The Klipsch Reference series R-26f discontinued model

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CygnusBook1

Audiophyte
Hello everyone, I have to admit my understanding of acoustics an speakers is rather limited, I mean I have owned may speaker sets over the years, ,many well known brands, JBL/Harmon Kardon-Yamaha-Advent/Jensen-Polk Audio-KLH-JVC-Pioneer-definitive technologies-Cerwin Vega-Bowers+Wilkins-Energy and now these Klipsch and I have to say this, these might be the worst sounding speakers coming from a major company have ever purchased.

I read review after review praising this model, I am dumbfounded as I dont hear it at all the specs are note worthy

MDF first order vented system(front ports)
2-6 and 1/2 inch Injection molded Graphite woofers
1-1 inch aluminum diaphragm compression driven horn loaded tweeter
rated 25-100 watts rms with brief 400 watt peaks
8 ohm impedance
Rated frequency range-38hz to 21khz -/+3db
crossover is at 2000khz
sensitivity 97db at 2,83v-1m

these were a black friday big box store sale so I purchases them, good price and Klipsch makes a good product right? They simply dont sound good, not a lot of complexity, highs are harsh and fatiguing , unless its specific high frequencies the tweeters scream in the mid-range, I would blame this on the aluminum diaphragm on the tweeters as the source of the harshness, but Definitive Technologies Promonitor 1000 seems to be able to get decent sound from aluminum domes and the fluid cooled alloy dome tweeters in my bowers+Wilkins DM601 S2, DM 602 S2 and the CC6 S2 speakers seem to sound more subdued but with rich detailed layers.

along with seeming to live in the mid-range, I am baffled by the engineers choice to not have a tuned port, instead its basically an oval hole at bottom front of cabinet, the only bass notes are produced are series of boom and echoes, without a subwoofer to compliment these towers they basically have complete bass roll off in the 50-60hertz area, far from the 38hz promised from this set, to be fair I have compared these Klipsch to several other speakers, and even a set of 20 year old Bose 301 series2 out performed them, the other glaring issue was stereo imaging, there simply is none, no wide sound stage to speak of, bottom line, for the price point and reputation these fall far from the mark and I would not recommend then to anyone,I still cant imagine Klipsch would make a product so under-whelming,

Just wanted to add, Klipsch has redesigned the reference R-26 f, into the "new reference R-62f, same drivers same cabinet but all new tuned port, got a chance to hear the new reference R-82f, moving up to 8 inch woofers same copper spun? injection molded graphite woofers and 1 inch aluminum diaphragm horn loaded tweeter, this was at big box store the other day, they played hiphop source material and the tell tale booming was still there regardless of new porting and also sounded tinny and in the mid-range area, now I do have to add these are the entry level klipsch products but that doesnt speak true with other companies entry level products, I cant speak of Klipsch's other high end speakers but if this was "trickle down technology" from the higher end products that is sad indeed
 
K

kini

Full Audioholic
For many Klipsch (non heritage) speakers are a love it or hate it thing. I have the a set of RF62II towers, the last gen before they went to the RP designation for the high end reference line.

The true reference line uses a titanium tweeter. None of the Reference line other than the RF7/RC64 use a compression driver.

I like my speakers for most music and they're really good for HT. In my set up, nicely spaced, toed in, they produce a really wide sound stage with pretty good imaging. For the price they're pretty good.

If you get a chance try and listen to the RP line or even the RF7 and see if you like either of them.
 
C

CygnusBook1

Audiophyte
Yeah the upper line the ref. premier has to sound steps above the R-26f and thanks for commenting, and remember this is just my opinion someone out there may like their performance , I listed to mostly progressive rock, and most speakers get a workout on that source material and I just didnt feel the Klipsch performed well with music source, I can say this, the speakers efficiency is high, high output without eating power and for some thats a great plus, like I had mentioned this was a big box black friday sale, and was mostly and impulse buy so fault lies with me as well, but after trying multiple placement, adjusting EQ and so on, i just couldnt get them to bass out, or get out of mid-range area, I still say the problem is the housing and ports and not the fault of the woofers and maybe this muddling in the mid range impedes the tweeters performance with music sources
again thanks for replying, any input is good input
 
Y

yepimonfire

Audioholic Samurai
Yeah the upper line the ref. premier has to sound steps above the R-26f and thanks for commenting, and remember this is just my opinion someone out there may like their performance , I listed to mostly progressive rock, and most speakers get a workout on that source material and I just didnt feel the Klipsch performed well with music source, I can say this, the speakers efficiency is high, high output without eating power and for some thats a great plus, like I had mentioned this was a big box black friday sale, and was mostly and impulse buy so fault lies with me as well, but after trying multiple placement, adjusting EQ and so on, i just couldnt get them to bass out, or get out of mid-range area, I still say the problem is the housing and ports and not the fault of the woofers and maybe this muddling in the mid range impedes the tweeters performance with music sources
again thanks for replying, any input is good input
My only experience with the R-xx series is the R-15m, 14m and 26f powered version. The 15m and 14m sound very good for the price to me, and have slightly more laid back highs than the premeire series, the powered version of the speaker you're referencing had a slightly weighty mid bass section between 70-100hz that I didn't care for, however I did wonder if it was electronically eqed that way.

The premeire series are excellent speakers, very revealing, efficient, dynamic and for the most part very accurate. In my experience, they can easily compete with speakers costing 3-5x their price tag, so I definitely wouldn't let the cheaper reference line sway you from trying the premeire series.

Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk
 
C

CygnusBook1

Audiophyte
I am glad to people didnt take my critique to heart, I wanted to make it clear that this is only my opinion and someone may actually like the way they sound. I was just surprised that a new set of tower speakers could not perform well with all sources. even though my experience with the entry level reference line was not the best, I am open to giving Klipsch another listen, I remember a distant cousin of mine swore by the KlipschHorns he bought in the 70s', I remember going thru his vinyl collection with his horns playing in the background they made an impression on me as a kid I wont soon forget, I am a firm believer in listening to new ideas and approaches and welcome any suggestions. thanks
 
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