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Reference Premiere - A Revolution?


mattSER

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So I've just finished my second solid week with my RP-160m's and I have to say, these things are incredible!

 

Supremely balanced, extremely linear, and THAT HORN!

 

This new horn is, imo, a complete revolution.

 

I absolutely cannot believe the improvements it brings along with it. The upper midrange is completely smoothed out and imaging is easily the most holographic I've ever experienced.

 

Sensitivity and dynamics are still well beyond my expectations, and voicing seems to land somewhere in between the first 3 Reference generations(with the strong, punchy, forward midrange) and the latter Ref IV and V(with the relaxed, recessed midrange).

 

This is the best Reference model I've ever heard. It doesn't have the large, snap-you-in-the-chest midrange of the RB-75 or RF-7, but has enough other qualities to at least put it on par. Mainly balance and imaging. Imaging, imaging, imaging!!

 

I can only dream of the new, inevitable flagship RP models with 1.75" tweeters in hybrid tractrix horns. Maybe an RP-180m(with 1.75" tweeter)?

 

These RP-160m's are right up there with my favorite models ever, the KLF-20 and RB-75, and I got them new for less than $500!

 

 

Can't forget the bass either. It truly boggles my mind how deep these little guys are able to dig. Especially when I slide my MLP toward the back wall, the room loading easily pulls great output below 40hz.

 

 

The freq balance was very lean right out of the box, but after only a few days(of low-moderate volume), the woofers really warmed up and the balance is simply perfect.

 

I'm surprised that there aren't very many glowing reviews of the RP series floating around the forums, but I'm 100% onboard. So smooth, rich, holographic, dynamic, and lots of sparkle.

 

Homerun, Klipsch!

Edited by mattSER
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it was crazy how close the performance is between these and the palladium bookshelves were. i had a guy coming to buy a set of 160's from me and i set up  the palladiums with them. we were both shocked at the difference (or lack of) between them. we both decided taking looks out of the equation that there was only about a 5% increase in permanence.  like i said he came to buy the 160's and left with the palladiums. i was quite shocked. however i will say that i have already ran though all the new reference premiere models and i like these the most. just a well done 2 way bookshelf. sometimes the simple speakers turn out better. i think they are better than all the towers. 

 

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they also hold their own on top of the heritage. different sounding against these for sure, however both very nice sounding speakers.

 

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Edited by Scrappydue
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i just really think the rp-160 is balanced well. thats all. and i well balanced bookshelf speaker can be absolutely magical in a music setup. i think the towers will get you extra output if you were ever after it. a cool thing about the 160's is their size. one can still possibly fit a single 160 under their display as a LCR setup and its just doest get any better than that. something to think about

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Hmmmm I may have to give these a try I have been looking for some RB-5 or 75's but for just a little more coin than a used set of RB-5's and a whole lot less coin for some 75's these just might be the ticket. They seem to be getting great reviews.

http://www.soundvisionreview.com/hi-fi-home-theater/speakers/klipsch-rp-160m-review/

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Better than the RP towers, eh?

 

Did the towers just sound more HT?

The towers are more colored and aggressive. The bookshelves are more accurate in my opinion, more flat like the THX but better suited for music. I mostly used them on music but I think they would do well on movies based on their demeanor. I feel like they are better balanced and less in your face with a screaming tweeter. For whatever reason the tweeters are just toned down on these. They have a more dry characteristic.

Edited by MetropolisLakeOutfitters
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How do they compare to the RB61 IIs? It has been the balance that I like about these.

I've only briefly heard the RB-61's(not the II's). I thought they had excellent bass balance, but the midrange was a bit lacking. An issue that the 160's has solved.

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  • 3 months later...

So I've just finished my second solid week with my RP-160m's and I have to say, these things are incredible!

 

Supremely balanced, extremely linear, and THAT HORN!

 

This new horn is, imo, a complete revolution.

 

I absolutely cannot believe the improvements it brings along with it. The upper midrange is completely smoothed out and imaging is easily the most holographic I've ever experienced!

 

I'm surprised that there aren't very many glowing reviews of the RP series floating around the forums, but I'm 100% onboard. So smooth, rich, holographic, dynamic, and lots of sparkle.

 

Homerun, Klipsch!

 

Hello everyone, new to the forum but not unfamiliar with Klipsch. A good friend of mine has 2 pair Heresy, 2 pair Cornwall and a pair of Khorn’s. I have replaced crossover components and drivers in all of them.

 

I finally picked up a pair of RP-160M’s as well and I am also amazed. I knew looking at the horn design it had potential but Wow it is really smooth and yes stellar imaging.

 

The 6 inch woofer is nice and tight as well, very rigid and light weight. Klipsch did an amazing job with these components. They have serious potential!

 

After listening for a few days I thought it should have been a little clearer in the high frequency so I pulled the crossovers and sure enough to hit the targeted price range Kilpsch used a relatively inexpensive poly cap in the tweeter, a wire wound resistor and an electrolytic cap in the woofer circuit.

 

I ordered a pair of Jantzen Cross Caps to replace the Klipsch 3.9uF ones and put a couple of ceramic disks across the 43uF electrolytic that I had laying around, stage 1 complete.

 

Now the horn is coming alive! You think they imaged before? Holy crap, the clearity will blow you away, for this price they are unbeatable. By the way I stole them for $299.99 and free shipping from ebay, brand new in the orignal boxes!

 

Next step is to replace the electrolytic with a Jantzen Cross Cap and the 9ohm resistor with a Mils type and add some 0.1uF Audyn True Copper bypass caps. But that will require a rebuild of the crossover boards, 43uF of poly cap is too big for the pcb behind the binding posts.

 

I think the reason for few favorable reviews is the marketing has targeted these as Home Theater speakers rather than bookshelf models.

 

Not a good move, they are awesome bookshelf speakers for a 2.1 system, just add a sub!

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