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Contemplating new Klipsch bookshelf speakers for new house


avguytx

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Hopefully, our new house will be built and done by early fall and, as I've mentioned in other threads, I'm having a 16 x 21 foot dedicated audio room built upstairs for just my stuff.  In doing so, I'm not going to have any large floor standing speakers in the living room as it defeats my purpose in the upstairs room.  I had thought about one of those RSB-14 sound bars but I read mixed feelings about them.  I'll be using either the sound bar or bookshelf speakers for streaming Spotify and my FLAC files via JRiver from my NAS , etc.  I'll have an upstairs SFF desktop PC  that will be in charge of the JRiver files and my phone can control JRiver as can Spotify.  The majority of the house will get a Cat5 drop in each room for the heck of it and will be set to a home run location upstairs to a punch down panel and then to a gig switch.  So, I'll be using Cat5 for file transfer and not relying on WiFi except for just basic stuff.  But I digress...

 

The living room will I'll most likely get an Onkyo TX-8270 receiver, if I don't go the sound bar route, and either a pair of the newer RP-160M or the slightly older (I guess) RB-81 II's.  I can get both lines, amongst others,  for rep sample cost so it makes sense to use them.  Since the speakers are going to be sitting on a bookshelf (imagine that), I leaned more towards the RB-81's as they have a front firing port versus blocking the port on the RP-160M's.  I don't want these sticking way out, either.  Sonic accuracy across full bandwidth is something I'm not really worried about in the living room.  I may just try the Dynaco A25's at first to see how they pan out and decide if it's really worth the cost to get something new.  Attached is a picture showing how the cabinetry will be in the LR flanking the fireplace.  Again, it's just for music in the living room and into the kitchen area....nothing major.

 

Anyone heard both of these pairs or something similar of Klipsch in comparing the front port versus rear port in a bookshelf scenario?  No, I'm not going to put them on stands.  

 

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its true the 81s can be placed further back, but if you have 3 or 4" behind the rp160ms i prefer them for better sound quality.

in-wall speakers are also a clean option to consider.

 

no matter which u choose they need to be far enough forward that the tweeter horn is free of reflections from the bookshelf.  it will severely compromise the sound if they are back so much that the sound reflects off the top or sides.  it depends how close the sides or shelf top are but likely 1 or 2 inches from flush...if a high shelf above and pointed away from the sides perhaps 3 or 4 inches back.

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Oh yeah....those things are a given in not setting them back to far as to block the high end.  I'm not completely sure how the built-ins will be built just yet but I can work around them.  If the new ones only need a few inches behind them, I should be fine with either.  Thanks for  the input.

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16 minutes ago, avguytx said:

Oh yeah....those things are a given in not setting them back to far as to block the high end.  I'm not completely sure how the built-ins will be built just yet but I can work around them.  If the new ones only need a few inches behind them, I should be fine with either.  Thanks for  the input.

happy to give my 2c.

 

ive heard both and both are excellent.

klipsch does brillant design and the tweeters in the rp series are worthy of being the sucessor to the rb61/rb81

i get excellent response down to the rated frequency range

 

honestly ive never heard a better bookshelf speaker under 1000per

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I guess I could always have them build the cabinets to where I could flush mount in a pair of towers of sorts and still  have the cabinet doors on each side of the speaker.  Hmm.  If so, I'd probably go with some new towers.  But, they wouldn't be able to come out from the back walls 2 feet or so like I've seen some of the other RF stuff go due to the rear ports.  It looks like the Reference Premier is rear ported and the Reference series is front ported.  May have to go with Reference series like the  R-28F or R-26F....it's not going to be for major music listening anyway.  I believe the cabinets are about 4 or 5 feet wide each so that would accommodate towers.  Hard to really say just yet until I get a good look at the house plans which are supposed to be in next week.

 

But I hate how deep they all are, yet, that's how things have gone.  The RP's range from 15 to over 16" deep.  How deep are Cornwall's again?  lol

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Its confusing but r28fs and r26fs are called reference but are in fact a huge step down.  I had 28fs and very sloppy sounding compared to true reference.  Once the premiere series came out the new reference name replaced icons.  

 

An rf52ii,  62ii or 82ii is the reference line matching the rb81iis.  U can find used pairs in great shape very inexpensively.  I highly recommend them all...82s are great but huge...i had rf52s and loved them.   a great alternative to the bookshelves and if u dont watch many movies the low end is great...specd to 35hz but in room good to 30hz easily. 62s and 82s just larger woofers...nice for midbass but imo not a giant improvement unless a huge room

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2 hours ago, RoboKlipsch said:

Its confusing but r28fs and r26fs are called reference but are in fact a huge step down.  I had 28fs and very sloppy sounding compared to true reference.  Once the premiere series came out the new reference name replaced icons.  

 

An rf52ii,  62ii or 82ii is the reference line matching the rb81iis.  U can find used pairs in great shape very inexpensively.  I highly recommend them all...82s are great but huge...i had rf52s and loved them.   a great alternative to the bookshelves and if u dont watch many movies the low end is great...specd to 35hz but in room good to 30hz easily. 62s and 82s just larger woofers...nice for midbass but imo not a giant improvement unless a huge room

 

Wow that's interesting.  I'd like to try a set of one of these (or all of them) and listen next to my SVS Ultra bookshelf speakers (999.98/pr).  These are the "best" I've heard - at least in the sense for all the boxes they check off.  Not perfect, but I've yet to hear a perfect speaker.  I'd also like to compare against the Kef LS50's, and lots of others haha.  I do have a pair of Martin Logan Motion 15, which are quite nice, and in some ways best the SVS Ultra but fall short in other glaring ways that put them under the SVS Ultras for my tastes.  I won't count the R-14M I have, they are fun but just can't compare.

 

 

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I just have to stay with the brand's I can get for sheet cost or rep sample cost. I haven't paid retail, or sale price, for anything home or car audio since i got into that business back in 1985. ;) I'm just thankful to know lots of dealers, reps, regionals, and national sales managers across the US. 

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43 minutes ago, RoboKlipsch said:

Svs are excellent but i find the rp160ms to be far better...but everybody has their own opinions.  

 

I haven't had a chance to hear them.  Agreed - we hear what we hear and like what we like.  Some people swore the Martin Logan motion 15 I have were superior but not to me, not by a long shot.

 

39 minutes ago, avguytx said:

I just have to stay with the brand's I can get for sheet cost or rep sample cost. I haven't paid retail, or sale price, for anything home or car audio since i got into that business back in 1985. ;) I'm just thankful to know lots of dealers, reps, regionals, and national sales managers across the US. 

 

I hear ya.  Sorry I'm hijacking your thread a bit as I love a good bookshelf speaker.  Always fascinates me how good they can sound, how big they can sound in a small package.

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I’m curious about your A25s.  How long have you owned them? Did you buy them new?  Have they been re-capped?  By all means, try them first before spending money on something else.

 

Dynaco A25s are classics; first real speakers I ever bought.  In approximately 1973, I purchased A25s, a Dual turntable, and a Pioneer receiver for a house shared by several college friends.  One of those friends still has the A25s.  He likes to tell how the corner on one got dented during a party when it fell and hit the late great Brad Van Pelt on the head.  Truth be told, it might have glanced off the future New York Giant, but the dent resulted from hitting the floor.

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1 hour ago, DizRotus said:

I’m curious about your A25s.  How long have you owned them? Did you buy them new?  Have they been re-capped?  By all means, try them first before spending money on something else.

 

Dynaco A25s are classics; first real speakers I ever bought.  In approximately 1973, I purchased A25s, a Dual turntable, and a Pioneer receiver for a house shared by several college friends.  One of those friends still has the A25s.  He likes to tell how the corner on one got dented during a party when it fell and hit the late great Brad Van Pelt on the head.  Truth be told, it might have glanced off the future New York Giant, but the dent resulted from hitting the floor.

 

These will definitely be what I try first, and, if they do the job, then I'm golden.  I know that if paired with a better Onkyo 2-channel receiver that gives me good power and network capabilities, they will be worthy contenders and, yes, I do save that money on speakers.  I've had both pairs maybe 10 years or so and remember almost exactly where I bought them at.  Once pair was $10 at a yard sale in Denton maybe around 2005 and the other pair was from a thrift store in OKC I stopped in while traveling  not long after.  I've never brought myself to selling them as they sounded good and I've never come across any others at stores, etc.  Both have been recapped with Solen 5uf caps and sound great.  I may replace the resistors in them as one pair I know is rather brittle and one was broken.  That or I'll just leave them at the "open" setting as I usually left them on the normal setting.  When I played them stacked in my living room in TX, they were outstanding in comparison to two different pairs of Altec Valencia 846b's I owned for a short time.  

 

My wife likes  the looks of the A25's, too, so they'll be a worthy contender.  They aren't ruled out for sure.

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