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There's a pair of Classic RF-7 speakers for sale in my area, with factory-upgraded crossovers. I'm interested but not finding much info on them. Can anyone tell me:

 

- How do Classic RF-7's compare with RF-7II's sonically?

 

- Are Classic RF-7's better for 2-channel music or 5.1 home theater? What types of music or movies are they best suited for?

  (my AVR is a Yamaha A-3000, my 2-channel amps are Odyssey Stratos Monos)

 

- When would you choose La Scala's over Classic RF-7's or RF-7II's?

 

Thanks in advance for enabling my latest obsession...

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I have very little experience but usually when crossovers are changed it is to make the frequency response more sonically flat in the 20Hz to 20KHz range. This is something Klipsch is good at. You might read things like "the sound is to bright", "the midrange sounds muddy", "the bass has no umph (impact)". These are what a new crossover attempts to fix. So with extended listening with your electronics you will find the choice that suits you.

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I would go with the Lascala's...you will find the RF-7 and RF-7II both work fine in stereo or in 5.1 setups. I have a 2-channel setup using enough power to make ears bleed. Like my car which goes 140MPH at 2800RPM's I keep my 600 watts turned up to where I just hear sound then depending on what I am listening to I turn it up just a tad to where I can hear the full sound stage and adjust the shelving type of tremble and bass. I usually have the volume not even 1/8 of a turn about set at less than 1 on a volume knob that goes to 10. Bi-wire and bi-amp if possible. I use one 250 watt capable (0Hz - 250khz ruler flat amp to drive tweeters/midrange. One 300 watts capable (10Hz-250KHz +-3dbs[10Hz-150KHz +-0]). I chose two different manufacturers because they compliment each other. Both amps cover the dynamic and sonic range excellent. I changed my setup before I moved and found switching the amps fixed a problem I do not think I might hear. Damping factor on one up to 250dbs (or higher) the other rated 50dbs (conservative at least 150dbs). If you do not know what Damping Factor is it is the amplifiers ability to drive the woofer/s from full excursion back to original resting position so the higher the damping factor the better (more accurate the bass sounds. Because woofers can be very light or very heavy the ability to have woofers move efficiently is what I feel the reason someone needs to invest in a subwoofer. Two speakers or six Klipsch's, any model, really only needs two speakers to reproduce a surrounding stage. I even hear the background sounds correctly placed even with very demanding material. Hope this makes sense!

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 Hope this makes sense!

Trying to understand it.... Damping factor is a ratio of amp impedance to speaker impedance (simplified) and not dbs.  Damping factor is the function that allows a speaker to follow the input.  Lower damping factor usually means the bass has less control.

 

Deang produced some tweaks to the original RF-7 crossover to minimize ringing (typical in metal drivers).  I don't think Klipsch ever did an update to accept that as part of their work.

 

If you don't mind speakers that can be very screechy in an under damped room or have a lot of acoustic treatments and don't mind not having any low bass, La Scalas are good.  RF-7 II would be the other option and provide smoother sound though maybe not as fast.

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 Hope this makes sense!

If you don't mind speakers that can be very screechy in an under damped room or have a lot of acoustic treatments and don't mind not having any low bass, La Scalas are good.  RF-7 II would be the other option and provide smoother sound though maybe not as fast.

 

Depends on how you define low bass. I wouldn't ask either speaker to do what I expect from a good sub.

I played a funky Fred Wesley track though a single La Scala and found it one of the most musical bass lines I'd ever heard. that has less to do with low frequency and more to do with the roundness, the fullness of the bass notes. If you think the Classic RF-7 or RF-7 is as good or better musically, please do let me know.

 

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I would go with the Lascala's...you will find the RF-7 and RF-7II both work fine in stereo or in 5.1 setups. I have a 2-channel setup using enough power to make ears bleed. Like my car which goes 140MPH at 2800RPM's I keep my 600 watts turned up to where I just hear sound then depending on what I am listening to I turn it up just a tad to where I can hear the full sound stage and adjust the shelving type of tremble and bass. I usually have the volume not even 1/8 of a turn about set at less than 1 on a volume knob that goes to 10. Bi-wire and bi-amp if possible. I use one 250 watt capable (0Hz - 250khz ruler flat amp to drive tweeters/midrange. One 300 watts capable (10Hz-250KHz +-3dbs[10Hz-150KHz +-0]). I chose two different manufacturers because they compliment each other. Both amps cover the dynamic and sonic range excellent. I changed my setup before I moved and found switching the amps fixed a problem I do not think I might hear. Damping factor on one up to 250dbs (or higher) the other rated 50dbs (conservative at least 150dbs). If you do not know what Damping Factor is it is the amplifiers ability to drive the woofer/s from full excursion back to original resting position so the higher the damping factor the better (more accurate the bass sounds. Because woofers can be very light or very heavy the ability to have woofers move efficiently is what I feel the reason someone needs to invest in a subwoofer. Two speakers or six Klipsch's, any model, really only needs two speakers to reproduce a surrounding stage. I even hear the background sounds correctly placed even with very demanding material. Hope this makes sense!

Why would you go with the La Scala's? What put them over the top for you - certain types of music, staging of certain instruments, or what?

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I had never heard of RF-7 “Classic” until now.  (I see them listed as a discontinued product, but no info.)   If it’s the dark cherry pair on craigslist for $800, I’d buy them.  (Excellent condition, perfect unused grills in original boxes.)   I own one RF-7 and one RF-7 II.  Both are capable of great sound quality with the caveat that they can sound bright – so I recommend tone controls.  I prefer tube amps with Klipsch.  I mostly listen to classical music and opera, plus occasionally big band music.   A subwoofer would be needed only if you want really deep powerful bass (e.g., pipe organ pedal notes or obnoxiously loud movie LFE).   You can read more about RF-7 (and RF-7 II) on other threads here.   

 

I’ve never heard La Scala, so I can’t offer a comparison.

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I have original RF7s and they sound great to me.

A little overkill for my bedroom, but hey!

If you can get them for a great price jump on them. I doubt you will be sorry.

Tom

Is $750-$800 considered great? Would they do better as home theater mains or as 2-channel mains?

How would a speaker like the RF-35 compare?

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I had never heard of RF-7 “Classic” until now.  (I see them listed as a discontinued product, but no info.)   If it’s the dark cherry pair on craigslist for $800, I’d buy them.  (Excellent condition, perfect unused grills in original boxes.)   I own one RF-7 and one RF-7 II.  Both are capable of great sound quality with the caveat that they can sound bright – so I recommend tone controls.  I prefer tube amps with Klipsch.  I mostly listen to classical music and opera, plus occasionally big band music.   A subwoofer would be needed only if you want really deep powerful bass (e.g., pipe organ pedal notes or obnoxiously loud movie LFE).   You can read more about RF-7 (and RF-7 II) on other threads here.   

 

I’ve never heard La Scala, so I can’t offer a comparison.

Those are the ones. For that price I could hold out for a good deal on La Scala's or spend ~$450 for Forte II's.

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I think that $800 would be a great price for used RF-7 in excellent condition.  The ad that I see on cragslist states excellent condition with perfect grills.   (The grills can be easily damaged.)  Most RF-7 are black (like mine), which is not very attractive IMO.  I imagine that dark cherry would look great.   Here's more info in another post of mine:  https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/164520-bass-lack-in-rf7-spectrum/?p=2029148

 

P.S.  Other members have much more experience with buying used Klipsch "heritage" speakers.  Can you buy a used pair of La Scala in excellent condition for $800?

 

P.P.S.  Finished in beautiful wood veneer - not black?  And local?

Edited by robert_kc
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How would a speaker like the RF-35 compare?

 

The 7's would smoke them.

 

At the asking price $800, I'd be wanting them to be a long-term buy that would hold its value. How's that going with the RF series?

Would the 7's smoke CF-3 or CF-4 mains?

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I agree $800.00 is a fair price for these speakers in excellent condition.

I personally got lucky and picked mine up with a center channel (RC-7) for $400.00, but they had no grills and cabinets had some scuffs. I bought new old stock grills from a forum member here and sold the center channel because I only do two channel and with all that said, I have approx.$500.00 in them.

Mine are black. I would have loved to have found some Cherry or other natural veneer RF-7's for the same price, but you just don't see them for that amount.

Tom

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