DrJazz

Quad, You should know by now that "better" is in the ear of the beholder. He likes the shriller highs of the RF-3's that he is not getting from the RF-7II's. Maybe he should have opted for the older RF-7's. Bill Bill - thanks for the suggestion and links for a different amp. That actually makes a lot of sense. I have my sights set on a Anthem P5, which from I what I can tell leans a bit on the bright side. It would be VERY interesting to audition it and hear how different it is. Though, quadklipsch is right - I'm out of money at the moment. [] And, to be fair, the RF-7 II's DO sound better - much much better in fact, but I feel something has been taken away, too. And perhaps you're right - I should have tried the RF-7 classics instead, but alas, I couldn't audition either RF-7 model - I had to make a leap of faith. Cheers, DrJazz

I am the farthest thing from a "guru" here, but I'll offer my answers anyway: 1. I've had the RF-7 II system for just over a week. I can play them significantly louder without the "piercing" sharpness caused by my old RF-3 II system, though as a rule I'm not into loud sound so I don't generally play them all that much louder. But I can if I want, without fatigue. 2. The sound of the RF-7 system is much more powerful, more full. (Keep in mind that I listen almost exclusively to 5.1 sound, either from broadcast hi-def TV, or from Blu-rays.) Is the improvement worth the price difference? Tough one to answer - it probably depends on a) how much money you make, and your subjective opinion of the sound in your environment. For me personally, it is perhaps barely worth the price but my room and placement is far less than ideal (as I have mentioned earlier in the thread). As far as higher-end speakers go, the RF-7 II's are reasonably priced, considering their competition (say, Paradigm Studio 100's). I say "barely" worth the price because I am still not completely satisfied (perhaps I will never be): the sound is more even, more balanced, more powerful, with MUCH better mid-range and bass and just, you know "presence", which is EXACTLY what I wanted. But even after a week, I still miss the more aggressive (and yes maybe bright) high-end of the RF-3 system. I still feel that some excitement is gone. But would I go back? No, not a chance. 3. I can't comment on Klipsch speakers other than the KSB 2.1's (my first set), the RF-3 II's, or the RF-7 II's. I would say the 7 system is certainly as detailed and fast as the 3 system, but without the "thin" sound of the 3 system but also without that "biting" high-end that I have come to associate (perhaps incorrectly) with the word "dynamic" based on my years with the RF-3's. And honestly, I'm probably making more out of it than it deserves - the high-end of the RF-7's could never be called "relaxed" (like say B&W's). It's there, and it's plenty forward. Just not as much as my previous 3's. Cheers, Andre

Moving it to the other side of the room has similar issues, unfortunately. It's not too bad the way it is - we've lived with it for years already with the RF-3s and there's a foam pad taped to the door to protect the speaker from getting banged with it. Still, it WOULD be more convenient if the door opened the other way. ajoker2c: Nice pics - that's an interesting setup you have.

Yeah, I've thought about it - a lot. The screen is already a motorized one, so I'm set there. But, I have more room issues - there's a door behind the projector screen (leads to an outside deck) which I can't block permanently with a TV, and there's also a window on that wall which makes centering a TV of any size over 40" an issue. And a 40" TV from 13 feet back looks pretty tiny. Still, I've contemplated a TV on a horizontally sliding fixture, but honestly, the projector works well enough even with the curtains in the room opened. Yeah, the picture is washed out a bit, but it's still watchable.

Thanks to EVERYONE for your kind comments. As for the placement of the RF-7's, you may notice in the second picture I posted that there is a door right beside the right speaker. The door opens into the living room, so the speaker needs to be jammed into the wall in order for the door to open enough for someone to fit through. I've thought about changing the direction of the door, but it's an old house with aged wood and I'm afraid that any attempt I may make at modifications would ruin the look (also, I'm not very handy at all). And on the left side, my equipment rack is right in front of and a little to the left of the left speaker (you can't see it in the picture). I could conceivably move the rack somewhere else, but I'd still have a problem with the right speaker placement, and it would just be lop-sided. Still, I continue to think about ways to improve the placement of these beauties. And I am, in fact, looking at getting a large area rug soon. We already have a small one, but a larger one is, uh, necessary. RH - I have started playing with the crossover from the front speakers to the sub (I have a single Paradigm DSP-3400 in my 13 x 20 foot room - it does a good job) and setting the 7's as large/small. Not sure yet which I prefer. And yes, the projector is nice, but it's high-maintenance sometimes. It's my only "TV" and it kinda sucks to have to darken the room every time I just want to watch a show (otherwise the picture is significantly washed out). Many times I have contemplated getting a 60" plasma or LCD instead - but now I'm too addicted to the 10 foot screen. Like I said - I'm notoriously impossible to please. []

Hehe, no kidding. The 64 is a huge piece itself, dwarfing my old RC-3 II at nearly double the width. Though the RC-3 had a tad more height. But those RF-7's are monsters, though their floor footprint is actually quite manageable in my room - not much more than the RF-3's they replaced. As for my room acoustics, yeah, I'm pretty sure that a has a LOT to do with the sound I'm hearing. Though the ARC room correction on this Anthem receiver I have on loan seems to work better than the Audyssey system on my Denon.The sound does seem a bit more dynamic with the Anthem, but that could just be my imagination, or one of the other many variables I've been playing with, or I could just be getting used to the new speakers. []

And picture 3.

Picture 2

For anyone who might be interested, the next three posts are pictures of my set-up, including requisite "grills off" and "grills on" pictures. [] Please forgive the messiness of my living room.

I'm not sure how it is secured to the cabinet. It appears to be either pure friction against the cabinet opening, or perhaps some very thin double-sided "tape pad" that seems to be under the "flange" of the horn. At any rate, I'm not too worried about it at the moment, but I'll certainly be keeping my eye on it over the next few months.

Thanks for relaying your similar experiences, RH. And this is EXACTLY what I mean by "excitement." And your explanation makes sense. Your post has given me some further reassurance that the new sound with quickly grow on me. :-) Though, I still often find myself waiting for my ears to "pop" (like when you have a cold and all the sounds become muted and then you yawn and your ears pop and suddenly everything is loud again) and for the high-frequency sounds to crash in on me. Though, I did a little more listening this afternoon at elevated volumes and that seems to be getting me closer to what I'm expecting to hear. Thanks again for the reponses!

Actually, come to think of it, the RC-64 tweeter must be fine. I got a loan of an Anthem MRX-500 yesterday and performed an ARC room correction, which shows the frequency response graph. There was nothing unusual in the RC-64's graph, so it must be okay. For the record, however, here is a picture, from the top, showing how the horn is not quite flush with the cabinet. It was sticking out slightly further (by a millimeter or two) when I took it out of the box.

Those are some very nice pics, RH. You have some sweet gear and a nice room! Well, I picked up my system on Thursday and have been listening to these new speakers several hours each day since then. I was initially impressed with how well packed they were, and the build and finish quality. I really like the heavy "copper" feet on the RF-7's. :-) And the veneer is very high-quality. Before I convey my impressions of the sound of the new speaker system, note that I have re-run the Audyssey room-correction system on my Denon AVR-3808ci, and that I have turned off all its infernal Dynamic-EQ nonsense. Also note that, as a character trait, I am notoriously impossible to please. So, regarding the sound, the system has not turned out to be the auditory utopia I was hoping for - at least to my flawed ears. The sound is VERY different from my RF-3 system. If you'll recall, what I was looking for was a slight softening of the high-end (I found my RF-3's to be just a little too bright at times) and a generous "filling in" of the bass and mid-range. On the last count, the new system surely delivers. There is a strength of sound and presence of power that is exactly what I was looking for. Especially impressive is the new strength and immersiveness of the surround speakers. What is missing, though, is what I would call the "aggressive high-frequency clarity" that I, personally, have come to associate as a hallmark of the Klipsch sound. I was looking for a "slight" softening of the top-end frequencies, but this system sounds like Klipsch made these speakers far too mellow. Voices and dialog in movie soundtracks used to be very much "in your face" and with a lot of "crystal-clear" punch. The RC-64 II has mellowed this out so much, I find myself straining to hear what people are saying. Well, perhaps "straining" is too strong a word, but voices used to be so incredibly clear to me with the RC-3, and now I have this BEHEMOTH RC-64 II (holy hell is it ever huge) that can't seem to match it. Oh sure, voices might sound more "sweet", natural, and balanced, but to my ears something is just missing. I keep wondering if the tweeter isn't broken in the RC-64 (it WAS just pushed out by a couple of millimeters when I unpacked the speaker - I just nudged it back in a little), but I'm sure the speaker would sound absolutely terrible if it was. (Curiously, though, as a counter-point to my impressions of voice clarity, my wife finds voices BETTER and more understandable with the RC-64. In fact, she loves the new system all-around. Just goes to show you can't please all the people all the time, I guess.) Additionally, the "excitement" that I often felt at certain points in movies because of the Klipsch dynamics seems to be gone. Recently, I've been using Tron: Legacy as a reference disc - it has an immensely engaging soundtrack. Now, the bass of this soundtrack is just stunning with the new speakers. But, take for instance the scene where Sam Flynn is being "outfitted" with his Tron costume. With the old system, you could "feel" the click-clack-click of the shoes as the ladies walked back and forth. I mean it was like "electric"! Now, it's still there, but no excitement. And what soon follows - the roar of the crowd at the games, while much more powerful, balanced, and yes, easier to listen to, is just a little less satisfying at the same time. In short, the new system seems to have taken away the sharp dynamics of my old RF-3's. Which, I admit, I both adored AND cursed. I have had a few friends tell me that I have to give some time for my ears to become "re-trained" for the new sound, and that I will learn to enjoy it in time. I sure hope that's true. In fact, it would be interesting to put my RF-3 system back in place after say, a month, and see what I think of it then. I wouldn't be too surprised if I found it horrible by that point. :-) As to another concern I had about the huge RF-7s - I was afraid that being jammed up against the wall they would end up sounding "boomy". I need not have worried - they are playing very nicely in their less-than-ideal placement. The bass and mid-range is pleasantly full and clean. So there are my thoughts, such as they are. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has experienced a similar initial reaction to these speakers, only to come to realize in time that what they THOUGHT they wanted to hear was simply the result of listening to inferior speakers for far too long. :-)

Well, I did it. My local dealer gave me what I considered an excellent price, so I'm now waiting for my pair of RF-7 II's, RC-64 II, and pair of RS-62 II's to arrive (all in black). If I'm super-lucky, they'll be here by the end of the week. I've been waiting 10 years for these babies - I can't wait! [] I'll post my impressions of them once I get them for anyone who might be interested. Thanks again for everyone's replies to my original post. Cheers, DrJazz

Thank you everyone for your responses. I appreciate the time you took to offer your advice and insights. At this point, I am heavily leaning towards ordering an RF-7 II system, even though I will not be able to realize its full potential in my room. I figure it will at least be an improvement over my existing system. If and when I do decide to take the plunge, I'll be sure to post the results here. Cheers, DrJazz