Has anyone auditioned the Klipsch

[SAMUEL]

Hi REM,
I too have heard the Klipsch. In fact it is one of the most exotic speakers that I've ever heard some 5-6 years back.I was stunned by the colour of the woofers and they look beatuiful even today.
The model I first heard was the Flagship RF-7 powered by a monster Aragon Stage-1 Amp.Believe me the sound is still etched in my brain.
The Four 10" woofers are extremely fast & powerful.
I knew these speaker can easily break the THX Ultra2(read 105db SPL) barrier even with modest power quite easily, leave alone the Aragon.
The traditional hallmark of Klipsch speakers are their sensitivity.
And the RF-7 was rated at 102dB @ 2.83 volts/1 meter.
And thats why they can be easily driven by a mere 5-10watts by a tube amp.
For music also Tubes and solid state amps are preferred for Klipsch speakers.
I also listened to th RF-5 for music powered by another top of the line Sunfire Theatre Grand receiver.The sunfire has a nice warm sound to it and it really matched well with the Klipsch.
There is one thing I noticed thru these years is that, the midrange from a klipsch speakers are little different from other speakers.
Infact it is very much evident in the Synergy series.It needs a very careful combination of equipments.But one thing is for sure the klipsch speakers need a good break-in time and they are throughly enjoyable.
And recently I also heard the Synergy F-3 in chennai , in an onkyo showroom when I was looking for a receiver for my friend.The sound is typical Klipsch.
Gigantic soundstage excellent imaging and pulverising bass courtesy of four 8" woofers in 2-channel mode.Many say the treble is harsh,thats debatable.
Everyone hear differently.some like smooth and warm sound and some may like attacking, open & transparent sound.The klipsch are Warm in their bass ,attacking and open in their midrange and transparent in the highs.The treble sound edgy to some is due to the horn loading.And many have said in reviews that the initial edginess dissappears once the speakers are throughly run-in. But think about this, the horn gives these speakers a very wide dispersion character and the sound remains the same over a large sweet spot.And this character makes them ideal for movies sounds.
The source and amplifier selection is very crucial and even a slight edge can scale up thru these speakers unless you plan to use an equalizer.

So before you drop down the idea of auditioning the klipsch just think again.
Who knows, you may like it!One advise - for music purpose don't go for the entry level speakers either in the Reference series or Synergy.
Model to look out are RF-52 and higher in Ref series or F-3 synergy series.

I think I've answered your question - Has anyone auditioned the Klipsch
Do audition the speakers our friends have suggested too and some of them I Love.And last but not the least my Dream speakers are the
Definitive Technologies BP 7000 SC Super Towers.
Truly Unbelieveable speakers.I've only heard music in it and they are in one word hypnotizers.
I am sorry if I've gone a little overboard, kindly excuse.I am just as excited as you & others are...Thanks for reading and for you patience.
It's almost 12:10am and am feelin a bit sleepy.Thank you.
Have a nice time ahead.
Good Luck
Samuel

 

[marsilians]

Point taken RoC think I will audition other speakers rather than the Klipsch. Epos, Monitor Audios, PSB are all in mind waiting for the weekend atleast need to audition one of these this weekend.

Hey Rem

I know a lot of us have provided suggestion on this forum but don't just go with that. If you have a chance to audition, I suggest you go do it. You may end up loving it for all you care. PSB are also excellent and MA and Epos are decent as well.

This will also give you a good idea between how a bright or forward system will sound with Klipsch PSB vs. a laid back one such as Epos and MA. Though all this is subjective some people call bright speakers as detailed as well so you may be surprised with what you like at the end.

I know quite a few folks who like a bit more of treble esp. when listening to instrumentals. I also like my sound a bit coloured but not too much. So I am not a big fan of neutral or laid back sounds.

 

[Rem]

Sam,

I thoroughly enjoyed that. I always had a soft corner for Klipsch coz my first good speakers of any note was my computer speakers from Klipsch called the Promedia series I bought it 7 years back and still runs and at that time I have not heard any speaker which would come any where near that quality from any of the computer speaker mftrs.

I always liked the looks of the Klipsch too especially the RF-83 have not seen them in real but what I have heard they are kinda big speakers weighing around 50kg. So badly wanted to know why it was discussed so little in these forums and why it was not considered that high end. I did not find that many reviews of the speakers on the net either so your replies have given me a real insight into what I should look for.


Marsillians,

I too do not want a speaker which is too laid back but then since I have not auditioned too many high end speakers need to audition and compare different speakers to know what laid back is when it comes to high end speakers. your valuable inputs have really enlightened me and m really looking forward to audition some of this the coming weekend.

Since you said the Epos and Klipsch has two different character I will be auditioning those this weekend let me see what I would like.


Thanks again everyone
Rakesh

 

[Shuvc]

I own the, so to say, bottom-of-the-rung Klipsch SF-1 towers. They are driven by a Denon AVR 1803. Source is the PS3. Cables are OEM PS3 Sony digitial optical from the PS3 to the AVR, and DAC speaker wires. Hardly audiophile gear.

I do not have the experience of auditioning many brands. But I've really grown to like the Klipsch sound. The horns now sound sweet and detailed.

Am a firm believer of going by what I like and what I can perceive/hear vis-a-vis what reviews may say. I guess that's what matters.

For HT, purposes, I have the Klipsch RC 3 II centre. I'll be adding a pair of Klipsch SS.5 surrounds soon. Don't have a sub yet. And haven't felt the need for one even for cinemas. So there again, I go by what makes sense to my ears, rather than convention . I might still add a sub later, only if it makes a significant contribution to my needs.

So - bottomline? As others have already mentioned, read reviews, but do not get biased when auditioning. Select something you like and can live with, even if the world says it's a poor choice.

 

[reignofchaos]

Sam,

I thoroughly enjoyed that. I always had a soft corner for Klipsch coz my first good speakers of any note was my computer speakers from Klipsch called the Promedia series I bought it 7 years back and still runs and at that time I have not heard any speaker which would come any where near that quality from any of the computer speaker mftrs.

I always liked the looks of the Klipsch too especially the RF-83 have not seen them in real but what I have heard they are kinda big speakers weighing around 50kg. So badly wanted to know why it was discussed so little in these forums and why it was not considered that high end. I did not find that many reviews of the speakers on the net either so your replies have given me a real insight into what I should look for.


Marsillians,

I too do not want a speaker which is too laid back but then since I have not auditioned too many high end speakers need to audition and compare different speakers to know what laid back is when it comes to high end speakers. your valuable inputs have really enlightened me and m really looking forward to audition some of this the coming weekend.

Since you said the Epos and Klipsch has two different character I will be auditioning those this weekend let me see what I would like.


Thanks again everyone
Rakesh

The Klipsches have that typical horn sound signature. If you've ever been to a rock concert or have had exposure to gigantic PA equipment like the stuff from L-Acoustics, you'd already know how the klipsches will sound. The produce insane sound pressure levels as they have very very high sensitivity but don't have that last bit of refinement. Hence to get them to sound refined, you need a very high quality low wattage tube or class A solid state amp. It'll sound quite fatiguing with an AVR.

 

[SAMUEL]

I own the, so to say, bottom-of-the-rung Klipsch SF-1 towers. They are driven by a Denon AVR 1803. Source is the PS3. Cables are OEM PS3 Sony digitial optical from the PS3 to the AVR, and DAC speaker wires. Hardly audiophile gear.

I do not have the experience of auditioning many brands. But I've really grown to like the Klipsch sound. The horns now sound sweet and detailed.

Am a firm believer of going by what I like and what I can perceive/hear vis-a-vis what reviews may say. I guess that's what matters.

For HT, purposes, I have the Klipsch RC 3 II centre. I'll be adding a pair of Klipsch SS.5 surrounds soon. Don't have a sub yet. And haven't felt the need for one even for cinemas. So there again, I go by what makes sense to my ears, rather than convention . I might still add a sub later, only if it makes a significant contribution to my needs.

So - bottomline? As others have already mentioned, read reviews, but do not get biased when auditioning. Select something you like and can live with, even if the world says it's a poor choice.

Thanks Shuvc, the Klipsch SF-1 are indeed very good speakers.
And I totally agree with your comments that the listener will truly grow to like na love the sound of klipsch.Klipsch are the pioneers of horn technology speakers.Right from their basic models to the ultra high end palladium speakers they use horn technology and they have been developing the horn technology for more than 60 years now.

And shuvc for your setup adding a Subwoofer will propel your listening experience to a new level.Consider the Sub-10 or if possible the Sub-12.
They will match the tonality of your speakers.

Regards,
Samuel

 

[anm]

REM - what happened after the last post? Suspense is killing me! Did you audition klipsch? Did you like them?

 

[Rem]

Sorry anm I completely forgot about this post I did the audition that week and was not able to log in for sometime.

I went to Modern Electronics old Airport rd here in Blr for the audition since I could not get any other dealer info for Klipsch here.

They had the RF-52 and the RF-62 floorstanding speakers there. They are medium sized FS quite tall but not that wide so its not as imposing as the RF-83 or RF-63 which weigh close to 50kg each.

The sadest part about going to Modern Electronics is hardly anybody is interested in selling those speakers they had it setup with a Sony DVD player and Onkyo 306 receiver. I knew I was going to be disappointed. Klipsch like wat RoC and some others said can be pretty harsh with highs when partnered wrongly and Onkyo was definitely not the receiver you should use it with Klipsch.

I asked him to play some music and the harshness was very evident and I could not stand it for more than 5mins I asked him to stop the demo and connect the RF-62 which also sounded pretty much the same.

I was very disappointed coz I was someone who really liked the Klipsch sound since the computer speakers from them which I had for 7yrs was awesome. The build quality is as good as any in the price range.


If I get a chance to audition the Klipsch with some other partnering equipments then I would do it again. I still think that they can do a much better job than what I heard at Modern Electronics.

RoC was right you need a tube amp or some other really good quality amp to scale down the Klipsch's horn tweeter harshness once the amp is able to control that I am sure it would sound much better.

When it comes to home theatre speakers and woofers they definitely are the speakers to beat. You get maximum bang for the buck.

But I wanted a pair of speakers to listen to more for music and may be 30% for movies.

If there is any other place in Bangalore where I can get a better audition do let me know guys.

 

[anm]

Good writeup REM. So what direction did your hunt go to?

regards

 

[grubyhalo]

...If you've ever been to a rock concert or have had exposure to gigantic PA equipment like the stuff from L-Acoustics, you'd already know how the klipsches will sound...

Funny you should say that. I've never heard a more refined PA speaker array than the L Acoutics' vDOSCs. They sure beat others like JBL's Vertecs, EV's X-line/arrays, Martin and a few others I've heard in the refinement stakes. What other PA line-arrays do you consider better than the vDOSC's? I'd like to keep my eyes and ears open for them the next time I'm in a concert.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

One of the better PA speakers I have heard is OHM.

Regards
Rajiv