brewski37

Similar to others, I have my XF-48's placed about 18" (16-20") away from both the back wall and the side walls. They work wonders in this position. It is a valid concern to have the XF-48's too close to the walls, because the bass does get to be too muffeled and too 'boomy.' Because of the success of the XF-48's, I am actively looking for XL-23's to replace both the center and surrounds. As long as the XF-48's are switched to "low" power mode, you will have no problems.

My first post to Klipsch myself, and since I had the same overall question - X or R series - here is my thought process: I was also impressed with B&W, but not the price. Obviously, this is why Klipsch maintains its business. It took me quite awhile to find a dealer willing to let people listen to Klipsch, and when I did, I listened to the R series (RB-51, RB-52, RF-62, RF-82). Then a friend of mine showed off his Icon (X) series just a few days later, which was three XL-23's, two XB-10's, and the XW-500d subwoofer. R series Overall sound of the series is refined, mellow, and works well for conventional sound systems. R series is slightly better for music than the X series, but a little too much bass and dynamic sound for everyday TV/movie use. Titanium horn is expressive, dynamic, and impressive. Mid-range and what I call upper bass (mid-range low-pass frequencies) is impressive with the cerametallic woofer, as well as response. There is an even sound through its range. Mid-range combining the horn and woofers add to the dynamic sound punch, however brass music - say older Funk music - gets to be too much dynamic sound and has to be damped a little at the receiver for my taste. R series depth and thump of bass, even on the 52's, were great for each speaker's size. This is due to reflected bass from a rear port. I am familiar with rear ports and reflected sounds from Bose full-size speakers - I am uninpressed this design, as I consider the sound muffled. Same thing happened when listening to the R series bass. Deep, hard, but 'muddy' when placed near any somewhat absorbing surface (think the difference in sound with drywall vs. metal shelves in stores). X series Again, overall sound of the system is refined, but 'crisper' than the R series counterparts. As advertised, it is a better system for movies and TV - and very good for music. Because of its position closer to the surface in the speaker, the horn enjoys a wider speaker dispersion (sound angle coming from the speakers). Sure, it says the R series has a 90-degree wide dispersion horn, but my ears heard the opposite. The horn is smaller than the R series, which to me lessened the dynamic ability of the upper mid-range. The fiberglass woofers do not have the balanced and refined mid-range response of the R series. As typical of many speakers, the higher end of the mid-range is tapered off and the lower end is emphasized. Also, this woofer has a higher output, with similar response to the cerametallic woofers. Mid-range combining of the horn and woofers work better for me, as the lack of higher-end mid-range sound from the woofers complimented the lesser mid-range response of the horn. In short, brass music is dynamic but not overly so. X series bass is tight, deep, but not quite as boisterous as its R series counterparts. In fact, the floor-standers of the series include active woofers due to this limitation. Front-loading the bass ports are also my preference because I find it is a tighter sound overall, and reflection of the bass (for the THUMP) still comes off the walls if putting a speaker close enough to the walls. So, proof is in the money. I found a deal on some used XF-48's and bought them to replace an old Kenwood/Bose combination I had. At the same time, I also upgraded the receiver I had to an Onkyo TX-SR707, with wondrous results. I would also recommend XB-10's in place of RF-51's or RF-52's for your application. Hey, it's still your choice, and my tips to anyone are: Trust your ears. Don't mix and match speaker styles, for instance I wouldn't recommend mix/matching R series with X series.