Erukian

I'm curious, why not use 4th order crossovers? IIRC, their expensive, but the best sounding because they keep everythin in phase while having a very smooth xover. But they do drain what, -3dB out of your output? I'm wondering why use the extreme slope over a 4th order Linkwitz-Riley filter. i'm not trying to bash deans design, but won't you get some really obvious modulation distortion from the tweeters resonance? Also, wouldn't having a first order xover make everything out of phase? so if your not in the "sweet spot" with each speaker equal distance from your ears, it'll sound lopsided and not evenly covered? -Joe

Tom, Agreed. -Joe

before i dedicate the time to reading this whole thing, do they justify why they don't do double-blind listening tests? because to me, that's the only way to know if a component is better than another. -Joe

Speedball, agreed, but just because polk uses dome tweeters i don't think people should be lumping all dome tweeter speakers in with them. That'd be like putting the MTX horn speakers (sold at circuit city) in with the klipsch crowd. Eeek! I don't know what you would call this tweeter. http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=264-555 -Joe

What i say is my opinion, i don't mean to force it on anyone, it's just my opinion formed through my experiences. I owned Klipsch RB-25's, i've also logged dozens and dozens of hours with a friends pair of klipsch heresys that he let me borrow them when on vacation. So i've formed my own opinion of klipsch speakers, i have to say, that given it all, 90+% of all recordings out there (ht and music) seem to be mastered for studio monitors, which _always_ seem to involve a dome tweeter. Using klipsch somewhat emphasizes the highs with their horns in a, to me, unnatural way. Now I have great respect for the engineering work that PWK did, but i found that from listening to setups at magnolia, and a lot of audiophile recordings i've borrowed from friends, that it's easier to enjoy the music on dome tweeters. Maybe it's because i'm 21, and my ears haven't started failing yet, maybe when some of you guys get older you start losing hearing on the upper end and when you hear klipsch it's like your hearing is partially restored. I don't know, but i can't go back to horns after getting used to dome, it just feels harsh going backto horn! Now i'm not trying to say Polk is good (they have their highs horribly recessed) but some brands like B&W just do it right. My two cents, -Joe

My brother works at best-buy so i can get a cost + 5% discount on the F-3's (the nicest klipsch they stock). It makes sense to get them i think. But what i also need for him is a receiver. This is one area where i'm not really experienced, since i'm sort of a hardcore stereo/2 channel guy. He wants to start with the F3's and a receiver, then buy the center/rears and a sub later. I was wondering, with a budget max of $400-500 for the receiver, what are some good options? Thanks, -Joe

I recommend you take a peek at all of these sealed/noise cancelling cans -- the reviews are generally pretty trustworthy. I've bought from them before and so have friends. http://www.headphone.com/products/headphones/sealed-and-noise-canceling/ best of luck in your hunt! -Joe

I owned the RB-25's for a few years and had a lot-lot of listening hours on it. The additional 'warmth' and 'fullness' attributed to the RB-35 is really because it's 8" woofer digs lower into bass and pulls up the warmth in the music. Some factors you should think about. Like room size, if it's small the RB-25's should be just fine (smaller than 15x15). Also whether you'll be running a sub, if there's no sub i would stretch out for the RB-75 for the full detail/warmth package since it gives off the biggest sound and the deepest bass. So my advice is simple, I would recommend running a sub w/ all but the 75 (they can handle musical bass just fine). Also you can save money by going RB-25 and getting a sub later for the bass extension, warmth, fullness you'll never touch w/ just solo RB-35's. -Joe

i'd imagine the different tweeter is just a reference line tweeter but with a much wider horizontal dispersion area. It looks like a ref tweeter anyways, the angles of the horn and the titanium dome. -Joe

Enjoy these -Joe

email or call klipsch tech support, they'll tell you what your options are and what's wrong with your system. -Joe

Fini, happy birthday buddy! I turned 21 about 5 months ago, so i guess i'm a bit young to be in this hobby. -Joe

Is there a reason their so expensive? Just wondering -- they seem like pretty simple devices... -Joe

Looking for something to mold well with my teac (I love the damn thing, best value i've ever bought into). The most i want to spend is 3-400. Any recommendation would be great! Thanks, Joe

I have south american rosewood bookshelves, their extremely difficult to photograph. Here's the best pic i could find of my rosewood speakers. Keep in mind this is w/ a piano finish and there's a lot more detail in the grain of the wood than that picture shows. In the end, rosewood looks like very expensive furniture which the ladies like. -Joe

My take on bose- Music is all about enjoyment. While the goal of the flat freq response is very noble, it's not what defines a speaker as fun, lively, or enjoyable. Distortion can add a lot of life to a recording, just look at tube amps for example, bloomed mids and recessed highs (generally) compared to flat-line SS add a nice quality to the sound. If your not an audio-enthusiast unlike pretty much everyone who's actually reading these forums, and you go into Best Buy and buy a Bose Lifestyle system, hook it up, and crank your fvorite movie, you'll most likely REALLY enjoy yourself. You'll invite all your non-audiophile friends over and they'll go "oooh, pounding bass and the sound is so big!" It's obvious that all of Bose's rep is formed by their marketting, but in the end, if you spend $2000 on a system and you honest to god 'enjoy' it then you know what, that's all you'll need. Even though i would feel ripped off by buying bose, all the marketting hype will work like placebo making the average consumer feel very-very satsified. Probably even more satisfied than you or me will ever be w/ our systems, since we seem to be constantly adding and tweaking them. My two cents. -Joe

Going against almost all the good advice i've gotten in this forum, i made the plunge and bought a pair of Onix reference 1's. I couldn't find a pair of Klipsch heritage within 50 miles of my home, and I honestly can't buy something that I've never heard. To me that makes no sense, even though everyone on the net is shouting "buy cornwalls!" So I got them for $500 w/ a little nick on the bottom (like that matters). and a 30 day return policy in case I don't like em. My impressions so far are fantastic. I got to demo: Totem Model 1's Polk LSi9 Polk LSi7 Sonus Faber Concerto Sonus Faber Concertino Axiom M22 Martin Logan Mosaic Boston Acoustics VR-M60 Even after i listened to these, to me the Ref1's (demoed at an owners house) beat them all overall. For demoing I would take notes on what i felt the sound quality was like. Asking myself questions like "is it too smooth?" "is the bass tipped up on the lower end?" "are the mids muddy?" "how's the imaging?" etc etc. For me, spending $500 on a $1500 speaker w/ a return policy seemed like a no brainer. Sure--now that i'm running a 88dB/sens pair of speakers, I can't crank it to high heaven (110db) and beyond before clipping on my Teac since these are 4ohm speakers. But these Ref1's are probably the only speakers that sounded natural doing acoustic work and drums (the full range, think dream theater - blueman group). The polks made everthing warm and smooth, same w/ the bostons, which is UCKY! I feel like all realism is lost when everything is smoothed over. The Ref1's Vifa XT25 tweeter does a great job giving the realism that i remember from horns, without any sibilance or listening fatigue. it has a touch of harshness but that's necessary i've come to believe for a tweeter to sound real. The mids blow my old RB-25's out of the water and pretty much everything costing under $1500 at magnolia, i would have to spend $2000 there for the onix to start getting serious competition. These directly compete with the Totem's. The Ref1's out-do the totems in imaging, but the totems out-do it in neutrality. So i think i'm gonna stick with these. Their not as bright/harsh as the RF-7's.. which is a blessing and a curse, since on some music (jazz) the sax's sound SO real sometimes on the RF-7's, but the RF7's to me lack the imaging of presence. Like with my Onix speakers i literally feel like the sound starts about 10 feet behind and extends 15 feet to each side past my walls with every square foot of the stage clear. my Onix speakers just sound better than anything i've tried, the RF7's out-did it in some areas (but definitely not soundstage and off axis listening) So yep, i made my own decision and i'm happy living with it. Is this a "so long fellows, it was fun while it lasted post?" nope, i'll still post here now and then.. w/ school starting next week i'll probably be here a lot less. So thanks for all the advice in this thread peeps. -Joe

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Hi, im pretty much too young to experience the vynil age. CDs were out by the time I was born, so.. Anyways, I bought a Fleetwood Mac record Rumors w/ no scratches or warping, seems in good condish for one buck at a local record store.. I wanted a sort of cheap introduction to vynil, i dont want to set a budget, because honestly I dont know how much to invest in a "starter" TT. Im open to any suggestions. Thanks, -Joe

tacoma wa, 98444. some 35 or so miles south of seattle WA. If anyone is selling, please PM me, i'd at least like to talk to someone about it, otherwise i'll probably just end up going with a non-klipsch brand. I can't keep listening to these crappy replacement speakers for a whole month -Joe

If i buy some vintage Klipsch, i'd rather do it through someone on these forums than through a possible scammer on ebay, any day of the week. If anyone is selling some Forte's or Cornwalls, and can ship them at a reasonable price to zip code 98444, i'm definitely interested. Thanks, -Joe

Thanks for that reply audiobliss69, yes, i'm looking for b-stock (used) because honestly, i'm after sound, not looks. My room is smallish (10.5x12) so I doubt i'd need floorstanders. I have a 30wpc amp (at 6 ohms), what would a speaker rated with 4ohm impedance do vs a 8ohm impedance as far as power consumption? Also, what's the least amount of sensitivity that i'd want to look for given my amp? -Joe

I bought my RB-25's early 2004 for $300 from the good guys (talked the sales manager down). I sold them today for $250 to a friend who's moving, because I have had the upgrade bug biting me for at least 6 months to get something cleaner, much much cleaner. Not necessarily more detailed (love the detail in the tweeter horn) but the 6.5" woofer that the rb-25's used just sound like crap compared to some equivalently priced speakers locally, esp. some speakers like Boston Acoustics. So now I have just about 600-700 i plan on putting back into an upgrade. I was thinking that a pair of heresy's might do the trick, maybe even have some leftover money to upgrade the 12" woofers or xovers. I was also looking at these Onix Reference 1 speakers which they have in b-stock for $600. To be honest, and i'm not kidding myself here, a lot of klipsch's horn tweeters to my ears can sound a little harsh. I've tried to just dismiss it as maybe a cheap xover inside the rb-25's, but when I heard the RF-5's they were like 2x worse (talking about the harshness here)! Granted, i've never heard the RF-7's but to be honest guys, maybe my ears just prefer a speaker with more laid back highs where the mids can really show off. Anyways, I was wondering what you guys think that this 21 year old college student with a good car -- finally -- and money to burn on audio, should do. -Joe

oohh, lots of questions! First, I have a pair of Klipsch Reference Bookshelf 25's in a room that's 10x5.11, their on one of the 10.5's walls. Their positioned approx. 6" away from the wall (front port remember) and 3 feet away from the side walls, so their about 5 feet apart, and my head is about 4-5 feet away in a sort of small triangle. Pretty nearfield listening. Oh, my sub is a HSU stf-2, which holds to it's specs and is rated down to 25hz +-2dB. I'm using a 32band digital parametric equalizer. So I can set the hz to the decimal point, so say I have a calculated room mode at 215Hz, and my SPL meter shows a gain of about 5dB. What I would do is set the center frequency on the para-eq to 215.0, set the gain to -5dB and set the bandwith to however much of the range is being affected by the room mode. I used a cheap rat-shack SPL meter and I did use those compensation charts that tell you what to add on and take off of the meter's reading when your calculating bass. The xover on the sub is set to 60hz so there's a slight overlap, but when I run long sweep tones using my computer. Say 200Hz to 100Hz and over 60 or 90 seconds then 100hz to 20hz again, over about a minute, after I set up about 12 or so para EQ's, the sound was audibly flat, as well as +-3dB on my SPL meter (again, after I compensated the values). -Joe

I've got a couple hundred to spend on sound-treating material for a room that's 10.5x12. I've completely equalized out the bass so it sounds great, flat from 20hz to 200hz. But I feel my mids and highs are suffering. I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience in what is some cheap and effective material for doing the job, where I would apply it, etc. Thanks, -Joe