Klipsch RF-42 II Home Theater Package Deal

Audiogurus has a really great package deal that just may be the best thing going in home theater right now. They put together a set of speakers that I really like, the Klipsch RF-42 II Home Theater speakers, along with a great Yamaha RX-V477 receiver and an Energy Power 10 Subwoofer. This system plays loud, plays clean, and has the features you need to get your home theater system up and running at a level you thought was only possible at the movie theater. After using a system like this you may find yourself staying home for movie nights a lot more frequently.

This Klipsch RF-42 II home theater system retails for around $1900, but Audiogurus has made it available for just $1,199.

A Yamaha RX-V477 at the Helm

Any decent AV receiver will accomplish your goals and help your home theater to work smoothly and effortlessly. The Yamaha RX-V477 receiver is at that perfect price point where it has the features you need for everything to run smoothly and provide effortless video switching and high quality audio reproduction. It lacks the advanced features of higher priced AV receivers, such as dual HDMI outputs or 4K upconversion—but if you don’t need that, why spend the money?

The Yamaha RX-V477 receiver features:

• 6 HDMI inputs
• 5 x 80 W per channel
• Front panel USB input for iPod, iPhone or iPad
• AirPlay and HTC Connect
• 4K support (pass-through)

Good Alternates: Denon AVR-E400 ($349 MHL & 4K upconversion), Harman Kardon AVR 1510 ($299.95)

Klipsch RF-42 II Home Theater Speakers

Any basic home theater features main speakers, a center channel, a subwoofer and surround speakers. With a package price of just $1199 you’d think you would have to skimp on the speakers. Audiogurus and Klipsch, however, have partnered to bring you the Klipsch RF-42 II towers, a Klipsch RC-42 II center speaker, and Klipsch RS-41 II surrounds. This is a home theater speaker system that is unbeatable for the price. I mean it—you aren’t going to find anything close to sounding this good for the money. The Klipsch RF-42 II home theater towers feature twin 4.5″ Cerametallic woofers and a 1″ titanium tweeter mounted to a Tractrix horn for immensely loud playback levels that will rival the local cinema if you let it. The Klipsch RS-41 II surrounds are also included with this system and provide a truly wide dispersion for a nice diffuse surround experience.

Speakers included:

• Klipsch RF-42 II Tower Speakers (one pair)
• Klipsch RC-42 II Center Channel Speaker
• Klipsch RS-41 II Surround Speakers (one pair)

Good Alternates: Jamo S 506 HCS 3 ($799), Atlantic Technology System 2400 ($2,600)

Blu-ray Player

For the Blu-ray player we continue to recommend only a basic with this system—keeping in mind the entire price of the package. The $145 LG BP730 is a solid performer in this area. It has all of the streaming networks you’ll need, including Netflix, VUDU, YouTube, MLB, Crackle, CinemaNow, and Hulu Plus—but it doesn’t overextend itself. You can also stream music from Rhapsody, Pandora, vTuner and more. (Note: Spotify is not supported.) This player also has a front panel display which you’ll use if you need to see track or chapters on a disc.

Good Alternates: Oppo BDP-103D ($609 but with insanely good video quality), Toshiba BDX6400 ($169), Yamaha BD-S473 ($199)

Energy Power 10 Subwoofer

You have to have a powered subwoofer for your home theater to really have some punch. Since this system falls under the entry-level category, we still wanted a subwoofer included that would hit you in the chest and make no apologies. The Energy Power 10 subwoofer does exactly that and is the perfect complement to the Klipsch RF-42 II speakers. You can get a sub that plays lower and harder, but probably not at this ridiculously low price point. For $119, it’s tough to beat!

Basic features

• System: Passive radiator
• Orientation Front-firing
• Amplifier Power: 50 Watts rms
• Amplifier type Class D
• Frequency Response: 40-150 Hz (+/-3dB)
• Driver: 10″
• Line level and speaker level inputs

Totaling It All Up

This system comes to over $2,000 if you buy everything separately. That’s considerably over our goal, but we’re not constrained by retail pricing. Audiogurus has put together a home theater package deal that drops the price of this system down to $2399. Then you can add in the LG Blu-ray player and pick up an HDMI cable and you’re still int eh ballpark of our intended goal price. If you need bulk speaker cables you can add that in as well. Each setup is different, so it’s hard to include everything that you may need. Here’s what the best home theater system for under $2500 looks like when you tally all the items:

So this Klipsch Reference RF-42 II Speaker Home Theater Package, which is already extremely affordable, gets discounted by over $500 when you buy it as a package (with the Blu-ray player added on). For under $1500 we’re not sure if you’ll find anything that comes close to this level of performance. And the great thing is that each component can be upgraded over time. The Klipsch Reference Series speakers, in particular are simple to upgrade without losing the characteristic horn-loaded sound of the system. That means you can update your towers or surrounds when you’re ready and not have to upgrade every speaker in the system (including the center channel). Also, if you already own a Blu-ray player then the package costs just $1199!

Audiogurus has HDMI cables and speaker cables that are reasonably priced, so your total system cost is quite manageable. You’ll want to at least look there before you pay more than you should at the local electronics store. If you end up buying this system, let us know by leaving a comment on this page or via Facebook.