Daddyjt

IMHO, the best way to take care of vinyl, is to go digital;-) Too soon...? JK~

Welcome Steve, glad to have you here. The cool thing about the love of audio gear (and being a tech, for that matter), is that it's a journey - you're always refining, upgrading, and learning more. At times, the quest is more fun than the result;-) Let us know what we can help with, and we'll do our best!

I did not say that room acoustics weren't an issue - i said that his 20x17 room was not the reason for the lack of sound stage the OP is experiencing. I am not a "recording engineer", but I have owned two different pair of Kappa 9s, and I have powered them with a wide variety of different amps. When I say they need power to stretch their legs, I'm not talking about overcoming standing waves (that is patently ignorant), or blowing the windows out. I'm talking about dealing with the real-world issues of the Kappa 9's impedance challenges. If you had owned a pair of these, you would know what I am talking about - there is a reason these speakers are commonly referred to as "amp killers". You don't buy a Corvette to go 200mph everywhere you go - you buy it (specifically it's POWER) for the quick acceleration it provides, and the effortless speed changes that only a substantial amount of power can provide. It's the same thing with amps. The ironic thing is, you were correct with your assertion of "500 watts" was a good thing - just not for the reasons you intended. Standing waves are a real phenomenon, but in a home audio setting, they are easily dealt with in a number of ways - parametric eq, room treatments (which, contrary to your assertions, are a very valuable and economic addition to any listening room), or changing the position of the speakers (which is often not a real world possibility). Standing waves also are most certainly not causing the lack of sound stage the OP is experiencing, as they typically affect a very narrow frequency range(s). And listening is not only NOT the only way to identify them, but it is the least accurate. A microphone and an RTA program or app is the most effective - but I'm sure being a recording engineer, you already knew that. The people on this forum (myself included) were trying to provide the OP with real, actionable advice to solve his problem - please refrain from criticizing them for it.

Agreed, a pair of Stock 1.0t would be a stretch... I find the mkII far more musical than the 1.5 or the Silver 9t (and more powerful than the 1.5). I wish the 500t mkII could handle the impedance curve of the Kappa 9...

Your room is almost certainly NOT the problem IMHO, and 20x17 is far from small. I had my set in a 12x14 room, and they sounded fabulous. Your problem is likely not enough power. I assume you're using the 200w on the drivers - the impedance curve on the 9 is crazy (1.4 ohms at some frequencies), and you need an amp that can push A LOT of current. I have run mine on Silver 9t mono blocks, and I have bi-amped them with a pair of 1.0t mkIIs - I prefer the mkIIs. These speakers need A TON of power to come alive, and it's not about volume - they just suck a lot of current. I would also check to see if your drivers were wired back correctly after they were refoamed....

A big part of the reason we go for vintage speakers, is the apparent retreat by almost all manufacturers from the mid-fi market. If you want current production speakers, it seems as though you are constrained to either very cheap entry level models, or very high end (expensive) models. Take a $1,000 in 1990, which due to inflation, is about $2,000 now. In 1990, that $1,000 would buy you a seemingly endless variety of GREAT speakers – Polk, Infinity, Klipsch, NHT, Carver, Mirage… And these were QUALITY speakers – solid cabinets, quality components, reasonable warranties, and all sold in stores where you could listen to different models, and make an educated buying decision. Now, take $2,000 today. There is a veritable vacuum at that price point in the speaker market. It seems that current production models fall in the “less than” $500 price point, or the “greater than” $5,000 price point. The sub $500 speakers offered don’t appeal to many of those that frequent sites such as this, and a lot of us can’t afford the $5,000+ models. HOWEVER, for $2,000, I can buy 2 or 3 sets of vintage speakers, perform the necessary updates/repairs, and have multiple sets of QUALITY speakers that will now last several years into the future. And that is to say nothing for the fun along the way, and the pride in knowing that I have preserved something great for future generations.

"Friends are the family you choose". ~ Jess C. Scott

“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.” ~ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." ~de Saint-Exupery

Right off the top of my head, I'd say vintage Klipsch - Heresy, La Scalla, etc - would be a great match to the cube. If you plan to add more power (say a 1.0t or 1.5t, or a larger TFM) in the future, then I'd keep my eyes open for some vintage Infinities (Kappa 9, 8, 7), or any variant of the Carver or Polk that are bi-ampable (I know true bi-amping requires an active x-over, - I'm just talking about running one amp (cube) on the highs, and the other on the lows, via the double binding posts). Let your ears be the judge - everything else is just marketing and/or opinion!

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor" ~FDR One of the wisest quotes I have ever heard, and one I reflect on often....

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. ~Franklin

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be..." ~Lao Tzu

In my experience (limited as it may be), a speaker will usually "tell" you when it's receiving too much/not enough power, and/or reaching its physical limits...

This album opened up the world of blues to me. It's DVD Audio, and the high resolution stereo mix (96/24) is where it's at. Crystal clear, stunning transitions, and impact that actually scares me a little bit (seriously). My favorite tracks are "Marry You", and "Heart Beats Like A Hammer".

I recommend listening to a couple of different speakers 2x or even 3x your budget. Note what you like (or dislike) about them, and look for speakers that do the best job at those things in your price range. It's the "shoot for the stars and miss by a little bit" theory. It gives you a good base line to know what good sounds like, to you.

The two speakers that I have found to be pure magic with the 500t mkII are my klipsch rf7 and the NHT 2.5. The amp sounds great on everything else, but those two... Wow.

Welcome aboard - we love to help folks get their gear up and running. There are some very talented techs here, who love to help. What Carver gear did you pick up?

Welcome to the forum! What kind of speakers are those? I love the waffle grill!!

What's your budget Ron? Are you looking at something new, or are you willing to do a little work on it? The sunfires are beasts, but they are not the lowest maintenance subs out there, and many of them have aging parts. This makes them a bit of a mine-field -- you could get lucky and get a great one, ore you could get one needing a lot of work (and they're NOT easy to work on). I'd go JL Audio or SVS. Both are at the top of the heap, in my opinion. SVS has models in the $450 range, JL is somewhat more at $1,200ish... I hear HSU is very good, but I've never had ears on one. I personally prefer sealed over ported for music...

Uncle- Funny you mention this - I'm having all sorts of issues with my family room setup, specifically anything coming from my DishNetwork receiver. Commercials super loud, dialog almost non existent on shows... Receiver shows DD, but sound is screwed up. My Apple TV, which runs into the receiver on its own hdmi sounds fine, as do DVDs. It's so bad, I've just set the receiver to 2ch when watching Dish.

Completely off-topic... Does anyone know who wrote the post editing software? Every time I try to right-click to copy and it tells me "use ctrl-c" I WANT TO KILL SOMETHING! Why the hell would someone code in a popup and not just do the damned thing you want it to do? Is there someone we can pay to make this work? I just right-clicked, copied, then right-clicked and pasted the above....?

While I don't personally have any experience with either of these......I don't think it's a very fair comparison. These two shouldn't even be considered in the same ballpark, let alone the same SPORT LOL!!! While I know the SVS subs have an excellent following and many people swear by them, I think the JL subs are just in a completely different class. Maybe somebody else with personal experience can tell me if I'm just blowing smoke or not LOL!!! Yes, different sport all together. No offense to the SVS crowd - It's just not a fair comparison...

Yup - That was the one...

I heard their big one - not sure which model (two 12" vertically stacked), and it was breath taking - literally. Their build quality is superb, and their tech is outstanding. When I need a new sub, I will most likely go with JL....