Klipsch RF-7ii vs. KEF r900

[thisgsx]

Has anyone personally heard both of these towers? The closest r900 dealer is 60 miles from me and the closest rf7-ii dealer is 30 miles from me. The towers will be in the living room which is approximately 15x20. It will be a 2.1 setup used for movies, gaming, and music. Types of music I listen to are 95% trance, 5% rock. It will be powered by either a Denon or Marantz AVR plus the Emo XPA-5 amplifier.

[ivanhurd]

I'm not familiar with KEF, but if you are going to be spending that much money, it'd be in your best interest to try and take a listen to both. I doubt you will be disappointed with either, but this being a Klipsch site, I'm guessing you will be be getting mostly thumbs up for Klipsch =^)

[derrickdj1]

It will be worth the drive to go listen to the Klipsch and the KEF. As usual, the Klipsch will be much easier to drive sine it's sensitivity is 101 vs 90 db which is a large difference. The amp will come in handy.

[Ski Bum]

I've heard the KEFs recently, and they're very nice.

Sounds like you're buying new speakers, at full coin or very near to it. As this is not a small expense, you should listen to both and take some notes.

What sort of return or home audition policy do the merchants have? If you can get them in your room, it will tell you more than listening in a dealership ever will.

If a home audition is not an option, keep your room in mind when auditioning. What is the general character of your listening room, lively or more dead? What sort of placement flexibility do you have to work with? The KEF have wider dispersion in the upper registers than the Klipsch, and great off axis and polar measurements, so they are fairly flexible regarding room placement, but you'll be listening to a lot of "room". The Klipsch's more narrow dispersion in the upper registers will help you manage/reduce/eliminate first reflections so you hear less "room", and allows closer proximity to room boundaries without smearing the image with extraneous reflected sound. The Klipsch are less linear, but more vivacious in their presentation (better dynamics).

They're both fine speakers, but different, so go listen.

[thisgsx]

I've heard the KEFs recently, and they're very nice.


Sounds like you're buying new speakers, at full coin or very near to it. As this is not a small expense, you should listen to both and take some notes.



What sort of return or home audition policy do the merchants have? If you can get them in your room, it will tell you more than listening in a dealership ever will.



If a home audition is not an option, keep your room in mind when auditioning. What is the general character of your listening room, lively or more dead? What sort of placement flexibility do you have to work with? The KEF have wider dispersion in the upper registers than the Klipsch, and great off axis and polar measurements, so they are fairly flexible regarding room placement, but you'll be listening to a lot of "room". The Klipsch's more narrow dispersion in the upper registers will help you manage/reduce/eliminate first reflections so you hear less "room", and allows closer proximity to room boundaries without smearing the image with extraneous reflected sound. The Klipsch are less linear, but more vivacious in their presentation (better dynamics).



They're both fine speakers, but different, so go listen.

Very helpful post! Unfortunately, the setup will have to wait due to unfortunate events at work. My hours have been cut dramatically so time will tell when I'll be able to go audtion/buy either towers. Thanks for all who posted!