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RP-160m Blind Tested against Canton Vento’s revealed the Klipsch was just as good.


yepimonfire

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A friend and I went through and compared a bunch of speakers to my 160m’s when we got to speakers well above the price class of the Klipsch, they did just as well, the only difference heard was that the Klipsch had better transient response and the vento did slightly better at revealing the “air” of the recording room, but neither was preferred over the other. He liked them so well he has decided to replace his HT setup with reference premieres.

 

My mind was blown, I expected the ultra high end speakers to destroy the Klipsch.

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I love music that sounds good to my tin ear and is lively. Like they are in the house. Some spend tons of money on a system that might turn an audiophiles head but I'm about the music not having the very best equipment. Glad you made a convert. Im sure he was very surprised!! I only have a about 2500 dollars in my system but it sounds great to me and most of the reason is the klipsch speakers at the end of the chain. Peace!

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2 hours ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said:

I have A/B'ed the 160's with KEF Mini Monitors.  The Klipsch won.  

LS50?

 

If so, wow, those are $1,500/pr MSRP!

 

I think the Canton Vento stand mounts are around $1,500/pr MSRP too.

 

I owned the RP-280F for a while, but found them overly bright, and upgraded to RF-7 II, which are still a bit bright, but less so.  All just my opinion...

 

I heard that the 160 are less bright (more balanced) than the RP floor standers.  If so, I wonder why different models in the same line would have different voicing?

 

 

 

 

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I own a pair of KEF LS50's, and while the RP-160m is fantastic, it's not at the level as the KEF LS50 in terms of imaging, soundstage, or accuracy.   This comes with some real caveats though.

 

The RP-160m is 1/3 of the cost, and isn't power-hungry like the LS50 (I think they are only 83db efficient).   The LS50 is ridiculously good as a near-field speaker, better than anything else I've heard for that use by far, but if I had to pick between those and RP-160's in a living room the Klipsch's efficiency advantages become much more apparent, and the advantages of the KEF coaxial driver diminish in a larger room.   

 

I can certainly see the RP-160 being the better choice in some situations, and it's by far the easier choice for your wallet.  Both are incredibly capable speakers.

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Next time... don't waste your time with the "blind" portion of the testing, It's a waste of time.

 

"Blind" testing yield results of one's ability to identify one thing (sound) with another thing (speaker brand)... not whether or not brand "A" is as good as or better than brand "B".

 

Bias is overly skewed as important in this "double blind" test because bias is not fixed... Bias can swing both ways, negative and positive, therefore canceling each other out as a legitimate data point.

 

The speakers don't sound different because you know the make and model prior to registering a subjective opinion.

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I have not heard the rp-160m, but I have heard the kef ls50. When the kefs were demoed for us, I asked the salesman where was the subwoofer. I couldn't believe the amount of bass coming out of the UniQ 5.25" driver and port.

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I've listened to LS50's extensively and my dad has RP-160's in his den.  The LS50 is already a modern-classic.  RP-160's sound fantastic and can play at almost concert level volumes with an affordable amp like an Onkyo A-9010 though.   They aren't a great pair of speakers to compare in my opinion though.  Nobody is going to be cross shopping these. Ever.  

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