klipsch RP series.

[photographer86]

Hey everyone, I am finding a lot of used RP series in good condition. I am looking to get into klipsch rp160m's and hope to find a rb series center channel. However for now though I don't know why I am seeing so many show up. Are the people not liking the RP line and sticking with the older Reference series. Thanks. Just looking for peeps thoughts and if they have either before I go blow some money lol. Granted I do know its everyone likes a certain speakers but brings thoughts to the the table.

 

[bigkrazy155]

Those folks are likely upgrading to the new RP line. The RP-600m is a well received speaker with a lot of hype around it. I'm sure a lot of 160m owners are moving in that direction.

 

[XTex]

IME there is minimal difference between the older and newer RP. Snag one used and enjoy both the sound and cost savings compared to new.

 

[KEW]

I have heard the RP-160m and the RP-600m.
I would be happy with either. By measurements, I believe the newer model looks better, but by ear, I feel they are pretty damn close and if budget is a concern, take advantage of this RP-160m "buyers market"!

 

[Kvn_Walker]

People are selling the old shiny to buy the new shiny. Happens with cars and trucks too.

I wouldn't mind getting a pair of the outgoing RP-280F's for my living room (gonna downsize to 2.1 for movies) but I've got too much else eating the budget right now.

 

[photographer86]

Right on everyone! Thanks for info and input. I’m just excited to be upgrading lol. I am looking at rf’7’s for 545 on market place near me and the rp-160’s are $250. Both in excellent shape. Hope to meet those people this weekend. Awaiting work. Ill let you guys know if i get then.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

545 for RF7's, even 1st-gen is a killer price if they're in good shape.

 

[photographer86]

545 for RF7's, even 1st-gen is a killer price if they're in good shape.

Yes I am hoping to get the funds before someone else pics them up. lol. I would be really excited with those.

 

[Ken32]

Hey everyone, I am finding a lot of used RP series in good condition. I am looking to get into klipsch rp160m's and hope to find a rb series center channel. However for now though I don't know why I am seeing so many show up. Are the people not liking the RP line and sticking with the older Reference series. Thanks. Just looking for peeps thoughts and if they have either before I go blow some money lol. Granted I do know its everyone likes a certain speakers but brings thoughts to the the table.

I just spent some extensive time with RP600M and boxed them up to send back. I wasn't impressed at all. They are a bit smoother than older lines of Klipsch but to me, not by much. They are far too harsh for my ears. To each their own....

What's the reason you're leaning towards them?

 

[photographer86]

Great question ken! I’m getting more and more into home theater and music hifi listening. Iv’e always tried to budget for speakers. Tired of getting just not well made consumer stuff that companies just don’t make good speakers anymore and i shouldn’t say that. I should say they make them cheap and don’t put time and effort it seems to produce good speakers like they used too. I am feeling that if i go with klipsch from all the reviews i’m getting step up in everything from driver components to crossover. Then from there i want to start making my own and open that box of hobby fun!

Very good on listening also to the new rp-600. I may not like klipsch either one i get them going. Have to see. But gonna try them. I also like a speaker to hit. Not hit bass rise but try to be most accurate in reproducing music or the movie effects as intended. It can be hard to find that and cost more with better manufacture speakers.

But for now i’m done trying polk, infinity, jbl, so forth. I listened to some elac’s and pretty well sounded speakers to be the B 6.2. But then you have the designer of those and he took his time to really give what he could. Thats what i like to hear from companies.

 

[Pogre]

Great question ken! I’m getting more and more into home theater and music hifi listening. Iv’e always tried to budget for speakers. Tired of getting just not well made consumer stuff that companies just don’t make good speakers anymore and i shouldn’t say that. I should say they make them cheap and don’t put time and effort it seems to produce good speakers like they used too. I am feeling that if i go with klipsch from all the reviews i’m getting step up in everything from driver components to crossover. Then from there i want to start making my own and open that box of hobby fun!

Very good on listening also to the new rp-600. I may not like klipsch either one i get them going. Have to see. But gonna try them. I also like a speaker to hit. Not hit bass rise but try to be most accurate in reproducing music or the movie effects as intended. It can be hard to find that and cost more with better manufacture speakers.

But for now i’m done trying polk, infinity, jbl, so forth. I listened to some elac’s and pretty well sounded speakers to be the B 6.2. But then you have the designer of those and he took his time to really give what he could. Thats what i like to hear from companies.

Boy oh boy, there are still some very competent companies besides Klipsch making good speakers today. Some folks like the Klipsch sound, some don't. Seems fairly split among the members here. Personally I fall into the "a little bright" camp.

JBL actually makes some pretty good speakers! You just need to get out and listen to a few more brands before settling on recognition and reviews.

 

[ryanosaur]

Considering we've had friends here go from Klipsch to JBL and be happier, you end up in with that YMMV comment pretty quickly. At every pricepoint there will be a value leader. Sometimes it can be hard to identify, especially if you can't find them to listen to!
IMO, the biggest ding to the Klipsch speakers is the 2-way design. In the 8000 review, Shady saw it and commented on it. Danzilla heard it while he was playing with them.
There is an appeal that Klipsch has, but in the end, they didn't pass muster for me, especially as I raised my budget and was considering well reviewed and highly regarded 3-way speakers.
Regardless, 2-ways can be done very well and sound better than many 3-ways, but that is not the case there.

 

[shadyJ]

I don't know about all the Klipsch RP speakers, but I would guess that if you had some audio enthusiast listening to the RP-8000Fs blind, they would never guess that they were listening to Klipsch speakers. I think that the brand name brings about certain expectations that inevitably color the experience. Modern Klipsch speakers should be listened to without the usual notions about the traditional Klipsch sound.

 

[shadyJ]

Considering we've had friends here go from Klipsch to JBL and be happier, you end up in with that YMMV comment pretty quickly. At every pricepoint there will be a value leader. Sometimes it can be hard to identify, especially if you can't find them to listen to!
IMO, the biggest ding to the Klipsch speakers is the 2-way design. In the 8000 review, Shady saw it and commented on it. Danzilla heard it while he was playing with them.
There is an appeal that Klipsch has, but in the end, they didn't pass muster for me, especially as I raised my budget and was considering well reviewed and highly regarded 3-way speakers.
Regardless, 2-ways can be done very well and sound better than many 3-ways, but that is not the case there.

A 2-way design is in no way a shortcoming or flaw. 3-way designs can have some advantages in achieving target behavior, but if that same behavior is achieved from a 2-way design, that is just as well. The crossover in the RP-8000F isn't absolutely perfect from a purely technical viewpoint, but I didn't hear anything 'amiss' in that frequency range. While its crossover isn't perfect, it isn't bad either and if there is any audibility in that imperfect crossover, it would be very minute.

 

[Ken32]

Great question ken! I’m getting more and more into home theater and music hifi listening. Iv’e always tried to budget for speakers. Tired of getting just not well made consumer stuff that companies just don’t make good speakers anymore and i shouldn’t say that. I should say they make them cheap and don’t put time and effort it seems to produce good speakers like they used too. I am feeling that if i go with klipsch from all the reviews i’m getting step up in everything from driver components to crossover. Then from there i want to start making my own and open that box of hobby fun!

Very good on listening also to the new rp-600. I may not like klipsch either one i get them going. Have to see. But gonna try them. I also like a speaker to hit. Not hit bass rise but try to be most accurate in reproducing music or the movie effects as intended. It can be hard to find that and cost more with better manufacture speakers.

But for now i’m done trying polk, infinity, jbl, so forth. I listened to some elac’s and pretty well sounded speakers to be the B 6.2. But then you have the designer of those and he took his time to really give what he could. Thats what i like to hear from companies.

I wasn't impressed with their sound, or build quality. Neither was my wife.

Their boxes are just like many others, thick MDF, cheap vinyl wrap and stuffed with poly-fill to sound "bigger" than they are.

I tear every speaker i have apart (i just have to look on the insides of them, don't know why, I just have to) and the drivers seemed very cheaply made in the RP600M. Some may disagree but as a tool and die engineer for the last 14 years and working with a lot of interior and exterior components on vehicles, I have a pretty good idea of what's quality and what's not. Especially some of the questionable speakers they use (GM using Bose before they started using PIoneer.)

Have you tried HTD? (Home Theater Direct) Their level 3 stuff is pretty great, build quality, performace, you name it. even their smaller bookshelf speakers are "Real Wood Veneers" they have free in home trial for first time buyers and they cover shipping both ways if you're not satisfied. Just a thought.

 

[D Murphy]

Their boxes are just like many others, thick MDF, cheap vinyl wrap and stuffed with poly-fill to sound "bigger" than

Companies don't use poly-fill to achieve a "bigger sound." It's used to damp internal reflections and to increase the effective volume of the cabinet due to thermodynamic forces. (I don't fully understand how the these forces increase box volume, but it's a result of heat generated by friction from air traveling through the fill.)

 

[ryanosaur]

A 2-way design is in no way a shortcoming or flaw. 3-way designs can have some advantages in achieving target behavior, but if that same behavior is achieved from a 2-way design, that is just as well. The crossover in the RP-8000F isn't absolutely perfect from a purely technical viewpoint, but I didn't hear anything 'amiss' in that frequency range. While its crossover isn't perfect, it isn't bad either and if there is any audibility in that imperfect crossover, it would be very minute.

I was very careful to say that 2-way designs can be done better!

 

[Ken32]

Companies don't use poly-fill to achieve a "bigger sound." It's used to damp internal reflections and to increase the effective volume of the cabinet due to thermodynamic forces. (I don't fully understand how the these forces increase box volume, but it's a result of heat generated by friction from air traveling through the fill.)

www.crutchfield.com
The sound wave coming off the back of your subwoofer reacts with the air contained in the box. Polyester fiber stuffing slows down sound waves inside the box, making the subwoofer perform as if the box were bigger. Use 1 to 1-1/2 pounds of stuffing per cubic foot of box volume.

https://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/56584-effects-of-polyfill-in-a-sealed-enclosure/

I've used it again and again, especially in smaller enclosures. I'm aware how it works.

 

[Pogre]

I was very careful to say that 2-way designs can be done better!

Yes, but you also listed it as a shortcoming.

This is an area where I could definitely learn some things. I'm far from an expert on crossovers. First order, second, fourth... no clue the differences. What I've extrapolated from very little experience, and I could be completely wrong, but I always thought less filtering = better when comes to signal processing.

Since a 3 way (or higher) requires additional crossing over is that a possible detriment vs a simpler, less filtered 2 way design? I'm asking from a place of true ignorance. I don't know if I'm even right about the "more filtering for 3 a way" speculation I've made.... lol.

*Edit my mains are 3.5 way and I really, really like them, so I know it's not a "bad design" or anything.

 

[ryanosaur]

Yes, but you also listed it as a shortcoming.

This is an area where I could definitely learn some things. I'm far from an expert on crossovers. First order, second, fourth... no clue the differences. What I've extrapolated from very little experience, and I could be completely wrong, but I always thought less filtering = better when comes to signal processing.

Since a 3 way (or higher) requires additional crossing over is that a possible detriment vs a simpler, less filtered 2 way design? I'm asking from a place of true ignorance. I don't know if I'm even right about the "more filtering for 3 a way" speculation I've made.... lol.

It’s more complicated to be certain, but at the same time, adding a driver to help even the sound across the spectrum and using drivers better suited to the job, is useful. Many 2-way designs might push the woofer too far in terms of its upper end performance. If the woofer starts breaking up or beaming, you lose performance, just as if you have to push the tweeter too low. As I understand it, the horn loading of a tweeter allows it to perform lower, which aids the xo to a larger woofer. That’s where the art of speaker design comes in.
Knowing and understanding the balance points between your drivers and how you are implementing them is key. Moreover, the best programs and xo optimizers won’t guarantee that your speaker design will work well.
I’m eager to get the gear I need to build my first kit. Thanks to Dennis, I’ll be able to finish my goal for building my Atmos speakers! Even that kit though will just be a first baby step toward better understanding. I'll still do my own 2-way design, too. Not so much because I want to, but because I want to learn!

***edited to correct phone auto-corrections.