Topic: rate this gear please

[T140V]

so a friend has some audio gear in her garage and i'm in need of something better....she has a pair of klispch cf2 loadspeakers (1995 model) and a rotel rb971 mk 4 power amp and a nice marantz multi disc player...I think i can get it all for $500.00 clams. I currently use a cheap sony reciever and a pair of 25 year old bose 301 bookshelf speakers  .  question is : are these speakers outdated technology? and will i need a pre amp to go with the rotel as its not integrated? I was looking at a pair of new polk audio rti a9 speakers at $1400.00, then adding amps later. For $500.00 I can get this stuff and help her out with some cash and cleanup the garage and I'm guessing it will sound pretty good to my ears compared to my current setup....thanks for your thoughts.

[notlance]

I have never heard the speakers.  FWIW, here are some reviews of the CF-2s.  Of course since these people own the speakers, they will be biased towards them so I'd take these reviews with a grain of salt.
http://www.audioreview.com/mfr/klipsch/floorstanding-speakers/cf-2/PRD_119924_1594crx.aspx

The best way to discover if the speakers are any good is to listen to them.  The Klispch are probably pretty efficient, so you can use your cheap Sony to drive them, at least for the listening test.  I would not worry about the Klispch being outdated technology; if they sound good, they are good.  However, check the woofer surrounds.  If they are made of foam, they are probably ready to be replaced.  If they are rubber surrounds they are probably good to go.  I think Klispch used rubber surrounds, but I'm not sure about that.

I don't think the Rotel has any input level controls, so you will have to control the level some other way.  If the Marantz disc player has some way to control its output level, you don't need a pre-amp; just connect the Marantz to the power amp and use the Marantz to control the level.  Does your Sony receiver have a pre-amp output?  If so, you can use it as a pre-amp.  Or you can find some passive line level control to put between the disc player and power amp, assuming the disc player has enough output to drive the power amp to full power.  Or you can use your FR2LE as a pre-amp/level control.  Or you can use your Sony to drive the speakers until you have the $$ to buy a pre-amp.  You have lots of options.

Good luck.