imperfectcircle25

Ive always been a bit skeptical of speakers that use more than 3-way designs and use lotsa drivers. Seems it would be harder to get a coherant sound from all them drivers? Let us know how they work out. Happy listeninmg

How do you like the legacy's compared to the RF-7's??

I own a pair of RF-7's that I use in a basement system and tehy are quite good. They do lack the refinement of my Neat Acoustics Vito speakers that I have in the main system, but are better in some areas such as dynamics, loudness, and ability to rock. I am just curious if anyone has compared thier RF-7's to similarly priced speakers on the market, mainly the Paradigm Studio 100 and Psb Stratus Goldi?? I recently heard the Paradigms at a local dealer and i must say i was extremely impressed with them, they definitly were much more refined and nuetral compared to the RF-7's, but they couldnt keep up with the dynamics and ability to rock of the RF-7's. Anyone had any similar experiences? I would love to hear the PSB Stratus Goldi and the Dynaudio Audience 82's I have heard lots of great stuff bout both of them. Anyone else compared their RF-7's to any of these speakers in their price class?? To me it seems like the RF-7's are big, bold and a little rough around the edges while the Paradigms were more of a precision instrument?? I think the Klipsch's still may be the way to go for my musical taste (metal, hardcore, hard rock, punk, alternative...etc) but the Paradigms have opened my eyes that there are alot of very good speakers in the $2500 range.

Curious what integrated amps work well with the Rf-7's. I know they don't need very much power, but they do need an amplifier thats dead quiet and with decent current capabilites since they dip down to 3ohms. I listen mostly to metal, alternative, hardcore and some punk. The room is kind of small for the RF-7 at 14x18x8ft, but they can really rock with my old Pioneer sx738 reciever. But with a baby in the house much more of my listening will be done on this basement system, so I would like to do some upgrading of amplification and cd player so its more suitable for serious listening. I have considered seperates like a used Mccormack TLC/DNA-1 which can be had for around $1200, but im thinking that maybe 150 watts is overkill with 102db/watt speakers? So Im thinking maybe a high quality integrated might be a better way to go. What do you guys think? I was thinking of something like the Creek 5350se or somethinhg similar. Any opinions?? What amps are most people using with the RF-7's thanks

Ive only heard the Jolida player briefly at a dealer, it was quite good. But I can't say which is the better of the two. I will say that I choose the Ah! Tjoeb 4000/upsampled over a few players in the $1000 range, the Arcam cd82 and Rega Planet to name a few. Although the higer end players from those two companies did have a significant edge over the Ah! Tjoeb albiet at double the price. For the price I doubt you can do much better, if you are happy with your Ah! player then keep it and add the upsampler and some good tubes, the Jolida most likely will be differant sounding but most likely not better. I highly reccomend Seimens 7308 gold pin tubes, they are pricey but they were the biggest improvement next to the upsampler. My advice is if you like the Ah! player stick with it.

I am setting up a system in the basement, due to a baby in the house now, I wont be able to use the main bedroom system upstairs as much especially after 8pm when the baby is asleep. So I am setting up a system in the basement. I already have a pair of RF-7's that wee supposed to be in the main rig, but I went with a totally differant much more expensive speaker in that system. So I am basically looking for some reasonably priced electronics(int amp and cd player) to drive the RF-7's. I listen mostly to rock and mostly heavier metal, hardcore, alternative and industrial. I will most likely be buying used and would like to stay under $2500 if possible. A few I have been looking at are Creek 5350se/cd53 Rega Mira/Planet Arcam A32/cd23 Naim cd5i/Nait 5i Musical Fidelity X150/Xray.3 NAD C372/C542 Any ideas on which would match up bet with the RF-7's and which would be best for my musical taste?? Any others im missing that might be even better?? My personal favorite is the Creek stuff. As you can see im kinda partial to British equipment, I think they offer the best bang for the buck. Th Brits seem to really know how to make budget integrated amps, they also tend to have a warmer sound which should work wel with the more foward and bright Klipsch's. So what do u guys think?? Thanks

I own the Ah! Super Tjoeb 4000 w/upsampler, and I must say the differance is not small, it is definitly like lifting a veil from the music. Everything is better, more detail, clearer midrange, deeper tighter bass and more sparkle in the highs. The Ah! Tjoeb 4000 without the upsampler is a decent player at best, but with it, its among the best under $2k in my opinion. Go for it, if you dont like it you can easily sell it on Audiogon. Just curious, what tubes are you using, the second biggest upgrade next to the upsampler was upgrading the crap Jan Philips tubes with some Seimens 7308 gold pins, or if your on a tighter budget the Rocket Logo russian tubes are quite good as well. Good luck and happy listening.

MSST I think you hit the nail on the head, everyone is didfferant, some like you like the bright in your face sound and others like your gurl like a warmer laid back sound, and some like me like it somewhere in the middle:) Hows the Levinson stuff sound with the RF-7's, I think your the first person Ive seen with Levinson stuff with Klipsch, kind of an odd combo using such expensive amps with such inexpensive speakers?? I know price doent mean much but a $10000 amp with $1500 speakers seems a little crazy to me, I am a strong believer in system balance and synergy but thats just my 2 cents nothing worng with that setup just seems kind of like a little bit of a waste of money, I doubt the Rf-7's are letting the Levinson stuff reach thier full potential?? Did you buy the stuff new or did you get a good deal on ebay or audiogon, thats a differant story I guess. Some of the Levinson stuff actually inst to expensive second hand, I actually almost bought a 383 integrated a while back it was such a good price too but the sound just wasnt my style. Im starting to think that I really like the "British sound" they seem to have a little differant way of thinking when it comes to hifi, just check out Naim for example, very quirky company but they are all about the music. Anyways I have two speakers I am trying to decide on right now and I absolutely love both(epos ES30, Neat Vito) both are not made anymore but I can get a really good deal on left over models that my dealer has right now, both sold for around $5k new and hes gonna let his final demo pairs go for almost half price just to get rid of them to make room for thier new products. My problem is which one to buy, they both look, sound and cost almost the same, its a really hard decision! The designer of my amplifier also reccomends both brands so he didnt make my decision any easier....grrr what to do...??? Thanks for all the help guys, dont worry your not losing me completely i still have my RF-3's which will be set up in the basement, just need to find some inexpensive elctronics to drive them, was thinking a used Marantz cd63e(I had one a while back and it was great for the money) for around $150 and an inexpensive integrated amp, maybe a Jolida, NAD, Creek...ect Thanks again Frank

I was at a few dealers today and im hitting a few more tommorow, If I dont end up buying something Ill consider Deans offer. I dont think the problem is my amp, 40 watts is plenty for a 101db/watt speaker and my amp can deal with the 2.8ohms no problem, I contacted the designer and he says 2ohms is no problem, the amp could rive a 2ohm nominal impeadance with no problem so a little dip down to 2,8 isnt gonna bother it one bit. Also I did borrow a few amps from my dealer including a Bryston 4stt and a Musical Fidelity A5 which both put out over 150 watts per channel, the only real differance I heard was the bass was better. So its not the power thats the issue. I think it might just be that i heard much more expensive and better speakers and now im just not happy with the Klipschs anymore after whearing what the really really good speakers can do. Dont get me wrong Im a Klipsch guy all the way, but they are not perfect and there are better speakers out there. maybe i just finally found a speaker thats better than the klispch's, it is possible isnt it? Thansk again guys Happy Listening!

I might have blamed my cd player if it was $100 cheapie, but its not its a $1200 Ah! Super Tjoeb 4000/upsampled with Seimens Nos 7308 tubes, this player is pretty popular with the Klipsch crowd, its definitly not a bright, harsh sounding player. But Ill try a differant player just to be sure, my dealer carries Musical Fidelity, the A5 cd player with its tube output stage may be a good match, but its quite expensive to use in a system using the Klipsch's, but Ill give it a shot. Thanks Frank

Thats the second time someone reccomended the Rotel, Maybe Ill give it a shot. I cant see how it would be any better except power wise then my setup, the Exposure is a step or two up from Rotel. I am going to keep the RF-7's for a little longer and try them with a few more amps and cd players to see if I can find a combination that works for me. I think the problem may just be that I have finnaly heard some of the more hi-end stuff this year and may just be hearing what i have been missing with the Klipsch's??? I donno, but I really do want to like these speakers, they rock like no other speaker Ive heard even at triple the price.

I do think the Klipsch sound is a love/hate thing, i just though since I liked the R-3's I would like the RF-7's too. So I bought them without really hearing them for a extended period of time which now I think may have been a mistake. But hey you live, you learn.. Hopefully ill find a second hand pair of neats for a really good price and i can get back to enjoying the music which is what its all about anyways! Happy Listening Frank

Ok, thanks for all the replys, Ill try and keep this short and sweet. Yes I did trade up from RF-3's. The RF-7 just seem to be to foward and bright for me compared to the RF-3's, also something seems to missing in the midrange I donno if its lacking a little warmth maybe which is causing the lack of musicality?? As for the equipment being the culprit, I doubt it since im using very good stuff, but to make sure I did borrow a few differant amps from my local dealer and tried them out to give the RF-7s a fair chance. As for musical taste, I listen to a wide variety of rock from the Beatles to Metalica and everything in between. As for Neat and Epos being esoteric or obscure, I donno about that they are pretty well know brands and will cost me around $1500-2000 on the used market which isnt that much more than the RF-7's, the Living Voice maybe not so popular in the US. I think that hearing these higher end, more expensive speakers maybe let me hear what I was missing with the Klipsch's?? Im not in any way putting down Klipsch I owned and still have a pair of RF-3's which I really liked and served me well for years, they are one of the best budget speakers Ive heard for rock music. I think that maybe the RF-7's are more of a HT speaker, and what I need is a stricly music speaker which may be why I found the speakers like Epos and Neat to be much more musically enjoyable, they specialize in 2ch music only. As for the term musically involving I think its pretty self explanitory, to me it means that the speaker or system keeps you interested in listening to your music and makes you wanna get up and dance or nod ur head to the music, unlike some systems that you listen to a few song and dont wanna listen any longer. Well I hope I answered everyones questions, if i missed any let me know. Im gonna give them a little more time before i decide for sure to sell them, I think maybe ill try them with tubes again, I really wanna like them, they sure as hell can rock loud and clear. Happy Listening Frank

Well I have let the RF-7's break in for a while and im not really happy with them. So Im on the hunt for a new speaker and have narrowed my choices down to these three 1. Neat Vito 2. Living Voice Avatar 3. Epos ES30 They seem to do what I want far better than the Klispchs and are way more musically involving. So once I make my decision I will be selling my RF-7's as well as my origional RF-3's in the next few months so if anyone is interested please let me know, Im in the western Long Island area. Happy Listening

http://www.royaldevice.com/custom.htm

Just curious if anyone has tried one of Naims integrated amps with Klipsch, seem like it would be a good combination, warm and punchy and low powered, just what Klipsch speakers like. Anyone try it?? Interested how they worked together. Happy Listening

Not much available for $500 only one I can think of is the Jolida 102b($549) puts out 15watts uses el84's and 12ax7's i think. Very nice sounding amp for the money. great for a tube newbie

Have you considered maybe trying the Khorns with a nice tube amp?? Maybe a tube integrated like a second hand CJ CAV50 or Rogue Tempest?? Tou could even try a Jolida 102b for only $549 brand new just to get a feel of what tubes sound like with the Khorns, then you could always upgrade to something better if you like the sound of tubes??? I think youll be much happyier with you Khorns driven by a good tube amp.

Glad to see that im not the only one interested in this stuff!

Anyone else always curious about whats inside their equipment?? Please post any naked pics of your system. heres the insides of my integrated amp. i thought it looked very organized inside, I guess thats what you get when its handbuilt by a human and not made on an assembly line by robots!!

I would almost bet money that system sounds like crap. probably plays loud as hell but doubt it would sound that great. Just my opinion though,you never know. Ive ound that simpler is better when it comes to audio.

Your gonna need more than 10 watts for deafening levels even with Lascalas. A good 25-50 watts would be much more realistic if you want that much volume. have you considered maybe going with a hybrid?? Something like the Pathos Classic?? It uses a pair of 6922 for the pre-amp stage and has a SS output stage and puts out 70watt into 8ohms and 115 into 4ohms. Its made in Italy and is one of the most beautiful amps ive ever seen!! Just an idea, i have one on audition from my local dealer right now with my RF-7's and so far Im quite impressed it sounds very nice, has good tight SS bass and still is very smooth sounding like tubes. There are other Hybrids out there that are very good like the Unison Research Unico, Jolida 1501....ect Might be just what your looking for.

"Unless you're a volume freak, you're going to be in Class A most of the time no matter what you run." Well according to Klipsch this amp would probably be "way underpowered" for the RF-7's.. But for us regular folks I dont think you would ever need more power than this unless you want to go deaf.

Havent ruled out tube amps just yet, but Ive heard many of them in my system and havent really found one that I liked as much as SS. Tubes just dont seem to cut it for some of the heavier metal and electronic type music like a good SS amp does. Im also lazy and like the convienence of SS. Just thought this amp looked very nice for the price and the high class A bias should be very good with Klipsch. Ive pretty much decided the Exposure has to go with the RF_7's its just to noisy. I just got the caps to recapp it, hopefully thismay quiet it a liuttle but its always been known as a noisy amp which doesnt matter much with the speakers its usually used with(Spendor, Epos, Pro-ac...ect) since they are rarely above 90db sensitive. Ive used it with 88db sens. speakers and its quiet as a mouse. I really will miss it, its definitly been my favorite integrated. So Im on the hunt for a nice integrated, I may just look for one of Exposures newer amps, they supposedly fixed the noise problem in later models this ones almost 15 years old. They really do make some of the best rock n roll amps around! BTW that Coda 3.1 that sold for $1800 on Agon was the upgraded "Ultra" model which is 50 wpc more powerful and has some other upgrades to the power supply, it sells for closser to $4k. There was one of the regular versions on Agon for $950 though. Does look very impressive wonder how it sounds?? Anyone heard one?? Got some good reviews(not that that means a thing..but..). Happy Listening

Has anyone heard an integrated amp called the Coda-Continuum Unison 3.1 with Klipsch especially the RF-7's?? this seems like the perfect amp for these speakers. It runs class A for the first 35 watts and then class ab for the next 100watts into 80hms power easily doubles into 4 and its stable into 2 ohms. So basically most of the time it will run in class A with the RF-7's but still has plenty of power in reserve. This thing has a huge power supply with a 2000va power tranny and 48000uf capacitance, it uses 18 bipolar output devices per channel! Thats alot of power supply and output devices for a 100 watt amp, this thing must be a current monster! Best thing is that it only cost about $2500. Anyone heard it yet??? Its available in three deifferant versions each is the same price but offers differant power ratings 3.1 35watts class A/100watts class AB 3.2 15watts class A/200watts class AB 3.3 7watts class A/300watts class AB So if you have less sensitive or difficult speakers just go for the higher powered versions. Seems like a great amp and ha gotten some great reviews.