mattSER

120hz features exist solely to combat the inherent blurriness of LCD/LED motion. In most applications, it detracts from the quality. It introduces artifacts around moving objects in a still backdrop, and creates an input delay for video games. It may not bother some people, but I find most of my games unplayable with 120hz or 240hz features active. And if you don't use these features, LCDs blur like crazy with panning shots. Just another reason why I'm jumping straight from plasma to OLED.

Aside from the materials, there is a big difference in the sound profile that each model targets. The R28F is specifically tuned to deliver a "powerful" sound. The engineers have boosted the bass and treble in the sweet spots that jumps out to your average Best Buy consumer. This compromises midrange quality, dynamics, and realism. The horn design is shallower, reducing the mechanical amplification and sensitivity. The RF82 is designed to deliver a "flatter" sound. The bass, mids, and treble are, more or less, equal. More realism, stronger dynamics, clearer midrange, etc... One key advantage to the materials is the cabinet itself. It's much more solid on the RF82 and doesn't make as much noise. This helps to keep the sound transparent and realistic. Also, the woofers are lighter and more rigid giving the bass a much tighter and cleaner sound. The R28F, with its boosted sound profile, is actually a lot of fun for home theater. When comparing 2 channel music quality, however, the RF82's superiority becomes more and more apparent. IMO, for a strictly music setup, it's absolutely worth it to upgrade to the RF-82.

In my experience, the nicer models such as the RF-7, CF-4, and KLF-30 seem to have a specific high-pass filter used in conjunction with tuned ports to achieve the desired response. It's very clear on the RF-7 as it plays smoothly down to 32hz and then cuts off almost immediately, pointing to a sharp LF cutoff in the crossover. A different technique is observable in the KLF-30. It seems to have a high-pass around 50hz with a very slow roll off combined with ports tuned to 30 or 35 hz in an attempt to flatten response down into the 30hz range. Cheaper models, such as Synergy bookshelf models seem to only rely on natural roll off. You can play a 15hz test tone and watch the woofers pump like crazy with no audible results.

After owning Kuros and Panasonic plasmas, I just can't bring myself to buy an LED. They just look awful to me. So while I'm waiting for a nice OLED to drop into my price range, I upgraded my 50" Kuro to a used 65" Panasonic VT60 plasma. Very satisfied.

Technically, you can't hurt the speakers by "underpowering" them, but you can hurt them by cranking an underpowered receiver too hard into distortion and clipping. A lot of people here power their speakers with less than 20 watts. Just listen for distortion and you should be fine. So, what I'm trying to say is don't worry too much about power output. Most people are completely satisfied with 50-100 watts. I'll let others recommend receivers for you, as I haven't been keeping up with the latest models.

I knowingly excluded self-powered towers(KSP-400, RP-5) as their performance seems to be all over the place. The second generation Synergy towers seem to be of exceptional quality. They were made with higher quality components than the previous KSF models and aspired to be as much like the RF-3 as possible, evidenced by the voicing and rear ports. The succeeding F-3 began the path in a different direction from the RF series, by softening the voicing, moving the ports to the front, and boosting bass and treble while sacrificing midrange quality. This was furthered with the design changes that took place with the KF-28 when the physical shape of the horn was softened even more and the voicing losing even more midrange focus. Looking back, the SF models were overachievers on a budget, not watered down towers catering to the Best Buy market and trying to steal Bose loyals.

IME, both the 5.2 and 5.5 are bass heavy and lacking in the mids. Whereas the KG4 is an enigma that performs at a strangely high level with great balance and reveals midrange detail that other KGs simply skip over. I was under the impression the the KG4 was considered one of the best KGs, but I've spend limited time with the 5.2 and 5.5 and if the consensus dictates that I lower it, I'd be happy to do so.

The RF-5 is nicer. It has real wood veneer finish, larger 8" tweeter horn(vs 6" on RF-3), and higher quality crossover components. It just delivers a larger, beefier sound than the RF-3. Don't worry about wattage handling. Here in the Klipsch world, that's literally the last spec we look at. It doesn't matter when you can blow yourself out of the room with 30 watts.

Ah, no worries then. I have no experience with RF-7ii, but I've been told that the problem I had with the originals has been completely corrected on the ii version.

Dear Lord...

Never tried with the two of the same model. Right now I have a nice Denon 3805 AVR acting as preamp and powering the woofers with ~140 watts, preout going to Adcom GFA545 running the mids and highs.

I tried bi-wiring, didn't notice a difference. Tried bi-amping, never going back to a single amp.

First or second generation RF-7s? Honestly, the original RF-7s were one of the only Klipsch speakers I had a problem with. I found the horn tweeter to be entirely too hot. That being said, there are a couple of BIG differences between you and I. - Your room is a lot larger - Your using a nicer, more powerful amp - Your preferred music lends itself better to such a wild speaker when compared to my hard metal and electronic stuff. They do so many things well, it would be a shame not to try them. And if the price is good, you can always recoup your money if you don't like them.

I think sound quality is very objective, so it's more or less based on size and reputation. And, like most people, I forgot about the Tangent series.

Blasphemy, sir!

Updated it a bit. Lowered Epic and Legend a bit, combined Cornwall 1 and 2, chorus 1 and 2, LaScala and Belle. To be clear, this is just a general map to help the noobies get an idea of where everything sits.

Update: added a bookshelf map. It's much more detailed. Working on updating the floorstanding map. Since so many people are confused at how the Klipsch models compare, I started working on a map. It shows all the models from all the different series roughly arranged on a color-coded chart based on performance and size. This is for floorstanding, consumer models only. I haven't heard all these models, but I have heard a lot of them and lined them up to the best of my knowledge. What do you think? Any adjustments?

You won't be disappointed. They're solid beasts. You'd have to buy the $1200 RP-280f to get a new model as good as the RF-3.

Absolutely. That's a very fair price if they're in good condition. Look for wrinkled woofers and listen from the middle position to make sure both speakers are the same volume.

You're going to look for any model that starts with "RF". The dual 6.5" models are(oldest to newest): RF-25 RF-62 RF-62ii All with roughly equal performance The dual 8" models are(oldest to newest): RF-3 RF-3ii RF-5 RF-35 RF-82 RF-82ii Again, all being equal with the exception of the superior RF-5.

RF-3s are MUCH better than the R26f and, in my opinion, also better than the RF-62, but only slightly.

When I aim for that "powerful sound", I turn the volume up. I understand boosting bass and treble, but I only do that at low volume. Nothing sounds better than flattening it all out and cranking it up!

Nice. Onkyos have nice snap and punch.

Psshh . .... the bass and treble should be flat anyway

In general, yes. Rf-3s and RF-82s are both rated at 8 ohms, so when you hook them up at the same time, the nominal impedance drops to 4 ohms. However, this doesn't account for impedance dips. Each speaker probably dips below 4 ohms, so connected together they drop to below 2 ohms. That's a tough load for any amp, but at least we know your amp is rated for 4 ohms, so it's not that bad. If it was an 8 ohm amp, it probably would've been toast already.