Cleve

I *only* listen to web radio 8 hours a day or more on Squeezebox 3. So here's what I like to listen to... all of these are 128 Kbps or higher streams - I find anything less to sound unbearable (at least to me) I also have found that these radio stations have less compression, and sound better (at least to me) than many other 128 kbps stations. Soma Fm has a diverse number of radio stations playing a variety of modern genres.... The Drone Zone, which plays eclectic ambient with minimal rhythm, is one of my favorites http://www.somafm.com/ Dub Beautiful Collective - great electronic/ambient music. The main station seems to be offline of late - however, OEM Radio is up and running. http://www.dub-beautiful.org/ http://www.oemradio.org/ Blue Mars - I listen to two stations here - Blue Mars and Cyrosleep. Cryosleep is advertised as "Zero Beat Guaranteed" ambient. http://www.bluemars.org/ Here's a rare find - from Slovakia of all places... Mixing of Particulate Solids Radio - there are three streams, all playing slightly different styles of electronic music. Most of the time, only one or two of the streams are online. Right now, only MOPS #1 is broadcasting http://www.mops-radio.org/ And if you like dance music and Goa - Philosomatika has a high-quality feed (160 kbps) and excellent good sound quality. The website recommends, for your listening pleasure, "high powered amplifiers and many huge thumping speakers, then turn up to 11" [] http://www.philosomatika.com/

I can't imagine *who* would even care about speaker weight. BTW, as I type this, I'm listening to 528 lbs of Klipsch speakers. []

Heh! Klipsch needs unit priciing for their speakers, like grocery stores use. That would make it easier to compare them for value. So for instance, if a speaker weighs 100 lbs, and costs $2199 per pair, the unit price is $10.99 per pound. Bose would DEFINITELY not like this method of comparison. []

Alright, I did find the specs for the RF-83 http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=977&s=specs 100 dB/watt efficiency 250 watts continuous power handling 5.4 ft3 enclosure 150 sq inches bass radiational area 29hz - 21khz x/- 3dB Weight - 100 lbs. Far more impressive speaker in terms of specs - It's 10 lbs heavier than the RF-7, and has about 10% more cabinet volume - both significant for bass output. No wonder it can dig deeper than the RF-7, even though there's a loss of 7 sq inches in woofer area. I'm much more optimistic than before. After all, it's not really a speaker is it, unless it weighs at least 100 lbs!? []

I can't find any specs on it either. BTW, What the heck is up with the forum search function? It's terrible! Goes to Google, whereas the old search was internal, gave you a choice of options, etc etc. Plus, it doesn't seem like the new search function can access many older posts either.

Oh? There's no RF-83 shown here on the product page for Reference line floorstanders.... http://www.klipsch.com/product/list.aspx?line=1257&type=1265 Hasn't it been released yet?

I haven't been frequenting the forums here as much as I once did. I see that the new Reference line of floorstanding speakers has launched, and that the old RF-7 and it's siblings are now discontinued. I was looking at the new lineup - I must admit initially I was a tad confused as to which is the "top of the line" floorstander. I thought, because the number was higher, it was the RF-82, but it's quite a bit smaller than the RF-63. It was a break from tradition, from the Epics to the KLFs to the last Reference speakers - in each series the top of the line had the higher number (CF-4 > CF-1, KLF-30 > KLF10, RF-7 > RF-3). The new numbers obviously refer to the size and number of woofers. Oh well, so much for tradition. I looked at the specs closely of the RF-63, and compared it to the RF-7 RF-7 102 dB/w efficiency 250 watts continuous power handling 4.8 ft3 enclosure 157 sq inches bass radiational area 32 hz - 20 khz +/- 3dB Weight - 90 lbs RF-63 99 db/w efficiency ( RF-7 is 3 dB more efficient) 175 watt continous power handling ( RF-7 has 43% greater power handling than the RF-63) 4.4 ft3 enclosure (RF-7 has 9% more cabinet volume) 99 sq inches bass radiational area (RF-7 has almost 60% more bass radiation area) 30hz -21 khz +/- 3 dB Weight 82 lbs (RF-7 is almost 10% heavier) So there it is. The RF-7 seems superior (at least on paper) in every design parameter to the RF-63. The RF-63 is less efficient, and it also has greatly reduced power handling capacity, so it's dynamic range is less. At low volumes perhaps it can produce as much bass as an RF-7, but absolute bass production for the RF-7 must be significantly higher - it has much more woofer area, a bigger enclosure, higher power handling, and greater efficiency. I'd guess the woofers on the RF-63 would be clicking and bottoming out long before the RF-7s would be begging for mercy. I'd compare the RF-63 to my CF-4s, but that would be needlessly cruel. So what's the list price on the RF-63s? I would think it would have to be a lot less than the RF-7s. Was this a price point adjustment to position them differently against the competition, or is there another rationale in downsizing and derating the flagship Reference speaker? What's anyone elses thoughts about these speakers, and the rest of the Reference line?

. I have rented a listening room - so I'm probably going to take all 5 of my Klipsch Epic speakers, along with my McIntosh preamp/amps and my Squeezebox 3/laptop with FLAC files. I'll rent a 5 x 8 U-Haul trailer for the excursion or maybe a van. I *wished* I could borrow a decent TV there at the venue so I could do the whole Home Theatre thing.

It's not part of the grill assembly - it's a one-piece (or it was once) layer of plastic that coats/covers the entire faceboard of the speaker. The water must have caused it to lift from the wood, and then cracked/peeled away to reveal the bare wood underneath. I don't know how it was applied to the wood, or how best to repair it. I could cut the defective section away (a couple feet long) and paint, but it would look shoddy IMO.

One of the pair of CF-3s I purchased back in November is in good cosmetic shape, the other looks like the finish was damaged by water at some time in the past. The cabinet doesn't appear warped - but the black finish is spotty. Also, there's a plastic coating on the wooden trim on the front of the cabinet. Part of this plastic-like coating is peeled off and missing in places. So first, what type of paint/finish should I use on the cabinet? And what would I use to replace the plastic coating on the wooden trim? Also, what's the best painting technique? Spray, brush, etc? I know next to nothing about woodworking or finishing wood. Thanks for your help and patience!

The very first speakers I owned came with my first stereo - a Zenith Allegro system with Allegro 3000 speakers - my Christmas present when I was 14 or 15. I had those until I graduated HS - then for graduation I was given a pair of Cerwin Vega HED speakers with 10" woofers. Those got trashed in a couple years via hard clipping. LOL. Then I had some Realistic Optimus 10 (I think that's the model number) speakers - 8" woofer - 10" passive. Ended up replacing the drivers many times in those. Then my last speakers (pre-Klipsch) were Pinnacle PN8+ speakers, with a matching Pinnacle passive subwoofer. Which brings me to the present - with all Klipsch for my home theater

Wow, THANKS!!!! I didn't know that!!! [] One last question - should I set my speakers in my HT decoder to "Large" or to "Small" ? [] BTW, I finally had time to hook it up yesterday - unfortunately, my McIntosh MAC 4100 is getting tuned-up at Audio Classics in Binghamton, so my $40 Sansui 5000x (60 watts per channel) is pinch hitting. I don't have quite the control over the fronts that the 5 band equalizier on the McIntosh gives me, or quite as much power for the rear channels. Also, I don't have Power Guard or meters for my center and rear surround, so I took it a "tad" easy. So I've got 50 watts for center, 60 watts per channel for surrounds, and 200 watts for left and right fronts. However, the sonic grandeur and impact from this system while watching a movie - it's unbelievable. I watched bits of Apocalypse Now!, Fellowship of the Rings, Predator, Kill Bill Vol 1, Das Boot. The earth-shaking power of the five Epic speakers, along with the perfect timbre match - it makes my first surround system seem like Bose in comparison. Now I can really start to appreciate the dynamic range that DVDs are capable of. I just bought via Audiogon a McIntosh Mc-7100 amp that I'm going to bridge to mono and power my center CF-4. That will give me 300 watts continuous, 20-20khz for center channel fun, which is exactly what the CF-4 is rated for. Then when my 4100 returns from Audio Classics, I'll have 100 watts per channel with Power Guard for the CF-3 surrounds - at least for now. Further mprovements are already being contemplated. [] BTW, for those interested in DTS vs. Dolby Digital - DTS is a clear winner - DTS includes a LOT more low frequency and sound effect information in the center and rear surrounds, and spreads it around the soundstage. However, you're NOT going to hear this difference with smallish woofers in the center and surrounds - you need big full-range speakers to appreciate it. I was REVELING in my Led Zeppelin DVD last night - especially Jon Bonham on "Moby Dick" in DTS - going to Dolby Digital really flattens the sound on this DVD, as well as the others. Unfortunately, my LOTR copies of "Return of the King" and the "Two Towers" are both only Dolby 5.1 - they sound poor compared to my Special Edition LOTR "Fellowship of the Ring" which has DTS. So now I gotta buy BOTH movies with DTS. []

Thanks to Michael Colter, I picked up my CF-3s from Forward Air in Buffalo today! So I took the attached photo of all the speakers in the 5.0 system (no subwoofer) . It's a darn good thing I didn't go for a 7.0 system, or I'd need a friggin' fish-eye lense! []I just bought about a month ago a nice new Sanus modular rack system - the photo doesn't do it justice - it's the cat's a$$ and worth every penny over the cheap assemble yourself glue and screw junk. Barely visible in the poor light is my new Squeezebox wireless digital music player. At any rate, all I need to do is buy a couple more McIntosh amps, and I'll be all set. It's funny - Michael thought the CF-3s were "big" - but they look kinda small next to the CF-4s. [H]

Many, many thanks to Michael Colter for his help! He's gone the extra mile to help me with these big mama jamas. Using Forward Air is an experiment for both of us. Again, thanks for the patience and the resourcefulness. I'll have to do a "FAQ" on shipping Forward Air - it seems like the way to go for really BIG speakers (the CF-3s are just midsize - I'm talking Hartley Reference Monitors or McIntosh ML2Cs, ML4Cs, or equivalent) They should be in Buffalo by Wednesday - dunno if I'm gonna get run over by a forklift pickin' em up or not. [] Maybe I'll even have an APPROPRIATE surround amplfier "on the way" by then too? Heck, it IS Christmas -well, almost!

The 2600 is an awesome piece of equipment. I *believe* the Digital Dynamic amps, in addition to their massive continous output, had more "headroom" for peaks than even the standard, conservatively rated Mac amps. In terms of prices - dunno what your budget is... Audio Classics has a "B-1" graded version for sale for $4600. The slightly less powerful predecessor to the 2600, the 2500, sells in B-1 condition there for $3400. Now, one seller on Audiogon has a 2500 for sale for $1950. keeping prices proportionate, one might expect a 2600 to retail for $2600-2700. This auction still has 4 days to go, and the price is over $2000 already. Granted, the Audiogon seller doesn't indicate that the amp was serviced by McIntosh. However, the seller in the auction you posted has an alarmingly low 87.5% positive feedback, and his feedback is private to boot! I doubt I would bid on that auction! If you want more opinions about Mac amps, might I suggest asking Ron Cornelius, product manager of McIntosh Labs, and a heckuva nice guy, whom is a regular at Audio Karma's McIntosh forums ( www.audiokarma.org)? And yes, the forums are up and running again.

[quote user=Bonzo]http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/HUG/messages/48564.html I came accross this article by accident. Very interesting reading about the CF-4. Very familiar with that post. ka7niq is the poster at Audio Asylum, from which I originally learned by reading his posts there, that there ever was a "Ver 1 " of the CF-4s. I'm not saying he's wrong - it's just they're scarcer than hen's teeth. Like I said, it must have been a VERY small production run, since I've never seen a photo of anyone selling Version 1.

$1100 seems like a lot. I paid $799 for my first pair nearly two years ago - and those were in virtually "like new" condition. But it does seem as if the Epics have gotten more scarce in the last year. They don't show up all that often on Ebay, so perhaps that would explain the higher price? AFAIK, the only changes between Ver 1 and Ver 2 were the port tube tuning(i.e., length) was changed, and a different crossover installed. I don't believe the drivers were changed. Good luck finding a Ver 1 - mine are Ver 2, and every ad (with photos) I've seen for them since was a Ver 2. I'm inclined to think the change was made very early in CF-4 production. Or perhaps Ver 1 is just an "urban legend' [] Theoretically,. you could make a Ver 2 into a Version 1 (or at least darn close) by lengthing the ports, and replacing the crossover. However, I'm not sure what the crossover point was on the original CF-4. Perhaps the Klipsch factory has records of this? There's also the possibility that Ver 2 actually sounds BETTER than version 1.

Jim, thanks!!! Now I'm a "newbie" again over there. LOL.

The AK server suffered a serious crash 3 or 4 days ago. The first night, at least the chatroom still worked, but now that's down too. Evidently, it's a very severe problem, because it's still down. [] Just wonderin' if any of the AK regulars were roosting here, jonesing for some "karma"?

Crap! You beat me to it. []

Is 65hz to 17khz reproduction of 128 kb MP3s via tiny 2.5 inch speakers truly "audiophile"? I don't see any new big floorstanders in either the Reference or Heritage lines, but we'll have an ample supply of small plastic radios ala Bose. I predicted this long ago on these forums when John Carter came on board. Now all we need is the requisite Paul Harvey advertisements and our journey to the Dark Side will be complete.

Michael; I sent you an e-mail and PM a few days ago. Thanks! Jim

If it's only -2 Db at 20hz, why does the manufacturer recommend using tone controls to boost the bass?

Gas was back down to $3.20 a gallon for regular - the same station was $3.24 yesterday. It's amazing - $3.20 a gallon, even adjusting for inflation, is probably the highest price per gallon in history and it seems *cheap*? [*-)]

Sean Penn has been annoying for a long time now. Decades in fact. I can clearly recall back in 1984, during a workout at the local raquetball club, chatting with another customer. I can't remember the context, but somehow Sean Penn entered our discussion. The guy said... "I'd like to bodyslam Sean Penn!!!!" I laughed then, and I think of that unknown fellow's words everytime I see or hear Sean Penn in the news.