Moderators Youthman Posted June 29, 2013 Moderators Share Posted June 29, 2013 Today I had the privilege of putting another face to a name. Celso called me to say thanks for the recommendation on his RF-5 speakers he listed in the Garage Sale. I found out the gentleman that I had pointed to Celso's ad was too far of a drive. During our conversation, my brain began to wonder how the RF-5 would compare with the B&W DM 604 S3 I have in my 2ch setup in the living room. My curiosity got the best of me, so I headed to his home 1hr away. During my visit, I had a great time of fellowship with Celso as he shared with me his RF-7 system in the living room and his Cornwalls in a bedroom setup. It was my first time hearing the Cornwalls. They have a big sound and a very large soundstage. Paired with his HSU Cylinder Sub, it sounded very nice. Celso is an absolutely fantastic guy and I was blessed to meet him and his family before purchasing the RF-5's. The RF-5's were in fantastic shape with only a few very minor blemishes. They have one of the most unique grain patterns I have ever seen in the RF series. Speaker grills are in perfect shape with badges intact and no broken pegs (which is rare). He offered to bring them upstairs to hook them up but I decided that would not be necessary. I had no doubts they were in great working condition so I bought them without demoing them. The wife went to bed before I had a chance to really demo them. I only had maybe 5 minutes to listen to them. I'll post my thoughts tomorow after I have more time to devote to comparing the two speakers. My goal in buying them is to 1) hear firsthand what the RF-5's sound like and 2) decide which two speakers sounds the best and sell the other pair. The RF-5's have a very similar footprint. They are 2" taller but 2" shorter in depth and about 1/2" narrower in width. Here are a few pics I took of them tonight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted June 29, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted June 29, 2013 And just for fun, while my son is at a friend's house, I pulled one of his RF-7's out just for size comparison between the three speakers. Man I forgot how heavy they are and much more difficult to pick up by yourself and carry to another room in the house. I have to move it back into his room tonight before my wife wakes up in the morning. There already thinks the RF-5's are bigger but I tried tell her they are really the same size if you measure them in cubic feet. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WakeJunkie Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Love that Cherry. I can't wait to see the reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Watch it now youthman, the wife said 1 pair of speakers, lol. The RF 5's look great. You know you have a bias toward the Klipsch sound. I know I have a bias with the Pioneer sound and Klipsch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 The RF-5's were in fantastic shape with only a few very minor blemishes. They have one of the most unique grain patterns I have ever seen in the RF series. They are beautiful, match perfectly with your decor and floor? Tell Jessica you have my vote for the RF-5's on looks only[Y][Y]. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TasDom Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 That wood grain is beautiful. Looks great with the console and ties the floor together. I'm pulling for the RF-5's for your comparison. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 That is a great looking room. I bet a pair of Palladium's in merlot would match your decor perfectly. That way you'd combine the silver drivers, nice wood grain, and klipsch sound all in one package! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celsoguim Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Michael, It is being very nice to finally meet you, a pleasure!!!! and we have to get together more times to really put to the test my set-ups, it wasn't enough time! The RF-5's just look sharp and outstanding in your room. They blended in perfectly and nice that you can have them without the grills, they look even better without the grills. I really want to hear your input regarding sound in comparison with your B&W's. As i said before, compare to the RF-7's too, so it can educate people in the forum about the similarity of the two. I think they sound really alike, only giving up a little in bass to the RF-7's. For the B&W's i am pretty sure they will lose. I can't wait to hear your input, Celso. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted June 30, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted June 30, 2013 Thanks guys, I have a friend coming over shortly and we are going to do some A/B testing. Stay tuned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Youthman, I am finding that the Reference series makes a great 2 channel system. The range of the larger Reference speakers is outstanding and their ablility to pull out details in the high and low registry make for a very enjoyable listening experience. I am enjoying running my 7's full range( did I say that),lol, and switch back and forth between the HT and 2 channel setup without having to go into the avr menu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Those look really nice congrats. They match your room perfect but the b&w look great too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Youthman, I am finding that the Reference series makes a great 2 channel system. The range of the larger Reference speakers is outstanding and their ablility to pull out details in the high and low registry make for a very enjoyable listening experience. I am enjoying running my 7's full range( did I say that),lol, and switch back and forth between the HT and 2 channel setup without having to go into the avr menu. Derrick i have been finding the same thing over last week. I saw a video of the 7s drivers slamming in and out and had never seen them do that so with some help from tasdom i got them running two channel and wow the bass is ridiculous. So i set up a brand new memory eq for 2 channel and after about 5min of tweaking pretty impressive. try out this cd http://www.amazon.com/Addicted-Single-CD-Plastic-R-Menichetti/dp/B00005PYD8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372617950&sr=8-2&keywords=plastic+addicted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I bought a used copy its pretty good demo music to put your speakers to the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_Guy Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Also the RF-5's love some nice external amplification, my Emotiva XPA-2 has really brought my RF-5's to another level with increased detail, separation and imaging, as well as improved bass. I know you have your amp in the theater room but I don't think you are using one in the two channel system. If possible you may want to do some comparisons with the amp connected if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heritage_Head Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Fast forward a few years and youth will have amps subs tv and surrounds lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shodrewken Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Congrats Youthman. The grain on the 5's is simply beautiful. I remember SubXero saying how much he loved how musical the 5's sounded in his system. Gonna be a tough decision I'm sure! Good luck and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TasDom Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 [O] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted July 1, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted July 1, 2013 I know you have your amp in the theater room but I don't think you are using one in the two channel system. If possible you may want to do some comparisons with the amp connected if you can. Good idea. You are correct, no amp in the living room. I'll bring them into the HT to see how they sound in 2ch with 220 watts of solid amplification. I bet they are like the 7's and will love the power. Gonna be a tough decision I'm sure! Good luck and enjoy! You are correct...it will be a tough decision Fast forward a few years and youth will have amps subs tv and surrounds lol. That is funny....but I highly doubt it. 2ch is all I have a desire to have in the living room. Ok, so I've been a little busy today. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted July 1, 2013 Author Moderators Share Posted July 1, 2013 I invited a friend over who loves music and owns the RB-5's in his home. First we listened to a variety of music on CD and some concert DVD's through the Marantz DVD player. We both agreed on the following: The B&W's have MUCH more bottom end than the RF-5's. Seriously, there is a significant difference in bass response. The B&W's could probably have just a tad reduction in bass. You can literally "Feel" the B&W's, definitely much more impactful in the bottom region than the RF-5's. We attribute it to the fact that the B&W's have (3) 7" drivers vs the (2) 8" drivers and the front port might allow it to have better bass extension as well. Remember, these are not placed in a corner, they are centered along a 25' wall playing into a 15' x 25 living room with 12' ceilings and into a very open floor plan that connects to the kitchen, home office and dining room. Not much bass reinforcement in the room. The B&W's just slam. The RF-5's had more of an "Out in Front" sound while the B&W's were more more refined and smoother. The B&W's had a more "Full" sound. We are thinking this has might be due to the fact that they are a 3-way design vs the 2-way design of the RF-5's. Piano sounded more natural on the B&W's. The RF-5's were slightly more detailed (althought the B&W's were very clean). Female Vocals sounded very sultry and extremely peaceful, whereas the RF-5's were more "In Your Face". During most of the demoes, we enjoyed both sets but we both leaned towards the B&W's. We switched over to Pandora on my iPhone. Here it got interesting. We expected a very similar result but found the RF-5's made Pandora sound quite a bit better than the B&W's. Could this be because the quality of Pandora is low res at 128 that the brightness and clarity of the RF-5's enhanced the poor quality of Pandora? I will do some additional testing tomorrow and will post some more thoughts of my findings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Not suprised at all with your findings. To you and in your room, they were a clear winner vs the forte II's The B&W's have MUCH more bottom end than the RF-5's. Seriously, there is a significant difference in bass response. The B&W's could probably have just a tad reduction in bass. You can literally "Feel" the B&W's, definitely much more impactful in the bottom region than the RF-5's. We attribute it to the fact that the B&W's have (3) 7" drivers vs the (2) 8" drivers and the front port might allow it to have better bass extension as well. Another thing noted that may contribute to this is that the B&W's lower 7 inch driver is about 10 inches closer to the floor which would result in some boundry gain. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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