I appreciate all the advice on this board. Here's my question...
I can get very good deals on the Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV and Klipsch F-2s/F-3s, C-2 and S-2s. I listen to 70% home theater and 30% music (hip hop/rock/alt) and my ht room is 18x17' with five large windows in it. Based on this info, do these speakers match the receiver well? Am I over-powering the room with the receiver and F-3's? I could also get a good deal on Denons' in this price range but I like the Pioneer better and like the HDMI slots. Please advise at will.
Chris: I've owned the Klipsch Epic CF-2s so have some knowledge of the Klipsch brand firsthand. I would think the the (Pioneer) Elite would certainly tame the Klipsch as they are bright speakers! The Elite seems to be smooth (warmer) like the Marantz, NAD, H/K, and (Onkyo) Integra lines of receivers.
I would think it's a good combination. Of course, nothing is going to tell you if it's right, until you listen to that combination. Make sure you purchase from a reputable store which is an authorized retailer for Pioneer Elite! (Not every store sells Pioneer Elite "officially".)
Since you're music to movies balance is even stronger to the movies side, I would think the speakers are just fine. As I wrote, I used the Epic C-2s in my main theater room before. I had them paired with Onkyo Integra and Kenwood and then H/K. Now I run the Paradigm Eclipse/BPs instead.
While I do like my Klipsch Epic C-2s... I always found them "bass shy". One of them would rattle when playing heavy bass -- from Jazz Cds... not even Hip Hop! -- and I had to send one of the drivers back once (the midrange). This did fix the rattle as it was a defect in the driver. But, all in all, they did very well for home theater... especially if you have a sub-woofer for your LFE and can assign bass from your from L/R speakers to the sub.
They also worked well musically, however, I still thought they were bass shy. So, be careful with that hip/hop!