B&W vs. Klipsch

[ProStereo]

MacManNM, It greatly depends on customer likes as for going to B&W or Klipsch.
We won't even go into BIC Acoustech speakers here, they are not in the same
level as Klipsch, much lower quality in sound and build. There is no basis of your statement that BIC sounds better than Klipsch, this is inaccurate again. This is
simply untrue. If you are referring to the bogus false review on the website, I’m quite sure you know and heard by now that it was a fake review. Open up a BIC Acoustech speaker, take a look inside, then tell us where the quality is?? They use cheap drivers that can’t even begin to compare to Klipsch drivers.
Many Klipsch users who tried the BIC Acoustics from a special going on at Costco, reported that it does not compare at all to Klipsch, especially for music, for Home Theater, it passed marginally, yet could not compete with Klipsch sound quality and build.

I sell both Klipsch Reference and B&W. It's very hard to explain to the customer what you are getting when asked why, by some, does the Klipsch sound better and cost much less than B&W. We do lose quite a bit of B&W sales to Klipsch, but the true B&W fans stick to B&W, and they make very fine speakers and their build quality is excellent.

Klipsch is NOT BRIGHT, and by far NOT painful as you say! That is not accurate at all. If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. Klipsch is very revealing of quality equipment and you must team it up with quality, this is the key word here. You do this and you will get excellent results that is hard to surpass, and it will not be bright! Do not team bright sound equipment with Klipsch, such as amp, pre-amp, CD-player, DVD, and you will not get bright. You need to know what you are doing. Klipsch have excellent bass that is tight and taut. If you get boomy bass, look at the amp as the culprit, with Klipsch you must use QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY!!!! There is no way around this if you want the best from your Klipsch speakers! If you go the cheap way, your Klipsch speakers will let you know, and you won’t like it!

We’ve done very well with sales of the Klipsch Reference line because they speak for themselves and it’s been very easy for our customers to choose them after comparing them to more expensive brands. You get a lot for your money with Klipsch! If you can make yourself afford the Klipsch RF-7, you are pretty much set for life with this fine speaker and you will be very hard pressed to find something better than triple it’s cost! Yes, it’s that good.
It will save you from any upgrading later, you will be very pleased with it for years to come.

I love to bring a customer in the demo room, fire up the Klipsch RF-7 on all Rotel gear and watch their mouths drop in shear stunning amazement of how great those speakers sound with that gear. I’ve sold many systems of that setup by doing this, showing a customer just how great a system he/she can have for much less, but much higher than med. mass market.

If you are set on using Denon equipment, then I DO NOT recommend using it with Klipsch! Denon and Klipsch do not go well together and will make the sound seem lifeless compared to better makes, such as Rotel and the likes.

MacManNM, Statements such as “beat the pants off of” is not helpful here, please be more specific in terms of just what you are hearing or not hearing between the two! That would be much more helpful to users here.

 

[Tempest]

As a Klipsch owner, I can definately agree that they need to matched with a decent amp/receiver to sound their best. I was using the set listed in my signature with an ok Yamaha AVR and then upgraded to the Pioneer VSX-53TX. The difference in sound quality and detail was astounding! While I'm quite aware that these are not comparable to the Reference line, I still like them and won't replace them until I can afford something on a much highter level.

 

[mazurek]

I think that if you are getting B&W's, then you should audition the 700 or 800 level bookshelfs, I believe that the 600 level speakers are not that great. I went over to someone's house that had some B&W 600 level towers connected to a Rotel amp, and heard some at a dealer, they are not very good. The difference between them and the bookshelfs that cost the same is quite obvious. Of course the 700 and 800 level towers are great, but they might be too expensive, some of the bookshelfs have quite good base extension though.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

If you are set on using Denon equipment, then I DO NOT recommend using it with Klipsch! Denon and Klipsch do not go well together and will make the sound seem lifeless compared to better makes, such as Rotel and the likes.

Good informative post PS. Stick around the forum. We may learn a thing or two from you. Mind if I pick your brain since you sell gear?
What lines of receivers/amps do you carry?
How about speakers?
What are your favorite pairings with Denon receivers?
How do you feel about adding eq's, i.e. Behringer's parametric/graphic digital eq to tweak the sound?
In your opinion, are there higher end receivers that tend to be "bright," and others "flat"?

 

[craigsub]

Klipsch and Denon ...

Prostereo - For three years, we ran Klipsch Belles and a Denon 5800 receiver in our theater room, and it was a fantastic set up. Denon does seem to get it right in their upper end stuff, the 3805, on the other hand, was not a good match with the Klipsch.

And there are days when I wish we still had the Belles here ... ... but the new ACI Essence package (due next week), Emotiva PRE-POWER set, and dual SVS PB12-Ultras will have to suffice ...

 

[MacManNM]

MacManNM, It greatly depends on customer likes as for going to B&W or Klipsch.
We won't even go into BIC Acoustech speakers here, they are not in the same
level as Klipsch, much lower quality in sound and build. There is no basis of your statement that BIC sounds better than Klipsch, this is inaccurate again. This is
simply untrue. If you are referring to the bogus false review on the website, I’m quite sure you know and heard by now that it was a fake review. Open up a BIC Acoustech speaker, take a look inside, then tell us where the quality is?? They use cheap drivers that can’t even begin to compare to Klipsch drivers.
Many Klipsch users who tried the BIC Acoustics from a special going on at Costco, reported that it does not compare at all to Klipsch, especially for music, for Home Theater, it passed marginally, yet could not compete with Klipsch sound quality and build.

I sell both Klipsch Reference and B&W. It's very hard to explain to the customer what you are getting when asked why, by some, does the Klipsch sound better and cost much less than B&W. We do lose quite a bit of B&W sales to Klipsch, but the true B&W fans stick to B&W, and they make very fine speakers and their build quality is excellent.

Klipsch is NOT BRIGHT, and by far NOT painful as you say! That is not accurate at all. If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. Klipsch is very revealing of quality equipment and you must team it up with quality, this is the key word here. You do this and you will get excellent results that is hard to surpass, and it will not be bright! Do not team bright sound equipment with Klipsch, such as amp, pre-amp, CD-player, DVD, and you will not get bright. You need to know what you are doing. Klipsch have excellent bass that is tight and taut. If you get boomy bass, look at the amp as the culprit, with Klipsch you must use QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY!!!! There is no way around this if you want the best from your Klipsch speakers! If you go the cheap way, your Klipsch speakers will let you know, and you won’t like it!

We’ve done very well with sales of the Klipsch Reference line because they speak for themselves and it’s been very easy for our customers to choose them after comparing them to more expensive brands. You get a lot for your money with Klipsch! If you can make yourself afford the Klipsch RF-7, you are pretty much set for life with this fine speaker and you will be very hard pressed to find something better than triple it’s cost! Yes, it’s that good.
It will save you from any upgrading later, you will be very pleased with it for years to come.

I love to bring a customer in the demo room, fire up the Klipsch RF-7 on all Rotel gear and watch their mouths drop in shear stunning amazement of how great those speakers sound with that gear. I’ve sold many systems of that setup by doing this, showing a customer just how great a system he/she can have for much less, but much higher than med. mass market.

If you are set on using Denon equipment, then I DO NOT recommend using it with Klipsch! Denon and Klipsch do not go well together and will make the sound seem lifeless compared to better makes, such as Rotel and the likes.

MacManNM, Statements such as “beat the pants off of” is not helpful here, please be more specific in terms of just what you are hearing or not hearing between the two! That would be much more helpful to users here.

My statements were based on the SynergyIII system. I stand by my claims that they are junk. The acoustechs sound better, and are cheaper.

As with their other lines, I agree with you.

The BIC Venturi line is a good line of lower priced speakers. I hope you don't disagree. I have torn them apart and done several tests on them. I find them to be a very good speaker for the money. The build and component quality is very good. Especially with the Ed Frias crossover mods.

 

[shokhead]

MacManNM, It greatly depends on customer likes as for going to B&W or Klipsch.
We won't even go into BIC Acoustech speakers here, they are not in the same
level as Klipsch, much lower quality in sound and build. There is no basis of your statement that BIC sounds better than Klipsch, this is inaccurate again. This is
simply untrue. If you are referring to the bogus false review on the website, I’m quite sure you know and heard by now that it was a fake review. Open up a BIC Acoustech speaker, take a look inside, then tell us where the quality is?? They use cheap drivers that can’t even begin to compare to Klipsch drivers.
Many Klipsch users who tried the BIC Acoustics from a special going on at Costco, reported that it does not compare at all to Klipsch, especially for music, for Home Theater, it passed marginally, yet could not compete with Klipsch sound quality and build.

I sell both Klipsch Reference and B&W. It's very hard to explain to the customer what you are getting when asked why, by some, does the Klipsch sound better and cost much less than B&W. We do lose quite a bit of B&W sales to Klipsch, but the true B&W fans stick to B&W, and they make very fine speakers and their build quality is excellent.

Klipsch is NOT BRIGHT, and by far NOT painful as you say! That is not accurate at all. If you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. Klipsch is very revealing of quality equipment and you must team it up with quality, this is the key word here. You do this and you will get excellent results that is hard to surpass, and it will not be bright! Do not team bright sound equipment with Klipsch, such as amp, pre-amp, CD-player, DVD, and you will not get bright. You need to know what you are doing. Klipsch have excellent bass that is tight and taut. If you get boomy bass, look at the amp as the culprit, with Klipsch you must use QUALITY, QUALITY, QUALITY!!!! There is no way around this if you want the best from your Klipsch speakers! If you go the cheap way, your Klipsch speakers will let you know, and you won’t like it!

We’ve done very well with sales of the Klipsch Reference line because they speak for themselves and it’s been very easy for our customers to choose them after comparing them to more expensive brands. You get a lot for your money with Klipsch! If you can make yourself afford the Klipsch RF-7, you are pretty much set for life with this fine speaker and you will be very hard pressed to find something better than triple it’s cost! Yes, it’s that good.
It will save you from any upgrading later, you will be very pleased with it for years to come.

I love to bring a customer in the demo room, fire up the Klipsch RF-7 on all Rotel gear and watch their mouths drop in shear stunning amazement of how great those speakers sound with that gear. I’ve sold many systems of that setup by doing this, showing a customer just how great a system he/she can have for much less, but much higher than med. mass market.

If you are set on using Denon equipment, then I DO NOT recommend using it with Klipsch! Denon and Klipsch do not go well together and will make the sound seem lifeless compared to better makes, such as Rotel and the likes.

MacManNM, Statements such as “beat the pants off of” is not helpful here, please be more specific in terms of just what you are hearing or not hearing between the two! That would be much more helpful to users here.

When i demoed speakers and had Klipsch,BA,Energy,Polk side by side,the Klipsch were by far the brightest.

 

[JeffM]

Klipsch

My Klipsch are great. Let me tell you my experience. 20 years ago, I used to be an audiophile, which to me is a person who is constantly looking to trade up for better. If you do what I did, and alot of people do, you will go through alot of mediocre stuff and spend alot more money than if you do it right the first time.

I finally wound up with Klipsch Cornwalls, which I have had and used for almost 20 years. They are as good as when I bought them.

I bought them used from a guy who was moving. He was powering them through a mediocre (decent) Marantz receiver. The guy on here who previously said good speakers need good amps is right on target.

When I was checking the speakers out, my brother (who has LaScalas) was with me. Powered by the Marantz, the best I could say was they were loud -but sloppy loud. My brother told me not to worry and that the Marantz was dragging down the Klipsch. I bought the speakers.

At that time, I had a Marantz, also. It was a little better than the other guy's, so the speakers sounded a little better. Not too much later, I bought a Crown Microtech 1200 (PA amp).

Let me tell you, bro', I turn up the volume a little less than half way, and it is clear and loud enough that it shakes the hair on your forearms. I am not exaggerating. It does. And.. did I say it was clear?

The amp and the speakers make all the difference. The other components are not a big deal and a good place to cut corners without affecting sound quality. You can run a Sony CD player on my system (I have Harmon Kardon), and I am sure it will sound every bit as good as my Harmon Kardon.

So, get the good speakers with the good amp. The rest is insignificant.

I have had my set up for almost 20 years. Needless to say, I have had no reason to sit discontent and continuously look for a way to trade up.

Klipsch has come out with all kinds of series I know nothing about. This was its way into the lower end market. Back when I bought my stuff, they had all higher-end. Highest was Klipschorn, then LaScala, then Cornwall. There was also the BelleKlipsch, which I was told was the Cornwall in a prettier box. They also had the Forte, and maybe the Chorus. The Cornwall was the lowest end that still had the 12" woofers. From there down, the woofers went 10" and smaller.

I see used Cornwalls routinely going for about $700, used LaScalas for $1000-1200, and Klipschornes for $1500-2000. The LaScalas are bulky, the Klipschornes are, too. The Cornwalls are big, but much more manageable.

I got my Cornwalls for $750 almost 20 years ago. Best $750 I ever spent, except for the $825 for the Crown Microtech 1200 (which I bought new). Incidentally, that Crown is a workhorse with a slim profile. It has a built-in continuous fan to cool it. So you hear a little fan noise at real low volumes. But it is a serious workhorse. Once when moving, I dropped it off a 4' high shelf to the floor. The rack bent and the face was scarred. I was ticked big time and shaking all over. Plugged it back in and it worked. Has worked just like new ever since.

Get serious speakers (used if your budget makes you like mine did). Get a serious amp (same way if you must).

As to a comparison on amps, I had my Crown. My friend was in the market, and I urged him to do the same. He went original and got an Adcom, which cost about the same. That Adcom was a good piece of crap. It cranked, but broke - about 3 times that I remember.

Just my experience. Good luck.

 

[r8n]

This is my short but pleasant impression about Klipsch. They DO tend to get a little unfirm in the bass-area and a bit bright at the top, but thats all up to the amp! I asked my Klipschdealer (in Sweden) what surroundreciever he would recommend with my setup (front:RF-25 center:RC-35) the answer was qoute (translated):
"The important thing with Klipsch is that they get alot of currentbackup. The horn-principle makes a 60 degree inductive load, which the most japanese brands will have big problems to drive. You then end up with a bad sounding low-end and a dim/unspecified and sharp-sounding high-end."
He strongly suggested H/K AVR-635 for my specified budget. I will order one as soon as possible. Now I'm having a old Denon stereoreciever that fitted his problemdescription exactly, but only when you crank it up a bit. I guess this aplies to all horntype speakers...

//r8n -with reservation for bad english

 

[mulester7]

I finally wound up with Klipsch Cornwalls, which I have had and used for almost 20 years. They are as good as when I bought them

.....JeffM, excellent first post, welcome to Audioholics.com where we tell it like it is, and I would have chosen Cornwalls also, over La Scalas, Bells, and CornerHorns, all by Klipsch in the 70's-80's....the folded-horn bass of those three models lost me after the disco era....four Heresys sounded great also....Cornwalls have that 15 inch woofer firing direct....I really liked them.....

 

[Khorn]

If you can find the older Heritage at a good price and build a system around that you will have one that will offer up very high performance when coupled with the correct front end. All Klipsch speakers are very reveling and they will unmask any flaw that is on the recording or the electronic's used in conjunction with them
Happy Listening
Ray

I agree 100%. I've use Klipsch 'Klipschorn' corner horn loudspeakers since '89 and Klipsch La Scalas before that. I've experimented with driving electronics over the years using anything from SET tube amps and high power SS amps to the highly upgraded 60 wpc SS class type 'A' amp that I'm using now. With the proper 'front end' and driving electronics these speakers sound fantastic.

 

[El Toro]

I would have to agree with RLA about the KLipsch. I have had my Klipsch powered by three different Denon AVR models including the 1805, 2801, and presently with a 1082/3802. I have found that the Klipsch match very well with the Denon's and they take what ever you can toss at them. Now, not to discredit the B&W's, but I find them to be a bit lackluster in proformance compared to other high end brands in the same price range. Haveing said all of this I would like to add that the better reciever and the more controlled power you can throw at the Klipsch the better they are going to sound. I found this out while testing out my NAD T773 avr, but as everyone says it all boils down to personal preferance and what fits into your budget and listening style.

MY STUFF:

Denon AVR-1082
NAD T 773
Denon 910 dvd player
Denon 1000 dvd player
Monster power HTS-1000

Klipsch KLF-10
Klipsch KSC-C1
Klipsch SS-3
Klipsch KSW-10

 

[zumbo]

I auditioned Klipsch RF line when looking for speakers. HATED them. The 7's kill my ears. The smaller 35 and 25 models were better to me, but still had those tweets. OUCH!

I auditioned B&W 803, 804, & 805's. These are the best speakers I have ever heard in this size. Superb. I also auditioned the 703, 704, & 705's. Very nice, but at this price point, there were some other serious contenders.

I would definitely choose B&W over Klipsch with any equipment.

I chose MB Quart over B&W due to the price. Couldn't be happier.

 

[Spiffyfast]

I auditioned Klipsch RF line when looking for speakers. HATED them. The 7's kill my ears. The smaller 35 and 25 models were better to me, but still had those tweets. OUCH!

I auditioned B&W 803, 804, & 805's. These are the best speakers I have ever heard in this size. Superb. I also auditioned the 703, 704, & 705's. Very nice, but at this price point, there were some other serious contenders.

I would definitely choose B&W over Klipsch with any equipment.

I chose MB Quart over B&W due to the price. Couldn't be happier.

That just goes to show you that horn tweeters are either a love em or hate em type thing. Personally I like the sound of them, mixes well with the music that I listen to.

 

[zumbo]

That just goes to show you that horn tweeters are either a love em or hate em type thing. Personally I like the sound of them, mixes well with the music that I listen to.

Not necessarily. I have some old CV D-7's with horns. The are superb. The difference is that the CV's have two mids that share the midrange. Klipsch has the horns play much of the midrange. That just doesn't work for me.

So, I would have to say you either love Klipsch or hate them. I fall into the later. But it is all about preference.

 

[indcrimdefense]

I have Klipsch Rf-7 fronts, RF-5 rears in my home theater system, and also a set of Synergy SF-1 in my bedroom system. It is true that Klipsch speakers can run bright, but I have found in demoing multiple systems over past few months that the "brightness" factor was direct related to what components were used. The speakers were not bright mated with nakamichi, denon and cary audio, and were bright with a rotel rc-1070 stereo pre-amp, rcd-1072 cd player & 1080 amp. The rotel pre-amp & amp were new, & I only had the rotel gear for 5 days, so the components may not have had time to break in. I have also demoed numerous B&W speakers, mated with rotel, lexicon, mcintosh, classe & cary audio components. The B&W & mcintosh combo was on of the best I have ever heard (sorry I don't recall specific components - B&W's were one of the 800 series speakers), but I was not at all disappointed coming home & listening to my system. The B&W/mcintosh combo did sound better, but at a price point exponentially beyond what I have in my system.

My synergy speakers sound fine, particularly for what I paid for them, but are not in the same class as the reference class speakers. My current components are a Denon 2805 receiver & 2910 DVD, and I'm upgrading to seperates. The 2805 is capable of driving the RF-7 & RF-5 (waiting on my RC-7 center speaker to arrive), but it's not capable of driving them to their full potential. Current favorite is Cary Audio Cinema 6 & Cinema 5 (5x200) amp, but it's an unfair comparison as 2805 MSRP is 900 & Cary combo is 6500. The Cary components have the best sound I have heard with my system to date, but I want a lower noise floor, would prefer balanced connections, and want a multichannel stereo mode w/o having to use Dolby PL or DTS Neo. Also had a ground loop that I could not get rid of, even after completely unhooking all cable components. The rotel amp did not have a ground loop problem. Next demos will be Parasound Halo (C2 & A51), B&K, Krell and possibly Classe. Will be happy to comment once I have demoed any of the above.

From my personal listening experience, the RF-7 & RF-5 significantly benefit from a pre-amp/amp combo, both from a clarity/detail standpoint, as well as providing better seperation between low/mid/high and also a dramatic increase in the soundstage. With the Cary amp, bass response was such that a subwoofer is at the bottom of the to buy list.

As for budget concerns, I can certainly understand, but would still recommend without reservation the RF-7 as fronts & RF-5 as rears, or on more of a buget perhaps 4 RF-5 + a center channel. I got a fantastic deal on my RF-5 speakers, which were purchased new. I have heard that Klipsch is going to revamp part or all of the reference series line, so shop around for deals. I demoed the RF-35, and the RF-5 is a much better speaker for not much of a price increase. Also, my RF-7 & RF-5 speakers are very dependent on the quality of components they are mated with. The 2805 is a great receiver, with a multitude of features and quite easy to use once your used to it, and it works very well with the 2910 universal player. I primarily listen to 5 channel stereo, or pure direct/extension in with the 2910 set to direct/all off as well. This setup provides a very clear, clean, transparent sound quality, as it should. However, it lacks the soundstage, body and bass response of the Cary Audio in analog bypass when combined with the Cinema 5 amp.

If anyone has Klipsch RF-7 &/or RF-5 and is using seperates, would be very interested in hearing about what you have liked & what you have not. I'm also interested in Anthem Statement, but nearest dealer is Cincy which probably excludes a home demo.

I have zero regrets in my choice of speakers, and would highly recommend either the RF-7 or RF-5 as great speakers at their particular price points. B&W makes very nice speakers, but I would have to spend a great deal more money on B&W speakers to get the same sound quality I have currently with my Klipsch reference speakers.

 

[Rich0372]

indcrimdefense I have the older Klipsch reference line the legends I have klf30s klf20s and 2 klf c7s 6.1 set-up I have a pioneer elite receiver and had a Rotel 1080 it sounded good but a little bright at louder levels I have a cinenova 3 by earthquake 300x3 the sound is awesome it is slightly laid back but nuetral sounding The Rotel was a little to forward for my speakers I am replacing my receiver with a Sherwood R965 I let you know how I make out Rich

 

[hunnybunny2383]

I Have Owned Both Klipsch And B&w And I Prefer B&w Over Klipsch. The 600 Series Tend To Sound More Musical And Less Harsh.






B&W 604S2 MAINS
B&W 600S3
B&W 601S3 SURROUNDS
B&W 303 SURROUND BACK
DENON AVR 4806
DENON 2910 DVD PLAYER
INFOCUS SCREENPLAY 4805 FRONT PROJECTOR

 

[RLA]

Well there you have it opinion's are pretty much split 50% It does not look like we are going to be of any help to you in you decision. It may be best to
Narrow down the models you are interested in, take your well know much listened to listening material into the various shops and take notes about what you experienced in each demonstartion. Make sure you listen to each speaker at approximately the same volume. Human nature perceives louder as better. Another thing to keep in mind is the listening environment and the associated equipment Take your time with each demo 2 channel, multi-movie sound track's and DVD-A/SACD should all be listened to. Most importantly have fun If your not find another place to demo them
Happy Listening

 

[ddcobb]

Isn't the RF-7 Series quite expensive? I need to stay around $1500-$1700 MAX, so I'm trying to find the best for my money. Trying to balance what I can afford now vs. piecing together really nice in the future. So if that means I get something not quite as nice, almost as comparable, then it might be worth doing that and saving the difference to go higher than the 25 series (like RB-25, RS-25, RC-25, etc.), because I think that's all I can afford right now.

What do you think?

Thanks!

You should look at the Klipsch legend series. They are discontinued now but that helps out with the price issue. They are an amazing line of speakers that are incredibly efficient.