surround speakers, and get some Klipsch Reference series as fronts. Some RF-82 towers and a RC-64 center would be an intense setup. Hook that up to a Onkyo TX-SR808, and get a couple Hsu VTF-15H subwoofers, that would be a absolutely killer setup for about $5k, and maybe even a little less if you do some bargaining on the speakers. Your friends and family would be blown away, so be careful who you demo a system like that to, because they will want to watch movies at your place all the time.

 

[ndk01]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep these points in mind as I make some buying decisions.

shadyJ, in the setup you recommended, would you say that using the KLF10s as surround speakers is preferable to other surround speaker options, or is it just the best available (but not an optimal) option to incorporate them into a surround setup? The reason I ask is, I am not opposed to selling these KLF10s if they are not going to be a good sound match for the rest of the hardware I would need for a solid 5.1 setup. I would place the quality of the sound as a higher priority than reusing my existing speakers.

I will definitely check out the Onkyo TX-SR808 and HSU VTF-15H. I'll be visiting a couple of places on Friday to audition some speakers, so I'll see if they have these items. Maybe I'll try to convince the wife to let me up my budget a bit too.

 

[RMRM]

If you have the room I think 10's would work just fine. Surrounds are a personal taste some like front firing speakers, or di/bipole speaker. I'm not a recording engineer but in movies the center has the most information then the fronts, the rears have a small percent of the information. A 5K budget you could get a nice setup what is your room size?

 

[ndk01]

Room size is 23' by 15', but the A/V setup and seating really only takes up about half of that space. The room also has a cathedral style ceiling, with height of about 7' on the outer walls, climbing to about 15' in the center of the room (ceiling slope is along the long axis of the room).

I should have the necessary space to use the KLF10s as a surrounds, it's just a matter of how optimal it would be. I don't know that I have a strong preference either way on surround speaker design, so I'm keeping my options open.

 

[jostenmeat]

If you're dead set on keeping the Legends in the mix, the first people I'd contact would be Klipsch themselves. Ask them for what would provide the best center speaker match that is currently made, and also make sure to ask which are the best matches they have ever* made so that you can hunt on the classifieds.

However, I'd choose to start over. If I had to go with Klipsch, I've read that they start making some good stuff at the higher end and would hunt out an audition, and I also might PM adwilk because he's a fan.

Since it seems you will be only about 10 ft away from the front of the speakers, I don't think you necessarily need great sensitivity that you can find with Klipsch. I think you can choose from all kinds of products.

 

[shadyJ]

The Legends wouldn't make for bad surrounds, although they would be overkill in that role. A more appropriate surround speaker would be the RB-61 for the setup that I listed. Either one doesn't really matter too much, because the surrounds are rarely called to do any serious work anyway, and given the nature of what they do, it isn't critical that they match the rest of the system, although you will want them to have roughly the same sort of efficiency. You might want to go with some Klipsch bookshelf speakers if only to save space.

 

[zumbo]

I use four MB Quart 830s, one 330, and a NHT sub. Yamaha Z7.

I would highly recommend 830s all around, or 830s front and 530 rear if you wanted to save.

http://www.yawaonline.com/speakers.html

Yamaha V3900 on sale @ Audioholics store. $699

http://store.audioholics.com/product/3317/1/yamaha-rx-v3900-surround-receiver--yamaha-refurbished-/3b9d38c15743f8f370d2834b18a6e2b0

SV sub PB13-Ultra. $1799
http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-pb13ultra.cfm

$2478.98 (4-830's/1-330)
$699.00 (Yamaha 3900)
$1799.00 (SV)
$4976.98

 

[tom67]

See attached from a recent faceoff of brands by the experts here involving some "garden variety" reasonable Klipsch towers....to me, the most interesting thing was the fact that they were judged on music reproduction and still won....their strongest selling point is, in fact HT vs music...With your robust budget you could move up considerably with their new RF7s.....or something in between....not a lot of Klipsch fans here, so dont look for others to support my comments....I've owned a number of other brands and still prefer some of their offerings...Your legends probably compatible with newer Reference line and could buy a better RC center and two larger RB bookshelf units for rears and call it a day...enjoy

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/floorstanding/2010-1k-faceoff/copy3_of_1k-faceoff-comparisons

 

[dalumberjack]

I'm a klipsch owner and I love the speakers. I'd say keep the klipsch, put them as surrounds if you have the room (if not, maybe a pair of rs-42's or rs-52's would work) then look at the rf-82II or maybe the rf-62II if you want to save some money.

Now for a sub, definitely go outside of klipsch. Everyone on here has their favorite brand and the million reasons why they like it. That said, the new sub from HSU the VTF-15H is a BEAST at its price point $899. You wouldn't need any more sub than that. Unless you are like us and want two!!

I would also recommend looking at onkyo for receivers. If you are looking at a lower price point than 1,000 for a receiver, you cant go wrong with onkyo. They have the most bang for the buck when it comes to receivers below $1000. They also make great higher end AVR's but I am assuming you are spending most of your budget on speakers and a sub.

LINKS:
Fronts
RF-82II: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/rf-82-ii-overview/

RF-62II: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/rf-62-ii-overview/

Center
RC-64II: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/rc-64-ii-overview/

RC-62II: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/rc-62-ii-overview/

Surrounds(if needed)
RS-42II: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/rs-42-ii-overview/

RS-52II: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/rs-52-ii-overview/

SUB:
HSU VTF-15H: http://hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-15h.html


SO!! With the RF-82II's, the rc-64II, two VTF-15H's, and onkyo 1008 AVR, its about $5100 (this is assuming you keep your legends as surrounds). Now thats top of the line (to me). You can easily drop the fronts to a 62 or drop the center channel. same goes for the sub, you can just get one or you could also get a cheaper receiver. Just wanted to give you an example. GOOD LUCK!

PS: those are the second generation of the speakers hence the II. You could find the original rf-82's for cheaper if you wanted. Only real difference is the cross over in the II's which people have been saying it gives the klipsch a little more warm and the horn doesn't seem so harsh after long listening hours.

 

[ndk01]

Thanks again for all the feedback and opinions. I had an opportunity today to audition the Paradigm Signature and Studio lines and the B&W 600 and CM lines. A couple of those lines are more than I really want to invest right now, but I was quite impressed with the Paradigm Studios. I've successfully convinced my better half that the budget needs to be more flexible, so that should help.

Will be some difficult decisions, but that's half the fun.

 

[ndk01]

Just wanted to thank everyone again for the feedback and opinions. I know speaker choice can be tremendously subjective and is always a very debatable topic.

As I mentioned, I had a chance to audition several different product lines this past week (Paradigm, Klipsch, B&W, Monitor, PSB). Definitely a lot to take in. Gonna do some more listening trips this week and hopefully make a decision here in time for X-mas.