TheMusicDave Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I'm building a single-ended triode hi-fi amplifier that will putout about 8 watts per channel into 8 ohms. I'm looking for a highlyefficient speaker and wondered if it would be ok to pair this amp withsomething like the Classic RF-7 or RF-5. (I usually listen to jazz anddo not anticipate listening at levels that would drive the amp intoclipping.) Any advice would be very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I don't know anything about non-Heritage Klipsch products, but 8w is more than adequate for the Heritage class, though may be taxed at high volumes with pipe organs or anything with sustained very low frequency material. Also will work nicely with most any Frazier, see the FUG thread for info on that. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 The Heritage Series speakers are said to work well with low-powered amps, but the RF-7s in particular sound best with lots of power, at least according to most users on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I think the Cornwall (or Klipschorn) would be best suited for an 8W tube amplifier. I prefer the Cornwall II over the original Cornwall, the current Cornwall III is reputed to be better too. Other models would be fine for lower listening levels. If you have a 16 ohm tap, the original Heresy with an added subwoofer could do a good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 The Klipschorn would probably be the best, but then again space, good corners, cost of acquisition, etc/ enter into the equation. Most cost effective method would be Cornwalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 The Klipschorn would probably be the best, but then again space, good corners, cost of acquisition, etc/ enter into the equation. Most cost effective method would be Cornwalls. ..Or the Klipsch Heresy: Heresy I's have [edit: "about"] the same sensitivity as old Cornwall Is and IIsChris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Heresy's would also work very well, particularly if space was at a premium. New caps and replace the K-22/24 with the K-28 from a Heresy-III.... Yesiree!!! Make a grown man cry, make young girl weep.... [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 "..Or the Klipsch Heresy: Heresy I's have the same sensitivity as old Cornwall Is and IIs" No, they don't. The old Heresy was stated to be 96dB/2.83V, the old Cornwall at 98.5dB/2.83V. The old Heresy with the K22 was about 10 ohms minimum, the Cornwall was about 5 ohms minimum. For that reason I suggested running the old Heresy on the 16 ohm tap (with a subwoofer). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblio Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 "..Or the Klipsch Heresy: Heresy I's have the same sensitivity as old Cornwall Is and IIs" No, they don't. The old Heresy was stated to be 96dB/2.83V, the old Cornwall at 98.5dB/2.83V. The old Heresy with the K22 was about 10 ohms minimum, the Cornwall was about 5 ohms minimum. For that reason I suggested running the old Heresy on the 16 ohm tap (with a subwoofer). The Hersey I FAQ page gives 8 ohm nominal, is it really 10 ohm min ? The reason I ask is I am running 2 for a center, can I put them in parallel with a HK AVR-254 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I'm building a single-ended triode hi-fi amplifier that will put out about 8 watts per channel into 8 ohms. I'm looking for a highly efficient speaker and wondered if it would be ok to pair this amp with something like the Classic RF-7 or RF-5. (I usually listen to jazz and do not anticipate listening at levels that would drive the amp into clipping.) Any advice would be very much appreciated. The RF-7's sensitivity is quoted at 102 dB @ 2.83 V/m, and the RF-5 is quoted at 99 dB. Either of these speakers would do well with a low-powered amplifier such as the 8-watt SET that you mentioned. Remember that one decibel (dB) is about as small a unit as the human ear can distinguish. It's really quite small from a listening standpoint. I also think that you will eventually enjoy using a sub for jazz. Once your budget recovers, I'd recommend looking into providing a subwoofer with clean, distortion-free output. I'm not referring to a small long-throw subwoofer: look instead for something that has its -3 dB point down around 20-25 Hz or lower and has a fairly large driver surface area that doesn't have to move very much, or alternatively--a horn-loaded sub. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefluffy Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I believe the issues with the RF-7 and the RF-5 is the lower impedance at low frequencies. The amplifier won't be able to provide enough current to push the bottom end of those speakers. I think DJK's observations are right on. The heresy seems to be a valid option. I think the RF-7 would be a bad choice considering the impedance gets around 2 or 3 ohms on the bottom end of the woofers (if I remember correctly... feel free to correct me if I do not!). My 2 cents... Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SET12 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I'm building a single-ended triode hi-fi amplifier that will put out about 8 watts per channel into 8 ohms. I'm looking for a highly efficient speaker and wondered if it would be ok to pair this amp with something like the Classic RF-7 or RF-5. (I usually listen to jazz and do not anticipate listening at levels that would drive the amp into clipping.) Any advice would be very much appreciated. Hi Dave, Welcome to Klipch! Myself I prefer 3-ways, and I to listen to a lot of Jazz and I have 10 watts of power. You might consider the Heritage line of Klipch like the Forte 1 that I have which I have taken to heights I never thought possible with crossover modifications that are what may be more than what is typically done but have been very rewarding to me and others. Nearly 30,000 people have viewed my thread and many have undergone many of the modifications I have in the same pursuit of high quality sound. Some of which inspired them to work with other Klipsch speakers as well. The nice thing about the Fortes is the low parts count and fairly low values which allowed me to use some of the worlds most exotic parts which could be cost prohibited for many. It really depends on what your in pursuit is of whether or not its worth the effort to you. Here's a link to some of my pictures of my outboard Forte networks. http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=159340&page=12 If you go to the first page you'll see the start of what I did. Feel free to contact me with any questions SET12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Nearly 30,000 people have viewed my thread and have undergone the same pursuit of high quality sound. All 30,000?! Did they even make that many Forte 1's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SET12 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Nearly 30,000 people have viewed my thread and have undergone the same pursuit of high quality sound. All 30,000?! Did they even make that many Forte 1's? Of course not, I stand corrected, see my edit. SET12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Specs, Specs, Specs..... The RF series of speakers present a wild impedance curve that dips very low like 2 ohms.... A SET amps like benign impedance loads..... The RF series would be the last speaker I would recommend for low watt set amps. But then I would never recommend low watt set amps either However the RF series speakers do not require a ton of power. My 60 watters will bring them to blistering levels without breaking a sweat but then they can easily track low impedances without issue. Heck my 60 watters have been successfully used on Ohm I's... talk about a strain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Dave, do you have a budget in mind? Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMusicDave Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 Russ, 3K is probably my realistic upper limit. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I think the RF-7 swings between 3 and 11 ohms, which really isn't that bad. Expect that 3 ohm minimum on just about any loudspeaker that parallels up woofers. The RF-7 hits 3 ohms or just under at 100Hz, but that doesn't make it a 3 ohm loudspeaker. I ran mine with all kinds of tube amps, and several of them were "zero feedback" designs. I also ran them for a while with some Welborne Labs Apollos (8 wpc), and they sounded great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 But Dean what hasn't sounded great to you? LOL!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 I'm looking for a highly efficient speaker... Why not go for the best? Like some others have suggested, the Klipschorns would be ideal. They are full range and will give your tiny 8 watts the best chance of sounding good. The next best option would be the La Scalas. I don't know much about Cornwalls, having never heard a pair. My old Klipschorns sounded great even when they weren't slotted into proper corners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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