JLL

I totally agree with deang on this thread. My rf-3 speakers are one of the best speaekers I have ever heard excluding the rf-5 and rf-7. I compared these speaker to martin logan, b&w and paradigm speakers, I mean come on these speakers waxed the paradigm studio 60's or 80's at my dealer, I believe it was the 60's and the paradigms cost like 1500. Anyways my rf-3's have big clear sound and great deep bass, with lots of depth. I think you guys are reaching your conclusions listening to these speakers at your local dealer. I admit i wasnt impressed hearing rf-3's at my dealer until I took them home, they were waaay better in my room. I think you guys have to take the reference home and set them up PROPERLY to hear what they are capable of. As for this sound and vision article which I bought, this guy loved these speakers. He said they sounded huge with huge bass impact. He said he measured certain bass solidly below 30 Hz.. His numbers were measured at 2 meters instead of the usual 1 meter maybe this is why the measured numbers are off. He compared them to his 2 pairs of excellent conventional two way speakers he uses for reference and the klipsch sounded just the same, no more detail or heightened detail everything was the same but the rf-7's he stated had inner elements that were more immediate. I am so impressed with my rf-3's i am going to be upgrading to the rf-7's and rc-7 very soon and I cant wait. Way to go klipsch. sorry for a long reply here is high and low points from sound and vision mag. high points: accurate, full-range reproduction for both music and movies. May not even need the subwoofer. Unusually high sensitivity. Tremendous dynamic potential. low points: large size limits placement options. Pricey.

To Kimon, I recently went to circuit city last week and they had the onkyo 797 there. I heard this receiver on their best speakers they had in the listening room, some polks which werent even close to the sound of klipsch. BUt none the less it didint sound that bad it went loud the music didint brake up and the bass was quick. HE also played a cheper onkyo i think the txds 496 and that also sounded good, he compared this to a more expensive harmon kardon which i didint like too bright when loud. I also have the RF-3's with a yamaha rxv-800 and this receiver is too bright the music gets uncontrolled and sounds congested. So for me it is between the 797 and the denon 3802 i have to try both of these receivers. I am looking for mainly more of 2 channel than home theater. I prefer much warmer sound than my yamaha is producing.

Thanks alot halfadeck. I would appreciate it let me know when you get that denon up and running and let me know the differences.

Hey all you guys i need your feedback about these two receivers.I am looking to get a new receiver in the future and it will most likely be between the denon 3802 and the onkyo 797. What i am looking for is big heavy sound not skinny and bright that is very clean and clear and a bit warm for 2 channel because that is all i listen too. I will also be using this receiver for home theater also. So please what receiver denon or onkyo falls in my preference?

I work at sears and i compared a yamaha htr 5460 i believe which is 500 bucks to a denon 1602 which i think is 400 or cheaper. I hooked them up to the same speakers a 300 dollar pair of yamaha speakers and the same cd player some sony for 500 bucks connected to analoge audio jacks and the better sound hands down went with the denon. The denon was more clear, separated and seemed to have more power for the speakers. The tuner was much better than the yamaha also. THe denon sound was more up front warmer and refined compared to the yamaha watching listening to dvd's and cd's. The yamaha sound was more laid back bright and drier and not as clear or clean. I have a yamaha rxv800 and it is the same kind of sonic sound as this yamaha I tested. I now know that the yamaha is the weak link in my system and i do want to try out a denon 3802 on my speakers.

Ok guys I am most confused here with all of these posts saying the older heritage is better than the newer reference. I have only heard the newer klipsch and they are all great the RF-3 that I own blows so many of the other brand name speakers out of the water. But I cannot comment on the older klipsch, I wish my dealer had the older heritage so I can listen to them and compare to the reference. You guys say the older heritage blows away the newer reference series please back this up. I would really like to know how it blows them away; as in what are the sonic differences between the heritage and reference series. I have never heard the older series so you guys that have heard both of these style of speakers please comment on what exactly is the sonic differences I am very curious. This message has been edited by JLL on 01-21-2002 at 02:11 AM

Ok penguin lets see if we are referring to the same thing. If you look at the picture he has those hexagonal type nuts i think they are called the binding posts you unscrue them and put speaker wire in the little holes underneath them. BUt he wants to bi wire with banana plugs. IN order to do this you screw that hexagonal nut or binding post tight and that little cap on top pops right off. You just have a little space to work with around the circumference of that cap, use something sharp, a knife or a needle and it pops right off by lifting up. Now you can just insert the banana plug right into the binding post because it will have the opening to put it in and wallah.

I also agree with aab3rd and boa. I visited a dealer in Toronto and in a acoustically engineered room they had the studio 100's and the klf-20 side by side, i like the klf better doing a b testing. The klf are much much cheaper to buy now, they were still much chaper than the 100's when they werent discontinued. In another room they had other different speaker companies including klipsch, monitor audio, paradigm I forgot some of the others but they had them wired somehow where you can ab test them all with a flick of a swith. The Rf-3 and the Klf-10 blew the others out of the water including paradigm monitor 9's and 2500 dollar monitor audio's. At my local dealer, the klipsch Rf-3 sounds better than their up to 3500 dollar B&W's forgot what model on very expensive Mcintosh preamp and amps. I also like the Rf-3's better than the paradigm studio 80's. The klispch is very tough to beat. It isint even a fair comparison either, my dealer shoves all of the klipsch speakers in a corner, they do not pair them with the expensive electronics and they still sound better than the paradigm, B&W and martin logan, it must be the horn. My dealer just shakes his head at me when I tell him what I think. They are all anti klipsch there and I do not know why.

Mamacmil, I have my Rf-3's bi wired the posts are exactly the same as your II's ,just get something sharp like a knife put them in one of the spaces and lift the little banana caps off or whatever they are called, now you can insert your banana plug bi wire speaker cable.

OK here is the sound that i hear from my RF-3's and yamaha combo, shrill at times, very small sounding in other words skinny sounding, and the sound seems like it doesnt have that texture, sounds dull, the Rf-3's sound restricted. Dont get me wrong these RF-3's are one of the best speakers i have ever heard i just think my receiver is a bad combo. I do have a small room though so i took them down stairs hooked them up in my parents larger room and the sound isint what i expected very small skinny sounding like the speakers had no umph and also too bright at times. My room is small 11'X 7' and they sound smaller and even worse down stairs in 2x larger room. and i turned the bass up and that did not help. I played around with placement alot still no avail. One thing i also notice the woofers do not woof when i Play music even bass heavy music loud, my speaker woofers hardly move, even with my 15" sub you cant even tell it moves with huge bass now i do not know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, i think i am leaning more toward a good thing. Now, do i have a defective receiver or is this just yamaha's style? What I am looking for in sound is more juicier(texture) warmer and most of all more FULL(powerful) sounding I am starting to look at the denon and onkyo $800 range of receivers. You guys have any tips of suggestions for me?? No amps i am not ready to go with seperate amps but will in the far distant future.

Hey i have a question for you guys. I have RF-3's with a yamaha RXV-800 and was thinking about trying out different receivers on my speakers. I prefer a warmer sound, I think it is the receiver and not the speakers. From hearing your replies i do not get that warm sound i am looking for in this yamaha, or is it just the RF-3's. I have not hooked another receiver up to my speakers since i bought them. I was just wondering if you guys had any experience with this sound i am looking for and can point me to that warm receiver i am looking for. denon or onkyo?

Hey cybersheb looks good. I have a question what kind of material are under those klf-30's are they ceramic blocks or something that improves sound?? Also where did you get them at and how much do they cost? also can you explain the material and how much does that go for behind your setup??

I hear all you guys talking about all these different brand subs but what do you guys think of definitive subs, especially the definitive PF15tl+. It is said to get very low with its 15" woofer 500 watt RMS 1000 watt peak. Has anybody heard this subwoofer from definitive? If so can you tell me about it joe

Hey Ear good for you. WHen you get your RF-7 and RC-7 going let meknow how they compare to RF-3 and RC-3.

E Allard yes I do have Phantom Menace also and it sounds awesome. The pod race sounds HUGE crisp and clear at very loud volume, at -25 db's. I won't go any louder for I may damage my ears. And crisp I do not mean ear piercing bright it does not sound bright at all on my speakers you have to brake them in and that can take a couple of months. The brightness may be from your room acoustics. Mine use to be bright until I broke them in and now they are great. And yes I do agree with you the vocals sound rather weak compared to the effects in Phantom Menace but I think this is how they made the DVD to sound. I noticed this in just about all the movie theaters normal talking vocals are much lower sometimes compressed sounding compared to the effects. Also try renting TOY STORY 1 the vocals are great not low or nasally. Klipsch speakers sound exaclty what you feed them, a bad recording will not sound great a bright recording will sound bright and a great recording will sound great this has been my experience with DVD's and CD's.

I have RF-3's and RC-3 connected to a yamaha RXV-800 receiver which has just about the same performance as your 1000 with the exception of features. I have had placement issues before which did effect the sound but i have rearranged them and now they sound great. My room is small 8'X 12' rectangular with a carpeted rug. My speakers did take a very long time to brake in. I have my center boosted up 2 db. in speaker level setting. Also I have increased it 1 db. in each of the center channel frequency ranges. E. Allard also you said the center sounds small and nasally this could be due to the recording you are listening too. I have heard this on some bad cd and DVD recordings but if you get a good recording like TOY STORY this center shines, it does have power and goes loud and clear and open with good sounding programs.

Well sickpupp I tried what you said and still the receiver has no equilizer for main speakers just the center. The onscreen display is the same as the little receiver's window display except it is easier to navigate on your tv screen. Hey Boa I am using audioquest slate biwire for my center and mains. Anybody know the sonic differences betwees RF-3 and Paradigm monitor 7's i choose the RF-3 over paradigm. Does anybody have experiences comparing these two speakers at home and which do you prefer? ALso Boa I like Klf-20's you have 30's I like that big full sound with the midrange horn, since they are discontinued do you know any other speakers klipsch or not that are of this same style of speaker like the legend series.

Hey whats up sickpuppy. I have a cheap 13" goldstar with only one video input. I will try this setup; Going from my TV to receiver instead of receiver to Dvd player to try and get into this setup with the receiver you are talking about; I have never tried the onscreen setup before. I do have my mains set to large thru the little receivers window setup but this does not have equilizer settings for mains thru this type of setup. Also sickpup on my DVD setup I have Bitstream selected and when I play my normal cd's my receiver recognizes and stays to a PCM setting is this correct? joe

Hey Bob, well my speakers are indeed all in phase they are biwired using audioquest slate. I am just confused about the sound,i feel they should sound much better compared to my friends sony's speakers. I am in a small room and the sound is bigger than when I placed them into a larger room, is this normal? or should they sound smaller with less impact in a larger room. Anyways how should I place the speakers distance wise from the side and back wall to get that bigger sound I am looking for?

Could somebody please help me with my RF-3 sound. These speakers to me sound very small and skinny. I didint always think this but after listening to my friends cheap sony's bookshelf speakers i felt differently about them. I have a Yamaha receiver Rxv-800 receiver which has no eq. controls in the setup except center channel. I do have a small room and it is carpeted. I have them placed close to corners about foot in front of the back wall and maybe foot and a half to side walls and toed in. I brought RF-3's out in my parents other bigger rooms and they sounded even worse, they do not sound big at all absolutley no impact. And they always sound better at night I read a post earlier about the AC if so that is just ridiculous speakers should sound good whenever, especially these speakers. The way my RF-3's sound do not correlate to the way most people like the way they sound so can someone please give me some pointers.Textc>