Epic CF 4

[venaka]

Ok thanks to you guys this will be my fourth Klipsch speaker. I have read many love hate love reviews on this speaker, from not sounding heritage to the highs being to high and versions being everything if purchasing. Well, I came upon these CF 4's locally for 450 , mint, but oddly enough with no grills..Owner says they are version 2, consecutive numbers and all.

Now, I have read that you can simply make these version 2's to 1 by only changing the baffle. If any one of you Epic gurus can please chime in on this issue and if price is allright with no grills and not being version 1.

Thanks in advance.

oh, also these will probably replace my rb5,s in my ht set up, but Im not quite sure this will work since my center might be used and abused my these monsters. My center rc3 will probably be lost. lol,,,so w I wanna see if these will make s nice 2ch set up

[venaka]

I guess no one likes these, or everyone is trying to triangulate where Im writing from so they can steal the deal.[]

[runninshine]

I am not sure how many of the 2 channel guys have those speakers. Maybe the HT guys might know more? I've heard they are really great sounding but didn't have a long production run.

Hope others will chime in soon.

[khornbred]

i have a pair of CF-3s. i've owned them since new, it was ten years before i learned about the different versions, then another year before i checked to see that i actually had different port lengths in each speaker! no wonder they sounded different everytime i moved to a different house! when i discovered that, i split the difference and installed one of each port in each speaker. i recently cobbled together some port extenders and have compared one long and one short, vs. two long, and have decided it just depends on the music you are listening to, as well as your room and personal preference. the long ports give very smooth, wall rattling bass, you seem to hear the room, not the drivers. the short/long combo is much more in your face, too much with music that has been mastered with a boost in the lows, but this combo works nice with music that is a little lacking in bass. i've not tested two short ports since i discovered my different lenghts.

i have no idea why my ports were different, i purchased them new, with consecutive serial numbers, though they were floor models, so i suspect they swapped out ports from one for a customer. my serial numbers are now faded and illegible, i'd have to find the original reciept to determine which they are supposed to be.

though i literally grew up listening to a variety of 80's and early 90's era klipsch, it's been quite a while since i've listened to any heritage speakers for comparison.

i use mine both for music and home theater (2chan). i'm now in the market for khorns, but these will never go away, they'll become full time HT speakers.

[venaka]

Interesting thing with the ports being all sequntial and all. Looks like the size of the ports make a huge difference, especially if sales reps were changing them like that for their customers. I wonder if KLIPSCH still have these prots for sale?

[khornbred]

here is what i did to modify my short ports after not much luck finding longer ones, they are out there though. i simply slit my short port tube lengthwise about 3/4 of the length of the port. i removed the lower bass driver and from the rear slipped a short section of 4" black PVC pipe onto the slit port. kind of hokey, but it works. once assembled i can reach through the second port hole in the cabinet and slip off the extension if i feel the need, but i'm leaning towards the longer ports.

i feel the difference is very noticable.

have you tired your cf-4s out yet?

[venaka]

I coming from cornwalls!, so the difference might be big and it might not..I will let you know. Im going to a and b them with the corns and hey , why not, even my heresy 2's,. And if I dont like em, I can always resale.

Ill pm you when I get them so you can explain the port thing a little better

I

[Ruben1]

I have a pair of CF 3 (Series 1) in a dedicated 2 channel system and LOVE them!. I listen mainly to rock (Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, etc) and at time to Diana krall. I find the sound to be smooth and just right without a harsh upper end. I do run these speakers with all tube electronics and vinyl as my primary source. My associated electronics are: Systemdek 4e TT, Wright Sounds WPP 100 phono stage, BAT VK5i pre, VTL Compact 80 amps.

The sound is devine from these speakers and I have no interest in upgrading them any time soon as I believe I would have to spend much much more to get something noticeably better.

I did make one significant investment with the speakers. I sent the crossovers to Bob Crites to update them with all new capacitors. I think there were about 10 caps per crossover he replaced with much better quality ones. He did not change the topology of the crossovers but only improved them by replacing lower quality parts with much better ones. All this was done for a very reasonable price.

Hope this helps.

[venaka]

Your a Angel sent from Klipsch..I can sleep now, seriously. I have the same exact taste in music..Actually Im going today to audition them with my flac player and I have the same music installed..Diana is a serious speaker tester!

I am even more convinced that you were sent by Klipsch since all my gear is tube and my main source is vinyl on my thorens td 165 and 45.

Well Thanks and I will let you know how the auduition went.

[Ruben1]

You are most welcomed.

Let me know how it turns out for you and if you do buy them do consider updating the crossovers at a later point. I think the update was worthwhile. Call Bob Crites to get a quote and get some information on what he does with these crossovers just to get an idea of what you will get for your money.

Also forgot to mention that my speakers also did not come with grills so this is how I listen to them.

Good luck,

Ruben

[venaka]

double post

[venaka]

Snarf!

Well, let me tell you , I went to audition these CF-4 Cherry V2, and wow!!! I couldnt believe the sound these dual 12's can produce..I couldnt A and B them with anything. I asked why he was selling them and he showed me his Martins he had in the garage wating to replace the cf4's.

He played some flac Pink Floyd and from what I could hear they sounded like my Heresy II's that I have at home but with basssss!..

Well, I wasnt happy with the cab condition, as these were mounted in the wall so there are scratches and there was a little dent on the front panel and no grills....Owner did not want to budge on the price.450. I told em, that I would think about it (post on forums) so you guys can help.

I figure I can easily fix the cabs but not the dent..the drivers are mint, and no grills. So is 450 fair on a v2 cherry cf4 with no grills and scratched cabs?

[khornbred]

personally, i could overlook some cosmetic flaws for that price. at least you wouldn't have to worry about the first scratch you put on them. i'd replace my oak cf-3s with those in a heartbeat.

[oldmako]

I have CF3s. I have no idea what series, serial, number, gigahertz, whozit or whatzit they are. None of that matters to me. I flippin' love them. I did an A/B with my Fortes and was wildly disappointed with the later. Sure the Fortes sound great, but it just seemed to me that there was so much missing, particularly the further the big knob went CW.

They remind me of a time in my youth when both of my brothers owned Fiats. One had a spyder and the other a sedan. The harder you pushed those little cars the more enjoyment they provided. The key was to rev 'em way up and toss them around, just like a cheap tart! Wail on your CFs and smile.

[venaka]

Wel, I finally brought them home. These CF 4's are big, I mean real BIG! I actually dont have room for these bad boys, but I ended up getting them for a good price. I got it from a second owner, and the 1st owner had these bad boys inwall..Thats right, inwall. Notice all the scrapes on the cabinet. Drivers are MINT, just dirty..Have no idea how to clean drivers since they are carbonite, can i use damp towel??.

Well, I listened to them all nigh(jazz and classic rock)t and I was very happy..Immaging will leave you with your mouth open. lows are very tight..highs are clean..compare to my CORNS..totally different..cf4=ROCK, CORNS=jazz

My conclusion is , these well not go anywhere.

[cornfedksboy]

Very cool!

[venaka]

Hey guys quick quest, I noticed an air leak behind the cab that seems to be glued. I checked inside and the glue has come off..I was wondering if I can just use a wood screw AND woodglue or should I just reglue the area thats coming loose?

[moray james]

I have not been iside of a CF4 but they are similar vintage to the KLF series which use baffle boards which have melamine veneer on both sides. If this is the case with your CF4 then no wood glue won`t do the trick as it will not adhere to melimine unless you can abrade the surface well and then use a good PVA adhesive or PL type sealant. That would however require you to pull the baffle which is probably loose in other areas you just have not noticed. If you can clean off all the old adhesive and sand down to bare wood on the sides top and bottom you can install some 3/4 inch pine or fir strapping all the way around with wood glue. Once set up in place you can snugg the baffle up against the strapping with some screws, the old adhesive is soft so it will compress with the screws force and form a good air tight gasket. This is the best way to deal with your problem if you are not prepared to remove the baffle out right. Your speakers are well worth the time and effort and if you are going in to repair why not add some additional braces? Good luck best regards Moray James.

[venaka]

Man I sweeear these speakers rock!!! But wait, What else did I find..ohoh, I called Bob and he said these xoverswere a pain..many revisions and I see why now.

[Ruben1]

I had my CF3 crossovers redone by Bob. The sound went from great to outstanding and all for a very reasonable price. It is well worth a call to Bob for a discussion on the options for updating these crossovers with better components.

As for the cosmetics I used Formbees furtniture restoreation (there is a kit) to "fix" some lihght damage to the exterior and the results were superb. Any such product will work. Think of these speakers as furniture. Also, regarding the air leak I did go into my speakers (removed the woofers) to take a look inside and although I could be wrong I am certain that the top, bottom, and sides are solid oak and the front and back are particle board.This means that you should be able to apply wood glue and fix the issue this way.