[Outdoor AW-650]

I have a pair of these and I’m happy with the aw650, however it’s a very sensitive speaker. I would recommend using a clean low wpc amp or receiver with them.

 

Perhaps my outdoor environment is to large for just two of them, I used combined with RB-61 II bookshelves and a SW120 and just didn’t think they had enough output volume at clean levels. I think the AW650’s shine when used for directional applications. They work good for rears, but you can’t space them to far out and they need reflective surfaces to be optimal- at least from my experience.

 

I also got mine dirt cheap, I think I paid $190 for the pair (new in box, unused) I imagine with 6 you could build a great sound scape in 5.1 and double up the center channel by using two of them. I would say optimal placement is about 3-5ft away from the listening position.

 

If you’re using a AVR receiver I would highly recommend using in-line fuses with these, I already have blown out the horn diaphragm on one of them after about 12 hours of use.

[RF-7 project/woofer replacements]

 
Sorry about taking so long to answer you. I was in the hospital getting three units of blood and a gulp of iron. The photo of the washer is the first hole that I attempted to enlarge and ended up making it too big. I then shifted to using a Dremel tool with a 1/8" carbide grinding bit to enlarge only one side of the hole. It worked perfectly. I would recommend that you do the same and not use a drill bit. If you have any other questions, just ask.

Sorry to hear about the hospital trip buddy, thank you again for taking the time to put these up. Other than aesthetics do the driver upgrades perform or sound better? The original drivers I have on mine are perfect condition but aesthetically I can’t stand the way they look in the middle with the original drivers.

I don’t think I would attempt this with anything besides a dremel, but your insights are very helpful since it’s nice to know someone has gone through this.

[Just picked these RF-7’s up! What amp to use?]

Single bridged channel (one amp for left, one amp for right).
 
Damnnnnnnn shame you sold Jubilees and McIntosh gear.

Awesome I have never heard bridged mono blocks, they must sound amazing!

My dad was the president of The Federated Group back in the 1980’s, and I grew up surrounded by excellent HiFi gear my entire life. Unfortunately I didn’t get the bug until a few years ago and never appreciated music or quality gear until recently. I didn’t sell the Jubes I think they were given away or donated to a church back in the late 90’s, I threw away a pair of signed Khorns that were a personal gift from Paul Klipsch to my father in early 2000’s... I didn’t even know what they were until recently. So if only I knew more, appreciated it more, this stuff would have been passed down to future generations.

My pop passed away in 2015 from Alzheimer’s but he always had something playing, I think my interest in HiFi was more or less an interest of connecting with him and trying to understand him. On the flip side I discovered the same passion for music and fidelity of great sound, and it got the bug. I grabbed that vintage vector research off of eBay because I was looking for a quality vintage amplifier, but also because my dad helped design and create it and it sounds damn good!

Most of his McIntosh stuff was top of the line vintage tube equipment, I would estimate today just the value would be in excess of 70,000. I can probably find pictures somewhere and will post them when I can.

Hindsight is always 20/20


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[Just picked these RF-7’s up! What amp to use?]

I would try to have at least 200wpc to run them properly. I run mine with my Bryston 4B amps in bridged mono (800wpc) at sustained extreme volumes and they stay pretty damn clean. 

Thank you mark for the info! That’s a very impressive setup you have there, now I’m shopping for amplifiers lmao

Do you have separate channels going to each terminal pair with the straps removed, or is it powering the entire unit with a single bridged channel?

It’s times like this I wish that I kept my fathers McIntosh stack and jubilees, oh how I was young and naive.


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[Just picked these RF-7’s up! What amp to use?]

29 minutes ago, dtr20 said:

We ended up putting a 200+ watt per channel Carver amp to the rf7s and we could finally here some mid-range. While using my 40 watt per channel vintage Sony amp, we could barely here make vocals in classic rock. When we hooked up the Carver amp while using the same Sony as a preamp, everything sounded a lot better.

I’m contemplating using two separate amps to drive these, if I remove the binding posts I can use the vector research on the HF and the pioneer for LF?

 

I also have a Klipsch R-120 subwoofer that will be used for LF, so it would make this a 2.1 setup. 
 

I wonder what the power handing on the drivers vs horn is? I understand that what I can do is pretty limited unless I bypass the internal crossover network, I just like the idea of being able to equalize the high frequency range.

 

i appreciate the input! Thanks!

 

 

[Just picked these RF-7’s up! What amp to use?]

21 minutes ago, TomR said:

what are you using the speakers for , 2 channel or home theater? my son had a pair and they didnt wake up until he put some watts behind them, I think like 2 hundred per channel but I cant remember what amp.

Mostly music and maybe an an occasional movie on the projector outside. I haven’t setup these up yet but I’m planning on doing it Wednesday. I just couldn’t refuse the price on these.
 

I just didn’t want to disconnect my other speakers from their amplifier/receivers until I got some feedback here. I’m on a decent sized property with a few acres and work indoors and outdoors. These would be going in the garage where I have a large roll up door and can open it up depending where I am.

 

I do have a few AW-650’s but they’re not loud enough for my liking lol

 

thanks!

[RF-7 project/woofer replacements]

Cool thread! I’m thinking about doing the exact same thing! Would you mind posting pictures of the front of the speakers with the dust covers removed? Thanks!

[Just picked these RF-7’s up! What amp to use?]

I already have a few klipsch in my life but I wanted something that would be a bit louder since I play these in a split indoor/outdoors environment. It could possibly be a downgrade from my RP-7000f’s but I just didn’t want to go through the process of replacing the horn diaphragms in them again.

 

I have a few amps and just was wondering what the best one would be to use with these monsters?

Vector Research VRX-9100

Pioneer VSX-LX503

Denon AVR-S540BT