RF 7 II Home Theater in Seattle Area?

[dpljmurphy]

Hi guys I'm hoping to buy and set up a home theater in a new (to us) home, the room is 25 x 25, 9' ceilings and has a corner open to another room of equal size. Focus will be on HT but i will do some 2 channel listening as well. Initial amplification will probably be the Onkyo TX-NR818.

i was planning on doing the RF 7 II with RC 64 center and using existing in ceiling surrounds for now. I may be over thinking this but the room has a lot of glass behind and to the left of the listening sweet spot and there is a largish 'bar' also behind with an island of cabinets; so the room will be pretty bright and there isn't much room (or corners) for bass traps and other acoustical treatments so i'm worried that the RF 7's will be too bright.

I've been attempting to listen to the speakers locally at Fry's; sounded horrible, way too bright and the bass was muddy, and up at Bry's in Marysville but their sound board was dead (although they did blow my mind with the Khorns, incredible).

So before i give up on Klipsch does anyone in the Seattle area have a well sorted HT with RF 7 II's that they'd be willing to let me listen to?

And does anyone have experience matching the KW-120-THX Subwoofer to a system such as this?

[Youthman]

Murphy, if the RF-7ii's are too bright for you, have you considered the RF-83? I own both and the 83's definitely have a smoother, more laid back sound. I love both the RF-83 and RF-7 and really don't prefer one over the other, but if you are concerned about the brightness because of your room acoustics, the RF-83 would still be a fantastic system.

Below are two threads where I compared my RF-83's to my RF-7's. Might be of some value to you.

Maple RF-7's in the House

A New Love and Appreciation for the RF-7's

[Scrappydue]

I heard the rf-7ii for the first time I was totally disgusted on how they sounded there. I recently just head them set up in a home and they were better but I still don't like them. I much prefer my more laid back rf-63 sound. If you want an even more laid back sound but still fantastic highs I can personally vouch for JTR noesis speakers. They are fantastic and will eventually be in my home theater when funds allow. But if your talking new rf-7ii's and rc-64ii then the noesis 228 is right in your wheelhouse pricewise and they have more output than a khorn. And I have head the big and small ones and they are just incredible speakers. They really are limitless and maintain their smoothness the louder they go. They are almost a dangerous speaker to own. I love em

[derrickdj1]

The brightness may be a problem in certain rooms and the Hi's are 3-5 db louder than the LF. The choice of avr/preamp may have a bearing on the brightness. The Pioneer avrs do a good job keeping everything flat and I have not had trouble with brightness. I have experienced it before and it was not a nice experience. The Pioneer Elites also have x-curve to control bightness in large rooms and fine EQ to calibrate the speaker(HF/LF) balance in different time domains.

[Klipschht]

I am not an "audiophile" but I have not found the RF-7 II's to be to bright. I think they sound great, however each person hears things differently. I have always had them hooked up to the Emotiva amp so I can not speak to the amplification from Onkyo, but I think if you listen to a pair set up right they should not be to bright. Just my two cents.

[Heritage_Head]

I heard the rf-7ii for the first time I was totally disgusted on how they sounded there. I recently just head them set up in a home and they were better but I still don't like them. I much prefer my more laid back rf-63 sound. If you want an even more laid back sound but still fantastic highs I can personally vouch for JTR noesis speakers. They are fantastic and will eventually be in my home theater when funds allow. But if your talking new rf-7ii's and rc-64ii then the noesis 228 is right in your wheelhouse pricewise and they have more output than a khorn. And I have head the big and small ones and they are just incredible speakers. They really are limitless and maintain their smoothness the louder they go. They are almost a dangerous speaker to own. I love em

Wait so the RF-42, RF-52, RF-62, RF-82, RC-42,RC-52,RC-62,RC-64,RB-61,RS-62,and RF-63 (all speakers you own or have.sorry if i missed any) all sound really good but the RF-7ii sounded disgusting[*-)]? Now thats funny.[]

[Scrappydue]

Yes the first time I heard them they sounded terrible. Now I'm sure you have read all the same stuff I have talking about how important placement is on those particular speakers. Now the second time I heard ten they weren't as bad, but still don't care for them. I'm guessing, it has something to do with that 1.75" tweeter. Cause the heritage line has a forward sound but I don't mind it at all. So your right to my ears I prefer all the speakers you listed over a pair of rf-7ii's. until I can hear a pair that are perfectly setup on maybe some tubes or something my mind will not change.

[derrickdj1]

Wait so the RF-42, RF-52, RF-62, RF-82, RC-42,RC-52,RC-62,RC-64,RB-61,RS-62,and RF-63 (all speakers you own or have.sorry if i missed any) all sound really good but the RF-7ii sounded disgusting? Now thats funny.

We all have a preference on what we like but the difference between the different reference models is not that dramatich, even between the 63's and 7 II's if setup correctly and good room correction is used. I was at a custom audio store yesterday and heard some B&W 853, Focal, PSB, Monitor Audio and some other speakers. These speakers were priced $2,300 to 24,000 dollars. Frankly I like the sound of my 7's over the other speakersss which were on expensive Boulder and Moon amp. Klipsch speakers have remaine a legend because they are the best bang for the bucks.

As far as speakers sounding on louder volume, it is related to setup, room interaction/room correction and proper amplification to keep the sound nice without distortion and imbalance between the Hi/LF.

My Chase subs sounded better than any of the more expensive subs in the custom shop costing 3-5 k per sub. It is not about how much you spend since it does not necessarily mean improved SQ. Individual components, speakers, amp, ect are nice but system synergy is a must.

[Heritage_Head]

It seems strange that arguably the best reference speaker made would sound worse than an RF-42 (arguably the worse). You you could flip 7s upside down and they would sound better than a RF-42.

this vs

[Heritage_Head]

vs somthing like this (rb-52ii horn)

[Heritage_Head]

law of physics

[Scrappydue]

Is it hard for you to understand that everyone hears different. I think the rf-7ii sounds bad. I didn't say the rf-42ii is louder or has a bigger sound. Your right sir bigger speakers sound bigger. Not always the case but 90% of the time. Please dont take offense that you own a speaker that I dislike, like I said I may have never heard them properly set up. I heard them on a para sound halo in St. Louis but all hardwood floors and not optimally placed. So until I hear them my mind won't change. Let's not forget I tried to come by your place when I was all the way up there. Now you can keep posting pics showing me a 10" driver is bigger than a 4.5" driver but it doesn't change my hearing. Everyone has their own opinions. This thread is way off topic now as well. OP asked about rf-7ii's. I gave my opinion. YMMV!

[Heritage_Head]

Is it hard for you to understand that everyone hears different. I think the rf-7ii sounds bad. I didn't say the rf-42ii is louder or has a bigger sound. Your right sir bigger speakers sound bigger. Not always the case but 90% of the time. Please dont take offense that you own a speaker that I dislike, like I said I may have never heard them properly set up. I heard them on a para sound halo in St. Louis but all hardwood floors and not optimally placed. So until I hear them my mind won't change. Let's not forget I tried to come by your place when I was all the way up there. Now you can keep posting pics showing me a 10" driver is bigger than a 4.5" driver but it doesn't change my hearing. Everyone has their own opinions. This thread is way off topic now as well. OP asked about rf-7ii's. I gave my opinion. YMMV!

Yes and i gave my opinion of your opinion. If you posted that you heard RF-83 and they sounded disgusting i would have posted the same thing. If someone owns a svs PB-12 plus, pb-1000 and a pb12-nsd and loves them, and then posted that he heard a pb-13 ultra and it sounded disgusting and the pb12nsd had better bass would that make sense to you?

[Shodrewken]

First off welcome to the forum Murhpy. I have the exact setup you are looking at. I love the 818 and all the features it has. I'm not much of a equalizer tweaker, and I'm not very good at it, so that AVR fits my needs. I just plugged everything in, ran Audyssey and called it good. And the same goes for my RF-7 II setup, these speakers sound amazing. The only big difference I see with my setup over yours is I use an external amp to power my speakers. However, I have listened to my setup with just the Onkyo powering everything and they never sounded or felt fatiguing in the slightest, even in my meager, far from ideal listen area.

[Scrappydue]

I might think that sounds a bit off but wouldn't feel the need to post pictures of the different size drivers, and make it sound like MY ears don't know what they are telling MY brain. Just because something is smaller doesn't mean it is better or worse to someone. And that seems like all you are trying to tell me. This will be my last post regarding this. Sorry to the OP.

[Heritage_Head]

If someone said they didn't like how klipsch reference speakers sounded thats fine and makes sense. But you own almost every model and seem to love how they sound. Thats all I'm saying. Im not saying you did or didn't like how they sounded I'm just saying its really strange to go that hot to cold with speakers from the same line. Wasn't meant as a personal attack on your hearing and opinion. Sorry if you took it that way. Sometimes its hard to have a debate with out the tone of how things are being said. I meant no disrespect. And yes imo bigger is better when all things are equal (like same brand, design, and similar parts) and in the case of rf-42 vs rf-7ii the parts are of higher quality. I could care less what one is louder.

[jjennings2510]

As another happy RF-7II owner I have to say I don't think the speakers will be too bright. I am running my speakers using a Harmon receiver and Integra amp and it sounds amazing. Now when I had my cheapo HTiB receiver they sounded really bright but once I put my Onkyo up there temporarily and when I put the Harman up there things flattened out. But to me they don't sound any brighter than any of the other klipsch speakers I have. They do have more of a presence so they're more in your face but I wouldn't call them brighter per se.....But time really helps them out a lot...As I play my speakers more and more they seem to be coming into their own more and more. But as others have suggested the 83s are really good. I would even go so far as to suggest the 82s as well....But I feel like that any Klipsch speaker improperly setup is going to sound bright because the horn can be unforgiving. Just be sure to run the auto setup on the receiver and double check everything with an accurate SPL meter and you should be fine

[tmassey]

OP, I urge you to listen to other speakers (and not only Klipsch speakers). The RF-7 II's are known for being bright among Klipsch, which are known for being bright among most brands because they are horn loaded.

If you are dedicated to Klipsch, I'd suggest listening for a good 20 minutes at a decent volume to ensure they don't give you ear fatigue. And as others are saying, check out some RF-83's if you can find some. If you like the Klipsch sound but think the RF-7 II's are going to be too bright, the RF-83's would probably be perfect for you.

[derrickdj1]

I am not pushing Pioneer Elite avr's since there are a lot of brands that are very nice but, the x curve and reverb function allows you to adjust for room/system brightness. I don't know what avr the OP prefers but MCACC does a good job getting the frrequency response across the board pretty flat. The x curve is perfect for large rooms and reflective rooms that are more likely to have trouble with brightness in the sound.