RC55is sound "muddy" on punk and hard rock (advice needed)

sspeed

The $469 Costco deal seems even better though, newer technology, still should be able to preamp out to the whole house audio and can upgrade my home theater speakers later. If I can't find some old vintage speakers, a Blackstone TL2 set is $499 ($399 on sale) and that with the Costco SC-1222k gets me at the same price as this other set.

sspeed

ken brydson wrote: »

Costco, 1222K...rebadged SC61 for $469. Done deal...

Have you heard any reports of stores still having them? The last I saw was August and people were gobbling them up.

The SC-1222k (new) and SC-63 (open box) are both $650 at Newegg with free shipping right now. I don't know if that's a good deal or which is better?

When I look at it a good receiver will help my home theater setup tremendously, it will solve my preamp and DAC problem, it will richen up my whole house audio and I could run some decent floor speakers in the listening area from it. $650 doesn't sound bad to cover all those bases.

nguyendot

I'd dump the in-wall speakers for that type of music. Without a proper enclosure you're going to get very poor cone control and the breakup they're talking about. In-wall speakers are a compromise between form factor and sound quality - most of it is the form factor. I only use mine for the surrounds as I don't care so much for the quality there. I wouldn't send anything complicated to them though.

Get proper speakers, power, and source.

steveinaz

sspeed, there's a NAD integrated amp in the Flea Market....heck of a deal too.

sspeed

steveinaz wrote: »

sspeed, there's a NAD integrated amp in the Flea Market....heck of a deal too.

Thanks! I guess I'm not allowed to buy anything until my posts reach 100...

"To view this thread or threads in this forum your post count must be 100 or greater. Your post count is 20 momentarily."

steveinaz

I'll see if I can get the seller to get in touch with you....

sspeed

Thanks steveinaz, I sent him a PM asking for details.

Nightfall, I've also set up a rolling Craigslist search for RTA-12B's or C's, SDA 2B's in my area. Good suggestion on them, the more reviews I read on the Monitor 50s said they had tons of midrange, but lacked both high and low.

Unless the NAD amp turns out to be what I need, I'm leaning towards a Pioneer SC-63 based on the suggestions here. Looks like they are around $650. It would help my home theater system tremendously and brighten up the whole home audio as well as provide me a nice amp for the listening area.

drummer86

FWIW a good friend of mine has that particular Onkyo and it is totally dead. No audio, no video. Dead. Great receiver when it worked, but a risky choice. I'd go with the Pioneer all day.

sspeed

Pioneer SC-63 it is...

drummer86

Also, I had the Monitor 60s for a while and the midrange was OK, the tweeter just made your ears bleed after a while at high volumes (powered by Marantz, NAD, and Rotel amps at different points). Did fine in HT but I wouldn't recommend for a dedicated music rig based on my experience. I think you're going the right route looking elsewhere.

sspeed

Saw some Polk RTA 15ts for $300 for the pair tonight. Is that a good price? You mentioned the RTA-12s, are these comparable?

Nightfall

Are you in Colorado by chance?

http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/4183927160.html

Nightfall

The RTA-12's are really the only true "RTA's" The tweeter is set behind the MW's so that the high frequencies hit your ears at the same time as the lower frequencies (much like speaker stands that tilt the speaker back) and the inside and outside MW's are rolled off at different frequencies (On the B's and C's only).

That is not to say that the 15's are a bad speaker, they are absolutely better than the newer Monitor series, and you would not have buyers remorse if you got them.

Nightfall

Lastly, if by the off chance that you ARE in Colorado...

http://denver.craigslist.org/ele/4077647687.html

These are for sale by board member Mystery. I have bought 2 pairs of speakers from him now, good guy to deal with.

sspeed

Ha ha, yes I am, in Denver. I procrastinated and someone else beat me to them. Oh well, I'll keep looking and try to find some of the 12s. I need the amp first anyway.

sspeed

I'm embarassed to say this, but I think my problem was as mentioned, bad source content and just crappy speakers for the purpose I wanted them for.

I ripped a few CDs to FLAC and *some* of the music sounded so different that I thought the rip was bad. Some (like the Dropkick Murphys) sounded exactly the same, but others sounded dramatically different, even on the in-wall speakers, the Into the Wild Eddie Vedder soundtrack for instance. I just heard more "stuff" like voice fluctuations more distinctly and I never thought I'd say that. Same with Phunk Junkeez Rock it Science. Separate instruments don't seem to get muffled as much as they are mixed.

But then I listened to the same songs in my car (Subaru Legacy GT, I think has Infinity system, no sub), the bass is very punchy in the car and everything sounds good, but I lose a little clarity, especially when moving. Way better than the in-wall speakers. The door speakers aren't big in the car by any means.

Don't roll your eyes, but I also listened to the same stuff on my Altec Lansing 221 computer speakers and it sounded spectacular there, so good I just kept listening. I heard stuff in Minor Threat that I never knew was there and it was very clever. I never heard the cow bell sound in ZZ Top's Viva Las Vegas before and I didn't realize they used a synthesizer. Some music almost sounds cheesy now, sigh... Sadly the Altec Lansings are my best sounding setup presently. The subwoofer can't be tweaked and that's its biggest problem. That and they aren't meant for serious listening.

Man my post probably sounds pathetic to anyone reading it. I'm on a slippery slope at this point...

Nightfall

We're just... a minor threat! ...and that's a promise.

Seriously, you should buy the speakers in post #45 from board member Mystery. You will not beat a pair of SDA 2B's for $250 with much else for the same price. Plus if you catch the bug they can be TL'd ontop of all the other normal upgrades. They will be the best sounding speakers (from what i've gathered) you've ever had.

sspeed

Ha! Hoping someone would pick that up.

I apologize, I didn't realize you had listed some SDA-2Bs in post #45, I thought you were linking to the RTA 15ts I found. I sent him an email.

Nightfall

We might be the only two here that know who Minor Threat is.

sspeed

It would be interesting to know what everyone listens to.

How power hungry are the SDA-2Bs? I ended up ordering the Pioneer SC-63 and thinking I should drive them with zone 2. They probably wouldn't do so well on 40W per channel from the Dayton. No need for a sub with the SDA-2Bs?

The NAD amp was a stellar deal, but my home theater was weak sauce as well and the SC-63 fulfilled fixing that while also serving as better DAC and pre-amp for the Squeezebox/Dayton combo, and it can drive better speakers like the SDA-2Bs in a separate zone. Win all around.

Nightfall

Why wouldn't you power them (2B's) with the main speaker terminals? Why zone 2? I might be confused how you have everything setup. 40W from the Dayton will do them no justice, you are correct.

No sub needed with them, they will create low frequencies where they exist and can dig pretty deep.

There is a thread floating around "What are you listening to right now" if you're curious as to what people listen to around here. It isn't Minor Threat, either.

sspeed

Well, I was going to put the SC-63 in the home theater, which is the basement, and was going to run it on the existing 5.1 surround until I can upgrade those speakers. Most of my main listening is upstairs, so I figured zone 2 for them.

Zone 3 will be pre-amp out to the Dayton which I have a feeling is going to warm it up tremendously as well.

All theoretical at this point.

Nightfall

So you're going to have a 5.1 setup off the main terminals, zone 2 for the 2B's, and zone 3 going to the billion channel Dayton?

My head is already spinning.

Does the 63 have a zone 3?

sspeed

I know, probably overkill. Zone 2 is powered if you have the main hooked up as 5.1, otherwise it's preamp out. Zone 3 is preamp out only.

I feel like a misunderstood and not too smart evil scientist. My Frankenstein hopefully won't kill an innocent village.

Nightfall

Jesse will chime in here and let you know.

F1nut

I got a headache reading this.

F1nut

Well, I was going to put the SC-63 in the home theater, which is the basement, and was going to run it on the existing 5.1 surround until I can upgrade those speakers.

Good idea, HT is what an AVR is for.

Most of my main listening is upstairs, so I figured zone 2 for them.

For music, build a 2 channel music only system. Those 2B's are an excellent start. Add an amp, pre amp and a source or a nice integrated amp and a source. Either combo will result in a better musical experience.

Not sure what Zone 3 is for.

sspeed

And rightfully so on the headache.

That's the eventual goal, the SDA-2Bs on their own nice amp, I'll work that in as the budget allows. Just the Pioneer and SDAs will be such a change in sound quality that I have to change things slowly.

sspeed

Just an update. Got the SDA-2Bs, but haven't hooked them up yet for reasons I want to keep quiet for now. Saw some SDA-1s on Craigslist today for about the same price, damn...

In the meantime, moved in-wall speakers directly in front of the upstairs listening area about 3 feet off the ground. They were to the side and 7 feet up. What a HUGE difference. They actually sound very good.

Also ripping all my music to FLAC, that's been a big difference as well, more distinctness with instruments, things don't become a jumbled mess as it gets busy. Also definitely need less volume for the same sound and detail level.

Funny thing today though, ripping one old CD and pretty happy that none seem to have optical layer degradation problems. All of a sudden I heard a BANG like a pellet gun was shot at the computer, followed by drive spin up-spin down over and over again. Get the drive door open and the CD had shattered in to probably a hundred pieces ranging in size from tiny flecks to the size of a quarter. Has anyone ever seen a CD explode?

Nightfall

FYI there are people here that would take a pair of TL'd 2B's over a pair of the 1's. Especially if they are 1A's.