Why 23KHz ? To WF or not to WF? That is the question.

[andypanda]

Whoa!! Alot of stuff going on here and I'm not certain if I'm in the the right neighborhood but here it goes. This is the first time I'm putting on my Klipsch roller skates on (trying to balance).

Since the human ear can, at best only listen at 20KHz then why are newer products (not neccessarily more expensive) are showing higher frequencies at 23KHz? Are there pros and cons to this?

Can someone explain the differences of the RF and WF series? I'm trying compare here but I've noticed some best buy/ klipsch products and they make me gag and with cold chills. Did the WF series come out just save some U.S. Klipsch bucks????

Pioneer SC-05 (I'm glad I'm alive in this time to be a SC-05 owner. I'm burying this thing with me.)

RF-62

RC-35

Soon to be exiting stage right an old Athena ASP-400

XBOX 360

Panasonic Blue Ray BD60K

Samsung LN40A650 40 incher

[Bill H.]

Both series are Great.

Seems Klipsch is strickly selling the RF line thru Online Retailers.

The WF line I think, is geared for looks, with a more European, smaller, cleaner line..........Good Price Point. thru B/B.

How ever, Frequency wise, if you compare the WF line to say the RF 82's , that the RF 82's are actually cheaper, and have Better Response. They are Just Bigger....................

JMHO.................

[Mr. RF62]

Giving a response up to 23kHz would put the 20kHz easier to hear thus not rolled off so fast when spec'd to 20kHz.

[DrWho]

There are other performance attributes that will have a much larger influence on the perceived sound quality than 20kHz vs 23kHz. The problem is you have to read between the lines of the published marketing specs. I personally think the RF series is much better than the WF series.

[JohnA]

There is an audio theory that says while you cannot hear 30k, you can hear the difference between 20k and 30k, so your speakers should goas high as possible. It postulates that real sounds from music go past 20k if recorded properly. I can't hear over 14k anymore, so all of this falls on deaf ears for me.

[jacksonbart]

Its so your pets can enjoy the full range sound as well.

[andypanda]

Yeah. I think you hit the nail right on the head. I actually saw my pair of RF-62 at best buy on a manager's special for 399 at the time. when i saw that sign, my eyes rolled in the back of my head and I couldn't use logic for 10 seconds. I didn't even care one was open box I was so happy, I didn't know what to do with myself.

Thanks Bill

[Don Richard]

Are there pros and cons to this?

It's a con job - unless you are under the age of 8 or so.

[andypanda]

I think I will stick with my RF's

So is it like your at work and you can hear the flourescent lights or you wake up in the morning you swear the tv is on in the living room because you think you here the power but theres no volume.

Thanks Doc

[andypanda]

Well. I always wanted a loyal retreiver but I guess the ants that come through the window would be fine for now.

Hey!! Maybe I can leave swimming in some Rolling Rock and see if they boozed out while listening to the sounds??

[DrWho]

There is an audio theory that says
while you cannot hear 30k, you can hear the difference between 20k and
30k, so your speakers should goas high as possible. It postulates that
real sounds from music go past 20k if recorded properly. I can't hear
over 14k anymore, so all of this falls on deaf ears for me.

Do
you have a link or name I could search that theory on? Btw, if it's
claiming that 30kHz matters when you can only hear up to 20kHz, then
why would it not matter anymore that you can only hear up to 14kHz? If
you're talking about a 10kHz beat tone, then you should still be able
to hear that. However, if there was 20kHz and 30kHz in the studio
creating a 10kHz beat tone, then removing the 30kHz at playback does
not get rid of the 10kHz beat...

Btw, if you're
listening to CD's, then it is impossible to hear anything over 22.05kHz
since that is the physical limit to frequency when sampling at 44.1kHz.
To prevent aliasing, there are filters rolling off the sound before
then, so you're lucky to get anything usable beyond 19kHz in your
source material.

A speaker that can play higher usually has the
cone breakup frequency at a higher frequency...but that's not always
the case and SPL/efficiency plays a role in that too. I think when
people claim that a system with higher frequency response sounds better
they are just hearing better reproduction over the audible bandwidth
(frequencies below 20kHz). One thing to keep in mind is that extending
the HF response often requires a compromise to the lower frequency
ranges of that driver. Is it a good compromise to obtain inaudible
extension at the expense of more audible distortion?

[wuzzzer]

I believe that the 23kHz is achieved with the newer titanium drivers. I would find it hard to believe that Klipsch decided to use titanium just for the fact that it has a higher rolloff point, but rather that the 23kHz upper end is simply a side benefit from using titanium.

I really like the titanium diaphragms that I installed in my Fortes. I hear more detail, more 'sizzle' and smoother high frequency sounds compared to the original diaphgrams. I believe they do extend the frequency response to 23kHz also but that was not a deciding factor as to why I chose them.

[andypanda]

Doesn't F-Series use Aluminum tweets that range up to 23KHz?