RF63 reproduction of drums

[RF7X3M]

I would like to ask a question those who know Heresy's and the RF63. Or more broadly the Heritage and Reference lines.

I want to know if the RF63's have the slam and dynamics and punch which so far I have only heard in the Heresy's? You know what I mean, with the Heresy's you feel the drums in your room, or should I say, over your head it's been so addictive experience, I cannot give that up As I will never part with my RF7's either I wanted to know if the smaller drivers in the RF63's can do my 3rd pair

Greetings from France!

[willland]

I have both Heresy's and RF-63's. The Heresy's are located in a 13ft W X 13ft L x 10ft H(2600 cubic feet) room and reproduce that punch of drums in an incredible way. My RF-63's are located in a 16ft W X 32ft L x 12ft H(6000+ cubic feet) and also reproduce drums well but not with the impact of the Heresy's.

Now if I moved the 63's into the much smaller room as the Heresy's, I think the 63's just might win the contest. Of the speakers that I have owned, I think the Heresy's and 63's are most accurate in reproducing the sound of instruments especially drums and acoustic guitar.

Now take the same RF-63's and RF-7's and place them side by side(in 6000ft3 room), the RF-7's will have a bit more punch than the 63's but with overall accuracy, I think the 63's come out ahead. They are just that refined and smooth and with the right amp, they can kick you in the chest pretty hard.

Bill

Edited March 11, 2014 by willland

[franticsled]

I have both Heresy's and RF-63's. The Heresy's are located in a 13ft W X 13ft L x 10ft H(2600 cubic feet) room and reproduce that punch of drums in an incredible way. My RF-63's are located in a 16ft W X 32ft L x 12ft H(6000+ cubic feet) and also reproduce drums well but not with the impact of the Heresy's.

Now if I moved the 63's into the much smaller room as the Heresy's, I think the 63's just might win the contest. Of the speakers that I have owned, I think the Heresy's and 63's are most accurate in reproducing the sound of instruments especially drums and acoustic guitar.

Now take the same RF-63's and RF-7's and place them side by side(in 6000ft3 room), the RF-7's will have a bit more punch than the 63's but with overall accuracy, I think the 63's come out ahead. They are just that refined and smooth and with the right amp, they can kick you in the chest pretty hard.

Bill

I can agree 100%. With the 63's I owned i was very surprised with the bass they poured out!! Fast and tight!!

[Scrappydue]

i bought 63's because of williand's opinion on them. i thin acquired a pair of heresy's shortly after to try the heritage line. both are great speakers. both were eventually sold to try other speakers. the 63's made it back in the house later down the road. the heresy's wont come back around unless i ever do a heritage home theater in my living room and they would be used as surrounds. i think they are very worthy of being your 3rd pair of klipsch.

[vindeville]

In my opinion any Heritage speaker produces bass in a more accurate manner than most other loudspeakers I have ever heard. Especially any with horn loaded bass. There is a sound/feel of resistance in a kick and a solid rap in a snare as in live music that translates well in the Heritage and extended Heritage line. I have owned R series stuff before and never experienced that kind of bass tone with them even though they had a strong bass output in other ways, same with KLF's I had for a while. My Khorns make the best bass I have ever heard from a speaker in my home. LaScalas hit a bit harder in the upper bass but the Khorns are just about perfect to me and sound deep and tight in my room with lots of dynamic swing.

[etc6849]

I never heard the RF-63's, but I was/am impressed with my RF-83's. I ended up having to get an external amp to really get the best sound out of them.

Horn loaded bass such as the khorn or la scala would be what I'd want to try, but you do need subs for movie watching. I am flat out impressed with the dynamics and imaging of the LS II's over my RF-83's, and that's saying a lot as the RF-83 is an excellent speaker. Horn loaded bass definitely sounds more accurate to me, but can't go as low as the 83's.

[derrickdj1]

The RF 63's are special. The designer for Klipsch stated that when they were made, there was little concern of cost compared to making a great speaker. They used the best parts avaiable to them at the time and came up with a fabulous speaker. If autocalibration is used, the drum sound from the Heritage line and Reference line should not be a night and day difference. Three 6 in.woofer should provide a well balanced bass and mid-bass. As far as imaging, a lot of that depends on speaker placement. Move them apart more equals a bigger sound stage and more instrumental separation. Great results can be achieved with either line of speakers. Only your ears can cast the deciding vote!5

I have 4 way McIntosh XR 5 speaker and have compared them to the RF 7's. Which is better, depends on what type of music I am listening to. The RF 7's cover a wider genre of music IMHO.

Edited March 16, 2014 by derrickdj1

[etc6849]

Autocalibration can't correct things like modulation distortion from non-horn loaded woofer. Also, a horn loaded woofer will need to move in and out less to produce the same output. In general, less movement means less distortion and means more dynamics (less travel means a faster reaction time). Over its rated frequency range, a horn loaded 15" woofer is easily comparable to 3 or more 15" direct radiators in output. A horn loaded bass-bin adds that much to the efficiency!

The science here is pretty clear (it's a matter of fact, not opinion and yes there is a measurable difference in distortion), assuming the OP wants accuracy with a limit frequency range. Now, if the OP wants something a little more distortion and wants to go lower than a lot of horn loaded bass bins can, that's up to their taste/choice. I'm going to guess that a lot of folks prefer lower frequency response, and there's nothing wrong with that if that's what they want. However, if a person is willing to run subs, an all horn loaded speaker setup can be awesome.

You're correct that imaging has a lot to do with placement, which is why I made sure both sets of speakers were placed correctly. I used the RF-83's in two different apartments too so I am comfortable saying my issue wasn't the room or placement. I think the difference I'm hearing wrt to imaging has a lot to do with how a horn disperses it's sound into a room. The mid-range horn on the La Scala's is huge compared to the horn on the RF-83's. Note I'm not saying the reference series has bad imaging, I'm just saying it's not as good as these bigger horns can provide. There appears to be some give and take here too as these smaller horns have awesome frequency response up to 23kHz.

If autocalibration is used, the drum sound from the Heritage line and Reference line should not be a night and day difference. Three 6 in.woofer should provide a well balanced bass and mid-bass. As far as imaging, a lot of that depends on speaker placement. Move them apart more equals a bigger sound stage and more instrumental separation. Great results can be achieved with either line of speakers. Only your ears can cast the deciding vote!5

I have 4 way McIntosh XR 5 speaker and have compared them to the RF 7's. Which is better, depends on what type of music I am listening to. The RF 7's cover a wider genre of music IMHO.

[derrickdj1]

ect 6849 you are correct that an all Heritage system can sound truly awesome. Horn technology is the home base for Klipsch speaker designs. Efficiency and low distortion is a key factor. Modulation distortion does occurs but, may not be audible depending on how hard you are pushing the system. There is also more directivity on axis from large horn speakers. This directivity can be fatiguing. The Reference, Icon,Synergy and Palladium line use horn technolgy and don't have the bulky design of the Heritage line.The non-Heritage speakers are also very efficient, dynamic and have a fast tranisent response for their design. Distortion is so low in most Klipsch systems due to the efficiency of the speaker, it is not a major problem. The xo in the Heritage or non-Heritage line determine how well that particular design sound. There are fans for Heritage and non-heritage Klipsch speakers. My Reference HT is a jaw dropping experience everytime I watch a movies. The only thing that matters is what each listener perfers, SQ is subjective to a large extent.

Edited March 16, 2014 by derrickdj1