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If RF7 is 100%, what is RF82II / RP280F?


jdmccall

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First off, not trying to offend RF7 owners by over-rating RF82's.  I've never even heard RF7's.  Not even once.  But...I sort of aspire to them...or maybe cornwall's (but that's another story).  It's just that if you compare spec to spec, one could draw the conclusion that the 7 and the 82 might sound more similar than different , even though the price difference is...huge...even at full retail for the 82/280.  Yeah, I know -American manufacture vs. Chinese, furniture-grade wood veneer vs. vinyl wrap, cast aluminum basket 10's vs. molded plastic basket 8's, 1.75" tweeter vs. 1" and...a considerably larger enclosure for the RF7's...but still hope springs eternal for the audiophile tightwad!:)  So, my question is mostly to those who've heard both:  Just how similar is the sound of the RF7 and RF82 / RP280?  If you, for the sake of comparison, score the RF7 at 100%, how would the 82/280 score?  ..50%? ..75%? ....99%?   

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Interesting topic.

 

I would have arbitrarily started the scale at 80 or 90.  If your scale maxes out at 100 there is nowhere to go unless you want to deal with a La Scala that is 110%.

 

I can't contribute to the thread because I haven't heard the Reference line speakers, and obviously I have nothing with which to compare.  I will enjoy hearing what others have to say.

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17 minutes ago, wvu80 said:

Interesting topic.

 

I would have arbitrarily started the scale at 80 or 90.  If your scale maxes out at 100 there is nowhere to go unless you want to deal with a La Scala that is 110%.

 

I can't contribute to the thread because I haven't heard the Reference line speakers, and obviously I have nothing with which to compare.  I will enjoy hearing what others have to say.

I hear ya', but I just assigned 100% to the RF7 for the sake of this comparison.  I'm not saying it's the best sounding speaker in the world or as good as k-horns, la scala's...or anything else for that matter.  Although, for all I know, it may well be! :lol:

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11 minutes ago, jdmccall said:

I hear ya', but I just assigned 100% to the RF7 for the sake of this comparison.  I'm not saying it's the best sounding speaker in the world or as good as k-horns, la scala's...or anything else for that matter.  Although, for all I know, it may well be! :lol:

And I hear ya' right back!  :lol:

 

I did a similar comparison a couple of years ago with a DIY speaker I had built.  It's the age old question "how good is it?" when the answer is "compared to what?"

 

In my case I compared it to the Bose 301 since it was a fairly common speaker a lot of people have heard and I arbitrarily assigned it an "average" score of 50.

 

For no good reason.  B)

+++

 

Hey, it's your thread, so it's your rating scale.  :)

 

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I'll chime in as I've owned both RF-82's and RF-7iis. Both of which were driven by a Yammy with no extra amps. 

 

I don't think you can really measure them in a percentage. It isn't equation that could be solved with numbers, for ex: car A can do a 10 sec quarter mile, but Car B can do 9.5 so Car A is 95% of Car B. RF-82's will fill the need of 98% of home theater and music lovers. I felt that they were very bold, forward and really did a great job imaging the details of the music. They are a brighter speaker than the RF-7, but a good EQ can solve a lot of that. The downside is once I began to push them, they lost their details and became harsh, nails on chalkboard harsh. Though amazingly they never distorted. Now I'm talking about high levels of sound for them to get this way. They kicked hard and could easily make a neighbor from 3 houses down phone the local PD. RF-82's do benefit greatly with a properly paired subwoofer. (My choice was a SVS 13 Ultra)

 

The RF-7s deserve their status because they are the gold standard in modern loudspeakers. Almost every new speaker that comes out pendragons, JBL, XYZ etc the journalist writes them as a comparison to the RF-7 and for good reason. When Klipsch made Palladiums it was again compared to the flagship RF7. As an analogy, its like reading a phone review, we all know what phone they are comparing it to. The same example applies here, as the RF7 is one of the best overall rounded speaker money can buy. It is great for HT and 2 channel listening. The most notable difference when I upgraded was the depth that they provided. Its midrange is the most pronounced improvement. I previously I used a sub for 2 channel music with my RF-82. For RF7's it wasn't needed. In retrospec I needed much more power to drive the RF7's and should have went the separates route. I could push them far harder before they became bright and harsh. They also had a far better ability in separating the instruments than the RF-82s. 


I do want to state that I'm moving to the heritage line, as I've gotten older I've become more sensitive to bright and harsh speakers. It doesnt take long for me to develop fatigue, where the same effect doesn't apply to heritage that I've listened to. So it may seem I'm being overly critical, its just the way my ears accepted the music. I tried a many things to eliminate the harshness and had a few more to try, but got lucky and sold my last system with the house I owned.

 

On that, if I wasn't prone to harshness. I would be 100% completely satisfied with RF-82's 7 days a week. It does everything very very well. However, RF7's really are in a different league and command the price tag they deserve.

 

 

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LaScala 10

RF7 8

RF82II 3

 

Klipsch got a lot of speakers "right". The RF82II is not one of them. The pair I had only lasted 3 days before they were out of rotation and sold. Thin, harsh, and weak.

 

My RB5's kill them in sound quality. Side by side with both Rotel and Yamaha. 

 

With the new RF7III coming out the 2's should come down. 

 

RP-280F is getting some great reviews. 

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I bought Rf7iis to replace my LaScalas.  I auditioned Rf7s, Rf7iis, and Rf82iis and chose the Rf7iis as the hands down winner.  The 82s were closer to my Rb35s than the 7s. 

I have the 7iis sitting next to the LaScalas a/b switched.  I cannot agree more with previous post.  The 7iis are great...... until you switch to the LaScalas.  Wow.  My 50year old ears are much more satisfied by the LaScalas' depth and presence.  

I would replace the  Rf7iis long before the LaScalas.

Although the Rf7iis are the sexiest woman at the club, the LaScalas are the life partner who makes me happy every day.

 

 

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Well, not yet enough responses to form a concensus but maybe more will chime in.  Surely a fair number have heard both RF7's and RF82's.  Still, the varied opinions are interesting...and confusing! :unsure:  

 

I've only had the RF-82 II's for a month and a half or so, and operating from auditory memory, I really can't quite seem to get a handle on their sound and how it compares to previous speakers I've had in the same room; and there's been a lot:  Bose 901 VI, RBH MC-6CT, Klipsch La Scala II, Polk LSi-9, Energy RC-50, B&W 703, a/d/s/ HT-400 and Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab OML-2's...I think that about covers it. :wacko:  Without the ability to A/B, it's ding-danged difficult, even nearly impossible to accurately judge sound quality, but my fave of the lot is probably the Bose 901's.  They're the only pair that stayed in there for long (over seven years).  No other pair lasted over a year or so.  ...But, I digress.

 

I'd love to hear some RF7's in a good setting so I could get an idea of how they sound and if they could be worth the big jump in cost of admission, over my humble RF-82's.  But as for the 82's sound, I've yet to hear any harshness with mine.  The hardest I have pushed them so far was with Pearl Jam's "Vs" (?) CD.  I had the volume level about as loud as I ever run it and they sounded great.  Clean and clear.  Not la scala clean and clear, but pretty darned good!  That was with the two Velodynes running and the x/o set at 100 Hz.  

 

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I don't think it's appropriate  to think of this, and many comparisons, in linear terms... a percentage of, in this example.

 

I think it is much more akin to comparing flavors, not absolutes.

 

It's suffice to say, that the rf7ii is more palatable... if you can afford the meal.

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My RF-82 II's fit my room better than RF-7's would anyway, plus, they are really sounding good to me now.  I got them in mid-November '16 and the longer I've had them, the more satisfied I have become.  Yet I'm sure the spector of the mighty RF-7's will continue to torture me. B)

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3 hours ago, miliellie111 said:

Great question many have most likely pondered including myself just ordering the RP-280's debating between the other two options. I was looking for this thread to deliver. Unfortunately it has not! :(

I thought the questions were answered as good as expected.

These Speakers come in at different levels and tout different properties and features.

You have to decide what you can afford.

You might not like what another person might like.

it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

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1 hour ago, rebuy said:

I thought the questions were answered as good as expected.

These Speakers come in at different levels and tout different properties and features.

You have to decide what you can afford.

You might not like what another person might like.

it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

The 280f's were not mentioned at all in the posts even though the OP included them in his comparison. Only the RF7ii's and RF82's were briefly touched on. I am interested in hearing thoughts on the 280's as well since I just received my pair and debated on jumping to the 7's and wondered how much more improved they were over the 82's and if the newest reference premiere model closed the gap any between the flagship speaker and by how much. That is what I meant by the thread not delivering.

 

I can afford all three models like some others but it's not about affordability. Regardless of what we can afford, I think the OP is after opinions of whether or not the RF7ii's are worth the $1000+ over the other models and if so, by what percentage and what justifies it along with a detailed review of each speaker and it's characteristics.

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I owned the 280s and the 7ii.

 

At full retail on both speakers, it would be tough to justify the 7s. They are better, for sure, but ~$2k better...not so sure about that. The two sets are surprisingly similar. The 7s are a bit fuller, have more bass, and have less piercing highs at high levels. The 280s are fantastic speakers, especially for the price. The 7s are great too, but I personally wouldn't make the jump if you're talking full retail.

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Thanks, Grizzog!  

 

I only paid $718 for my pair of RF82II's, delivered to my front door.  List on the RF7II is what...$3198/pair?  I mean sure, I like real wood and I like "made in America" and I like big speakers, but at less than 1/4 the price of the 7's, my 82's do a pretty good job; especially when combined with a decent sub or two.  Of course, the subs tend to equalize the prices, but I already had them.  Now if Klipsch was to knock 40% of the RF-7II, that would get them down to $1919 and things get very interesting! 

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40 minutes ago, jdmccall said:

Thanks, Grizzog!  

 

I only paid $718 for my pair of RF82II's, delivered to my front door.  List on the RF7II is what...$3198/pair?  I mean sure, I like real wood and I like "made in America" and I like big speakers, but at less than 1/4 the price of the 7's, my 82's do a pretty good job; especially when combined with a decent sub or two.  Of course, the subs tend to equalize the prices, but I already had them.  Now if Klipsch was to knock 40% of the RF-7II, that would get them down to $1919 and things get very interesting! 

Call Mike at Acoustic Sound Design and ask for a price on the RF7lls, you might be in business.

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42 minutes ago, jdmccall said:

Thanks, Grizzog!  

 

I only paid $718 for my pair of RF82II's, delivered to my front door.  List on the RF7II is what...$3198/pair?  I mean sure, I like real wood and I like "made in America" and I like big speakers, but at less than 1/4 the price of the 7's, my 82's do a pretty good job; especially when combined with a decent sub or two.  Of course, the subs tend to equalize the prices, but I already had them.  Now if Klipsch was to knock 40% of the RF-7II, that would get them down to $1919 and things get very interesting! 

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC1.A0.H0.Xklipsch+rf7.TRS0&_nkw=klipsch+rf7&_sacat=0

 

You can get a pair of RF-7ii's for $1800 from an authorized Klipsch dealer. Call Acoustic Sound Design.

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1 hour ago, Ceptorman said:

Call Mike at Acoustic Sound Design and ask for a price on the RF7lls, you might be in business.

 

1 hour ago, miliellie111 said:

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR3.TRC1.A0.H0.Xklipsch+rf7.TRS0&_nkw=klipsch+rf7&_sacat=0

 

You can get a pair of RF-7ii's for $1800 from an authorized Klipsch dealer. Call Acoustic Sound Design.

 

Get thee behind me, Satans! ;)  ...B-stock???

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