kenratboy

Hi, I need to put together a basic, easy-to-use, but complete set of tools for cleaning records as well as the stylus (despite our best efforts, dirty records will be played). It cannot be too expensive (hopefully $50 or less for what I need), and it should be fairly easy to use (for me and to teach others). Also, should be from a place like Needle Doctor where it can be easily ordered in one pass. Thanks!

Actually, the C-3 is rated at 96.5, so essentially the same. However, other factors such as heat (I am sure I could send a solid 150 watts to the KL-650, where as the C-3 might not like it as much) are not part of the specs.

I have a C-3 center channel, and am wondering if the KL-650 (the THX-cert LCR) is capable of more total sound output? Obviously, the speaker is vastly superior in every way, such as sound quality, build quality, etc. However, they are rated as having the same power handling, the sensitivity is the same, they have similar sized woofers and tweeters (though I would imagine those on the KL-650 are less prone to compression and heat-related issues), and in general, the specs are the same. Given that, would the KL-650 be capable of more (or much more?) output than my plastic-cabinet C-3? Thanks, Ken

I need to run HDMI from a HD source (such as a BD player, satellite box, or other such thing, but only one at a time) to about 15, 1080p HDTV’s. This is in a commercial setting (but it is my personal pet project!), and there is a mix of TV brands. Been doing some research and found a bunch of things. Looks like I will need to get 2 boxes, and daisy-chain them (does this work?). So far, these look promising as the top two: Gefen EXT-HDMI1.3-1410 ($550 x 2) – looks to be compatible with everything, and gives me 10 outputs vs. 8 on everything else. It is the most expensive, but I think it is also the best. CE Labs HA8 ($325 x 2) – new model, seems to support everything I need. Any ideas what is good? This will be used non-stop in a climate-controlled setting, nothing crazy, but certainly not a typical home environment. Thanks!

So you want me to feel bad because you did not get a high-end audio experience at a drug store

I am going to have to disagree with you. Klipsch is a good company and a good brand, and the Reference line is awesome. Lets be honest, though. A pair of RF-62's is not some exotic, hard-made, 5-digit work of art. Its a good, honest speaker that will serve its owner well for many years. Klipsch is a massive brand, and the Reference line is a volume product (they sell lots of it in lots of places, and the more the better). If Future Shop had some Pallidium or Heritage gear sitting on a dusty shelf hooked up to a Sony stereo receiver with FM radio as a source, I would be upset, but thats not the case. A $500 receiver running the Reference line is going to work quite well for most all (this is coming from a guy who has a Primare front end on his F3's!). Do they even have the 'top' Reference stuff like the RF-83's and RC-64? Klipsch is going to Circuit City, its in Future Shop, its been big at Best Buy and the new Icon gear is taking over there (Magnolia side of things). These are very good times for Klipsch. Thousands of dealers carrying its bread and butter. They have created the THX line, Pallidium Series, and to a lesser extent, the Icon line, for the smaller and higher-end shops. I am sorry if you bought Klipsch with the assumption it was some small, under-the-radar brand. It is the opposite and is only going to continue that trend. Headphones, 2.1 systems, iPod docks, and who knows what else. That said, Klipsch is obviously serious about the hi-end stuff with the new Pallidium line. I own a very nice watch - the closest dealer is 200 miles away, the brand has a fantastic heritage, and its known by virtually nobody except those in the hobby. Its made in a moderately sized workshop in Le Sentier, just the little details that make you feel warm and fuzzy. Part of the reason I like it is because its under-the-radar and nobody will ever say, "Hey, I saw that at JCPenny's last week!" I would be disappointed if something changed and they sold cheap junk with the same name or similar. Klipsch has never really worked under the illusion of ultra-exclusivity or anything like that.

Aw man, that is seriously cool!!! I have not made an impulse buy in a while.

This Denon was $650 retail and sounded great in 'DIRECT' mode. Also used a Denon 4308, and that was able to drive the speakers to their limits, which are impressive. I replied to your e-mail, hope it helps!

Yup. Literally got them and put them right out on display. Even the Denon AVR-1909 has PLENTY of power for these things. Very efficent and not too demanding.

Just set them up at work today. The Espresso finish is a VERY deep, dark brown with the slightest hint of wood grain - will pass for black in a darker room. It will look good in a modern 'non-wood' setting or if you have dark wood. The Cabernet is a very bright (but beautiful) red with lots of grain showing. Both are awesome-looking, very European look, like something I would expect from Jamo (hmmmm, who owns them?) If you had these speakers in a five million dollar house, they would not look out of place. Sound is incredible. About 15 of us heard it throughout the day, including people who don't care for the 'Klipsch sound', and ALL of them were impressed. Bass is stupid for speakers this small using 5.25" woofers. At least in this room, I would say it was as much as the RF-82's (maybe not as deep, but great musical bass with lots of texture and definition). Listened to a lot of industrial and electronic music with punishing bass, and these things just took it. Mids were clear. Even at high levels, things were clear and easy to understand, especially dialogue. Highs were interesting. The knock on Klipsch is punishing highs, but these speakers are much smoother, but still have some bite. However, at high levels with electronic music, it never made you wince or want to turn it down. These speakers sound much bigger than they are. These are NOT lifestyle toys that Klipsch built to make yuppies happy. All of you would enjoy having a pair of these. These speakers will probably not play as loud as the bigger Reference towers, but they will get loud enough for practically anyone, even in a huge room. Just like with the Icon X series, Klipsch really outdid themselves with these. The WF-34's were good, but the extra size and $300 is well worth it for the WF-35's. Dare I say the 34's were a *little* compromised while the 35's did not let me down at all. As a quick bonus, also played with the XW-500d. It looks ultra-modern and is built very well (as were the towers). Lots of bass, very clean sound, and very fast (as in, not sloppy and loose). Only played with it for 10 minutes or so, so I cannot give you a full breakdown.

Thanks to everyone who replied! Lots to look at and think about. Is there a MSRP price list for the pro stuff? No concept of what this stuff costs. Talk about a serious home theater system!!!

I know this has been discussed over and over again, some say it will sound terrible, while I see some 6 digit HT systems with pro cinema gear in them. For example, three KPT-335's for the screen channels, four+ KTP-8001's for rears, and a pair of KPT-884's for the subwoofer (which looks like it could get close to 20 Hz. in room). Assume you had a larger room (12' ceilings, 18' wide, 25' long) so everything had some room to breath, would it work well? This is obviously not the most practical solution (three Cornwall's would probably be better as mains, for example), but there is something intriguing about using actual cinema speakers for a dedicated HT rig. I saw some pictures here of a pro Klipsch HT system, and I saw another set years ago with JBL Pro stuff used in a very small HT system. Thanks!

Thanks Amy, I was just curious as to the differences. Now to turn a 39 sideways, add a 4th woofer, and make the best center channel ever!

Just seems very unKlipschlike. Not saying it has to be a good value/cheap, but the difference in price between the 37 and 39 seems extreme. Maybe if it had a better crossover, heavy base, higher-grade veneer, etc., but it seems like its pretty similar to the others. I would still like to hear Klipsch's take on this, maybe there is a difference.

Look at the B&W 800 Series, you step up fairly linerally from the base tower to the flagship, and there is big differences between them - and then that fancy new Signature Diamond speaker, which is in its own category. I could see the 37's being $8,000, the 38's being $10,000 and the 39's being $12,000, or something like that.

It seems they both use the same mid/high frequency driver, and the woofers are generally the same. I would guess the quality of the cabinet and crossover is the same as well. Why does adding 2" to three woofers add $6,000 to each tower? That said, looks like an amazing new line of speakers, great work Klipsch!

And I get to sell them - we are already making room!

Deaf Tech - of who could you POSSIBLY be referring to

Cornwall! But you will want some GOOD gear to drive the things.

Klipsch seems pretty excited about the new horn design on the Icon X series, and these are the same. I guess I will defer speculation to what any of the Klipsch folks have to say. This is definitely a 'lifestyle' product vs. a ultimate performance product (Reference series).

Not a bad idea - different packaging and pricing of the drivers from the Icon X series. This series should do a great job getting Klipsch into peoples homes who don't like the size of the Reference series, yet don't want something small sounding (these should SMOKE the Quintet-like stuff). Hope they look as good as the Icon X series does (obviously in their woody, boxy way!) When should we see some specs for them?

Cool. The work and expense definitely shows.

Thanks for the reply! It also seems there was a little (good) emphasis put on the bottom end of the things. Our jaws dropped when those cute little 5.25" woofers started to pressurize the room. Way more than I expected. There are a lot of people who like the RF-82's and such, but just cannot have something like that in their living room. The 48's are plain sexy and dare I say border on sculptural/look like art. Only thing I don't like is the Harbor Freight looking font on the input jack labels...but thats like not being happy about the font used on the warning sticker in a Ferrari...who cares!

Been playing with these guys at work. Yes, $2,500/pr. is a lot of money, but my goodness, these speakers can FILL a room, and are very clean. Impossible 2, 5.25" woofers can do so much (there must be some electronic voodoo going on inside!) No question theses are NOT RF-83 replacements, but something that will appeal to flat panel TV buyers and those concerned with style. My question is regarding protection of the drivers and amp. Are there any features built into the speaker to prevent over-excursion of the woofers, protection of the tweeter (due to being fully-powered)? What about amp protection? For example, if I were to switch the input sensitivity to high and turn the preamp all the way up, would the speakers blow up, or are they protected? I was driving them pretty hard today and they didn't skip a beat, but didn't want to push them hard to see what happened. Great work Klipsch. I was not sold with the spec sheet, but they exceeded my expectations (as well as my customers who are already starting to buy them!)

In all fairness, these speakers sell for $300 each, which probably means Klipsch spent ~$100 each making them (as in, the physical item itself). Unless there is a mechanical defect, or glaring cosmetic defect, it is hard to be too picky about it. However, if you had these same issues on a new Klipschorn, then I would be very upset.