rf7II rc64II and rs62 II just arrived!!

[bosng]

the color is really starting to grow on me. these speakers are sexy!! (not literally lol) definitely get the center. it blends seamlessly with the rf7 II's as well as the rs62 II's

watched a movie last night and the sound is freaking awesome. the neighbors thought so too. ha.

these are far and away the best i've ever owned and no regrets here.

i've got to get more music cd's blu rays and movies to feed em. waiting for the special edition of avatar to come out before i watch that again.

yes the stereo sound is fantastic. i keep switching back and forth and testing out the different presets on my onky905.

this might sound funny but have you gone right up to the speaker and listened to the sound in front of the horn all the way down to the woofers? sounds amazingly natural across the entire speaker. i guess i'm used to hearing the highs too high and the woofer to muffled. not these. wonder if that's what the lower crossover does. i haven't enjoyed just listening to music in a long time. i'm no good at writing reviews. all i can say is i don't want to sleep anymore, just want to keep listening.

[quadklipsh]

bosng...

isnt that a great feeling ?!!![]

[psg]

Wow! These are finally Reference speakers I would love the look of in my house! I always thought they were too much like boxes with grills on them, but these look awesome!

[TheFactor]

the color is really starting to grow on me. these speakers are sexy!! (not literally lol) definitely get the center. it blends seamlessly with the rf7 II's as well as the rs62 II's watched a movie last night and the sound is freaking awesome. the neighbors thought so too. ha. these are far and away the best i've ever owned and no regrets here. i've got to get more music cd's blu rays and movies to feed em. waiting for the special edition of avatar to come out before i watch that again. yes the stereo sound is fantastic. i keep switching back and forth and testing out the different presets on my onky905. this might sound funny but have you gone right up to the speaker and listened to the sound in front of the horn all the way down to the woofers? sounds amazingly natural across the entire speaker. i guess i'm used to hearing the highs too high and the woofer to muffled. not these. wonder if that's what the lower crossover does. i haven't enjoyed just listening to music in a long time. i'm no good at writing reviews. all i can say is i don't want to sleep anymore, just want to keep listening.

LOL yes i've done the same thing ,got close to the speaker and scanned from the top to the bottom and its a beautiful thing : ) I cant beleive the low volume detail and clarity these speakers possess either . I was concerned because of the high sensitivity and effency of these speakers that they might not like my xpa-3 amp but they love it ! Simply put these are the first speakers i've ever had that I didnt get the what ifs and second thoughts about, im so glad I Bought these and you are so wright 2 channel listening has just gone to a whole new level along with 7.1 and 5.1 blurays . Somebody pinch me I think im in HT Heaven !!! : )

[jm78]

Man, I'm jealous. I would love to have these speakers.

But do you really need a separate amp to power these? Would I be missing out by just using an onkyo 708 to power an rf-7 rc-64 system? It is certified for 4 ohms performance. I'm wondering how much difference a separate amp makes or is it a placebo effect.

[SeBBBe]

You're gonna need quite a punch to power them to their full potential. If you just want to use a surround receiver you might as well buy smaller speakers.

[bosng]

Will it make a difference at low volume levels? I'm already having

a problem keeping the sound from rattling the building

[jm78]

You're gonna need quite a punch to power them to their full potential. If you just want to use a surround receiver you might as well buy smaller speakers.

I'm just confused on the matter because I thought doubling of wattage per channel from like 100 watts per channel to 200 wpc would give only 3db more sound. If a separate amp offers just offers little more higher maximum sound output then is doesn't seem worth it.

Most people seem to push a separate amp as required for the high end reference line. So it must mean that virtually all avr's have crappy amps and that a separate amp would sound better throughout low volume to high volume. So this is true then?

Imperceptible Change - 1dB
Barely Perceptible Change - 3dB
Clearly Noticeable Change - 5dB
About Twice as Loud - 10dB
About Four Times as Loud - 20dB

Impact of the various changes on sound levels
Double amplifier wattage - increase of +3 dB
Double number of speakers - increase of +3 dB
Double distance from sound source - Decrease of - 6 dB
Halve distance from sound source - Increase of +6 dB
Double driver excursion - increase of +6 dB (note: Equivalent to doubling wattage and # of speakers)

-----Placement of Speakers--------------
Place speaker on the floor - increase of +3 dB - half loading
Place speaker on floor, and against a wall - increase of +6 dB - quarter loading
Place speaker on floor, near a wall, and in the corner - increase of +9 dB eighth loading

[SeBBBe]

I get what you're saying, and you're right, but 3 dB at those levels seem to make a big difference (I dunno if it might be because of this, but even if the perceived loudness isn't that much greater, bass pressure scales more favorably). My friend and I built a pair of PA speakers with 2x15" woofers in each. He got a professional amplifier specced to 2x550 W but when we tried them with another, a bit more expensive amplifier the difference is sound pressure was very noticeable, which is why he's getting a more powerful model.

I'm not sure how much power the Onkyo 708 really puts out since I haven't listened to one. It says 2x130 W into 8 ohms on the official specs, so I'd guess it puts out perhaps 100 wpc.. That is still a far cry from what these speakers can take. If I were you I'd seriously look into a separate amplifier. I think these speakers deserve it =) Look at professional power amps, they're not that expensive.

[psg]

My take on it is that doubling the power doesn't make a whole lot of difference. Thats's not the issue here. The issue is the difficult impedence curve of the RF-7 (the original anyway; how is it for the version II?) The dip to something like 3 ohms is difficult for most receivers to handle and leads to liveless undynamic music. Dropping in a separate power that can handle the low impedence (be careful, being a separate amp doesn't automatically means it handle low impedence) makes a subtantial difference. OTOH, dropping a separate amp on speakers with a benign impedence curve makes little difference (for me anyway). I can switch my KHorns between my receiver and power amps and can't tell a difference.

[Youthman]

I'm not an audiophile by any means. Here are my thoughts when I added my Parasound amp to the equation. Link

[TheFactor]

This much I do know When I added a xpa-3 to my Paradigm studio 60's and cc-690 center it made a huge difference, My AVR is Pioneer Elite 94 at I believe 140 wpc"btw love this avr" and the xpa is conservatively rated at 200wpc. I dont think the extra 60wpc is the clincher here but my sound stage really opened up and got more low volume detail and was hearing things I didnt hear before . A year or so I had people trying to talk me out of getting a amp and investing elsewhere in my system and stating I wasnt going to notice a difference they meant well but i'll tell you what it made a huge difference and so glad I got one and might even go separates in the near future . Now did it make a difference with my new RF7II's I dont know I havent ran it without the amp but These speakers sound so good with my current setup I cant put it into words !!!! I would highly reccomend a amp either a xpa-2 , xpa-3 or mono blocks upa-1's . Im so glad I didnt listen to the advice of some and did what I wanted to and love the results. Anyway back to the RF7II's Klipsch did a beautiful job with these speakers cosmetically and performance wise and thank you so much Klipsch as I mentioned before its the first speakers i've ever owned I didnt have second thoughts about or the what ifs. These speaker exceeded my expectations by a mile !!

[Youthman]

This is how I see it.

You own a Mazda 6. Nice car, not a hotrod but it has descent acceleration. You are sitting at the red light with engine idled. At green, you punch it as hard as it goes. 10 seconds later, you are at 70mph.

I own a Ferarri (I wish). I pull up to the same light, idle speed, at green, I punch it and get to 70 in 4 seconds in 2nd gear.

The way I see it, there are times when a movie or music is pretty quiet, maybe even silent (think idle). Then all of a sudden, explosion, gunshot, shatter glass etc happens and your speakers must go from being stationary to full throttle.

Which do you think will perform better? My Yamaha receiver at 120w x 5 (but at benchmark test a lot lower than that) or my Parasound 220w x 5 (which is a solid 220w or more)?

When I was in high school, I weighed 155lbs and bench pressed 265lbs. Granted that was max bench press, one time.
Take Mr. Olympia. He too can bench press 265lbs. The difference? I'm screaming, the vein in my forehead is about to explode and I'm giving it EVERYTHING I've got to get it up one time. Mr. Olympia is yawning.

If you watch The Book of Eli, at the beginning, there are two scenes (cat scene and door opening scene). The soundtrack goes from quiet to full throttle. I can tell you for sure that the Parasound has absolutely no problem making that happen and making it seem lifelike and dynamic with clarity and authority.

There's no question that a receiver can drive a set of speakers...a solid amp just does a better job of it.

[schutz2106]

Ive had my cherry 7 system up for a couple days now. Will post pics when I get some more time. I run a onkyo 805 rec. I cannot believe how much cooler it runs. Same settings, same music, volume etc and I am running 20 degrees cooler on top of receiver. I've ran it pretty hard already and I dont really see a need to add on a amp. Depends on if I get other speaks sold and maybe I will. Tech support told me I would not need to add an amp. I do no that this should be my last set of speaks. They sound great, look great and more to come....

[TheFactor]

Ive had my cherry 7 system up for a couple days now. Will post pics when I get some more time. I run a onkyo 805 rec. I cannot believe how much cooler it runs. Same settings, same music, volume etc and I am running 20 degrees cooler on top of receiver. I've ran it pretty hard already and I dont really see a need to add on a amp. Depends on if I get other speaks sold and maybe I will. Tech support told me I would not need to add an amp. I do no that this should be my last set of speaks. They sound great, look great and more to come....

Im sure they sound good the way they are the 7's are very effecient and I am also sure they would sound bettter with a seperate amp or amps [] BTW Congrats on your new 7 setup !!!!

[TheFactor]

This is how I see it.

You own a Mazda 6. Nice car, not a hotrod but it has descent acceleration. You are sitting at the red light with engine idled. At green, you punch it as hard as it goes. 10 seconds later, you are at 70mph.

I own a Ferarri (I wish). I pull up to the same light, idle speed, at green, I punch it and get to 70 in 4 seconds in 2nd gear.

The way I see it, there are times when a movie or music is pretty quiet, maybe even silent (think idle). Then all of a sudden, explosion, gunshot, shatter glass etc happens and your speakers must go from being stationary to full throttle.

Which do you think will perform better? My Yamaha receiver at 120w x 5 (but at benchmark test a lot lower than that) or my Parasound 220w x 5 (which is a solid 220w or more)?

When I was in high school, I weighed 155lbs and bench pressed 265lbs. Granted that was max bench press, one time.
Take Mr. Olympia. He too can bench press 265lbs. The difference? I'm screaming, the vein in my forehead is about to explode and I'm giving it EVERYTHING I've got to get it up one time. Mr. Olympia is yawning.

If you watch The Book of Eli, at the beginning, there are two scenes (cat scene and door opening scene). The soundtrack goes from quiet to full throttle. I can tell you for sure that the Parasound has absolutely no problem making that happen and making it seem lifelike and dynamic with clarity and authority.

There's no question that a receiver can drive a set of speakers...a solid amp just does a better job of it.

I agree 100% and well said !! It makes me want to go throw in The Book of Eli : )

[jjennings2510]

Alright we've established that having a seperate amp is worth the cost. I didn't realize how low from the "rated" power receivers could drop when you drove all channels until I started reading sterophile, home theater mag etc. Its a shame that manufactors rate at 2ch driven because it is misleading. The uninformed think that their receiver should have plenty of power for their speakers when in actuality you may be under feeding them......alright but now I have to ask this question......what type of amp is better? Audiophiles and the audio magazines that I read all seem to be partial to tube amps. So much in fact that I started looking at them for my home theater. One thing that everyone fails to mention is the fact that tubes have to be rebiased and the sound changes as they age an you may have to retube etc. That sounds like too much trouble for a noob but nonetheless is it worth it? Or do tubes only shine with music? Has anyone had any experience with hybrid tube amps? A popular company is Butler Audio. Basically these amps give you the tube sound without the maintanence. Never have to rebias and the tubes never wear out because they are never exposed to the high voltages that regualar tube designs are exposed to. Once again is the premium worth it for everything or is it mainly for music lovers? And last but not least the good ole solid state amps. I was originally looking at Emotiva amps since they have the best bang for your buck but now with everyone talking about tubes etc it has just complicated things further. So what do you guys think? With the RF-7 IIs should we stick with solid state, tube, or hybrid? Which will give the best sound for everything? Music and movies? Is the upkeep of tubes hard for noobs? The way you guys are raving about the 7s I don't even want to hear them anymore. I just want to buy them, lol. Nonetheless I would like to get an idea on what to use for the best sound. I'm sure the others are curious as well. []

[TheFactor]

I would only go tube amps for your two channel stereo and for HT go with the latest and the greatest you can afford . Tube amps will be my next adventure and offer a different pure flaver of sound : )

[psg]

And last but not least the good ole solid state amps. I was originally looking at Emotiva amps since they have the best bang for your buck

Forget tubes if you are looking to best your receiver's power.

As for bang for the buck, don't forget pro amps. I would buy a $300 2x750W into 4 ohms Behringer EP2000, stable to 2 ohms, before a $374 2x185W into 4 ohms Emotiva UPA-2.

[bosng]

the behringer ep2000 sounds awesome and not too expensive but doensn't look like it will do surround sound. is there a way to integrate with a surround receiver?