New to Klipsch: RB-51 or XB-10?

[Dante Rising]

My first post in the Klipsch community, so let me start by saying hello to everyone!

Quick story. I know nothing about audio hardware, but I recently decided to spend about $600 on a sound system dedicated to
listening to mp3s in my home.
I love the sound I've heard from the Bowers and Wilkens Zeppelin
ipod speaker ($599). Just as I was about to buy it, a friend tore my credit card out of my hands and told me to go visit the klipsch website.



My friend was adamant that I would get better sound at an equivalent
price by going with an actual receiver and bookshelf speakers. He also said that I can get double duty from this setup by adding it to my Panasonic 50PZ800U plasma and thus creating a very basic home theater system. (I currently use the TVs built in speakers)

After grabbing a receiver, my complete budget for speakers is $350. Perhaps next year I can grab a subwoofer or center speaker. Currently I can get a VERY good deal on the Klipsch XB-10s, and couple it with a modest receiver like the Onkyo TX-SR308. I've seen numerous pictures of the XB-10s, and I really love the way the look and how well they would go with my loft and entertainment center. However, when doing my research, I noticed that the RB-51s on paper appear to be a better speaker. I just do not know how much better. I can get a pair of these for roughly $35 more than the XB-10s.

Unfortunately, I have no way to test these speakers, so I'm buying via a leap of faith. Would the RB-51s be considered significantly better than the XB-10s, or can the Icon speakers hold their own? These speakers would be in a room that is 12x14. It is a loft, so one wall is missing. 40% of the time would be high quality MP3 playback, 60% blu-ray/gaming. I live in a townhome, so the speakers would be never be played at some ear-splitting volume.

Visually I prefer the XB-10s, so if the RB-51s are wasted in the environment (and at the volumes) I just described, then I'll definitely go with the XB-10s. But if I learn that the RB-51 is significantly better across every spectrum, then I may need to reconsider.

Thank you for any suggestions you may have!

[samson]

First off welcome to the forum. There's plenty of good guys on here to give you advice. Anyways I have RB-51's in my daughters room and they sound great. I was very surprised at the sound they put out for being such a small speaker. I have not heard the XB-10's so I can't comment on them. Either way both speakers are capable of sounding great, so good luck in your decision!

[SuBXeRo]

I have a pair of RB-10's that i just tested out for use as computer speakers and they sound great but certainly need to be coupled with a subwoofer. My rb-10's are smaller than the rb-51's and the 51's have some lower bass extension so keep that in mind. You really should try to seek out a local audio shop that has the speakers you want to hear so you can decide yourself. I havent heard the xb's they are a newer line from klipsch and meant to be your flatscreen solution. I heard the WB-14's and thought they sounded great and thought i'd mention it since they too are part of the icon series but they as well lacked the bass extension and need to be couples with a subwoofer.

May i also suggest you check out your local craigslist. I just picked up a full surround system and denon receiver for 400, i got a rc-10, 2 rf-10, 2 rb-10, and a rpw-10 and denon avr 1707 receiver in that deal. Buying used your first time out isnt a bad idea especially if you are on a budget. I wasnt too keen on the idea at first but heeded the suggestion of many on these forums and went with it. I looked for months trying to get the best deal for me and i did. Also take note, i live in an apt so my room is limited as well.

edit:

I also wanted to say that you can build your system as you are and you don't need a subwoofer straight off the bat, it just helps to complete the frequency range.

[Dante Rising]

Unfortunately, there are no retailers around me tha thave these speakers available to demo. I'm still somewhat confounded on how the MSRP for the XB-10s is significantly higher than the RB-51s, but the RB-51s seem to be the better speaker. Maybe the XB-10s have a miniaturization premium like you see with Bose products?

Quite honestly, if either speakers sound better than something like the Klipsch Promedia 2.1, I would be happy. The B&W Zeppelin I was eyeing had about the same ability to fill the room, albeit with less bass. And I'm fairly certain any of these solutions would outperform the Panasonic plasma's beefy standard speaker hardware.

Again, I absolutely love the design of the XB-10s. My one concern is that Klipsch markets them as a flat panel solution. I hoping they can be a flat panel and music solution. I'm by no means and audiophile like many people here. My entire music collection is high bitrate MP3s, so at some point the speakers simply won't be able to help my collection. Likewise, I live in a townhome so blasting my blu-ray movies or games is not likely to happen either. But I most definitely want a quality soundstage.

Thank you again, everyone.

[SuBXeRo]

Any Klipsch speaker including the pro-media will be better than your in tv speakers and that is pretty much a guarantee. My assumption as i said before for the higher price tag on the xb is that it is a new line, the reference line has been around for over a decade now and the xb is new, its meant to have a smaller design for flat panel solutions. Just like the synergy line, each line sounds different from eachother. Its hard to say what will sound good to you until you listen to it for yourself. B&W is a great company, my dad has 2 towers that are 25+ years old and they still sound ground. The zeppelin is an integrated system with no option for expandablility since its an all-in-one system. If you like the sound of B&W then you should explore some of their options. I like the sound of Def initive Technology, B&W, KEF, Paradigm and Klipsch but i went with klipsch because I wanted to have something that was hornloaded and I fell in love with the sound. I am also young and dint have much money to blow testing different speakers so for me it was a no brainer to Klipsch it.

The zeppelin will most likely have more bass output than either of the klipsch booksehlfs you're looking at sincew it has a dedicated bass woofer where as the klipsch's don't. BUT, the component style system you are building will allow you to add a subwoofer later on and complete the frequency range.

TBH, it sounds like you already know what you want to buy. You really like the look of the XB and the sound will be there for you. In either case like i said above, i would most certainly couple them with a subwoofer later on. Klipsch makes good solid speakers, i think that you would be happy with either purchase since you really aren't an audiphile. I am a very picky person, time and time again i came back to the reference series, the icon series sounded great to me too but i found the reference just was that much better at catering to my taste in sound.

Prop-media setups are a different klipsch animal btw, they are just not the same quality as their component style speaker lines, often times there is trouble with the amp which when that goes the system is usually not useful anymore. The sattelites are limited in their sonic range and the sub helps out with alot of the lower extension. Its a different sound than what you get from klipschs bookshelfs and towers.

[brewski37]

My first post to Klipsch myself, and since I had the same overall question - X or R series - here is my thought process:

I was also impressed with B&W, but not the price. Obviously, this is why Klipsch maintains its business.

It took me quite awhile to find a dealer willing to let people listen to Klipsch, and when I did, I listened to the R series (RB-51, RB-52, RF-62, RF-82). Then a friend of mine showed off his Icon (X) series just a few days later, which was three XL-23's, two XB-10's, and the XW-500d subwoofer.

R series

• Overall sound of the series is refined, mellow, and works well for conventional sound systems.
• R series is slightly better for music than the X series, but a little too much bass and dynamic sound for everyday TV/movie use.
• Titanium horn is expressive, dynamic, and impressive.
• Mid-range and what I call upper bass (mid-range low-pass frequencies) is impressive with the cerametallic woofer, as well as response. There is an even sound through its range.
• Mid-range combining the horn and woofers add to the dynamic sound punch, however brass music - say older Funk music - gets to be too much dynamic sound and has to be damped a little at the receiver for my taste.
• R series depth and thump of bass, even on the 52's, were great for
  each speaker's size. This is due to reflected bass from a rear port.
• I am familiar with rear ports and reflected sounds from Bose full-size speakers - I am uninpressed this design, as I consider the sound muffled.
• Same thing happened when listening to the R series bass. Deep, hard, but 'muddy' when placed near any somewhat absorbing surface (think the difference in sound with drywall vs. metal shelves in stores).

X series

• Again, overall sound of the system is refined, but 'crisper' than the R series counterparts.
• As advertised, it is a better system for movies and TV - and very good for music.
• Because of its position closer to the surface in the speaker, the horn enjoys a wider speaker dispersion (sound angle coming from the speakers). Sure, it says the R series has a 90-degree wide dispersion horn, but my ears heard the opposite.
• The horn is smaller than the R series, which to me lessened the dynamic ability of the upper mid-range.
• The fiberglass woofers do not have the balanced and refined mid-range response of the R series. As typical of many speakers, the higher end of the mid-range is tapered off and the lower end is emphasized. Also, this woofer has a higher output, with similar response to the cerametallic woofers.
• Mid-range combining of the horn and woofers work better for me, as the lack of higher-end mid-range sound from the woofers complimented the lesser mid-range response of the horn. In short, brass music is dynamic but not overly so.
• X series bass is tight, deep, but not quite as boisterous as its R series counterparts. In fact, the floor-standers of the series include active woofers due to this limitation.
• Front-loading the bass ports are also my preference because I find it is a tighter sound overall, and reflection of the bass (for the THUMP) still comes off the walls if putting a speaker close enough to the walls.

So, proof is in the money. I found a deal on some used XF-48's and bought them to replace an old Kenwood/Bose combination I had. At the same time, I also upgraded the receiver I had to an Onkyo TX-SR707, with wondrous results.

I would also recommend XB-10's in place of RF-51's or RF-52's for your application.

Hey, it's still your choice, and my tips to anyone are:

• Trust your ears.
• Don't mix and match speaker styles, for instance I wouldn't recommend mix/matching R series with X series.