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Reference series 3 - No strength in bass


rshop0103

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What type of music are you listening to? For 2 channel, I think the bass sounds best playing rock or country. If I try to listen to any of the rap or hip-hop material, I find that I like it better with a sub as the bass is thin. Of course I noticed better bass when I stepped up to a higher reciever.

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Well , after trying out various things I connected a Bose Sub Ihat I have. The sound is not room filling, but house filling !!!. The highs are extremley good, but there is a lot odf room to improve in my opinion - with a nice tightt sub. You are right , these speakers require a nice well engineered sub. Any recommendations in the not so exotic price range. ? This community is full of really nice people - appreciate the expertise, warmth and the friendliness of every one. Thanks a million.!!!

Dynamite sub for the money would be IMO - SVS or velodyne. There is a fella named the ear on this forum that is just "THE STUFF" when it comes to knowledge about subs. PM him and ask for his advice.

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What type of music are you listening to? For 2 channel, I think the bass sounds best playing rock or country. If I try to listen to any of the rap or hip-hop material, I find that I like it better with a sub as the bass is thin. Of course I noticed better bass when I stepped up to a higher reciever.

I listen to a variey of genre - rock, a bit of popular classicals, instrumentals, Indian fusion (movie sound trakcs -Slumdog and likes). The Onkyo I have sounds with good bass in my Bose (within what can be expected of Bose) and certainly a lot better bass than the what the my R3's produce now. As someone pointed out earlier today , there is something that is still missing - I would need to check whether al the 4 drivers are working.

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I haven't heard the RF-3's but spec wise they seem to resemble the RF-5's which pound out the bass. Something still seems wrong. Can you remove the grills and see if there is sound coming from each of the four 8" drivers?

Thanks for your suggestion. Yes all 4 drivers and the tweeers produce sound.

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  • 1 month later...

hi there folks

this is my first writing to a speaker forum

im a recent owner of klipsches after a long long longing for towers

i love the brand,

and i was completely awestruck by a pair of klipsch sp1s or so i guess (dont remember the model,perhaps some 5inchers single driver towers of synergy )

seven yrs ago,when i compared em on a track with a pair of ten inchers of i think pioneer speakers

they impressed me there n then

n i thot all the rest in the room were weaklings n inflated

the salesman also approved that he had yet to hear any speaker which cud beat its bass tightness n power handling in that size n price

that was it

i fell in love n then started to learn more of klipsch

i finally bought a pair of RF-3s

well, i do own a pair of kenwoods LS 7M towers too(170 watts 8 ohms,88db) placed in living room

when i compared em in my living room the too were very different

kens had bass ,wch i call, visceral,it feels through ur body passing through, n hits u smoothly,like a subwoofer rumble

i never regret its presence

the klipsch r 150 or 225 watts 8 ohms,arkansas

,theres a discrepancy btw online data n the speakers backConfused

however im not quite happy as yet of the depth of bass n the oomph it provides

though its power n throw is far superior from the kens

n not to mention the detail n clarity wch is a bit rounded in kens

im runnng both the speakers with an old jvc axz 911

i do keep switching my amps

n for most part of listening (90% music ) i run the quad 303 n 33 combo, wch sounds extremely pleasant than any of the japanese amps iv kept

the problem is wen i ran the movies last night wth a bunch of cousins , the slam of the indiana jones was right at !! but they all found the depth a bit lacking in the visceral way

it felt like soaring n missing out the bottom end

im in love with these rf3s n dont wana lose em for bass responce

i never felt the need for a sub with the kenwoods but with these i felt it

well i never tried the jvc n kenwood combo though!!

i run the kenwoods with a mediocre sony prologic KA-AV570 (i play in stereo usually ) bass knob turned to 75 to 90% usually wen i played klipsch i turned it down to flat, i.e 50%

plzzzz help me with this

somebody out there may have an explaination to this lacking from such a well reputed speaker

dr sherry


RF 3s,
kenwoods LS 707M
CELESTION 9 bookshelves
QUAD 303 power amp, quad 33 pre amp combo
sony X33ES
Pioneer DVS 737 , also sony RDR A1
jvc axz911 integrated amp
sony ta av 570 prologic
wires: van den hul
oelbach interconnects
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dear rshop0103

my klipsches have ample bass compared to all other towers i hv owned however the bass rumble,like a subwoofer ,is absent in rf3s ,or so do i feel. coz my kenwoods do give a more visceral rumble ,but obviously they cant go as loud n easy as these rf 3s

i guess klipsches r a bit shallow when it comes to low bass, or they r perhaps tuned so,in order to omit distortion n stay clean n boom free

hope u get it

id like to hear from u

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Fact: The Rf3 is the bottom of the line reference. I would never look to them as the flagship for bass. I owned a pair of RF7 that blow them away along with KG 5 .5 's so realize what you have and augment with a sub if necessary. The RF3 is a good full range starter speaker but has it's flaws bass being one of them. The RF3 is built to a price range and cliental. They are a good speaker but, don't get me wrong for heavy bass look elsewhere or into a "good" sub.

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dear rshop0103

my klipsches have ample bass compared to all other towers i hv owned however the bass rumble,like a subwoofer ,is absent in rf3s ,or so do i feel. coz my kenwoods do give a more visceral rumble ,but obviously they cant go as loud n easy as these rf 3s

i guess klipsches r a bit shallow when it comes to low bass, or they r perhaps tuned so,in order to omit distortion n stay clean n boom free

hope u get it

id like to hear from u

It has a weak bass (not completely without bass) but from what I hear from this thread and Klipsch customer service, a sub woofer is the fix. But as TNRabbit suggested I today I will check the connections inside and will post my findings.

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You can also use a small step voltage to verify the drivers all drive the same direction. Hook up a small battery and verify all drivers go in (or out), repeat with the same polarity on the other speaker.

That'll work, too. Let us know what you find~

Room placement can make a HUGE difference in frequency response. The room is, after all, the weakest link in almost any system.

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Well , after trying out various things I connected a Bose Sub Ihat I have. The sound is not room filling, but house filling !!!. The highs are extremley good, but there is a lot odf room to improve in my opinion - with a nice tightt sub. You are right , these speakers require a nice well engineered sub. Any recommendations in the not so exotic price range. ? This community is full of really nice people - appreciate the expertise, warmth and the friendliness of every one. Thanks a million.!!!

I would highly recommend the Klipsch Sub 12 as a very budget friendly option that should keep up with your RF-3's:
http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/synergy-sub-12-specifications

Klipsch tends to voice their speakers to be a bit bright in the midrange so I wonder if that's not what you're experiencing.

Have you tried listening to your speakers in an adjacent corner of your room? That would be a pretty good indication if what you're experiencing is room mode related.

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  • 1 year later...

RF3 needs careful placement. i really get them moved alot to get better bass. sometimes i feel bad about klipsch that my other brand bookshelves are less pain in the *** than these big towers . out in the living room they really started to hurt my feelings .

many would suggest a sub . i dont want a sub. so i will be shifting them back in my better room with closer side walls and more concrete than windows or stairways ...

maybe this account helps ,adios.

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