rivercat

I’m in south central MT

Looking for a working RSW-15. Not picky about finish or color, just want a working sub. I have one already and am building a 5.2.4 home theater setup, and I’d rather pair two RSW15’s together than start over with two inferior subs.

So if my speaker placement is solid, it comes down to what speakers to put up there. My initial thought is the PRO-180RPC. they seem like one of the nicer ceiling speakers available and should match the PRO-180RPW’s I plan for the side surrounds. But they’re not able to be aimed. The PRO-18RC. Honestly just not sure what the difference between this and the 180 is. This one looks like it’s able to be aimed. the CDT5800 I’ve seen a few people talk about now. Also able to be aimed. Is this the best one of the three for what I’m looking for?

Here are a couple pictures of the actual room. you can see on the far wall where I’ve roughly outlined in blue painters tape where an 85” tv will go with some built in cabinetry on either side. There is a blue X marked on the wall where one of the side surrounds would go. Up in the ceiling I have a a blue X outlined in red where I’m talking about placing these in ceiling speakers. You can also kind of see what I mean about not having a spot to put traditional rear speakers. Half of that area is an open entryway into the room and the other half is where a bar will go.

This is not the best picture, just pulled the blueprints from my house and used my phone to mark some stuff. The red part on the bottom is where a bar will go. The blue at the top is the TV and two RF7’s. The green is a poor attempt at a recliner and sectional couch. The pink spots is where I’m thinking for the speakers in question here. the two spots on the sides, close to the furniture would be the in wall speakers, and the two spots between the furniture and the bar would be the two in ceiling speakers.

Ok, sorry, that makes sense. So to clarify, it makes sense to put the speakers where I’m talking about, but I’ll want to get a receiver that is Atmos capable? Then I can configure that setup as either a 7.1 with those in ceiling speakers as the rear surround OR a 5.1.2 with those in ceiling speakers as Atmos speakers and no true rear surround speakers? Either way, 7 speakers, placed where I’m thinking they should, makes sense, it’s just the setup within the receiver that I’ll have to mess with to see what sounds the best?

I understand rear surrounds don’t normally go in the ceiling, but I can’t be the only one that has a long room or a room without a usable rear wall to mount more traditional rear surrounds. My front stage is great, my side surrounds will be ideal, it’s just the rear that would need to be ceiling mounted. I can’t imagine that not doing anything at all for the rear would be better than having some nice in ceiling speakers back there acting as surrounds. The in ceiling mount is not the first choice for a perfectly setup home theater, I get that. But I guess I’m essentially thinking something pretty nice is better than nothing at all.

I am going to begin finishing our basement in the next few months and am in the planning phase right now when it comes to the stereo setup. it won’t be a dedicated home theater exactly, more of a family room with a heavy bias towards a great area to watch movies and sports. I have RF7’s for the L/R. A RC7 for now that I’ll upgrade to RC64 eventually for my center. The room is a little in the longer side with a bar in the back on one side of the room and the entry hallway on the other side, so there is not anywhere to put traditional rear speakers on a wall or anything. I will have to do in ceiling speakers behind the seating area for my rear surrounds. There will be room for in wall surround speakers on the sides as well. the plan would be a 7.1 system. So what I’m needing is as nice of an in ceiling speaker as I can get that will work with RF7’s and a RC64 in the front. I’ll try to get a drawing uploaded here as well that might help visualize this more. But I’m leaning toward PRO-180RPC for those two rear surrounds in the ceiling and two PRO-180RPW for the in wall speakers. I can’t help but think an in ceiling speaker that can be aimed a little bit might be an ideal fit for those two rear speakers, but is the PRO-18RC on par with the 180RPC in terms of performance? Is there anything else I should be considering that I haven’t listed out? I’m open to suggestions.

Thanks for pointing that out Dean, didn’t see that at first. Im curious to see if anyone has done this. If it’s as simple as drilling a couple holes, that’s not a big deal, but I’d like to see one that has done this to see if there are any gaps from going from the squared off shape to the perfectly round shape of the new style driver.

I actually did notice that when I was looking around. It’s odd because they list the part number as being compatible, but on the list of speakers they fit, they don’t list the RF7 1. I don’t see how they could work, the drivers on the 2 and 3 are perfectly round. On the 1st RF7 the driver’s housing is a little more squared off. Here is a picture of one of mine, the other is taped up as I sand it, but they’re in similar condition. You can see the creases in the actual metallic part of the driver right around the dust caps.

I’ve been searching around online quite a bit and haven’t been able to track down any replacement drivers since these are in the range of 15 years old at this point. Ive posted in the garage sale as well to see if I get any hits that way. What I have now does work and actually still sounds great, but the looks really bother me. Whoever had them before me did not take care of them, so each woofer has the dust caps pushed in and are a little warped as well. I’m in the process of sanding and staining the cabinets and everything is turning out really well, so if I could replace the drivers, or at least a couple of the worst ones, they’ll be near mint condition. I got a great deal on them to begin with, so if I could replace some drivers, I’m considering the DeanG crossovers and then they’d be a set of speakers I’d keep around for a long time. Anyone have any leads or advice on the search for some RF7 drivers?

I’m looking for replacement drivers for my RF7’s. What I have now works and really does still sound great, but they frankly look like crap. Each one is a little warped and has the dust caps pushed in. I got a great deal on a whole setup and I’m currently working on restoring the speakers, if I could replace the drivers, or at least a couple of the worst ones, they’ll be back to near mint condition. Let me know if anyone has a hookup for one or more drivers. Thanks!

That brings me to the RF7’s, the plan is to do them a little sooner and not wait months like I did between the RC7 & RSW15. I have no doubt that the cabinets will turn out really nice since there are just some surface scratches. I like the look with the grills off, but if I have any hope of having these in the living room eventually (the wife doesn’t like the look with the grills off), I need to get some new grills. The grills that I got with these are in pretty rough shape, snags all over. Does anyone have any leads on RF7 grills? And an RC7 grill for that matter. Ive looked on eBay here and there, but they’re not exactly a common item.

I’m almost embarrassed to just now be posting the next step. Everything has sat in our spare room for the better part of a year now. RC7 is done, RSW15 has been sitting there waiting to be done and the RF7’s have been hooked up and being used for music, but still haven’t been touched as far as sanding/staining goes. Finally got back on it this week. Finished up the RSW15. It turned out pretty good. Not quite mint, but definitely nice, maybe an 8/10. I sanded just a touch too much again on the top (apparently I don’t learn). But it’s not near as bad as I did on the RC7. Very happy with the way this turned out as a whole.

Here is the finished RC7 Top where I did a bit too much sanding Sides: Bottom:

I’m going to do the sub next. But I had a question that I figured someone here could answer. What is the best way to get the round plastic dial on the side of the sub, off? I want to take it off for the sanding, so I’m not sanding around it. I’m guessing by taking the driver off and popping the dial out from the inside? Edit: I took off the passive radiator to take a look at the dial from the inside. That's not going anywhere. Maybe it's possible, but it's above my expertise, that's for sure.

After far too long of everything sitting in a spare room, I decided to finally start this. Ive been enjoying the RF7’s as is, for music, but the sub and center have just been sitting there. I started with the RC7. It was by far the worst condition with a lot of surface scratches and a few deep gouges. Quite frankly, I’m the definition of a novice at this and I knew there was essentially no way I was going to make the RC7 any where near mint condition again, so I figured it was a good one for me to start with to see how close I could get it. Everything after that should be easier and turn out better. I bought a replacement driver on eBay for $60 to replace the one that’s completely jacked. I sanded it down and actually got all of the minor surface scratches out without much of a problem. I was very encouraged by how the sanding came out because not only does the center look pretty decent, but the RF7’s and RSW15 are in much better condition and just have some minor scratches in them, no deep gouges like the center had. I should be able to get the cabinets on the RF7’s and RSW15 in very good, near mint, condition. The problem I ran into on the RC7 is that on the front of it where there were the deep gouges, I got a little too aggressive with the sanding and just about sanded through the veneer. I instantly regretted it when I stopped. I got those gouges out, but not much wood grain left either. I hoped the stain would hide it a bit. It didn’t, and neither did the second coat. So it kind of is what it is at this point. Maybe I’d consider re-veneering them at some point down the road. But that’s not happening anytime soon. As a whole, I don’t think there is any doubt it looks better than before I started. But a great example of a restoration of a speaker back to mint condition this is not. Working on pictures now.

Totally get it Oldred, no offense taken. I’m not really as familiar with the reference series to be honest. I’ve been casually looking for some Heresey’s or Forte’s for awhile but when these popped up in my search, it was tough to say no. I’ve always known the RF7 is the top dog in the reference line, but I’ve never heard a set before. I’ll probably go the eBay route on a driver or two and then just sand down what I can without getting too aggressive and re-stain. They should turn out pretty good, not perfect, but good. I anticipate the towers and sub turning out really well, the center may just look “ok” when it’s done. What the hell, relatively small investment and should be fun.

I guess what I look at is the fact that the the RF7’s are in very good shape as is. A little bit of sanding and re-staining and they’ll look almost new. They’re easily worth $600+ The RSW15 is in great condition, worth probably 450+ The Onkyo receiver is in great shape and worth $100-$200. So even if the RC7 is a lost cause and worthless (which I don’t think it is), there is still WAY more value in this setup than the $450 I spent. With all this said, I probably won’t be selling any of it because I actually want the speakers. I may sell the receiver with the plan on getting something newer and nicer down the road.

Thanks WVU! The grills are all decent. The RC7 is missing the Klipsch logo, the sub has a small white paint drip on it and the RF7’s have a couple snags in them. I’d love to be able to replace all the grills if possible too. I’ll be checking that other thread out. I’m actually really looking forward to this whole process. Im not new to Klipsch, but this is kind of my first go at anything like this. I grew up listening to my dads La Scala’s (which he still has and sound great). I have the R20b sound bar in the living room (my wife really wanted something simple and clean looking, not a big home theater type setup in the living room). And I have the R15m’s in my listening room. So I have a few things, but most of it has been just a new purchase. This is the first truly high end thing I’ve bought myself so now I get to kind of restore them a bit. We’ll see how it goes!

Agreed! I can’t figure out what the heck happened to the center.

And then the RF7’s. I just took a couple quick pictures of the tops and fronts. Both sides of each RF7 are on par with the tops, surface scratches here and there, but no gouges.

Just for reference on the rest of the setup. Here are a few of the sub, as you can see, this one is in great shape, just a few surface scratches: