Thread: Advice Needed on Whether or Not to Get New Speakers

I have a comment - Seems to me he has a real nice set of speakers already. They will shine with a new AVR that has HDMI - assuming that Pioneer is as strong as his old Denon. Unless he is swimming with money and just wants new speakers - I would absolutely keep what he has and see how that new AVR delivers

EDIT - duh! Just looked up the Pioneer AVR. Sweet! No way would I get new speakers until I have that thing hooked up and see how the Klipsch deliver. I think they will sing just fine.

As Gos said, It sounds like he's got a good speaker system already. I would suggest going with his new setup for awhile and seeing how they sound. One thing about good speakers, they don't wear out. Using his speakers he has now will give him the ability to upgrade something else.

I am in the same situation. I have big Klipsch speakers - and they sound awesome. I would love to have a smaller footpriint from my fronts, but refuse to sacrifice on sound.

Being a Klipsch owner myself, I thought I'd jump this thread's bandwagon and throw in my two cents.

First thing first, as others have already suggested, you should really give your speakers a try with your new amp and wait until your ears are accustomed to the sound the combo produces. At that point, you should be able to start nitpicking your likes and dislikes about your set up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression your Pioneer receiver is a class D device, which means it leans towards a bright kind of sound; this can be a tad controversial with Klipsch, since they're already naturally bright. The horns may nonetheless be tamed to an extent by means of some modding (specifically, changing the onboard condensers with higher quality ones). You may as well delve deeper into modding and also replace inductances and internal wiring, though both would serve a different purpose than making your horns sound smoother.

As for replacing your speakers, you should bear in mind other speakers than Klipsch would produce a considerably lower sound pressure because of their lower sensitivity. Under this circumstance, just raising the master volume wouldn't do, as it would result in more distortion than dynamics. If you really wanted new speakers, I would strongly advice you looked into separates with some muscle first, to ensure you have enough power to accomodate for your wildest listening sessions. That being said, Dynaudio makes smaller speakers than Klipsch that sound very good, so you may want to give them a try.

I love my Klipsch speakers and the price was right......

Originally Posted by smiles1014

Would it be prudent of me to bring in say my RF-5s to a local home audio/video store?

For modding? I'm not sure, I guess it comes down to how "esoteric" the store is. Putting new condensers and inductors in your speakers takes a soldering iron and a couple hours worth of work, by the way.

Originally Posted by smiles1014

Is there a normal maintenance for speakers that are going on years of service, much like you take your car in for an oil change?

None that I know of. Poor internal wiring may oxidize over time, so it wouldn't hurt to open your speakers and at least check their wires' health status. Moreover, a few audio test discs offer tracks specifically designed to demagnetize speakers: if you own one, playing those tracks once in a while may be sound.

Originally Posted by smiles1014

You mentioned changing wires, condensers, and inductors. What am I talking for pricing on these three things, just looking for a ballpark. And if I do one set of speakers, does that mean the whole 5.1 system should be worked on as well?

Not necessarily. You may mod your front channels alone, your front and center channels, or your whole system either gradually or at a time. The choice is yours. As for prices, there are products for pretty much any price range. Onboard stuff on speakers that are manufactured in series tends to be cheap for obvious reasons, so if you want to avoid a useless upgrade, stay away from stuff cheaper than 5,00€ (approx. 6,34$). A friend of mine has just changed the condensers in his Dynaudio Contour s3.4 speakers with very good ones which he paid 18,00€ each (approx. 22,85$). As for internal wires, they're available from most, if not all, cables manufacturers, so you may just pick the brand/model that suits you best. Myself, I'm gonna put Van den Hul SCS-12 in my Kilpschs later this year (they cost around 25,00€ per meter, approx. 31,74$). I have no idea about inductors, but I know who does: I may inquire, if you so wanted.

I feel compelled to stress the point that you'd benefit from a couple of separates MUCH more than from speaker modding at this stage, though.

So...he we are again. I didn't keep them after all. I went and bought the RF-7 IIs and RF-64 II and moved the RF-5s to surrounds and the RF-3 IIs as side surrounds. My wife hates me now. I have to keep the remote in hand at all times for the constant volume adjustment. "Turn it down!", "ok", I turn it down...couple minutes later I sneak in a couple volume ups ticks..."Turn it down!", "ok, but come on!", I turn it down...couple minutes later I sneak....and so ensues the battle. Ah, good times.

BTW - I LOVE my new speakers. Recommended to any and all.

Audio does add a whole nother dimension.

Originally Posted by smiles1014

So...he we are again. I didn't keep them after all. I went and bought the RF-7 IIs and RF-64 II and moved the RF-5s to surrounds and the RF-3 IIs as side surrounds. My wife hates me now. I have to keep the remote in hand at all times for the constant volume adjustment. "Turn it down!", "ok", I turn it down...couple minutes later I sneak in a couple volume ups ticks..."Turn it down!", "ok, but come on!", I turn it down...couple minutes later I sneak....and so ensues the battle. Ah, good times.

BTW - I LOVE my new speakers. Recommended to any and all.

OK - so I want to know, what are the obvious differences (to your ears) between what you had as fronts and what you have now??

Heh, I just got back into the house! (See divorce thread). Things are working out now, gotta give a little in some areas, this is a little area...

But, like you say, when she leaves.....up, up, and away!!

The difference is night and day (to me). Fuller, brighter, louder, and an overall larger presence of sounds. I do not how I ever chose the 5s over the original 7s to begin with...well, I know, it was money back then...

And a different sounds as well. The 5's are more punchy and in your face coming right at you. The new 7s seem to envelope me with sounds instead of coming at me in force. Make sense?

Originally Posted by smiles1014

The difference is night and day (to me). Fuller, brighter, louder, and an overall larger presence of sounds. I do not how I ever chose the 5s over the original 7s to begin with...well, I know, it was money back then...

And a different sounds as well. The 5's are more punchy and in your face coming right at you. The new 7s seem to envelope me with sounds instead of coming at me in force. Make sense?

That's awesome. It makes total sense. Sounds what you are describing is a much wider sound stage.