The Best of the Big Three For Cinema

[ryanosaur]

Klipsch can build good speakers, but they aren't really compelled to when all of their speakers sell so well that it doesn't matter how good or bad they are. There are a lot of Klipsch speakers with real problems. Every bookshelf speaker I have seen measured exhibited serious problems. The Heritage speakers are horrendous by modern standards of fidelity. The center channels couldn't be anything other than problematic. I really want to measure one out of morbid curiosity. On the other hand, the RP-8000F was a legitimately good speaker. It was more linear than the Prime Pinnacle, so basically it's more accurate. The Prime Pinnacle is a fine speaker, but I am not sure I would pick it over the RP-8000F.

Another example of Klipsch doing it right is this thing. It's like the cheap version of the RP-8000F, but it measures very well. It's almost like Klipsch's engineers like to sneak in legitimately good engineering when their management isn't looking. Many of the problems in Klipsch designs are avoidable. The newer Klipsch waveguide, which is where a lot of other horn-loaded speakers fall down, isn't bad. Where Klipsch seems to screw up is chasing a 'signature' sound. Even that R-820F has it on-axis, but look what happens at 30-degrees. My guess is that speaker can be made to sound pretty darn good. And it goes on sale frequently for big discounts.

Honestly, sometimes I regret having done that RP-8000F review. It gave Klipsch a better reputation than their other products merited. The problem was that it is a legitimately good speaker. When I reviewed a bunch of tower speakers a couple years ago, I would say they are my favorite of the bunch next to the Paradigms, yet they were by far the cheapest. The bottom line for me is that I wouldn't consider any Klipsch speaker that didn't have third-party evidence of their sound quality.

I really appreciate your response, Shady. Thank you.
Especially for sharing that NRC measurement of that 820.

 

[Coachorr54]

Klipsch can build good speakers, but they aren't really compelled to when all of their speakers sell so well that it doesn't matter how good or bad they are. There are a lot of Klipsch speakers with real problems. Every bookshelf speaker I have seen measured exhibited serious problems. The Heritage speakers are horrendous by modern standards of fidelity. The center channels couldn't be anything other than problematic. I really want to measure one out of morbid curiosity. On the other hand, the RP-8000F was a legitimately good speaker. It was more linear than the Prime Pinnacle, so basically it's more accurate. The Prime Pinnacle is a fine speaker, but I am not sure I would pick it over the RP-8000F.

Another example of Klipsch doing it right is this thing. It's like the cheap version of the RP-8000F, but it measures very well. It's almost like Klipsch's engineers like to sneak in legitimately good engineering when their management isn't looking. Many of the problems in Klipsch designs are avoidable. The newer Klipsch waveguide, which is where a lot of other horn-loaded speakers fall down, isn't bad. Where Klipsch seems to screw up is chasing a 'signature' sound. Even that R-820F has it on-axis, but look what happens at 30-degrees. My guess is that speaker can be made to sound pretty darn good. And it goes on sale frequently for big discounts.

Honestly, sometimes I regret having done that RP-8000F review. It gave Klipsch a better reputation than their other products merited. The problem was that it is a legitimately good speaker. When I reviewed a bunch of tower speakers a couple years ago, I would say they are my favorite of the bunch next to the Paradigms, yet they were by far the cheapest. The bottom line for me is that I wouldn't consider any Klipsch speaker that didn't have third-party evidence of their sound quality.

Very interesting.

 

[sbli]

Klipsch can build good speakers, but they aren't really compelled to when all of their speakers sell so well that it doesn't matter how good or bad they are. There are a lot of Klipsch speakers with real problems. Every bookshelf speaker I have seen measured exhibited serious problems. The Heritage speakers are horrendous by modern standards of fidelity. The center channels couldn't be anything other than problematic. I really want to measure one out of morbid curiosity. On the other hand, the RP-8000F was a legitimately good speaker. It was more linear than the Prime Pinnacle, so basically it's more accurate. The Prime Pinnacle is a fine speaker, but I am not sure I would pick it over the RP-8000F.

Another example of Klipsch doing it right is this thing. It's like the cheap version of the RP-8000F, but it measures very well. It's almost like Klipsch's engineers like to sneak in legitimately good engineering when their management isn't looking. Many of the problems in Klipsch designs are avoidable. The newer Klipsch waveguide, which is where a lot of other horn-loaded speakers fall down, isn't bad. Where Klipsch seems to screw up is chasing a 'signature' sound. Even that R-820F has it on-axis, but look what happens at 30-degrees. My guess is that speaker can be made to sound pretty darn good. And it goes on sale frequently for big discounts.

Honestly, sometimes I regret having done that RP-8000F review. It gave Klipsch a better reputation than their other products merited. The problem was that it is a legitimately good speaker. When I reviewed a bunch of tower speakers a couple years ago, I would say they are my favorite of the bunch next to the Paradigms, yet they were by far the cheapest. The bottom line for me is that I wouldn't consider any Klipsch speaker that didn't have third-party evidence of their sound quality.

Would you say that sentiment applies to other speakers in the RP line like the 5000f, 6000f, 504c, etc? Do you think Klipsch managed to hit magic with only the 8000f? Or do you suspect the RP line is just much better than what Klipach generally puts out?

 

[shadyJ]

Would you say that sentiment applies to other speakers in the RP line like the 5000f, 6000f, 504c, etc? Do you think Klipsch managed to hit magic with only the 8000f? Or do you suspect the RP line is just much better than what Klipach generally puts out?

My hunch is that some of the other tower speakers are on the level of the RP-8000F, but I am only speculating, of course, since I have not seen measurements. I wouldn't trust the bookshelf speakers or center speakers. I think that only some of the RP line is better than what Klipsch puts out, since some of the other RP speakers have been shown to be flawed.