bkevind

Ok. Scratched the itch finally. Forte II. Yes I overpaid I figure, +/- $200 is not worth agonizing over. If it was a problem, then I shouldn't be shopping in this ball park anyway. These are forever kind of speakers. Especially when I invest time/effort in recapping the xo's and whatever else can be done (Crites maybe?). Whatever the case. I have them, now in the office. They are too big for the office. Hence, they are perfect for the office Will take my time getting to know them. First through them was Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (vinyl). Very enjoyable to say the least. I do get the sense they want to be cranked louder, and want more space to stretch into.

Interesting. There are a lot more Klipsch in Houston CL than Austin, and it's not a bad drive. The La Scala just can't fit into my life anywhere unfortunately. I guess it's something you'll have to be patient with to find a buyer. If I ever get that big shop built on our bottom lot then, yeah, I'll have a wall of interesting speakers to play with. That's a few years down the road.

In my momentary obsession with the R-115SW because of this thread, I enjoyed this real world review and comparison: https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/under-1000-subwoofer-review-thread.343857/

Yeah it's stuck in my head so this may not be a problem that I can just let go of haha. That's the key, a thing is worth what a buyer is willing to pay ultimately. Supply/demand influence that, and buyer patience. I have very little patience for buying or selling, hence I tend to buy high and sell low. I did a sanity check on Ebay, but that turned out to be an insanity check. Crazy prices there, but like you said, that doesn't mean it will sell at that price. The Forte II I'm thinking about are oiled walnut. Self described in great condition. Can't really see the cabinet in the pics. The passive radiator have their dust caps dented in a bit: https://austin.craigslist.org/ele/d/klipsch-forte-ii-speakers/6357380825.html

Just venting for a moment. I've been on the hunt for Heresy speakers for the office. I have a desire to spin some nostalgic vinyl with vintage Klipsch. In my area they are not coming up often, and when they do they are priced higher than what seems to be reasonable to others. Yesterday, a nice looking pair of Heresy's came up for sale, I saw the ad within 2 hours of posting and texted right away. Response within seconds was "they are sold". Huh? 2 hours? He was asking $400. Another guy is selling a pair of so-so looking Heresy for $700. WTHeck is going on 'round here... Today, a nice looking pair of Forte II have showed up - he is asking $800. That seems on the very high side. I'm somewhat tempted anyway, even though I want them in the office where they won't have the space to really open up. (where maybe Heresy makes more sense). Those Belle's are still listed for $2500. Austin area prices are silly. Perhaps I will let it rest. I have excellent speakers in the office already. /end vent.

Shuffled the L/R and sub. Looks better to us, and sounds great. the RF7s are 8 feet apart now (center to center), much closer than before. I'm sending 80hz and below to the sub because it is very good at it's job. Obviously the sub is getting a lot of corner loaded energy, but it helps in this case. Sealed sub in a large (open floor plan) room. At the main listening position it's working quite well overall. For occasional music blasts I'll feed the RFs either 40hz and up or full signal. Really enjoying this setup for now. I may add a second sub in the mix and do some proper calibration if we ever get this room finished. Mom came over yesterday, so I put on her favorite type of music, in this case Ottmar Leibert (easy going flamenco guitar) at a pleasant back ground volume while we all chatted, drank wine and ate dinner. Stuff like this is where these RF7ii catch me by surprise once in a while. Nice meaty, lifelike sounding flamenco guitar at low volume. Don't mind the mess...4 kids and two tired parents The RFs aren't as close to the back wall as they appear, but they are closer than ideal. With the xo at 80hz this hasn't been an issue at all. Even at full signal, it has yet to bother me. The center should really be at the front edge of that table, but wife hates it that way. Soon enough this will be on a shelf and the table moved to the office.

True words. Key for me is lack of need for this particular savings. So in fact it just becomes a superfluous spend. Yet I'm willing to spend >1k for a matching sub to what I have (or the improved version) I can explain why but then I'll just further derail this thread.

I'm thinking to pass on this sub. All signs point to it being a very capable sub, especially for <500. But I don't think it will play well with my arguably better all around SB13-Ultra. The 115sw may do some things better but overall will not likely compete. If I had a place to put an extra sub I'd go for it. My garage needs are already sated with a capable Outlaw LFM1 I picked up for $80. The office is small and is quite nicely filled with good musical bass by a SB1000. It makes more sense for me to go towards the light - staying in the sealed category (my preference). In interest of matching things up, I'm thinking of adding a SB16, or SB13 to my existing SB13. Now I can imagine 4 of the 115sw, especially @ $500 each (can't do that with the Fry's deal) would be a decent way to spend $2k for bass. Add a bit more for good bass management system to even out the response in the room.

Whaaaaat...?! I don't need one of these. But it would sure match up nicely to my newly acquired LCR! My SVS Ultra SB13 seems to work well enough. Certainly does a better job than the RF-7II when I set the x-over at 80hz. But but, the 115sw is ported (good match for the RF7ii), and and and...gah. I can't justify it Maybe I could put the 115sw in front, move the SB13 to the back. nah, matching ported with sealed would be more of a task than I'm willing to undertake. Don't have the equipment or patience. Tell me not to run to Fry's tomorrow...

I love this review.

The cabinet is going away, will either build floating shelves or possibly move the receiver/amp/etc to the closet behind that wall. Will probably relocate the sub to a rear corner. This is just a multipurpose family space, so it's not going to get much better - no treatments etc. Works well enough for us. The kid is watching garfield haha. The TV is small for the space I think it's a 70ish. You can see the corner load of the right channel, haven't messed with placement much yet.

Perhaps. Then again, tomorrow may never come. How true that is. And there are so many other brands that are worth a listen as well. Thank you sir, I'll get some "me" time soon enough. The first movie my wife put on with the new center was a slow dark drama. I went to sleep about 8 minutes in. Ah yeah pics are always fun. We're in the midst of making some changes with furniture etc but I'll take some. Yep, or you'll be bleeding money constantly. Honestly some of my favorite speakers have been older stuff, so really these are pretty darn new with that perspective. It's all good, Schu has valid perspective - and/or just being funny! Either way works.

Woohoo. Just got my RC-64II delivered, unpacked and plugged in. Very meaty. Sounds great so far with the RF-7II (obviously it should...). Happy to have the L/C/R in harmony.

Yeah, what's in now: Yamaha 760 Polk T50 x2 Klipsch R14 x2 Old sub Outlaw LFM-1

Nothing logical about it, don't really have requirements Recently acquired RF-7II. Definitely no need for RF-7. But but but they are there, for sale, and rarely do I see interesting used Klipsch for sale around here. But then I'll probably want to modify the Rf-7 which will crank up the cost, for something that will gather dust in the garage and be used during workouts and projects. So I guess for the use I should keep the cheap stuff that's in there that already meets my needs I think I have a mental problem/obsession.

Browsing CL as usual. RF-7's popped up, seller is asking $600. Do I need them? nope. Kinda want them anyway because I'm nuts. Fair price? https://austin.craigslist.org/ele/d/klipsch-rf-7-speakers/6348632590.html

I see I've put myself out there enough with my comments to be worthy of some ball busting I think I will be more thoughtful with my words in the future. In short - I will simply admit my words were inaccurate. In particular I have no experience with the modifications that I referred to, and even if I did, I think any subsequent review / observations are mostly if not entirely subjective. Therefore declaring it "better" was shortsighted and narrow minded. Furthermore, I have very little Klipsch ownership experience, making my armchair quarterback commentary about as worthless as can be To be loose again with my words and thoughts - in my observation of this world wide interweb of insanity, it is commonly thought that many Klipsch speakers (with horn loaded tweeters) have a tendency to be harsh at certain frequencies, and particularly at higher SPL. To the point that the very idea of owning Klipsch products is a polarizing and divisive topic in most any general A/V forum. I don't prescribe to this nonsense, as there are extreme haters and extreme apologists that will ignore any factual or observed data that make the conversation anything but productive. The existence of (some speakers) Klipsch harshness seems to be somewhat corroborated by a portion of Klipsch owners that decide to modify their speakers in an effort to tame that harshness. Also with subjective reviews. Maybe not so much with RF-7II. More so with the RF-7. Then I see that Klipsch has modified their horns, tweeters and crossovers in the latest speaker lines to change the way they sound. Assumption is to reduce the impression of harshness, to smooth the sound. Maybe that's not entirely for the best? Now, with my head spinning from all this, I came into the RF7II expecting to experience some problems, or at least quibbles related to harshness. This in itself I recognize as faulty thinking. So far I have enjoyed what they do, any quibbles I may have with them so far are not really related to harshness. More so, a differing design and sound philosophy. I find the same with any speaker I've ever listened to at length. There is no perfect speaker for me. I will say that the idea of modifying/upgrading the existing xo parts with same spec but higher quality parts only makes sense, even if the result is hardly noticeable and doesn't change the overall sound. Having read through @Youthman's experience - he seems neutral on the subject, to the point he has considered going back to stock xo for his particular taste. That was very informative for me, and helps me to slow my roll with doing anything right off the bat, if at all. Now what if the plastic horn in the rf-7II does resonate at particular frequencies that does not contribute to a positive result? This seems to be a measurable occurrence, and perhaps shows in the measurements that have been taken. Is this a design intent or more so an accounting reality? I dunno.

Touche! I suppose the motivation for my snarky comment - the people that have been modifying their plastic horns to be less resonant, and the material of the new horns Klipsch makes that seems to achieve a similar purpose. Even though I just received my pair, and enjoying them very much - in the back of my head I'm thinking about the horn mods and the xo upgrades. If it can make it better, why not?

I feel like there is a point, yet to be made For many, these very large speakers would be more than enough - and for music, it's pretty close to enough. Still, the visceral quality and energy that a very good sub can provide is almost impossible to beat by a pair of speakers.

I have a SVS SB13 Ultra, really need more for this space but it makes a huge difference. I've got it off for now, just enjoying 2.0 to get to know the speakers. With the ultra towers I did go ahead and let the sub do most of the heavy lifting as it just does a better job by far. I would change it up to 2.0 at times to just enjoy what the speakers can do on their own - especially those very loud (very wine induced) extended listening sessions with the wife. I'd like to sneak in a PB16 to kick it up a notch. I'm more or less satisfied with the SB, it's enough to live with it and not be totally bummed lol. My previous wife, hated my tiny mirage 8" sub, and any visible speakers whatsoever, I'm way ahead the game now by comparison. I'm not a bass head like you must be with that setup in your entertainment room! Part of me wants to go there, our main room is not great for sound. Too open to the dining room, kitchen, entry way, hallway to the bedrooms. Plus it's the main space the family hangs out in, so having 2 or 4(4 would probably be just right) large subs would be hard to get away with.

I can see how that happens with these. Right now I'm specifically focused on the speakers, in time I will let that go and just listen. I'm using an outlaw 5000, which is an honest 125wpc driven to 5 channels. Only running 2 at the moment with the Klipsch, at most will run 3 if/when I get the 64ii. The height and surrounds I power from Yamaha aventage 860. I have a NAD C272 sitting around, which is 150wpc x2, not a huge difference but who knows it might sound better for other reasons. Or not. Ah I do enjoy Clapton, I'll definitely give him a listen. When I recalibrate I may or may not use the ypao volume, and enable tone controls to tweak treble if needed. So far I'm ok with the brightness. Actually I'll just turn that off now so there is no calibration applied. I just remembered that I also have extra bass turned on (bass is swallowed up in this open room) and an additional enhancement turned on also. I'm going to turn everything off and let it play as it is from the source. Good to know. Looks like a lot of folks turn the treb down a bit. I'll see how it sounds as I adjust that.

Forgot to mention - I haven't recalibrated anything, so that's step 1!

So far so good! Definitely did not make a mistake. My amazing wife is happier as well - she has been a Klipsch girl for years. She HATED the SVS Ultra Towers - because of their weird shape. She did really like the sound, but she likes the RF-7II better in looks and sound. This is a woman that almost would prefer I put in wall speakers so she can have a pretty space - but leans just slightly towards "f that, I want good sound!" I told her, look I can put in some pretty decent in-walls. "Will sound as good?" Not unless we spend a LOT more, build the wall out more etc, and even then it may not sound as good. "Then lets stick with towers" The Ultras could get to ridiculous spl without breaking a sweat (easily 110db+, until my amp decides to take a thermal rest after an extended way too loud party session) But almost too clinical. My only wish for the Ultras is to add a slight bit of lushness to them. Make no mistake, they rocked the house with or without the sub, capable of 28Hz and crisp loud highs. Big shoes to fill, so when I got word that they needed to go because of the look, I had my work cut out to replace them without losing in sound. I have listened to a lot of speakers at a wide variety of price points (more than I would ever spend) and came away feeling like they would not be worth replacing the Ultras with. The RF-7II - day 1, some rambling impressions. 2.0 channel only. Tidal, highest quality. First word - Wow. We've definitely lost nothing, and gained more energy in the room, and got some of that lushness added that I crave. Placement is not ideal - right tower is close to the corner. Both are about a foot from the wall. I'd like to move the right further away from the corner, and both further out from the wall. This may not be practical - though I can work with it a little bit. Unfortunately I can't do an A/B because the Ultras are gone. I feel the corner and wall placement is leading to some low-mid frequencies being exaggerated due to room interaction - makes it sound slightly out of control at times (at high volumes). I also hear slight cupping with certain higher frequencies - almost to be expected. It disappears mostly the further back I go (behind the listening area which is 15 ft from speaker) as far as 28 feet before I'm at the back wall (there is a half wall at 22 feet also). I hear the cupping at certain frequency of voice, and certain higher percussion. It's the best Klipsch I've heard to date, to be clear. I'm quite pleased I've only heard that effect a very few times (at rather high volume as well - avg 99dB, peak 108db measured with crappy phone app from 6 feet). I have not truly cranked them yet, though I got pretty high up, much louder than 99% of the time. Lower, normal loud listening volume I haven't noticed cupping at all. With that, the impression is that the Ultras were a bit more controlled in mids and lows. Slightly more crisp, and better absolute resolution of detail as well but that's not always desired. An example track I enjoyed this morning - Stevie Ray Vaugn - Tin Pan Alley. The RF-7II reproduced this blissfully. This is what I was looking for. A few I've listened to for the all too brief time so far ( I don't have a proper demo list anymore either, so this was a bit random. if you have recommended tracks I'm all ears): Bellyache - Billie Eilish Take the Power Back - Rage Against the Machine Tin Pan Alley - SRV Drifting - Lee Ritenour If You Wait - London Grammar While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Jake Shimabukuro My Home is in the Delta - Muddy Waters Helpless (Live At Massey Hall 1971) - Neil Young WALLS - Kings of Leon Tennessee Whiskey - Chris Stapleton Just Squeeze Me - Dave Grusin Homage to Duke Caravan - Dave Grusin Homage to Duke (this one I have used for many years as a demo track. This is the type of track I perceive some loss of control as the drums really ramp up. But again I think that largely has to do with room interaction and placement). I'm not a huge Jazz listener, but some of it is really good to me. Saw a funny signature somewhere (maybe this forum) "Jazz sucks out loud" - cracks me up. If I were to get very critical (I don't really listen that critically anymore) - I'd say the Ultras were better at the nth level of detail, and perhaps tighter control of low-mid. The efficiency of the RF-7II really stands out, there is just more of everything at any volume level - and that is something I really wanted. But my time so far with the RF-7II has been short, and acoustic memory is not so good The RF-7II are doing everything right to my ears. They have so much more "meat" to them in all the right ways. Guitar/strings, percussion, voice etc. So good. The room is filled with more and better energy. RF-7II > SVS Ultra Towers for me. Cliff's Notes: I love these things

The RF-7II's have arrived! woohoo! (ow, my back - kidding they aren't heavier than the SVS Ultras I had) Just got them plugged in and they make good noises so far. Streamed some crappy music from Amazon for a quick sound check. Have to work a bit tonight, but leaving them on playing a movie for the kiddos to begin the "break in" period. I think I'm going to like these.

Haha. Fair enough. I buy high and sell low, so I tend to be the outlier for stats. Used items have a lot of variance to their value, seems tough to really nail it down. I know there is an acceptable range, but most of the time I hear/read of stories of people finding xyz for pennies on the dollar. I never find those deals! Sometimes I wonder if some of those thrift store finds are fabricated.