Receiver advice for Klipsch Owners

[Crypter]

I was going to post this as a reply to a different thread. But then I thought I would create a separate thread since my experience differs from the norm.

When someone asks me what Receiver brand to buy I always recommend the following 3 brands.

Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer Elite

Now, that does not mean Onkyo or some of the other brands are not good. However, I have owned all 3 of the brands I listed at one point or another. So I can speak from experience, the only brand I have owned that I do NOT recommend is Pioneer's regular line.

I have owned (in order) Yamaha, Pioneer Elite, Pioneer (used as a bridge receiver for me to get 7.1 until I could afford my HDMI 1.3a AVR). Then of course most recently Denon. I have owned the SAME mains for 14 years now and have listened to all the aforementioned receiver brands on those speakers and I can tell you that they sounded BEST when I was running my OLD Yamaha and my new Denon... However the Elite was also very good.

Now, I have been a Klipsch owner for over 14 years so take what I say with a grain of salt. If you do not have Klipsch speakers your results may vary. Keep in mind my Mains are from a different era when Klipsch really only sold to the high-end market and they made their speakers differently. However, the other speakers I have added around my mains (Center, Surrounds) are not of the same vintage but still belnd in very well with my mains.

Now I think I have gone on too long in this post and will end with this, ultimately, you will be happy no matter what you get. Because in the end you will not have anything to really compare against. Unless you demo (in home) all the different brands and decide for yourself which one you like most. Not many people do this.

[Johnny Vinyl]

What exactly did the Klipsch speakers do or NOT do with Sony, Onkyo, Marantz or any other A/V?

While I don't doubt your belief, you need to be more specific as to your reasoning.

John

[Crypter]

Originally Posted by John72953

What exactly did the Klipsch speakers do or NOT do with Sony, Onkyo, Marantz or any other A/V?

While I don't doubt your belief, you need to be more specific as to your reasoning.

John

Well I suppose I should have made it more clear. But obviously having never owned Onkyo, Marantz, Sony, or other brands I cannot speak to how they mesh with Klipsch speakers. I only mentioned the brands I HAVE used and I did not mean to imply that others would not be equal or better. Perhaps other owners of Klipsch speakers can chime in this thread about what brands they have used and what their results are.

The purpose of my OP was to list my receiver preference based on my experience. Nothing more, nothing less, not trying to say that other brands would not suffice.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thanks for the repsonse Crypter and yes, let's hope other Klipsch owners chime in with their experiences and observations.

It's all good.

John

[allstar780]

I have had good experience with my Klipsch Reference setup and my Onkyo 705... the Sonys to me are not as revealing, it seems like with the Klipsch-Onkyo combo the weakness in a recording is revealed, but so are all the strengths, but with the Sony receivers it seems in my experience that weaknesses are forgiven a bit more and strengths are under-pronounced.

[FilmmakingFiasco]

I've been using an Onkyo 805 with a pair RF-25's that I got one the cheap side and an RC-52. So far, I've been quite happy with the experience. I've only had everything together for a little over a week though.

[HAMP]

I also have the Onkyo 805, but I have the intro Synergy set-up. I can crank that 805 and my set does not miss a beat.

I was a little surprised with the Quintet III's putting up with the 805, but they are amazing even though I switched out the center channel for a larger one.

[Slec]

I had an Onkyo 605 hooked up to my RF-82's. It took some tweaking but I finally got it to wear I was happy with the sound.

a couple months ago I bought a Pioneer elite 03. It sound great with them as well, I prefer the sound of the elite. MCACC is tougher to get a handle on, but the results are amazing.

[tntkain]

We have and Onkyo 605 with Klipsch reference speakers. It sounds fantastic. Love cranking up the music, and the movies sound fantastic .

[Ranger-R]

My Synergy series sounds great to me. I really like the look of them grilled or not. The Pioneer Elite was just too sexy of a receiver to pass up, plus its a beast. Later down the road I would like to get some fancy B&W.

[sandman6662]

Well this is my third system I have done and all I can say is Klipsch & Marantz is like Bread & Butter, they go together so perfectly together, Now I have done the old line of Klipsch going back to the KG5.5, & KG2.5's & KSW-15 sub on to the new Refference line Bookshelfs then to the new Refference line Towers . As you can see in my Sigg. My wife even said the comment that she actually said the new Refference line actually sounded better than the old Klipsch, which I don't agree , ( what do wifes know ) LOL, anyway I miss my old KG 5.5 at times, they were a little warmer to the sound and blended in more , But hey that was 12 years ago , the new formats and higher digital media might make a difference now, As for the Marantz EQ. it just brings everything to life, and I've owned alot of othe names in the past, to compare to, as Kenwood, Pioneer,Philips,Realistic,Bose,Paradimga,Yamaha,Sa nsui, Sanyo, MCS, And so much more, so i have some insite on EQ. But this agian is my OPN. nothing else,

[prerich]

Klipsch speakers work better to me with receivers and amps that have a "warm" feel to them - it tends to tame the shrill that soo many people complain about. Mate them up with the right gear and they can sound like butter - without a lot of power - saving your amp some work! (No I'm not going back to my Heresy's ....nor am I getting rid of them, yet).

[prerich]

Originally Posted by sandman6662

Well this is my third system I have done and all I can say is Klipsch & Marantz is like Bread & Butter, they go together so perfectly together,

Agreed!!!

[Crypter]

Originally Posted by sandman6662

Well this is my third system I have done and all I can say is Klipsch & Marantz is like Bread & Butter, they go together so perfectly together, Now I have done the old line of Klipsch going back to the KG5.5, & KG2.5's & KSW-15 sub on to the new Refference line Bookshelfs then to the new Refference line Towers . As you can see in my Sigg. My wife even said the comment that she actually said the new Refference line actually sounded better than the old Klipsch, which I don't agree , ( what do wifes know ) LOL, anyway I miss my old KG 5.5 at times, they were a little warmer to the sound and blended in more , But hey that was 12 years ago , the new formats and higher digital media might make a difference now, As for the Marantz EQ. it just brings everything to life, and I've owned alot of othe names in the past, to compare to, as Kenwood, Pioneer,Philips,Realistic,Bose,Paradimga,Yamaha,Sa nsui, Sanyo, MCS, And so much more, so i have some insite on EQ. But this agian is my OPN. nothing else,

Nice to meet a fellow KG5.5 owner (or past owner in this case). I have gotten GREAT results from my Denon setup with Audyssey EQ.

[Doom369]

I have only Used 1 receiver as a main for the last 11 years and others as amps for non-powered subs. This is a Pioneer VSX-405, a non elite series. I have Bose 301 series Modified do to blown woofers which have been replaced with JL Audio Woofers, Sony ss-mb100h bookshelf speakers as rears and random center channel speakers. Currently I'm only using the front 3 speakers and no subs. The system still sounds great, even fooled someone in thinking I had a sub in use while watching a movie. I plan on checking out some KLIPSCH center and rear channels for upgrades and replacing my receiver do the sub woofer preout no longer sending out a signal do to damage in a move. I was thinking about the Pioneer VSX-819H-K. This model seems to have alot for it's price compared to others in it's price range and my current Pioneer is still going strong and good despite it's damaged part plus it's one level down in it's series compared to the VSX-819H-K in it's series.

[got rice]

On a side note. I have to agree Klipsch of old is not the same of Klipsch of new.
I know with my KG 3.2's, 2.2, and SW-10(1993). Each of them were made in Hope, Arkansas USA. On the back of every speaker are 2 signatures. One was the person who tested, and the other was the person who inspected. This told me that Klipsch was very meticulous in their quality control.

Since they have changed to the masses and don't practice the same quality control standards.

[sarge1976]

I have an Onkyo 805 and Klipsch F-3's for fronts and I don't know what it is but they don't seem to push alot of bass , I tried tweaking the EQ, bi-wiring, thicker speaker wire, banana plugs and I can't get a good punchy bass I would expect from 2 8 inch subs in each speaker

[D1-2005]

sounds like you need to go seperate then. What are those speakers rated at? Also make sure they are wired correctly, switching the polarity can void the bass.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by sarge1976

I have an Onkyo 805 and Klipsch F-3's for fronts and I don't know what it is but they don't seem to push alot of bass , I tried tweaking the EQ, bi-wiring, thicker speaker wire, banana plugs and I can't get a good punchy bass I would expect from 2 8 inch subs in each speaker

You should be able to get fairly low with them. As already mentioned double-check to make sure you don't have one or both wired out of phase.

[sarge1976]

I have the speaker wires plugged into the bottom set of the speaker terminals on the speaker itself,yeah it pisses me off, the are loud but like I said there is very little bass. I'm glad I have a 15" sub to make up for it