USparc

Yep, black is the best choice since the front is always in black. Maybe if the cherry is dark enough ... But I can agree, you have to be able to see and touch them (real close) ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Thanks for the comments, feel al lot better now But just, it keeps hounting me: * Cup your hands in front of your mouth and speak ... Yeh, indeed what a cliche. Makes you wonder if Mr.Gold actually listened to the system.?? * obvious loss of high-frequency detail ... Very naive to say when talking about efficient "klipsch" horn tweeters!!! * almost nasal colouration of the type often associated with horns... There he is again. Go to a doctor Mr.Gold * the Klipsch system sounds unacceptably shut-in ... ??? some explaination here * The centre and surround speakers are not voiced ... quite like the main speakers Ok, I can agree on that ( Not same size, sealed,...) * the surround speakers sound alarmingly different... but that bad I don't think so. I can not defend this one since my rears are perfectly matched up with another pair of RF-3's. I will be happy if someone who has the matching surrounds give some comment on this. * they have the edgy, paper-comb-like quality that suggests phasiness, due to interference between the two widely spaced tweeters... Where does he get this one ??? * A mixed bag, the Klipsch is bold and bright NOW HE IS GOING TO FAR (From his conclusion) * system does suffer from quite severe colouration artefacts and a loss of homogeneity Oh boy ... * it is relatively unsophisticated and coloured He is realy pushing it * it is large, and not particularly well turned out Ok propably just his personal taste. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Just follow this link and give any comments http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/SpeakerPackages/Klipsh/KlipshRF-3RC-3RS-3KSW12.shtml I give this review not much value as they can not even write klipsch correctly!!!! Any opinions about this one??? ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

This one should give you a "really" good idea : http://www.klipsch.com/images/photogallery/reference/RB52-1.jpg ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Yep, give them some time. They getting better and better although I never had this problem. For checking if it is really the RF-3 set your receiver just in digital stereo and listen again. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Thanks PhilH. I was going to ask if it is also the case for all reference speakers as they have also two woofers, but than I looked up Tapered Array: From Polk Audio: When two drivers are placed side by side, as they often are in center channel speakers, interference effects between the two drivers in the upper-midrange narrow the horizontal dispersion and create frequency response errors (called "comb filtering") for off-axis listeners. People sitting off to the side of the room won't hear the same clarity as on-axis listeners. To solve this problem, Polk center channel speakers use "Cascade Tapered Array" crossovers. One driver is crossed over much lower in frequency and is in essence a bass-only driver. Only one driver plays the upper midrange frequency range thereby eliminating the interference effects between the two drivers. The result is clean, clear and intelligible dialog and center channel effects for every listener in the room. So just for centerspeakers.Indeed, I put my ear to each of the woofers in my RC-3. The left one is cut-off, right. It than occured to me to see what 's on the technology feature page of the RC-3: Tapered Array: Klipsch's version of 2.5-way crossover technology, called Tapered Array, is a crossover network design that provides improved imaging and midrange clarity. With tapered-array, two woofers work together in the lower frequencies with one driver transitioning out as sound enters the mid-range frequencies. This greatly enhances the off-axis intelligibility creating a wide soundstage that is consistent across your room. Ok, now I can follow. A 2.5 way. I can live with that one ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Hi Tom, about RF-3 RF-5 thing. I have not the chance to hear the RF-5 (but soon !!!), but just from a logical view: 1) No big difference in size, just a bit higher an less deaper. 2) The same and I mean just the same woofers :Two K- 1083-SB 8" . So much better bass like jimG stated ???? most unlikely. Don't need a sub with my four RF-3's. 3) The crossover is even higher: RF-3 1975 while RF-5 2500. So there goes the midrange of the RF-5. The woofers in the RF-5 need to cover even more of the midrange(about 500Hz-6000Hz)and they are the same as the RF-3's ??? So if there is midrange missing in the RF-3's (I don't think so) so will there in the RF-5's. 4) Ok, a new compression driver and bigger horn. The highs can be better. It seems that jimG is more talking about the RF-7's So jimG are you really talking about the RF-5 or are you so stunished by the RF-7 that you can't stop thinking about them?????? Ok this just from a construction point of view. May be I should first go listen and I will !!! Nice try, but I won't give up my RF-3's that easily . ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

I put the specs of RC-3 and RC-7 together. WOW, some changes here, but what is that with the HIGH FREQUENCY CROSSOVER: 550Hz and 1950Hz???? A little up in the spec they mention that it is a two-way system. So I would expect just one crossover freq. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

It sounds like the denon of yours suffers from clipping ??? Turn down the volume a bit and hear if there is the same sound. If not than it is definitly clipping. Or is it DTS??? I'm going to see this movie very soon because of the DTS. My DTS decoder had uptill now nothing to do. I will let you know how things went..... ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

belial, It is very unlikly that there is one. I checked the specification of the RF-3: FINISHES: Black ash vinyl veneer But indeed I saw other pages stating the same. Maybe a mistake with the RB-5's. FINISHES: Cherry, Maple, or Black wood veneer Maybe one of the klipsch administrators could clear things out. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Let's do a litle calculation. RF's : 98dB @ 1watt/1meter(that is sensitivity) If you know that an increase of 3dB would take to double the power than you get: 1W 98dB 2W 101dB 4W 104dB 8W 107dB 16W 110dB 32W 113dB 64W 116dB 128W 119dB .... To compare: Military jet aircraft take-off from aircraft carrier with afterburner at 50 ft . . . 120 dB Turbo-fan aircraft at takeoff power at 200 ft . . . 115 dB Boeing 707 or DC-8 aircraft at one nautical mile (6080 ft) before landing . . . 106 dB Autch ,my ears...... (don't try the first one) But I have to say that when playing an action movie at THX ref I get sound levels of over 110 dB. By the way it is better to have more power on an amplifier whatever the speakers are rated, rather than to less. The last one could and would damage the speakers. That is clipping of the amplifier. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

hi again, Small Small Small. did I say Small!!! Actually it depends on the rest of the HT system. It only matters if your fronts have a lower frequency range or you have a sub ( I know you do have one ) The low's of the center would be redirected to your fronts or sub. Those two last one's can handle the low's much better than the RC-3. Try it. Put your favourite CD on and set your receiver on Pro-logic. Play than with small - large setting on the center. You will hear the difference. It also depends on the cut-off frequency when set to small. Mine is 100 Hz and that is just fine sinds the RC-3 goes under that. So anything less that 100 Hz is redirected to the mains or sub. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Dwk, Well you can see them the same as the RF-3's to the RP-3-5's. The 90p is an active speaker. That is that they have also an amplifier build in like a subwoofer. Look a bit lower on the page or paradigm and you see the specs of the amplifier of the 90p. Hope this clears things out. Oh, 5 drivers isn't that not a little overkill. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

hi belial, First of all with the RB-5 you will not lose any sound quality. Even more, if your room is not that well sized it is even possible that the RB-5 would sound even better. Every speaker needs it's space to perform well. Bigger speakers like the RF-3's need more space than the RB-5's, but that can be in your advance. Place the RF-3 in a small room and it will get boomy.(at higher volume's). They have to be able to move a lot of air. I heard once the B&W nautilus 801 in a small appartment. What a waste of money I would say. Secondly, but that is my opinion. The RB-5 need to be placed on stands for serious listening and doing so they eventually take as much place as the RF-3's. So if your room isn 't that small( at least 6 by 4 meters(oh, 19 by 13 ft) ) you be better with the RF-3's. Unless you would mount the speakers to the wall. For HT you will need your sub if you would go with the RB-5's. Third about the looks. What is there wrong with the looks of the RF-3's ??? They are nice rock sollid looking speaker, specially with the grills removed. The Cerametallic woofer really shines off. The RF-5 and RF-7 are not better for that matter. For me even worse. The front layer is still in black????? (By the way, anybody knows what kind of material that is ???) But ok, just personal taste. I respect your opinions. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

hi mike, About the pro-logicII.This is what I found : "Pro-Logic II demonstrated a realistic solution to bring old two-channel material into the surround age. Although not a discrete format, such as Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, in which each channel goes though its own encoding/decoding process, Pro-logic II makes an effective use of matrixing to deliver an adequate 5.1 representation of a film or music soundtrack." I don't know if all that is true but just compare it. In eather way even with just the prologic, the "surround sound" is always dependent of the source, so is it with pro-logic II. What I mean is that what is in the source will come out of it, nothing more. Conclusion: go with Dolby Digital or DTS. Secondly about the weight. The parts that are responsible for this are mainly the transformer and the heatsinks. So more power bigger transformer and bigger heatsinks. But the constructors can play with that. Some amplifier get hotter than others. why?? Conclusion: Don't mind the weight. You will get good quality with the receivers you mention. The only think you have to do is listen to it with your RF-3's. They will let you know if they like the receiver. So did I and the Onkyo 676 was it for me. By the way, be carefull with the volume control if you choose not to go with onkyo. The RF-3's are very efficient and therefor adjusting volume can be difficult. Or if there is a need to play background music.... See (hear) what the lowest sound output is with the RF-3's. (Don't be surprised ) Be aware that all this also depends on the output signal of the source. Just don't think I never play loud, I do .... Oh, just one thing: No HISSSSS with the onkyo here. Check that one out to. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Denon Denon Denon. Here is Onkyo. Yep, my onkyo has also the 5 ch stereo and I love it. It is a DSP mode that uses the already present information in the source to distribute the sound to the 5 speakers. I don't know about the center but the rears produce the same as the fronts in stereo. It gives a good filled stereo all over the room. I have to state that my rears are the same as my fronts as you can see at the bottom. With "real" surround speakers the effect would be much less. As Onkyo stated: "DSP like it should be" ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

sorry, but better late than never. You mentioned that the RC-3 is sitting in a wooden cabinet. Give it some room and place it on a separate stand. I think the muddy sounds comes from that wooden cabinet. Had the same problem untill I placed the RC-3 on it's own stand with spikes. But still it is no RF-3. If it was feasable to put an RF-3 as center ... I would go for it ... but ... . About the pink noise. Indeed RC-3 sound a bit different. But that is not comparable to what my previous tannoy 603's as rear's where to my RF-3 mains. O boy ... . ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

TroyTN, The only effect you have in bi-wire your speakers is a reduction in wire resistance. So if you have a good speaker cable (in size ) you don't need to bi-wire. The bi-wire option on most klipsch speakers is another thing. (unless bi-amping) If you use singlewire you all propably use those brackets to connect the HI an LO therminals. VERY WRONG. Throw them away and use some good speaker cable to connect them!!! ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

I have searched to, but nothing came up. Need also one for my RC-3 to place it just where the screen of my thomson starts. It needs also a litle angle upwards. Decided to make my own one. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

No way, there is always hiss. No way out, specialy with klipsch speakers. But ok, if it is audible at more than 20" , you have a reason to complain. HISS is not always to be pointed to the ampilfier. Check always your connections. It is maybe the source that causing the HISS. On some amplifiers you need to short-circuit the not used input connections. Moreover you should do this with any amplifier when using analog connections (cinch). You should also check groundings... . Specially with separate components. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

belial, check out the home page of klipsch :"www.klipsch.com" You will find it there (RF-3 IS NUMBER ONE) LOL ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

bensilb, I think you are right about the legend's. The link in the home audio for the legend's is no more. RF-3 IS NUMBER ONE Pitricolo, Serious sized room. The reference series RF-3-5or7 would like to be in there. Choose according to the money you like to spend. Just be carefull with that receiver you have. I had a STR-DB930. It had problems on low volume levels with the RF-3's due to the high sensitivity. The right channel was still playing at low volume while the left was death. When turning the volume gently up the left came slowly in. Even more: accurate volume control was not possible. Conclusion: background music was not possible. I think Sony is not aware (and maybe others)that high efficient speakers do exist!!! Give it first a try with that receiver of yours. Just of the record a litle education: 1 m (meter) = 3.28 ft(feet) 1 " (inch) = 2.54 cm(centimeter) 1 m = 100 cm 1 ft = 12 " ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

It is best to have (if possible) equal speakers in an HT setup. So Choose for the rear the same as the front. I had one's rs-3 for testing from my local dealer. It is nothing compared to my rear RF-3's. Specialy for 5 channel stereo. In eather way you have to be able to place them well behind you. I don't know why considering RB-5's. Eventually on stands they cover up the same place. Even more: For the same money you have a lot more. If I could I would change my center to an RF-3. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Just one thing: RF-3 IS NUMBER ONE find out why :www.klipsch.com ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3

Black Black Black (what else did you think) See what klipsch did with the RF-5 and RF-7. Ok real-wood enclosure, but the front is still in black. You see, the cone's need to shine through. So in eather way use dark colors. ------------------ ------------------------- Receiver: Onkyo 676 DVD: Pioneer DV-525 Screen: Thomson 46" RetroProjection Front: RF-3's Rear: RF-3's Center: RC-3