Impressions of RB-61 II Speakers

[Youthman]

I just sent Amy a PM asking her to review the post for you. In the meantime, you can check out her post about including multiple links in your post here.

[Amy]

OAN how long does it take for pics to be approved? I tried to post some to this forum on sunday but it said they had be approved. I'm still waiting so i was just curious. Thanks

I'm sorry - it can take months if no one tells me. [:S] Feel free to drop me an email if you ever get a post needing moderation. I'm still not used to checking!

[Youthman]

Thanks Amy. Would it be a good idea to edit your thread to suggest to PM you if we get the Moderation message? But then again, if they were reading your thread, they wouldn't neet to PM you now would they? LOL

[jjennings2510]

Congrats on the new purchase. The good thing is if you are unsatisfied with the RC-35, you can sell it for what you have in it and get something else. My guess is that although it's not timbre matched, it will do fine in your system. Your ears are all that matters so if it sounds good to you, keep it.

Same thing I was thinking. I figured since I'm still in the Reference series the sound should be close enough. But yeah I was thinking the same thing. If I don't like it then I'll just use it while I save up for the RC-62 II and then sell it on eBay. I know it should be a big improvement over the Polk though

[jjennings2510]

I just sent Amy a PM asking her to review the post for you. In the meantime, you can check out her post about including multiple links in your post here.

Thanks for helping me out Youthman. And thanks for the link. Where the heck was that post? I didn't see it? I'm still a forum noob so excuse the mistakes [:S] I guess I need to find the "rules" post and start from there. I just sorta jumped on here and started posting.

[jjennings2510]

I'm sorry - it can take months if no one tells me. Feel free to drop me an email if you ever get a post needing moderation. I'm still not used to checking!

Hey Amy! I have heard so many great things about you! But I'm sorry. I thought they were automatically reviewed. I will be sure to do that in the future!

[jjennings2510]

Thanks Amy. Would it be a good idea to edit your thread to suggest to PM you if we get the Moderation message? But then again, if they were reading your thread, they wouldn't neet to PM you now would they? LOL

Alright this is gonna sound naive but does Amy have like a full seperate thread? How do I get to it? Is that the link you gave me? I didn't think I had posted 10 pics because I didn't take that many. I guess I lost count. []

Hey! Is that a shot at me??? [] haha j/k.

[Youthman]

I am a previous Polk convert. I had the Polk RT-800's, CS-300 and FX/500's. I actually still have a photo gallery of them here. I sold it all and bought a pair of Klipsch CF-2's and a KV-3 and to me, it was night and day difference. The clarity, separation....just a great upgrade to me. I was never satisfied with the CS-300 center channel and it was next to the top Polk center channel. My guess is that I didn't like the sound of the soft dome tweeter. I prefer the more live sound from the horn loaded Klipsch speakers.

Where the heck was that post?

Top of the Garage Sale forum.

I just sorta jumped on here and started posting.

You are fitting in nicely. [] Continue to post away...just keep it to less than 10 external links and you will be ok.

[jjennings2510]

Well if its anything like my upgrade from my Sony's then I can't wait to be blown away. I have fallen in love with my speakers all over again. I had them toed in because Klipsch recommends that. Well I didn't realize that you could toe them in too much. I was sorta aiming them at the "sweet spot" that I always sit in. Well thats when I realized that there should be a slight toe in. Well I kept adjusting them until the imaging improved ten fold. So now I think the sweet spot is perfect. I listened to some recommended albums from stereophile (I'm loving that magazine. Lots of great reviews and tips and recommendations) and they sounded good at first but once I got the positioning right they were great. My fav two albums I listened to are Trombone Shorty Backatown and Herbie Hancock The Imagine Project two great albums for testing your imaging and/or your sound system in general. I actually think I like just regular 2 channel stereo listening for music (well technically 2.1) better than DTS music or Prologic music etc. Those modes sound good but with the Klipsch in stereo it actually sounds like my center channel and surrounds are playing (had to put my ear to each speaker to make sure they weren't playing) so thats pretty impressive. Now I see what people mean by a phantom center. My old speakers did not do a good job at creating a phantom center. I'm still listening to the Herbie album. The piano playing is relaxing and natural sounding. The vocals are amazing. The dynamics. The "live" feel. I feel like I should be sipping some wine right now to complete my relaxation. I know you guys are probably tired of hearing me brag on these speakers, lol. But they manage to impress me in different ways. I guess properly setting them up in the beginning would've given me the best sound from the start. Now I have to go back and watch some movies AGAIN. But all in all I must say these speakers are impressive with all of the different genre's of music. Jazz, rock, classical, r&b etc. Well I'm going to get back to the silky sounds of this Herbie album. Check it out if you guys have a chance. Put on your favorite robe, kick back in your favorite chair, dim the lights, turn on this album and turn it up. Enjoy the dynamics of your system. And if you have some alone time with your significant other then enjoy it with them as well......

[Pete H]

Just wait until you hear your 61's as surrounds when you get a pair of 7's, or Cornwall's, or any other big Klipsch as mains. LOL. My first set of Klipsch were a set of 61's and that was about 16 pairs ago (lost count with 5 different set ups and some that are sitting on shelves) Welcome and enjoy the ride!

[jjennings2510]

Yeah once I get the mancave finished them imma start working on the front. I want some RF-7 IIs or some RF-83s.....don't know which ones to get yet. I may try to go with a 7.1 system so that I can throw some RBs in the rear surround position because I want to use the RSs in the side surround position (they sound way better in my opinion) but dang you have 5 different setups? I'll probably end up with 2 and a half sets. 1 for the mancave. 1 for the main sitting area and half a set for the bedroom. Because I'm sure the boss isn't going to let me put a full system in the bedroom but I may be able to get by with a 2.1 system, lol. After I got my first set of speakers years ago and hooked them up to my tv I just can't go back to TV speakers ever! After I get a set of big Klipsch mains I hope to move up to the Heritage series one day. I wouldn't mind hearing the Klipschorns or Cornwalls etc. The Klipschorns are what I'm aiming for since the praises for them are so high. I have to hear what everyone is talking about!

[jjennings2510]

Hey guys miss me? lol. I'm finally back in town. Got back last night and immediately hooked up my RC-35. Apparently I didn't measure quite right tho so a couple of inches bigger is actually way bigger. I have to find somewhere to put my PS3. I guess I can put it where the xbox used to be but then when I replace my xbox where will that go? [:S] Now I've only been doing tv watching since I got back so late last night. But even with just plain tv watching the sound is definitely better. I ran Audessey again (I'll only have to run it one last time when I get my surrounds then I can finally put the mic up) and put it on some Sportscenter and news and I can immediately tell a big difference from the Polk. Its definitely louder (from the higher sensitivity I assume) and it definitely matches up to my 61s way better as far as volume and timbre. Even though its not the same generation center I doubt the sound would get too much better. It would probably be better but I don't think it would be $515 better. That money I can put towards my surrounds. I wanted to keep all of the woofer sizes matched but the RS-62s are a little too much for me and they're never on sale it seems [] But I will give another update once I actually put the system through some movies. Like The Hurt Locker and maybe even Avatar again. The thing I love the most is being able to clearly make out the dialog at lower volumes. Once i got past a certain volume with the my other centers the dialog would be lost in the shuffle. But now I can go lower and still make out dialog which is great because now I'm not blasted away from loud sounds when I turn up my system just because I can't hear the dialog and I don't have to use Night Mode or Dynamic Volume which tries to keep everything at the same level but affects sound quality. It also means I don't have someone constantly telling me to turn the system down at night. (she always says I'm going deaf because I always have it turned up so loud) so its a win win for everyone. But with this speaker being so big I can only imagine what the RC-64 looks like. More updates soon but the magic number is down to 2.....

[Youthman]

But with this speaker being so big I can only imagine what the RC-64 looks like.

No, you can't imagine how big it really is until you unbox it. []

[Fresh123]

agreed!

[BluBitRates]

what is up with the terminals on the back? I am a big fan of the banana plug high quality terminals on my 61s. Dont know if i find the newest grills to be an improvement either. I guess its how they sound though right?

[jjennings2510]

what is up with the terminals on the back? I am a big fan of the banana plug high quality terminals on my 61s. Dont know if i find the newest grills to be an improvement either. I guess its how they sound though right?

I've never seen the terminals on the back of the original 61s so I can't comment on those but they do support banana plugs as well. The little cap comes off. I'm just using bare wire because a lot of people say that there really isn't any sound improvement from using banana plugs. I know it makes hookups easier and is supposed to prevent corrosion but people have told me that they don't prevent corrosion so idk. But the option is there for me and anyone else who decides to do it in the future. As far as the grills go I have to agree. It takes some getting used to so now they don't look half bad to me but I use my speakers with the grill off so it doesn't matter. I still like the Reference IV grills better. But yeah the biggest thing is how they sound and they sound impressive but with you owning a pair of 61s as well you already know that []

[BluBitRates]

Oh thats cool the caps come off for banana plugs, i wonder if alot of speakers are like that? Yeah i have no specific reason for using banana plugs just seems like nice speakers should have nice terminals. Yeah i am using my rb-61s as surrounds but have demoed them in stereo. I would like to eventually get some rs speakers for surrounds and bring the rb-61s into a bedroom setup. Enjoy your speakers and thanks for posting for all of us.

[jjennings2510]

Oh thats cool the caps come off for banana plugs, i wonder if alot of speakers are like that? Yeah i have no specific reason for using banana plugs just seems like nice speakers should have nice terminals. Yeah i am using my rb-61s as surrounds but have demoed them in stereo. I would like to eventually get some rs speakers for surrounds and bring the rb-61s into a bedroom setup. Enjoy your speakers and thanks for posting for all of us.

I'm not sure but I have seen a few "high end" speakers that boast that "feature" they say you can use regular wires or remove the caps for banana plugs. I see your point for using them though. I may eventually try them out. I may start using them once I replace my receiver. The 61s in a bedroom setup are amazing. I'm not sure what size your room is but in my room the Klipsch setup is able to rumble the walls in my room. Especially since I've added the RC-35 center. The only thing I need to complete my setup are the surrounds. I plan on getting RS speakers as well. The speakers sound so good in my bedroom I have a tendacy to turn them up while watching movies. If I'm not careful I may lose my hearing soon, lol. Do you plan on just running a 2ch system in the bedroom? I am and will enjoy these speakers for a long time. Probably even more once we move because I should have more room for them to shine. And no problem on the post. I just hope it helps anyone who is on the fence about purchasing these speakers and I hope it had helpful info for everyone else. I'm learning and hopefully I'll be a respected forum vet like you guys in a few years!

[MikeAK]

what is up with the terminals on the back? I am a big fan of the banana plug high quality terminals on my 61s. Dont know if i find the newest grills to be an improvement either. I guess its how they sound though right?

I agree.. I have the now RB-61 mk1 system and the terminals on the *new mk2 look cheap to me.. The grills are not so bad but I def like the terminals on my 61's better

[jjennings2510]

Well I searched around to see what the terminals on the RB-61s looked like compared to the 61 II terminals. I have to admit the clear/white terminals do look better. They look like they are of higher quality but I can't say for sure if they are or not because I have never owned the original 61s. And the RB-25s I have actually have the same terminals as the 61 IIs so Klipsch went back to the color coded ones for whatever reason. I haven't had any problems. I just use bare wire and everything has worked great. And they sound great, The grills have grown on me.....I don't hate them as much now so whenever I start a family and have little ones running around it won't be a big deal for me to put the grills on. But I still prefer the naked look though. My 25s are naked as well. Nonetheless I'm still loving the sound and they are definitely warmer than previous generations but they still sound superb.