[Wuchak]

I run through Klipsch Forte II's, Chorus I's (with Crite's crossovers), and Heresies powered by Macintosh or an original Aragon 4004. Speaker placement was done with lasers and fine tuned over several weeks. The system is so detailed that it gave me a sonic hangover for the first week. Just like when you first watch a big screen tv and it takes a while for your eyes to stop jumping around. The problem is that the system is too detailed and cannot handle music that is not well recorded. Chesky's releases are immersive on it. The less well recorded stuff sounds great on the Axiom M-40's with an old HK amp. It is revealing with pinpoint imaging and a deep sound stage but provides just enough smoothing to take the edge off poor source material.

I tried low wattage tube amps with the Klipsch but even though the horns don't require much power to drive, those 15" woofers only come to life with lots of power for the transients and tight control by the amp. Going from 15 to 50 to 200 watts made a huge difference and the loss of some bit of smoothness in the upper registers moving from tubes to solid state was worth the tradeoff for the low end tightness.

Everything I have came from Craig's List. It's amazing what kind of stuff you can find for reasonable money. I would just search the electronic section for "audiophile".

For speaker cable I use "white lightening" cables. Just a 14 gauge extension cord with the ends cut off and two of the three internal wires twisted together for the negative connection.

A CL example: Took a break from mowing the lawn and perused CL while having a tea. A seller posted a pair of Klipsh Chorus 1's for $150. I responded to the add 5 minutes after it was listed and immediately headed across town to get them. In the 15 minutes it took to get there she had 9 calls for them and a waiting list. The deals are out there if you are diligent and patient.

ETA: Funny thing is most of my listening these days is with a Big Jambox or over the airport express to the Bose acoustic wave (the tall one) in the kitchen just because they are so convenient.

With any regular stereo system with two speakers speaker position is critical. A 1/2" of toe-in can be the difference between a pinpoint or smeared image. If careful positioning has not been done with your current system spend a bit of time aiming the speakers properly. You might be amazed how good what you have already is. : )