New to me rf5s

[tdubl07]

Hey guys, picked up some rf5s off of craigslist today. I was very excited, got to listen to them very quickly at pick up. But when I got home, and hooked them up, I find the mids very recessed for music. They sound awesome for movies, but for 2 channel music, I'm quite disappointed. Way to recessed in the mids. To be honest my giant white van speakers sound better for music. Does this sounds pretty characteristic of the rf5's? They do sound great in movies. I'm guessing to the lack of voices coming through.

[Youthman]

I owned the RF-5's and I personally didn't find them lacking in the midrange.  My issue was I have a 15' x 25' room with 12' ceilings that opens up into the breakfast nook, kitchen, dining room and home office.  The RF-5's just lacked bass performance since I was not able to place them into corners.

 

One thing you might want to do is verify that all drivers are working.

[derrickdj1]

Tell us more, room size, avr, amp, furnishing in rooms, EQ, sub, ect.  Most Klipsch tower are capable of great bass compared to other brands.  My speakers are EQ'ed since the room is not perfect.

[tdubl07]

They're being fed by a nad478v2 . I am trying to eq them but it's not enough. Running thru an old audiosource eq from my Bluetooth receiver fed from my phone. Of course it will be compressed by the Bluetooth but it wasn't an issue with my other speakers. I suspect I just may not be a huge fan of these for music. All drivers are working properly, first thing I checked. They're in a 20x18 room, carpeted. No special room treatments. A shame because it looks like by and large everyone seems to give these great reviews.

[moray james]

if you listen longer at the pick up point then you can use the fact that the speakers are pooched to get a much better deal. Don't be in such a hurry to buy broken goods. You can check the crossovers to see if any resistors are fried or caps exploded and you can buy new diaphragms for the horn drivers and you should have a new set of speakers. Make the effort to contact the vendor explain the situation and see if he will discount the deal for you with a partial rebate. Check into the actual cost of replacement parts first as well as the shipping cost so that you can use that information to get a better discount if he is willing to help out, you have nothing to lose by asking. The RF5 is probably the second best RF series speaker made. Once you get them repaired I am sure that your listening skills will improve dramatically. Best regards Moray James.

[Heritage_Head]

if you listen longer at the pick up point then you can use the fact that the speakers are pooched to get a much better deal. Don't be in such a hurry to buy broken goods. You can check the crossovers to see if any resistors are fried or caps exploded and you can buy new diaphragms for the horn drivers and you should have a new set of speakers. Make the effort to contact the vendor explain the situation and see if he will discount the deal for you with a partial rebate. Check into the actual cost of replacement parts first as well as the shipping cost so that you can use that information to get a better discount if he is willing to help out, you have nothing to lose by asking. The RF5 is probably the second best RF series speaker made. Once you get them repaired I am sure that your listening skills will improve dramatically. Best regards Moray James.

He said the speakers are in perfect working order. Did I miss something?

[Heritage_Head]

Hey guys, picked up some rf5s off of craigslist today. I was very excited, got to listen to them very quickly at pick up. But when I got home, and hooked them up, I find the mids very recessed for music. They sound awesome for movies, but for 2 channel music, I'm quite disappointed. Way to recessed in the mids. To be honest my giant white van speakers sound better for music. Does this sounds pretty characteristic of the rf5's? They do sound great in movies. I'm guessing to the lack of voices coming through.

I didn't have those but I did have the rf82. Similar speakers. I was never a big fan of them for 2ch music. I mean it wasnt bad. Just not that great. For movies the 82s sounded really good though. I know the 5s are a little better with real wood. Edited September 15, 2014 by reference_head

[tdubl07]

Thanks guys. Yeah they're both working. All drivers and tweeters are working properly. Unless both crossovers are screwy which I doubt because they both sound identical. My wife even commented as soon as she heard them that they didn't sound good. She said sounds like they're (the singer's) far away lol. So these might just be my new movie speakers. I'll have to pull the crossovers and give them a look just out of my curiosity. Thanks everyone

Edited September 15, 2014 by tdubl07

[Thaddeus Smith]

It might be your ears that are broken. Or some sort of temporal sonic displacement field surrounding your property.

[Thaddeus Smith]

And you have them positioned properly, yes? they're rear ported so they need to be 2 feet away from rear walls if possible, 1.5ft at a minimum. About the same distance from side walls too.

[derrickdj1]

One trait of Klipsch is an unfront presentation.  If the singers sound far away, something is wrong.

[tdubl07]

Lol. Yeah they're positioned properly. Could be the temporal sonic displacement.

[Thaddeus Smith]

Lol. Yeah they're positioned properly. Could be the temporal sonic displacement.

 

i was being snarky just because your impressions are completely counter to the established personality of those speakers. it's hard to troubleshoot personal listening impressions. 

[tdubl07]

Nope totally understand. I am a big headphone guy, and to an extent I think my t1s spoil me, but music is much more important to me than home theatre. The rfs sound awesome for movies. Just not so much for music. My pops has an old set of m&k's with there big sub and that setup makes me envious. It sounds amazing. In the end I should've have them a much better listen at pickup. Had the little one with me so I rushed it. Gonna go home tonight and give them a solid workout and see if I can convince myself I like them for music too

[Youthman]

If the reference series does not meet your taste for two channel listening you might want to consider something in the heritage series

[oldenough]

If you want those RF-5's to really be at their best for music feed them with a dedicated stereo amp, with some serious power. I have owned a pair since Klipsch introduced them, for the first few years they were used with a slew of different av receivers, I then started using them strictly for 2 channel listening, and lots of power from Luxman, Nad, Marantz stereo amplifiers. The difference was like night and day, the RF5 are a great speaker and the last thing they suffer from is a lack of midrange.

 

PS...currently running mine with a pair of bridged Luxman m-120 amps, and a Luxman c-120 pre.

Edited September 15, 2014 by oldenough

[tdubl07]

I'm gonna go home and remove the crossover and woofers and make sure everything is wired correctly. The guy I bought them from says he bought them from the original owner, so I think a look over of the wiring is in order. Since they both sound identical in guessing they're both at least wired identical, right or wrong.

[Thaddeus Smith]

the terminal jumpers are in place, right?

[tdubl07]

Yeah those are good.

[Thaddeus Smith]

Cool, just running through things to check. Are they out of phase? Are they running in full range mode when connected to your amp/AVR (ie. not crossed over to a sub with the sub turned off in a surround mode), either through a direct/pure direct mode?

 

something just isn't adding up.