imperfectcircle25

The RF-7s sound very good with the Exposure. I havent driven the Rf-7 with anything else yet I just got them a few days ago they arent even broken in yet.. But I didnt try many amps with my old RF-3's. I had a Cary/AES SE-1, Jolida 102b, NAD C340, and an old Musical Fidelity A2. They all had there good points and bad points but I liked the Exposure best for my taste in music which is alot of rock and alternative. The Exposure just does rock really well it has very good "prat" as the brits call it and its very punchy.

Wasnt life much easier before all this SS and PP and Digital....! When I was a kid......lol Just kidding I was only a kid 15 years ago..lol

---------------- On 5/23/2005 4:49:07 PM imperfectcircle25 wrote: I donno why people have to argue about stuff like this, i find it kind of amusing ---------------- "Yeah, why can't everyone simply agree with you? What kind of an audio forum would it be if the most uninformed opinions were treated with the same regard as those made by experienced people with golden ears? It would be a forum where, when someone asks what amp he should get for his Klipsch speakers of such and such a model, he's told: Use any amp you want to because there is no consensus. Wouldn't be very helpful, would it? On the other hand, when people argue vigorously, and advocate their personal preferences, formed from experience and facts, then someone searching for an amp has something to mull over instead of some namby-pamby, wishy-washy, don't-want-to-offend-anyone, feel-good, every-choice-is-great, pseudo-advice." Parrot i think you got the wrong idea I never said everyone should agree with me, i simply said that everyone is entitled to thier opinion and ther is no right or wrong in audio, its all subjective. Something may sound great to one person and sound like crap to another. There is no such thing as the "best" amp. Each type of amp has its good points and bad points and each will work with differant music better than others. Some people just take this stuff a bit to serious. Its just a hobby, people need to calm the F&*K down! Ive seen that most people in here just like to argue that there equipment is the best. Which is fine by me if you have nothing better to do with your life, by all means argue all ya want I donno maybe it makes them feel better about themselves??? I havent really figured it out just yet. I love music and thats the only reason im into this hobby, because a good system lets me enjoy music even more. Im not in it to impress my friends with gadgets or keep up with the Jones's. I have a simple budget minded system that sounds great to me on my music and thats all I care about, if you dont like my choice of amp or cd player or speakers, guess what, I dont care. And to the people who just like to argue, take it somewhere else, there are people here just looking for advice and looking to give good advice they dont need to be hassled with useless argueing, it doesnt help. Some argueing can be good but some in here take it a little to serious. Its fine to argue the benefits of PP vs SET and tube vs SS, but lighten up a little people are never going to agree on this stuff everyone likes a differant sound. happy Listening evryone, sorry for that little rant...lol

I agree that for home theater you may need alot more power, but I told him it was a music only system. Also I agree that the amp must be able to drive lower impeadances since the RF-7's dip down to 3ohms. I could understand if you are talking bout a 40 watt amp that you would buy at radioshack or something. But if you know about Exposure you know they are very good quality "audiophile" amps, this is not your average 40 watt amp, its got a large fully regulated power supply, and was build strictly for sound quality. It doesnt have any fancy lights or controls, not even a balance control or remote control. Every penny went into sound quality and it cost $1500 almost 15 years, Id love to know what something similar would cost today?? It has no problem drivig 4 ohm speakers. I attached a naked picture of my amp so you can see what it looks like inside, the extra two transistors in the middle are the regulators, there are only a pair of output transistors per channel. These amps were completely hand built in England, which makes it very easy to replace parts if you should ever need to make a repair, no surface mounted parts or computer chips in here just discrete components. Just thought some of you tinkerers would like to see whats inside.

Electro Harmonix makes a very good new production 6sn7, its was one of my favorites when I had a Cary amp. As for NOS I would check out some of the Sylvanias which are very good. There are so many variations that I cant really reccomend a specific one. Lots of info on the net about these tubes just do a search and check out the Audioasylum.com tube forum

NAD should be fine with Klipsch. The Silver series integrated is very good but for the price I think you may be able to do better. There are tons of good integrated amps in the $2200 range. Also check out the Sim Audio I-5 Classe Cap151, Naim Nait5i, Portal Panache, Krell 400ix, Plinius 9100, Unison Research Unico. All excellent amps and I would say at least as good as the NAD if not better, I personally like the Unico, Naim, and Sim Audio amps the best, while not that powerful these amps have a very warm and punchy sound that works well with Klipsch. You can find most of them new under $2500 or used under $1500. As for a cd/dvd player you may want to try one of the universal players that do SACD, DVD-A, CD, DVD and MP3. Marantz, Denon and Pioneer make some nice universal players, and theres tons of mods available for these players if you should ever want better sound.

Ive read quite a bit about the Cornwalls and Lascalas, and most people seem to agree that the Lascalas are lacking in the bass. Now when they say lacking in bass what exactly are they comparing them too. Are they lacking in bass compared a speaker with really good bass like the RF-7 or Paradigm Studio 100 or NHT 2.9's?? Are they lacking bass like a small floorstander lacks bass?? Personally I thought my RF-3's lacked bass, but many people say they have great bass?? Can someone explain what they are comparing the Lasala too when they say this? Hard to believe such a large speaker with a 15in bass driver would be lacking in the bass department?? Ive heard small speakers with 6in bass drivers that werent lacking in the bass(Totem Hawk, Forest).

I would be a little skeptical about these players, the prices seem to be coming down recently, Im not really sure why this is. I wonder if people have been having trouble with them? When I was in the market for a new cd player I listened to this player and was impressed it was very good for the money. I ultimately ended up with the Ah! Super Tjoeb w/upsampler/NOS Seimens 7308 which I got second hand for a really good price from a friend who was upgrading to a SACD player. I think the two are very close with a slight nod in sound quality going to the Ah! Tjoeb and slight edge in build quality going to the Jolida. A few others you may want to check out besided these two are Rega Planet Arcam cd73 Naim CD5i All very good players and worth a listen

Hey evberyone is entitles to thier opinion and everyone likes a differant sound. So there is really no way to say if PP is better than SET or tube is better than SS. Each has its own set of pluses and minuses. Ive pretty much tried them all PP, SET, High and low power SS, and Hybrid. Personaly I like low-medium powered mostly British SS amps best for my musical taste which inclused Rock, Metal and Alternative. There is just something about the British amps(NAim, Linn, Exposure), they just tend to be very fast, punchy and musical without the brightness that some other SS amps have. If I was into lighter music like acoustic or vocal, or light jazz I would definitly go the SET route, its the most pure and real sounding. To bad they just dont have the punch to do metal. But to each his/her own, there is no "best" when it comes to audio, theres just what sounds best to the individual. I love when people claim a certain component is the best, because youll always find someone who is just the opposite and doesnt like it, and they are bboth right because there is no such thing as the perfect speaker or amp or source. I donno why people have to argue about stuff like this, i find it kind of amusing

I guess theres also the people that actually like to help and others who just like to argue:) But I guess thats life there are good people and bad people in every part of it. Thanks to the people who gave an informative answer and didnt try and argue:)

"sort of figure the guy is as excited as a kid at X-mas time and just wanted to chat about his new speakers and all the endless possibilities for amplification." You couldnt be more right, sorry for my excitement, I saved for a long time to get these speakers. I think I deserve to be just a little bit excited, dont I??

"I get a kick out of people who ask for advice but who are actually just looking for someone to agree with what they've already decided." Well I was just looking for some answeres wasnt just looking for people to agree with me although a majority of people on this forum who have a clue have agreed that 50 watts in a small room is "way underpowered".

Well to that guy who claims that we dont know what we are talking about and the Klipsch guys do. I tend to disagree a little. I have been using a 35 watt integrated amp with my RF-3's for almost 5 years and not once did I ever wish for more power. Id be willing to bet that the Klipch guys are trained to reccomend more power since its less power that can harm a speaker and they dont wanna get sued for giving information that could lead to a damaged speaker if you were dumb enough to let your amplifier clip for a while damaging your tweeters. I know for a fact that 50 watts is more than enough power for the RF-7's, how do I know this u may ask. Because my amp is only 35 watts and its plenty of power for my 14x18ft room. Grantedmy 35 watt amp is probably actually more powerful than most 100 watt HT recievers out there so that may have something to do with it. But there is reason a 102db/watt speaker needs more than 50 watts unless your ina huge barn like room or like to listen at deafening levels. Geez these speakers can play over 100db with 1 watt! Thats louder than most people listen to a majority of the time. I do agree that flea powered tube amps werent punchy enough in the bass to play heavy rock music, Ive tried them(2a3 and 300b's). But if you have a small room and listen to lighter types of music you wouldnt have a problem. When I was using a SET 300b amp with my RF-3's they played plenty loud they just lacked some punch in the bass, which i think has more to do with the design of SET amps than a lack of power. Also the misconception that tube watts are some how differant than SS watts is BS. A tube amp will just clip very gently and wont sound bad like a SS amp, but a watt is a watt doesnt matter tube or SS, tube amps just sound better near their limits. Also SS amps tend to have far less distortion which can make them actually sound quiter. Im not knocking tube or SS because I like both equally. So to all you guys/gals who insist on buying 200 watt amps for your RF-7's, by all means go and spend your money i could care less, ill just spend the money I save on a 50 watter on more music which is all that matters anyways! Happy listening everyone and dont forget its all about the music dont get to caught up in gadgets and tweaks.

Just wanted to add that the Jolida does beet the Ah! tjoeb in build quality. Since the Ah! Tjoeb is built around the Maratz cd4000 the case is rather cheap, but its what inside that counts and I think the Ah! Tjoeb has a slight edge in sound quality and also offers an upsampling option which the Jolida does not. I believe the Jolida goes for $900 and the Ah! pricing is as follows Ah! Tjoeb 4000 $749 Ah! Super Tjoeb 4000 $899 (includes AC Direkt power cable, Tjoeb shoes isolation feet, Demat disk stabalizer) 24/192 upsampler board optional $349 (user installable at anytime) A fully loaded the Ah! Super Tjoeb 4000/upsampled would cost you $1249 but it includes an upgraded power cable, upgraded isolation feet, 24/192 upsampling and the Demat disk mat. So the loaded Ah! Super Tjoeb is more money, but if you added an upgraded power cable and isolation feet to the Jolidas price your about even and the Jolida doesnt have upsampling. So the Ah! Tjoeb may actually be a better deal for the price. Check out Upscaleaudio.com for more info on the Ah! Tjoeb.

Ah! Super Tjoeb 4000/upsampled I chose this player over the Rega Planet 2000 and Jolida JD100. Very nice player for the price($1200 fully loaded) you would have to spend about $2000+ to really do much better. The Ah! Tjoeb uses the 6922 series tube in its output stage, and it upsamples to 24/192 using a very high quality upsampling board that is built by a Swiss company that makes components for some very high end stuff. I would describe the player as being very detailed but with just enough of the tube warmth so that its not bright, I think its the prefect balance of detail and punchyness vs smoothness and warmth. You wont be disapointed, just ake sure you use some nice tubes the player sounds kinda crappy with the stock JAN Philips 6922. Definitly try some Seimens 7308s or if your on a budget the Russian "rocket logo" 6h23, they really take the player to another level.

Tool-Anima, Undertow Pink Floyd-The Wall, DSOM Bjork-Post Dredg-El Cielo The Cranberies-No need to argue

I think you guys are right that more power is better, the more the merrier! I just think that a speaker like the Klipsch should be fine with 50 watt amps. I would eventually like to upgrade my Exposure integrated with either Exposure or Naim seperates. But even their top power amps are only in the 70 watt range and Ive heard them driving speakers with just average sensitivity(87db) to very loud levels in large rooms. So I doubt I would have any trouble driving the RF-7's with these amps especially since my room is only 14x18ft and I rarely listen at extreme volumes. One day Im going to borrow my neighbors Bryston 14b sst just for kicks to see what 600 watts does with the RF-7's...lol Has anyone done anything that crazy with their Rf-7's??

How much are you aking for the 500c??

Do you guys think the prices will be effect by the Stereophile article?? I mean its nice they do articles like this but if its gonna cause us to have to pay double for the old fisher stuff that would kinda suck! I have a fisher 500c that is in origional working condition, it poweres up and plays music, but it could definitly use a tube up, anyone have an idea of what it would cost to have it brought up to origional specs, with upgrades to some modern parts?? Im thinking of having it rebuilt and or rebuilding it myself, just wanted to know about how much they charge for something like this?

It must have been, cuz I cant see anyone that knows even a little about this stuff making comments like that.

"I've heard the Jolida 102, and while it sounds pretty good, its no where near the 707 or my Dynaco Stereo 70. With the 102, I don't think anyone would walk in to your audio room and say "damn, that stereo sound amazing". Well, they might, but it wouldnt be guaranteed like it would with a good piece of vintage equipment." I think all the Jolidas are built to a similar quality its just the power output that goes up when you spend more money. Ive heard the 102 and the 302b and both were great I actually prefered the sound of the 102 if your speakers dont need the extra power it just had a sweeter sound. Something about EL84's, they just sound right. 102b=15watts=$549 302=50watt=$1100 707=60watts=$1300 As for the Vintage stuff sounding better, it might, i only have experience with a vintage Fisher 500c and its a great sounding amp. But the Jolida sounds very good, and its brand new with a waranty for only $549. I think your best off with something like this for your entry into tube audio and I think If you search all the differant audio forums you will get similar advice. Im not at all knocking vintage stuff I know it can sound great, but for a newbie I think a Jolida or ASL type of amp is the way to go. You an goto your nearest Jolida dealer and hear it before you buy which is something you usually cant do when buying a vintage amp off ebay or audiogon. My advice to you is goto your nearest dealer that sells entry level tube stuff like Jolida or Antique Sound labs and have a listen. Also check out some other forums like the one at Audiogon.com and Audioasylum.com to get some more opinions. I think the Klipsch forum has alot of vintage fans so your gonna get a bit of a biased opinion:) Happy Listening

When i emailed Klipsch with the question of how much power they reccomended for the RF-7's, they told me that a 50 watt amp was way underpowered for the RF-7's. he also said this. "Not familiar with Naim products to be able to pass any judgment. My suspect is that if anything, it may not provide the power for bass frequency support and when you attenuate the volume level to such a level you would run the risk of clipping/distortion levels which of course, can damage any tweeter." I told him I was thinking of a Naim Nait 5i to replace my current Exposure Xv and he told me he never heard of Naim or Exposure(I can understand Exposure, but Naim??). I kinda had to laugh to myself that 50 good quality watts was "way underpowered" for speakers that are 101db sensitive, and hes worried about clipping a 50 wat amp into these speaker?? How much damage would I do to my hearing before I would clip this amp, ive never even clipped my 35 watt Exposure into my RF-3's. I could only imagine what type of power he would reccomend if Klipsch made speakers of average sensitivity(88db)!! I mean maybe if we are talking about some 50 watter you buy at radio shack or something then maybe but a good quality 50 watt amp?? Am I crazy or is this guy crazy?? But I really doubt that amp would have any trouble driving the RF-7's its stable into 4 ohms to so the dip in impeadance donw to 3ohm wouldnt be a problem either.

I think Hovlands are a rip off to be honest. Hey Dean would you mind giving me a parts list for doing my Xovers?? I dont wanna open them up yet since they are brand new but Id like to get an Idea of what I need. Also have you tried the Jupiter beeswax caps?? Ive heard good things about them. What resistors do you like?? Ive always used Mills MRA, but I may try out some of those pricey Caddock820 series this time around, they are expensive but ive heard they are the most transparent power resistor around. Have you experimented with various types of resistors and caps?? Happy Listening frank BTW the RF-7's are sounding great , I love them and they arent even broken in! Huge step over the RF-3's!

I didnt pay $2500, but isnt that the retail price??

The RF-7's do use higher quality wire inside right?? The stuff in my RF-3's is crap. Doesnt the RF-7 use monster cable or sumthing?