ninjai18 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Can anyone at Klipsch, or someone knowledgeable on the subject, comment on the differences in quality of drivers of these two speakers? I was told by someone on DIYaudio that the RF-3 II drivers could use a lot of improvement, so I'm wondering how much better the drivers from the RF-82 II's are? What would be the main differences? It's my understanding that the RF-82 II's use trickle down Palladium technology, which I'd be very interested in hearing how they use it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) which driver? the woofers in an RF3 are solid the comp drivers are compromised in my opinion but fine for the price as far as I am concerned. if you want to look at a state of the art driver (compression) look at how an EV DH1506 or a DH1A is made. those are S.O.T.A. designed and built drives which have and do stand the test of time and professional use punishment. Absolute top of the line pro quality components. That kind of quality costs and you are not going to find it in entry audio components. Look also to top of the line Altec comp drivers as well as JBL drivers which are also of very high quality. The DH1A is about as good as a driver can be made. Best regards Moray James. Edited April 21, 2015 by moray james Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 If you are going to start changing drivers, it may be more cost effective to get another / different speaker. The RF 3 II driver is fine for that speaker as stated for that price point. Many people have and are happy with their RF 3II's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjai18 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 which driver? the woofers in an RF3 are solid the comp drivers are compromised in my opinion but fine for the price as far as I am concerned. if you want to look at a state of the art driver (compression) look at how an EV DH1506 or a DH1A is made. those are S.O.T.A. designed and built drives which have and do stand the test of time and professional use punishment. Absolute top of the line pro quality components. That kind of quality costs and you are not going to find it in entry audio components. Look also to top of the line Altec comp drivers as well as JBL drivers which are also of very high quality. The DH1A is about as good as a driver can be made. Best regards Moray James. What about it would you say is compromised? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Lets not forget the RF-3 II was Klipsch's entry level Reference speaker from '99 to '02. While I personally do not prefer the sound of the RF-82 II's (subbed to the flagship), I can certainly understand if the build quality is substantially better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjai18 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) Lets not forget the RF-3 II was Klipsch's entry level Reference speaker from '99 to '02. While I personally do not prefer the sound of the RF-82 II's (subbed to the flagship), I can certainly understand if the build quality is substantially better. That was my thinking too. I can only imagine they would have greatly improved all of the driver in the 8 years between the two. I just love knowing nerdy tech spec white sheets and improvements. Edited April 21, 2015 by ninjai18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) FYI here is the K-63-KN CD from the Klipsch CF-4 (1994). Beside it is the much larger EV DH1506 that Moray likes so well. Both are 1" screw-on types. Edited April 21, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 which driver? the woofers in an RF3 are solid the comp drivers are compromised in my opinion but fine for the price as far as I am concerned. if you want to look at a state of the art driver (compression) look at how an EV DH1506 or a DH1A is made. those are S.O.T.A. designed and built drives which have and do stand the test of time and professional use punishment. Absolute top of the line pro quality components. That kind of quality costs and you are not going to find it in entry audio components. Look also to top of the line Altec comp drivers as well as JBL drivers which are also of very high quality. The DH1A is about as good as a driver can be made. Best regards Moray James. What about it would you say is compromised? they are small drivers on small horns but as I said they are fine for speakers in this price range. If you want better lower distortion higher headroom drivers you need to look at larger drivers 2 inch and 3 inch diaphragms. All you have to do is to look at a DH1506 even read the data sheet these are sota component and the RF series and the Heritage series simply do not compare they are toy parts when compared to these monster components. A DH1A weighs in at 23.5 pounds of monster which can output TEN acoustical watts across its band a JBL 2226 fifteen inch woofer cannot do that. Monsters. The 1506 has a one piece deep drawn dome/former in top quality aluminum with a polyimide suspension that is cool stuff. the dome is the voice coils heat sink. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Forgive the OT, but Dave - is that glue that's on the horn throat or is that the actual design? Looks...icky...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) Moray, the DH1506 has a XO frequency of 500hz flat to 20,000Hz and goes to 30,000Hz, recommended XO of 800. It can put out 5 acoustical watts, and I weighed it at 10.2 pounds, the stock K-63 was 2.6 pounds. And it sounds good too. +++ Michael, that white/clear stuff on the horn is GE pure Silicon Seal, about 10 oz's. It effectively knocks the pitch on the "knuckle rap test" down about 1/3 of an octave. I had some harshness in the HF range I was trying to knock down. A lot of people use Dynamat to damp the vibrations. The GE Silicon seal in a two-pack is $5 and one tube covers one horn. I applied it asymmetrically. Edited April 21, 2015 by wvu80 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjai18 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) I wonder if one of those DH1506's would fit on the horn of any of the reference speakers, any idea if it could or not? I will say, the RF-7 II tweeters are pretty beefy looking. Edited April 21, 2015 by ninjai18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The History Kid Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Ah, I see. Makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) I have one in my hand and it measures 6" across. The spec sheet for the RF-82ii says it is 9.5" wide. If the CD is a screw-in type, then yes it would fit. I would strongly suggest making a cradle to brace the CD so it won't crack the horn. The going price for a pair of DH1506 is about $200 for a pair, shipped. Two will fit in a USPS flat rate box for $12 shipping. They don't come onto the market that often, I searched for 4 months to find my pair. There are a couple on Ebay right now for $185 shipped. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/311341117101?item=311341117101&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466&rmvSB=true Edited April 21, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjai18 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 I have one in my hand and it measures 6" across. The spec sheet for the RF-82ii says it is 9.5" wide. If the CD is a screw-in type, then yes it would fit. I would strongly suggest making a cradle to brace the CD so it won't crack the horn. The going price for a pair of DH1506 is about $200 for a pair, shipped. Two will fit in a USPS flat rate box for $12 shipping. They don't come onto the market that often, I searched for 4 months to find my pair. There is a couple on Ebay right now for $185 shipped. http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/311341117101?item=311341117101&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466&rmvSB=true Hmmm, definitely worth thinking about doing... Are there any other options that perform close to those that would fit and are regularly available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 (edited) you cannot buy anything new but junk at these prices. That's the reason I suggested them they are stunning and they are almost free. If you were to buy a new today driver that can do what a DH1A can do (provided you could find one I don't think there is one)it would likely cost you $1500.00 or more in US funds each. Take the time and read the spec sheet on these they are insanely high tech. The short answer is no, no cheap stuff performs close to this no expensive stuff performs close to this. There is a good reason why these parts are still in demand 40 years after being brought to market. Not every one wants a good two way but not everyone has heard a good two way either. Listen to a set of JBL L200B in pristine condition the sound excellent and those are small format compression drivers. Get up into the large diaphragm compression drivers and it just gets better. Best regards Moray James. PS: here is probably the least expensive driver that will get you into the bandwidth of a DH1A but it wont put out like the EV. Check out Bob's big two way design with large format driver. http://www.critesspeakers.com/cornscala-style-d.html PPS: the Klipsch K69 as used on the K402 would be a great Klipsch example of a large format driver for wide band use (3" ti diaphragm) so would the K1132 driver also 3" ti. I am not suggesting these drivers as drom in replacements as they likely do not fit on any of the horns you are thinking about and even if they did I have no idea if they would make for a good match. I have been disdussing in general terms of what would be better. Like I said the RF3 is a nice speaker for the money and there is lots you can do to improve it if you want to modify it. A good friend of mine had a pair and I heard them on an Audion Sterling Silver SET EL34 amp they sounded very good and were what made me come back to take a hard look at Klipsch. Edited April 21, 2015 by moray james Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Both the Klipsch drivers you recommended are For 2" throat horns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 (edited) Both the Klipsch drivers you recommended are For 2" throat horns. yes I do know that, I did not recommend them as drop in replacements simply as examples of top quality pro drivers so the OP could see what the difference is between a tweeter driver in an 800 dollar speaker and a tweeter in a real pro speaker. The DH1506 is a one inch exit screw on style that could be used in a number of Klipsch designs but adjustments would need to be made to the networks. The op was discussing differences in driver quality not asking for recommendations for substitutions of current drivers in use. PS: I did mention this in the previous post but clarification is always useful so thanks, I don't always bother to read all the posts in a thread myself. As I said in a prior post I think that the RF3 is a fine speaker for the money just as it is. Edited April 23, 2015 by moray james Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cradeldorf Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I'd rather go with Great plains drivers. http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/hf_drivers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I'd rather go with Great plains drivers. What is the price range for those drivers? It looked like the only way to get prices was to email them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rdmarsiii Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I'd rather go with Great plains drivers. What is the price range for those drivers? It looked like the only way to get prices was to email them. I'm interested in this as well...the price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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