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looks really nice. We have a Salamander twin 20 and it was expensive. I would have loved to have built it myself like you did but I dont have nearly any of the power tool sets that you probably own. Congrats though, it really does look very well done.

Okay, so our Christmas gift to ourselves is here and up: Before: Unpacking: After:

mike: any cheap suggestions for long curtain rods? or rods in general? can i use a very thin PVC pipe? Like i said, i already got the curtains ready, just need the rods to mount it to. Home depot has very long beams but they cost close to a hundred bucks.... for a stupid rod. any suggestions to do this on the cheap?

god mike, now I have to finish hanging my curtains (i bought them to do exactly what you did, about a year ago and they are still in the HT closet) behind my screen to make it look like yours... great job man.

Christmas is coming a bit early for me too, TH-65PF9UK due to arrive on Wednesday... Lots of work to do before then.

nice, i remember taking delivery of my stuff not even a month ago. Just pace yourself, the boxes are very very heavy and probably dirty from being on the back of a truck. Have a lot of bedsheets or plastic curtains to place over the area where you will unbox it and keep box cutters and other sharp objects away from the speaker after you unbox. Only advice i can give you about not getting too excited till they are in their place and not making silly mistakes that could mar the finish and put a dent in your day. Enjoy it

one thing i've discovered with my rf 83s, is that it needs a lot of space to really open up. I have it about 18 inches from the back wall and that even seems like its not enough I may have to move them even further forward. (on some low frequencies it sounds a bit muddy, because 3 of the rear ports on the left speaker are firing into heavy silk curtains.) So that could be a consideration. Seriously, these are big speakers and they really need a big room to get the most out of them. If you plan to move to a bigger space, then definitely plan for the future, but if you are set where you are, definitely consider the rf63s, i still think they maybe a better fit for your room. I think to get the most of the RF83s/RF7s you really need a 18 x 20 --20 x 20 room, at the least.

i think, for your room, you'll be fine with an rf63. I have my RF7s, but I send all the LFE sub to the sub, since its a dedicated theater room. Now, if you were doing 2 channel only, it would be nice to have full range speakers where you wouldnt need a sub necessarily which can overemphasize or distract but in your case i'd get the rf63s and not look back.

I just bought a pair of the RF-83s and I think they are just awesome. Having said that however, I havent heard the RF-63s, so I dont know how they sound. My room is considerably bigger than yours (by about 32%) and I listen to the RF83s at around 18-19 feet back or so. at that distance, these speakers keep up flawlessly and really fill the room with sound. Before I got the RF-83s, i had the RF-7s, and my basis for comparison was the RF-7s. Before we moved to the house we are currently in, I had the RF-7s in a room that was 14 x 15 x 8 and that was definitely more speaker than the room ever needed. I think that you should be very pleased with the RF-63s, and it should work well for your room, but do what i did, take your favorite music (or movies scenes) to the store and audition them. You cant rely on specs that a manufacturer posts and decide that way, but in any case, i dont think you are wrong in your line of thinking based on my *flawed* anecdotal experience.

well i think i can chime in here, since i've dealt with both dealers. So, when I built my theater, i didnt know of a dealer locally that had Klipsch Reference and bought from an online dealer. I got a good price and the product was exactly as promised when shipped. I had a problem with one of the grilles being broken becuase of the shipper (not UPS or Fedex, but a freightliner, who screwed it up worse than I've ever got a package from any of the other usual suspects). And they shipped out a new grille to me. So I was very pleased with the ease of my transaction with this outlet. Unfortunately, they no longer sell Klipsch but this time around I knew this local dealer who sold Klipsch and was able to buy from them at a very fair price. So, I would suggest to you to go to a local dealer and see if they carry the 83s. If they do, go with cash and try to work out a deal. A good deal is possible if you show that you're a serious client. You always roll the dice with an online dealer, unless you've done business with them in the past, so be wary, but the experience could be good, so its really a gamble either way. on another note: I've tried to listen to these speakers over the past week and a half, and boy am i pleased. These are truely amazing. I have nothign to complain about the sound, its just perfect. I couldnt be happier. The bass is there! I thought at first it wasnt, but its certainly there and room filling and We have a pretty big room (20 x 20 x 11). I'm essentially going to get a sub just for parties at this point really. For pure stereo listening, you dont really even need it. Its that good. The new treble drivers continue to amaze me. NO listener fatigue at all. I've been listening at all volumes and its still as clear as my RF7s, but even smoother. Jay: i cant imagine how you have those speakers in your tiny dorm. I hope you got that dent fixed and made the roommate pay for it.

The first time I tried to look for the Klipsch RF7s (3 years ago) i came across an Ebayer who had it at a great price. It was my first transaction and he said to pay by western union, which i did. Then i got a call from western union saying 'hi, we have reports that this person who's recieving your payment is fraudulent, do you still wish to continue?" Well it seems that Western Union saved me from my own stupidity and gullibility. I only lost 100 dollars as a Western Union service charge, and boy that was one charge that was well deserved by them. From then on, I dont even look at auctions unless they have a paypal via credit card auction. You just cant trust people out there. I hope it works out for you, and I'd say just to keep diligent and record everything you say/hear back. If you dont hear from him by the middle of this week, i'd get Ebay/Paypal and your Bank involved.

Yeah, i mean i havent watched any movies on it yet (i cant wait for HBO HDTV to show something worth watching on it) but as i said i watched football in 5.1 and the sound mix was really great. The speakers were subtle when they needed to and were sharp and pronounced when it called for. The surround speakers demand your attention, i found myself looking around the room at points becuase I started hearing things i'd never heard before. I was quite pleased at this misdirection. i'm gonna have to train myself not to do that. I also noticed that these have 2 woofers vs 1 woofer on the RS7, i'm sure that helps in dispersing even sound through the room. Again, color me satisfied.

i have the exact same setup as you do. I went to the local Klipsch dealer and told them about wanting to get a pair of surrounds for my theater. I originally went in asking about the THX Ultra 2 surrounds (mainly because they have the black dust-caps) but the dealer said 'you know the RS62 would be a better fit for your system and has a better tweeter thats closer to the timbre of the RF7s, so that would be our recommendation. Well based on his recommendation (and i looked over the specs, and they all seemed similar), I went and got the RS62s. The only thing i've watched in my theater so far is Sunday Night Football with the Colts/Patriots last week and I was blown away by the performance of the speakers. They were very detailed and really gave me a great soundstage. I think they keep up very will with my RF7s/RC7. Of course I was upgrading from a pair of Bose 141s, which are next to nothing, so my opinion could be interpreted as not quite objective. But i'll tell you what i know and what i like: I know these are a very good match for MY setup (which is the same as yours) and I do NOT rergret my purchase. Far from it. If you get these, I doubt you'd be disappointed, if at all. Hope that helps. If you do buy and mount it, be careful, they are deceptively heavy.

Okay, some pictures as promised. They really tower over the now dimunitive 42" plasma.. i'm debating whether to get a 50 or wait till next year and get a 58".

well, I really like the dust caps, not a fan of the all copper, its a bit distracting with the covers off. But as i listen to this speaker more and more, i just love it more and more. Its really everything that was great about the RF7s but just a bit smoother. The bass is there, its deep, its wonderful. I really only need a sub for 'party levels'. When I was shopping for these speakers, I got some advice from some out of state dealers who, it now seems, were more likely steering towards their old RF7 inventory than the RF83s. The stuff they said about these speakers was just flat out wrong. I couldnt be happier with my decision. Now i'm just wondering what I should do about these behemoth boxes. What did you all do? I guess i'll keep it around while I have the warranty but they are just so huge.... any of you keep yours? I dont have an attic and was planning on just collapsing it and putting them in the garage.

well the issue is that these guys are basically the only Klipsch reference dealers in my area, so i cant play anyone against anything, but what i do seriously want is a subwoofer, which i will buy in a couple of months. it just comes down to if the rt 12d has the bass that i want, vs a svsubwoofer sub.... i like the compact design of the klipsch sub, and aesthetically i'd prefer it. we'll see, i think, having spent close to 3 thousand in 2 days at that store should count for some credit/credibility. Its a gorgeous sub, if it can produce some good SPLs, i'd get it. can you folks offer any advice about that sub specifically? also, would adding a 200-300watt x 2 amplifier help the RF83s any?

So i got home and listened to the 83s today for about 40 minutes at near reference volume. I just have to say i'm sincerely impressed and delighted at this piece of work. The bass is better than i thought yesterday. What i feel right now is that I should upgrade the rest of my equipment to feed this the best signal as i can. Its a very very capable and outstanding speaker. Its every bit as engaging as the RF7s, and I did, i think, detect a hint of clarity over the RF7s. The best part: no listener fatique. The RF7s were definitely in your face. These arent. Now the ultimate test would be if i went up to the theater room and brought the RF7s back downstairs and placed them next to the RF83s and do a direct A/B but my back will NOT allow that. In the end, I'm so impressed and so glad I bought these. I am not dissapointed, not one bit (well i wish Klipsch left the black dust caps, i liked that look better). For anyone who doesnt believe me, you gotta test these out, they are every bit as capable as the RF7s. The tweeter is really the difference maker. Anyway, my dealer, the price i got and the performance i'm getting is gonna keep me loyal to klipsch for a very very long time. I'm almost tempted to go back to the dealer and ask him if i can bring home the RT12d to test it out against this speaker (would they even do that?).

okay, the RF83s are here and its time for me to answer my own question. So i got to play with them for about 20 minutes today... i was real tired from work and then setting up these behemoths. that itself took 2 hours. But then i warmed up the ampllifier and listened to some eagles hell freezes over. boy are these speakers smooth. Definitely not as 'in your face' as our RF7s but this is very very smooth and refined, a quality that was lacking in the RF7s. The sensitivity between the RF7s and the RF83s are also noticable as I cranked this a lot higher to get the same levels i get out of the RF7s, but so far, I heard or found no distortion. I played these full range, and the bass was enough to fill the room with convincing sound. I would say that they have almost as much punch as the RF7s, except whats really noticable is the clarity in the mid-range. So my first impressions is that this is every bit a capable speaker for mid-range and the highs. It had a lot of the characteristic Klipsch qualities that we have all come to know and love but it comes off as a little mroe refined or tamer, depending on what you like about the previous generation. I for one am estatic. The only complaint i had about the RF7s was that it caused a bit of fatigue after intense listening. So far, none here. I'm definitely impresssed and relieved (you never truely know how something sounds till you bring it home). thanks folks for all your help and comments, i'll try and post some pictures of my setup tommorrow. all my bose is now disconnected!

well i hate to interrupt the catfight but i'm a bit disappointed today. I called my local dealer hoping the speakers would have arrived today but they didnt, he says the earliest i can ask about it is monday but no later than tuesday. I'm gonna call tommorrow on the off chance that it comes in... but i was really hoping to be able to play with them over the weekend. oh well.

hey ear, you say you're the king of Subs, so what do you think of the Rt-12d? like i said, at the store, it wasnt hooked up so i couldnt audition it. I will be using the RF83s strictly for 2-channel audio, to fill a 20 x 20 x 11 room. When i previously had the RF7s, I used a SVS PB2+ sub with it, and it kept up quite nicely, but I never cranked it full volume even. I use that sub for home theater right now, but I want something that will be a good match for this, for music (all kinds, rock, dance/trance/etc. ). I want it to keep up fairly well. Should i even consider any klipsch subs or stick with SVS?

Well i went to the store at 6pm. the salesman initially thought, looking at me (i look like i'm 16 when i shave) that i wanted some of the entry level klipsch speakers but then i intimated that I have built a theater based around the reference 7s and his eyes lit up and apologized and told me to follow him into another room, which was filled with all their expensive stuff. Then we tested the speakers, on a rotel 200wpc amp and prepro. i wanted to listen to the sub, but it wasnt hooked correctly and he couldnt get it to work, so i listened to the rf83s. They are defniertly tamer than the RF7s. Now i usually listen to it a bit brighter than with tone defeat, but they sounded pretty good to me, and had excellent mid-range. I took the Metallica black album and the eagles "hell freezes over" album with me for test material. They didnt have the cherry in stock so they said it would have to be special ordered, but I thought the speakers sounded great, and he gave me a fabulous deal, much lower than i expected to pay and it was done. So i'll have them in a week. I'll let you guys know what i think after i get them home. Listening to them at the store was less than ideal since at home i listen to it at listening position which is in the center, and here there was a projector rack, where i would normally be sitting. But it sounded pretty good to me, and i was afraid to fiddle with their equipment myself. Anyway, it says *no refunds* on the reciept, which i have now discovered, but i really dont think it will come to that, i've loved klipsch equipment and i'm quite sure i will still.

right now we use the RF7s in a home theater environment only and it just performs outstandingly. I didnt like the idea of having the same exact speaker in every part of the house so i was waiting for these new RF83s to come out. And if it addresses the only two complaints i have with the RF7s in terms of harshness/reveals too much on some music, then i'm golden. Lets hope that I get a good demo tommorrow and walk out with these speakers, if i like what i hear. I'm going to take 5 of my favorite CDs to the store and try it out to test exactly what i know. Thanks for all the help

Well as i said, I love the rf7s but the only times i wished it was a bit gentler is if i listened to some really hard rock stuff, like van halen or linkin park. On those, again it depends on the album, but there is just some stuff that gets phased out in terms of clarity and melts in the treble. But as long as you guys think it does a good job on the midrange, and the trebles, i would be very pleased. I am not worried about the low end as I plan on getting a sub to go along with it. Also what are your impressions of the rt12d sub thats supposed to complement it? btw: Jetjockey can i ask how much you paid for your 83s? I'm gonna try and haggle with the local dealer tommorrow, dont know how flexible they are over pricing, but if its close to 20% i'd love to make a deal with them. Is that reasonable to assume that they might go that far?

thanks for the responses. I really appreciate the input. So i called a dealer that was out of state, and he says that he has both the RF7s and can get the RF83s. Now he says that while he has no problem selling me the RF83s he strongly suggests i get another pair of the RF7s. I told him that the RF7s are just a little too harsh on some types of music and i want somethign smoother, and he said that the only thing that has changed is that they have 3 drivers instead of 2, and it provides less power and less bass. He said the tweeters is bascially the same as they were in the RF7s, so the harshness that i've complained about would remain, but with less power to back it up due to how the 3 new drivers were wired. now I havent heard these speakers and I plan to tommorrow, but I was encouraged by what was written in your comments here. I cannot figure out if this dealer is being honest with me or if he's trying to unload his stock of the RF7s. Is there any merit to his claims? this would be easy to decide if there were any reviews online or in mags, i just dont know what i should do

the only thing that i didnt like about my RF7s is that on some rock music, it could sound a little more harsh than i like. I mean its great sometimes, because it sounds so live, but sometimes its a bit too bright, if thats toned down a little, i would be in heaven. But the best thing I liked about my RF7s is the depth i got without the subwoofers. The 10s in it are so so smooth. I realize these are smaller drivers and I shouldnt expect the same type of performance but as long as it does a good job with the mids and the highs (obviously), I can fill the low end with a sub. Thanks for responding folks. I'm definitely going to demo them at a store this weekend. The local Klipsch dealer, HIfi buys, is having a 30th aniversary sale this weekend, and if i can get them to demo it and give me a decent price, i'll just go ahead and get it. When you guys bought yours, what discount, if any, did you get off the MSRP?