RC64II vs RP450C

[jjptkd]

I would pass on the original RC-64, I've had a couple and didn't like them too much. The 64 II on the other hand is a decent center speaker and I think would match up ok with the Chorus 1's, at least as best as one could hope for from an actual center speaker. The RC-7 is a great match and my personal favorite but the 64 II is very close. I've been running Chorus 1 & 2's off and on again for the better part of 15 years and have tried all the Klipsch center speakers several times in various rooms with a lot of different equipment over the years. I do not agree with the "Academy" being the best match-- It's an ok center speaker just no where near as good as the RC-7 or 64 II. Now mind you I only use my center speaker for movies and TV, music I run straight 2 channel so timbre matching has never been an issue for me. Hope this helps, good luck!

[jjptkd]

To sum up I guess I would say go for the 64 II, seems like a decent price if its in nice condition. I really think that's just about as good a center speaker as you can get for the Chorus short of using a full sized tower speaker. If it turns out that you don't like it for some strange reason you should be able to resell it and get most if not all of your money back. That's really the only way you'll know for sure is to try it out for yourself in your own room.

[Youthman]

I did some A/B between an RC-64 and RC-64ii and my ears didn't hear a difference.

 

I do not agree with the "Academy" being the best match-- It's an ok center speaker just no where near as good as the RC-7 or 64 II.

I agree, I bought three Academy's and wasn't impressed with their sound compared to my RC-64.

 

[AaronB123]

To sum up I guess I would say go for the 64 II, seems like a decent price if its in nice condition. I really think that's just about as good a center speaker as you can get for the Chorus short of using a full sized tower speaker. If it turns out that you don't like it for some strange reason you should be able to resell it and get most if not all of your money back. That's really the only way you'll know for sure is to try it out for yourself in your own room.

Thank you very much for the input! I definitely agree that when listening to music straight 2 channel is the best way to go. Perhaps I'll keep an eye out for the RC-7 as well if things don't pan out with the RC-64ii. 

[AaronB123]

Aaron if the XO is at 80 Hz, move it down to 50 Hz .  Ideally you need a Heritage speakers for the center but, sometime it's a bit of a space problem.  As far as the RC 64 and 64 II, it is an excellent center and is made for the large Reference speakers.  I have heard HT with 3 identical speakers and have no intentions of getting rid of my RC 64.  The older RC 64 may be a better match if the Chorus tweeter is 1 inch.  There are some guys on the forum using the RC 64/II with Heritage speakers.

Hey I was just curious I moved the X over to 50 which actually does seem to make it sound fuller but the rated response of this center is only down to 58hz and unfortunately my receiver can only jump from 80 to 50 for some reason. Do you think I run any risk of damaging it using the 50hz X over? 

[Shodrewken]

Schu uses a RC-64 II with his Heritage speaker and has been pleased with the results.

[rgdawsonco]

Man, centers are tough. I have spent lots of hours getting centers to blend and it is never perfect unless your center is identical to your fronts, as Scrappydo always says. That said do not give up. Given you have Chorus fronts, I think spending money on the RC 64ii might improve things, but maybe not by much. For me, as others have said, the horizontal center won't sound the same cuz it is usually mounted lower. It is usually mounted closer to a back wall, often in a cabinet, maybe with a TV on top of it. Room correction, like Audessey, can help. In my room, after a lot of experimentation, I found better results by aiming my center about a foot above ear level and setting the crossover frequency the same as fronts.

I recently got Palladiums and the matching center. They match pretty well, but the center location still makes it imperfect. I still had to rely on Audessey and experimentation and aiming high to get the best results.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[mattSER]

Have you looked into the KLF C7. I don't know if it would be a better match or not. Just didn't see it mentioned.

My vote/guesstimate would also be for the RC-7.

[AaronB123]

Man, centers are tough. I have spent lots of hours getting centers to blend and it is never perfect unless your center is identical to your fronts, as Scrappydo always says. That said do not give up. Given you have Chorus fronts, I think spending money on the RC 64ii might improve things, but maybe not by much. For me, as others have said, the horizontal center won't sound the same cuz it is usually mounted lower. It is usually mounted closer to a back wall, often in a cabinet, maybe with a TV on top of it. Room correction, like Audessey, can help. In my room, after a lot of experimentation, I found better results by aiming my center about a foot above ear level and setting the crossover frequency the same as fronts.

I recently got Palladiums and the matching center. They match pretty well, but the center location still makes it imperfect. I still had to rely on Audessey and experimentation and aiming high to get the best results.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

After letting the RP450C break in a bit more and experimenting with settings it is sounding a lot better. I did run the MCACC pro that's on my receiver which not only helped the center but made everything sound a lot better. Is that similar to Audessey? Is that another brand's room calibration system? I would definitely be willing to try it if possible. 

 

I think I'm probably just going to end up sticking with this one because the guy that had the other center on craigslist has for some reason just stopped responding so I'm not sure if perhaps he sold it to someone else or what happened there. If I happen to see a RC-64ii for a good price I may grab it and give it a shot. 

[AaronB123]

Have you looked into the KLF C7. I don't know if it would be a better match or not. Just didn't see it mentioned.

My vote/guesstimate would also be for the RC-7.

Ya, I looked into that one but its tough to find. If I did try another one, I would probably go with the RC-64ii that's the one I originally wanted but just couldn't afford. 

[RoboKlipsch]

 

Can anyone that has had experience with both centers please let me know if you think it is worth the upgrade if I already have the RP450C? 

 

Just get both. 

 

 

MLO if I may ask...I think I understand the concept of three matching speakers for LCR, how couldn't they sound perfect together?

 

But aside from that...when selecting a compromise center, it seems like there are a few issues...one is the quality of the center itself, without respect to what it's going with.  Maybe the RC64II is your favorite, for example.  But then what you pair it with also seems to matter.  Is it only a matter of testing a particular setup, or have you found that one or more of the centers works best in  most cases no matter what you are pairing them with?

[Paducah Home Theater]

 

But aside from that...when selecting a compromise center, it seems like there are a few issues...one is the quality of the center itself, without respect to what it's going with.  Maybe the RC64II is your favorite, for example.  But then what you pair it with also seems to matter.  Is it only a matter of testing a particular setup, or have you found that one or more of the centers works best in  most cases no matter what you are pairing them with?

 

 

I swapped back and forth and mix and matched quite a bit over the course of a weekend.  I had RF-7ii's, RC-64ii, RP-450C, and RP-280F.  On the surface they all sounded surprisingly similar, at least on a normal movie at low volumes.  There was a small amount of difference but it was harder than I would have thought to tell them apart on most material.  On intense action sequences with a bunch of high frequency material, or high volume rock concerts with cymbal crashes and whatnot, when I mixed them up, let's just say I couldn't switch back to the RF-7ii's and RC-64ii fast enough.  The larger compression driver is more pleasant and natural sounding to me than the RP's and it stood out more when you mixed things up and ran both at the same time.  Of course one could say that I should have let things break in a little more before doing this little experiment I suppose, but based on both theoretical stuff and real world dinking around with stuff, I believe you really need to match the front three tweeters if possible.  I didn't like the results of intermingling the speakers I previously mentioned.  I do like the 64/7ii better but things just need to match in my opinion.  

 

Anyway, I do get to play with a few of them.  This is about half of what I had on hand at the time.  If something new comes through you can bet I'll be playing with it.  

 

Edited March 28, 2016 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[derrickdj1]

Hey I was just curious I moved the X over to 50 which actually does seem to make it sound fuller but the rated response of this center is only down to 58hz and unfortunately my receiver can only jump from 80 to 50 for some reason. Do you think I run any risk of damaging it using the 50hz X over?

 

No problem running the XO at 50 Hz.  The XO will start cutting frequencies before it reaches 50 Hz.  I have ran my XO at 50, 80 and 100 Hz on the Pioneer at reference level many times with all the ULF movies and the RC 64/RS 35's has never had a problem.  I am talking about pushing all the speakers hard and turning everything all the way up!

[rgdawsonco]

Man, centers are tough. I have spent lots of hours getting centers to blend and it is never perfect unless your center is identical to your fronts, as Scrappydo always says. That said do not give up. Given you have Chorus fronts, I think spending money on the RC 64ii might improve things, but maybe not by much. For me, as others have said, the horizontal center won't sound the same cuz it is usually mounted lower. It is usually mounted closer to a back wall, often in a cabinet, maybe with a TV on top of it. Room correction, like Audessey, can help. In my room, after a lot of experimentation, I found better results by aiming my center about a foot above ear level and setting the crossover frequency the same as fronts.

I recently got Palladiums and the matching center. They match pretty well, but the center location still makes it imperfect. I still had to rely on Audessey and experimentation and aiming high to get the best results.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

After letting the RP450C break in a bit more and experimenting with settings it is sounding a lot better. I did run the MCACC pro that's on my receiver which not only helped the center but made everything sound a lot better. Is that similar to Audessey? Is that another brand's room calibration system? I would definitely be willing to try it if possible.

I think I'm probably just going to end up sticking with this one because the guy that had the other center on craigslist has for some reason just stopped responding so I'm not sure if perhaps he sold it to someone else or what happened there. If I happen to see a RC-64ii for a good price I may grab it and give it a shot.

Yes, Audessey is a version of room correction that is built into Denon receivers. I find it very helpful technology.