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How loud can Klipsch speakers get?


yepimonfire

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Curious myself, I decided to see how much spl I could get at a distance of 11’ at my couch in a 2000 cu ft room from my relatively modest RP-150ms. I finally topped out at 100dB, limited mainly by the xmax of the woofer @50hz. You can see the THD at 50hz 100dB here. An impressively low 3.6% distortion.
 
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Good luck getting that kind of dynamic headroom out of a different brand speaker of similar size! I’ve seen tower speakers break down at those spl levels. I can only imagine the amount of unsafe volume levels one could achieve with a 280f or even an rf 7III...
 
 
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Klipsch use to list the spl max on the spec sheet.  In a HT setting with multiple speakers there will be some additional gain.  Also, XO the speakers at 80 Hz will take some pressure of the small woofer.

They still do on their subs and the rf 7 II/III, unfortunately, without knowing how they derived the number , it’s meaningless. Just like their inflated sensitivity ratings, the only reason I know they add 4dB for “room gain” is because I dug up a post on this forum where they stated that, there are no standards in the consumer market unlike the pro market, so unless manufacturers state how they got that number (ie full bandwidth pink noise @1m, half space, full space etc) its anyone’s guess.


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5 hours ago, yepimonfire said:

I can only imagine the amount of unsafe volume levels one could achieve with a 280f or even an rf 7III...

Or even something other than reference, they can easily be unsafe. Cool test to also look at the distortion, if you test some of the pro stuff get some hearing protection during the test, just one of the subs can get to 130 db. :o

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So many stories...

 

The story with me wearing my (over ear) hearing protection on, downstairs using air compressor, framing gun & circular saw with the Jubilee's screaming (their lovely hearts) out upstairs?

 

The story of the LaScala outside playing the Ohio State Marching band while I walked around the field...

 

The story of my best high school friend, standing ever so innocently and unsuspectingly in front of my LaScalas (like 12 inches) while I had the -20 db mute button on and the volume cranked during the opening of Boston's Long Time, only to unmute it at the opening creshendo....and watch with laughter as my best buddy literally jumped backwards halfway across the room?

 

If Ya'll (<--deference to the southerners here) don't give me some guidance, you're liable to hear me ramble on....and on.....and on....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and on....

 

:o

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LOL .... Depends on the room and how many speakers you load it up with !

 

My first HT room had 4 K-horns ( Ft mains & Rears )  , a Belle as the center , a KLF-C7 as the rear center and a pair of Lascalas taking up the sides , plus 2 klipsch powered subs

 

Pack all that into a 14x20 room and you've got SPL that will raise the hair on your head , powered by Three Rotel RB - 1090 & a RB-993 and look out :) 

 

My SPL meter was showing 130db  plus in the center of the room ... the biggest thing was isolation of components , Black Diamond " Racing cones "  and Black Diamond  "Those things " under just about every component plus mission isoplats just to keep everything from vibrating into oblivion .

 

PS : Add in about 15k worth of room treatments as well , or the horns will kill your ears .

 

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LOL .... Depends on the room and how many speakers you load it up with !
 
My first HT room had 4 K-horns ( Ft mains & Rears )  , a Belle as the center , a KLF-C7 as the rear center and a pair of Lascalas taking up the sides , plus 2 klipsch powered subs
 
Pack all that into a 14x20 room and you've got SPL that will raise the hair on your head , powered by Three Rotel RB - 1090 & a RB-993 and look out [emoji4] 
 
My SPL meter was showing 130db  plus in the center of the room ... the biggest thing was isolation of components , Black Diamond " Racing cones "  and Black Diamond  "Those things " under just about every component plus mission isoplats just to keep everything from vibrating into oblivion .
 
PS : Add in about 15k worth of room treatments as well , or the horns will kill your ears .
 

Damn. 130dB is entirely unnecessary lol. I’m perfectly satisfied with enough headroom to playback movies at -10 to -5dB from Reference with no distortion. I suppose if you have a huge room greater than 30’ with multiple seats for HT that kind of dynamic headroom would make sense, since you lose 6dB with each doubling of distance.

Efficiency and dynamics is why I’m a fan of Klipsch. 90% of your average two way bookshelves or towers start really straining at higher volumes. Klipsch just take it.

With their reference and premiere series, the cerametallic woofer is so rigid, there is virtually no distortion until you exceed xmax, causing the voice coil to travel past the magnetic gap.

Unless another manufacturer starts designing horn loaded speakers with constant/controlled directivity that can perform similarly, ill likely be loyal to Klipsch indefinitely. Especially now that their latest series has virtually solved all of their inherent problems (such as brightness/harshness). Their premier series is damn near studio monitor accurate, as you can see from close miked individual driver measurements, they’re +2dB, -1dB. f906a46fe5fddb8e049cb5dba46ccf9f.jpg


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Recently I've been investigating the source of some unpleasant distortion at work (dance studio, pro speaker system) and conveniently had a pair of Synergy B-10s and a 15w T-amp in the car.

 

I wanted to see if the Behringer DAC or computer were causing trouble, so I set them up with the T-amp during a quiet time of day and turned it up a bit. I was surprised on my own how much tidy sound came out of them in the big ballroom. The person at the front desk a room away was surprised what he'd heard was the small speakers, too.

 

Not saying they're going to replace pro speakers any time soon, but they're definitely the most tireless tiny speakers I've ever heard. I've never had reservations about pushing them and they just endure.

 

Never did an SPL test with my KP-201s (small room) either, but my ears say they go very loud with 150w.

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On ‎12‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 3:51 PM, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said:

 

I can sustain over 120 db with my jubilees with only 90 watts per channel, playing actual music.  :ph34r:  

 

 

My post actually mentioned " My First " HT room contained ..... that was all klipsch

 

Now my second room was 24' x 20' ( 10 foot ceiling )  with 8 METRIX line arrays in each corner  ( 32 total )  ...  Dark side of the moon in HDCD was a religious experience in that room ...

 

I used to demo the room for my buddies with the Blu-ray  movie  " HEAT "  after the gang robs the bank and moves into the street for the gun battle , you could feel the gun shots hitting you in the chest ! It was truly sick

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100 dB at 11 ft with pretty low distortion from a 5.25" woofer bookshelf speaker is pretty damn impressive. 

 

Did you listen to music at this level?  If so, how did they hold up?  Do the woofers bottom out at this level?

 

I've owned numerous pairs of 5.25" and 6.5" woofer bookshelf speakers over the years, and many of them could not handle peaks in the mid 90's dB from around 12 ft.  The woofers would bottom out and pop on some music.  Some could not even handle 90 dB peaks at 12 ft.

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100 dB at 11 ft with pretty low distortion from a 5.25" woofer bookshelf speaker is pretty damn impressive. 
 
Did you listen to music at this level?  If so, how did they hold up?  Do the woofers bottom out at this level?
 
I've owned numerous pairs of 5.25" and 6.5" woofer bookshelf speakers over the years, and many of them could not handle peaks in the mid 90's dB from around 12 ft.  The woofers would bottom out and pop on some music.  Some could not even handle 90 dB peaks at 12 ft.

No, but I frequently watch movies with the volume cranked loud enough to hit 95-100dB peaks per speaker, and 110 total on the spl meter.
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