Klipsch comments

[Buckeye_Nut]

I will put together a comparison review of the old Reference Line vs. the new one asap.

I've compared them, and liked the new version better. In fact, I loved them and bought 5.......LOL The new reference line has a more refined sound to them IMO. For my theater purposes, Klipsch hit the bullseye.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

What about the 82's versus the 35's? Did you make this comparison? I am shopping and have auditioned the RF-62s and loved them, my wife gave the nodd to buy if I could get them in cherry. The dealer told us to go with the 25 series (he could locate some for us) or move up to the RF-82's since the 62 comes only in black. Lucky me, my wife gave her approval to bust the budget and take the bigger speakers. Now, I am trying to decide, the RF-35s are wider, so our child is less likely to tump it over, but is there any sound improvements on the RF-82?



If I extrapolate your comparison of the 25s and 62s, it sounds to me as though I want to stay with the 82s. Right now, same price, so the only question is looks (wider versus slimmer) and sound.

By the way, for the uneducated, what is crossover and why am I supposed to care? More to the point, are higher or lower numbers preferred?

I've made direct comparisons, and I thought the new speakers sounded better than the old. BTW, the 35s are NOT wider than the 82s.

They are obviously very similar in size, but these are the dems....
RF35
DIMENSIONS:
HEIGHT
40.9" (103.9cm)
WIDTH
9.25" (23.5cm)
DEPTH
14.8" (37.6cm)
WEIGHT:
54 lbs. (24.5kg)

RF82
HEIGHT:
43.6" (110.7cm) (w/feet)
WIDTH:
9.5" (24.1cm)
DEPTH:
16.25" (41.3cm)
WEIGHT:
66lbs (30kg)

My recommendation would be to definitely buy from the new Reference line because they are better built and Klipsch has obviously made several refinements compared to the older generation that hit the streets in 2003. The new speakers sound more refined, and provide a little more ummmph while maintaining their crystal clear trademark sound. I also felt that while at high volume levels, the new horns were smoother and more pleasing to the ear.

 

[SMM]

I'm debating between the Klipsch RF-82 (with RS-52 for surround and rears, RC-62 for center and RSW-10d sub) and Boston Acoustics VR3 (with VRC center, VRX surround, VRX rear, PV-100 sub) and Monitor Audio Silver RS-6 (with RS-LCR center, RS-FX surround, RS-FX rear, RSW-12 sub). I'm planning to use a Denon AVR-2807.

Have you compared the Klipsch to the Boston Acoustics or the Monitor Audio Silver?

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Sorry,

Im not that familiar with the Boston Acoustics sound.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I've compared them, and liked the new version better. In fact, I loved them and bought 5.......LOL The new reference line has a more refined sound to them IMO. For my theater purposes, Klipsch hit the bullseye.

Yes, more refined is what I heard also.

I never got back for a better demo but my thoughts were that they were very nice for theater. Music...not the best in my price range.

SBF1

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I'm debating between the Klipsch RF-82 (with RS-52 for surround and rears, RC-62 for center and RSW-10d sub) and Boston Acoustics VR3 (with VRC center, VRX surround, VRX rear, PV-100 sub) and Monitor Audio Silver RS-6 (with RS-LCR center, RS-FX surround, RS-FX rear, RSW-12 sub). I'm planning to use a Denon AVR-2807.

Have you compared the Klipsch to the Boston Acoustics or the Monitor Audio Silver?

I have not heard the Bostons and I do not like the Monitor Audios because of their being too bright for music for my tastes. The Klipsch mid-range was not accurate enough for music IMO.

Of course In your room with your equipment and your ears they all could be an excellent choice. All of this is just my opinion based on very short demos.

Take care,
SBF1

 

[westcott]

New Klipsch Reference Speaker system review

Well, I did finally get to listen to the new reference series using the RC64, RC83s, and some Boston Acoustics rear surrounds at a dealer in Houston. I brought my calibration DVD, ear protection, and a handful of CDs and was really looking forward to hearing the new line.

Unfortunately, I entered an audioholics worst nightmare. A almost perfectly square room with ceiling tiles and uninsulated walls inside a commercial building not built to suit. I had driven a long way and thought I would do my best to overlook the shortcomings of the room and try to determine something about the new line. I also noticed the PSB's along the wall and was hoping to get a listen to them, as well.

It was futile on anything that had volume or bass and I threw in the towel. It sounded terrible and I could even hear pipes inside the walls resonate as certain frequencies were played. I have been in a lot of auditioning rooms but this has got to be the worst room I have ever heard.

I was unable to make any educated opinion and left in disgust.

I can see how someone could hate the sound of a speaker line they have auditioned and walk away with entirely the wrong impression. Especially if they had no idea how important room acoustics and speaker placement is.

I will try again with another dealer in the future.

I think this dealer is doing Klipsch a disservice by representing their product in such a poor manner. I would think dealers would have to meet some kind of requirement to perform. Either there are no minimum requirements or they are not being enforced.

Are you listening Trey C.?

 

[Sheep]

Well, I did finally get to listen to the new reference series using the RC64, RC83s, and some Boston Acoustics rear surrounds at a dealer in Houston. I brought my calibration DVD, ear protection, and a handful of CDs and was really looking forward to hearing the new line.

Unfortunately, I entered an audioholics worst nightmare. A almost perfectly square room with ceiling tiles and uninsulated walls inside a commercial building not built to suit. I had driven a long way and thought I would do my best to overlook the shortcomings of the room and try to determine something about the new line. I also noticed the PSB's along the wall and was hoping to get a listen to them, as well.

It was futile on anything that had volume or bass and I threw in the towel. It sounded terrible and I could even hear pipes inside the walls resonate as certain frequencies were played. I have been in a lot of auditioning rooms but this has got to be the worst room I have ever heard.

I was unable to make any educated opinion and left in disgust.

I can see how someone could hate the sound of a speaker line they have auditioned and walk away with entirely the wrong impression. Especially if they had no idea how important room acoustics and speaker placement is.

I will try again with another dealer in the future.

I think this dealer is doing Klipsch a disservice by representing their product in such a poor manner. I would think dealers would have to meet some kind of requirement to perform. Either there are no minimum requirements or they are not being enforced.

Are you listening Trey C.?

Correct me if I'm wrong but,

Your room isn't perfect either. Bare walls, and a hard wood floor.

SheepStar

 

[AVRat]

That's true Sheep, but he (Westcott) has ALOT of volume to fill.

 

[westcott]

Correct me if I'm wrong but,

Your room isn't perfect either. Bare walls, and a hard wood floor.

SheepStar

As the name "His and Her Room!" implies, this is a shared room so getting acoustic tiles or bass traps placed througout the room is a slow process of discussion and salesmanship. Since I knew that it was going to take some convincing to get this accomplished, I did decide to float and isolate the wood floors. This is VERY expensive and labor intensive but provides the best solution of ANY floor design! I also feel it provides a more accurate sound for live performances because most are on stages comprised of wood. It covers a great percentage of the rooms surface area and is very effective.

Second, using horn loaded speakers provides a more directional sound wave over most of its frequency range that excites fewer room modes than a typical direct radiating speaker. The Klipsch design also acts as a coincident design speaker because most of the frequency range is produced from a single point source, eliminating most phase and time alignment issues associated with direct radiating speakers (KEF and others like them being the exception) that are exacerbated using a direct radiating design driver.

Lastly, all the openings into the room act as sound absorbers and with the greater than normal volume to fill, the sensitivity and efficiency of the Klipsch speakers make it possible to produce reference volume levels with less power and distortion than other speaker designs at their price point.

The auditioning room I was in had no insulation in the walls where piping and wiring was run using alumium "studs". The room dimensions could have been dealt with had the representitive for Klipsch had invested a little time and money into the effort but this was not the case. One would hope that the specialists in this field would have as good as or better listening room than you do but it was obvious in this instance that the representative did not care. He knew the problems and has done nothing to address them, not even acoustic tiles or bass traps.