Any audiophiles out there?

Well i would be an audiophile if i had the money.

Instead i just got average speakers, and encoded everything in FLAC.

if your CD collection/ Music collection is in MP3, even the best speakers will never make the sound good. Lossless is the way to go.

Sorry that i don't know anything about the hardware. but they are good brands.

my honest advice is to go to a "top" audio shop and talk to their sales staff, you can normally judge the BS from the good advice. they really know their stuff if they are passionate about it (owner opperator or so)

I just spent £50 on a pair of earphones...do I qualify?

Klipsch F3's, Sub12 are a A1 choice very good full bodied speaker greath balance between bass and treble.

But for the amp ..... Yamaha is kind of a middle sounding amp.

If you listen to voice oriented music it is a good choice.

If you want it to boogie or make the earthquake in a movie feel real well
You could check for something else than Japanees amps.
My favorite is Cambridge Azur 540R

Remember that in audio the price is not so important .it is the color of the sound you are looking for that is.

whats the cost of the Azur 540R?
I get the $1000 5990 for $610.

Well, it's been a while, but I've always been a big fan of the Paradigm Reference series. If you're feeling flush: Couple of Studio 40's and a Seismic-12 is absolute kick-ass.

Otherwise the Titans are, I think, a very good deal for the quality. A very old aquaintence of mine swears by DCM.

As far as receivers go: I'm not a big fan of all-in-ones. However, in the mid range, they're all basically the same: Aiwa, JVC, Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo, ect. Here is where you let your wallet vote. I guess Teac, Denon, Marantz and Boston Accoustics is pushing towards the upper mid-range.

Cambridge Audio (as previously pointed out) is really sweet stuff. Again, if you're feeling flush there's items from Audio Research, McIntosh, ect. . .

But I never EVER would build any audio system without a line conditioner. Absolutely no way.

...um....thanks?

The devil's in the details:

1) it really doesn't matter (yamaha, or whatever) on the receiver you choose, if you choose a receiver (in lieu of an amplifier). You buy by features and what you can afford. Bi amplification is indeed a nice feature, but you don't necessarily need to spend $650 - $900 to get it.

2) If it were me, I would not be buying Klipsch, let alone floorstanding speakers.

3) In ANY case it's a VERY good idea to have the same (usually a line conditioner-- which is basically the same as a UPS minus the battery) on an audio setup.

If you look on your audio purchase as an investment (unlike PC's good audio equipment can be relevant for a very long time). Again, you get what you pay for.

$1000? I don'e see how your getting a pair of F-3s, a Sub-12, and a Yamaha HTR-5990 for anywhere close to $1000, unless you buy used. Not to mention CABLES!

Build yourself this little beauty, lacks L&R but looks good.


Details.

O.K. That is important information: if you can get the speakers and the receiver for around $1200-- that's probably too good a deal to pass up.

I maintain their are better setups, sure, but your asserted price is at LEAST $350 less than what I would estimate.

As far as MY ideal setup: it would include near field monitors coupled with a timbre matched sub-- if I go biamplified then I get two discrete amps per channer (vertical setup). Irrespective of whether I could afford reference quality near field monitors, I preer decent bookshelf because it is easier to adjust the height (and attitude) to the listening environment than floor standing speakers would be.

What I actually have: Even though they are now ancient, I use Realistic Minimus 7's (I picked up for $29.00 each 12 years ago-- pert of that cult, I am) the accoustic suspension model, not the bass reflex. I had them paired with various passive and powered subs along the way. But I've since lost interest in audio junk in favor of computer junk.

Get that speaker that they had in Back to the Future.

qed

Real men use Back to the Future speakers.

Less than the parts you specify would normally cost. I was going off the assumption that you were spending more money than you actually were (or are) pursuant to the normal street value of the
Yamaha receiver and the Klipsch speakers. I think the MSRP on the subwoofer alone is $600 (but can be had for $514 at best buy), and the receiver is around $999 (but I've seen it for $650, new). So I was thinking to myself, "That's $1164 for the receiver and the sub. I still wouldn't have speakers, cables, or conditioning." That's what I was thinking. Then you say you can get the receiver, sub, and right / left for approximately $1000-- that's probably too good a deal to pass up.

Loud. . . OK. Not advice, just an observation: You can basically shop by specs: sensitivity and power handling-- although it's not an exact science. And if you amp is powerful enough, many get better accuracy out of lower sensitivity rated speakers anyway.


[quoteIs the sub12 a good enough sub? and what would you reccomend for a receiver other then the 5990?

Getting speakers from the same company gives the best opportunity to have them be timbre matched, which means you won't have them interfereing in each other's dynamic range (or you don't have to worry about tunning your crossovers).

So, I went down to best buy (they sell the speakers you are asking about) and circuit city. For the price range you are talking about, I much preferred the Infinity pieces to any of the others (Polk, Klipsch, JBL, ect.). And, I think that's what you should do, if you can. Try before you buy, if you haven't already.

So, to actually answer your original question: I listened to some S-III with a sub-12, and though impressive, I liked the Infinity CSW-10 with the primus 160's (and they're 240 a pair) a bit better-- though, yes, the Klipsh were louder without distortion, except for the bass. . . the CSW so owns many subs [/drool]. In fact, if I had the money I would have bougth an infinity CWs-10 right then and there.

No, no. . . speakers are more imprtant, I think. Good speakers will punish you for bad audio components, though-- but, I'm talking about really, REALLY good speakers here.

Receivers:
BB I didn't look at what they were using. . .

CC was using an Onkyo TX-SR803, which is very much like the Yamaha in specifications (it has XM, too), but a bit more expensive.

You're right: the Klipsch can handle 25% more power than the Infinity, but do it requiring less voltage to do it (98 vs 90 dB, respectively).

And, the Yamaha puts out an impressive ammount of power. I couldn't find anything matching it in it's price range.

Looks like there's a lot of plusses and not many minuses.