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Klipsch Palladium or RF-7 III


Shimei

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Has anyone listened to these two speakers? I'm coming in the market and don't know whether to purchase the Palladium or RF7-3s.

 

My current system consists of an Onkyo PR-RZ5100 and Emotiva Gen 3 5 channel amp with 2 Klispch F8s, , 1 Klipsch RC64-II center, 2 Klipsch Synergy 12s and two Klipsch Atmos height speakers. The setup is a 3/2/2.

 

I want to make this my last speaker purchase and I am wondering whether the Palladium are hands down better than the Klipsch RF-7 3s?

 

I mainly listen to movies but occasionally play from Pandora. The Palladiums are no doubt more eye candy but I'm wondering whether they justify the price difference? I'm looking to spend up to 9,000.00 dollars.

 

Palladium.thumb.jpg.263fca60aecc887339e25d5ce23ee458.jpg

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I think a lot depends on your destination, home theater or two channel? The Palladiums have a more refined sound, one of the best mids/highs I've ever heard. The RF7llls have a  more "in your face rock and roll" sound. The Palladiums are almost impossible to find (heard a dealer has a few P39s left) but finding the rest to complete a home theater could become difficult. When Klipsch had the Palladiums at half price was a very good deal.

I haven't heard the RF7lll in a theater setting, but did hear them at a display setting, they did sound incredible.

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I have not heard any of the Palladium line.  I have heard the RF-7III.  Unless you can get the P-39Fs for a crazy good price, I say take that $$$ and get the RF-7IIIs, RC-64III, matching surrounds, to be completely timbre matched, and invest in better subwoofers.

 

Bill

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Well, for starters, as was mentioned Palladiums are hard to come by.  They haven't been made in many years and because of their price point I'm assuming Klipsch didn't sell very many of them when they were available for sale.  Obviously the RF-7 III can be ordered at the click of a mouse button.

 

If you don't already have a pair of Palladiums that you have your eye on, post a wanted to buy in the classifieds section of the forum to see if anyone on here has an available pair.

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16 hours ago, Shimei said:

The Palladiums are no doubt more eye candy but I'm wondering whether they justify the price difference?

I have not heard them together so I can't say.

 

16 hours ago, Shimei said:

I mainly listen to movies but occasionally play from Pandora.

If I was looking to do what your explaining I would get the RF7lll, for one because you could get a complete set for HT movies under your budget and be done.

I would rather have that than Palladiums for mains and maby a center ? Plus it's an up to date  model, not something discontinued already. Yes, the pallidums are prettier no doubt, but you could always get them in Walnut or Cherry.

 

 

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I own Palladium P-37F (and P-312W subwooofer), and RF-7II (and R-115SW, and SVS SB16-Ultra subwooofers).

 

IMO, the Palladium are a luxury product, that feature exotic (i.e., expensive) cabinet shape, and veneers.   IMO, the RF-7II sound better (when paired with the right tube amp), but have plain boxes and lower grade veneers.

 

IME ... for the classical music I love ... the key factor is synergy with the right tube amp.

 

Here's my relevant systems that provide the basis for my opinion:

  • TV room:  Stereo speakers are Klipsch Palladium P-37F.   Subwoofer:  Klipsch P-312W.  The source is an Oppo UDP-205.  The amps are Scott 399, McIntosh MC225, Kenwood KR-9050, Fisher 800B, Fisher X-1000, Scott 299C, McIntosh MC240, and an NAD C375BEE.   The tube amps are for music.   The solid-state amps are for movies.   A patch panel (banana plugs) allows me to connect the speakers to whichever amp I want, and Niles AXP-1 RCA selector switches connect the Oppo to the amp.   Chromecast Audio for internet radio and Spotify Premium.
     
  • Basement:  Front, center, and left speakers are Klipsch RF-7 II.  A single rear speaker is a Klipsch RF-7.   Subwoofers:  SVS SB16-Ultra, Klipsch R-115SW.  Source:  Oppo UDP-205.  Amps: Scott 272, Inspire “Fire Bottle” SE Stereo Tube Amplifier HO, Scott 222C, McIntosh MX110Z tuner/preamp, Fisher KX-200, Scott 296, Pilot SA-260, Scott LK150.   A patch panel allows me to connect the speakers to whichever amp I want, and F/F RCA cables enable me to connect an amp to the Oppo, and a power amp to the MX110Z.   Chromecast Audio for internet radio and Spotify Premium.
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I've heard the p38 and the p39... they are quite good, world class. My personal preference is for the Heritage sound, but I would personally love to own a pair of Palladiums someday.

I've seen 38's for around $5000 and 39's for $7500 in the distant past. I think both those prices are fairly reasonable...

I hope we're not asking whether or not Palladiums are $17,000 better than a pair of $3,000 RF7iii... that's not answerable,  everyone's threshold preferences are different.

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4 hours ago, Schu said:

I've seen 38's for around $5000 and 39's for $7500 in the distant past. I think both those prices are fairly reasonable...

I hope we're not asking whether or not Palladiums are $17,000 better than a pair of $3,000 RF7iii... that's not answerable,  everyone's threshold preferences are different.

 

And just like that the speakers I was considering for 9000 are sold.

 

As far as asking which are better, yes, I have to ask because I have not heard either so I was looking for owner input.

 

4 hours ago, Dawson's Ridge said:

Looks like a mismatch, Onkyo and Emotiva and $9k speakers?

 

Dunno, I love the Onkyo 5100, I'm sure the equipment I have may be low end compared to pros but I was shied away from Marantaz and even Emotiva processors due to reviews. The Onkyo 5100 is their flagship minus built in amp, it's a preamp with 11 channels XLR etc.  I was guaranteed various setups with Onkyo that I did not see with others regarding a 3/2/2 setup. Me asking here on the Klipsch forum actually has a lot of weight in my future purchases. I'm totally happy with Onkyo 5100 and XLR outputs connected to my Emotiva Amp. I plan to either send the Amp back to Emotiva to take advantage of its modular design or purchase another. I've already sent it back once, ordered it originally with 3 channels and ordered up another 2 for five. I'm not sure if I want to add four more channels to the existing amp (same power supply) or just purchase another four channel amp to drive my existing F8s as surround as well as adding two more Atmos.

 

Regardless of whether the Palladiums are 9 thousand or a hundred thousand I'm left to reviews and forum posts unless I pay for a flight to Klipsch to listen to these speakers first hand.

 

As is now I'm leaning more seriously to the RF-7s. I see the Palladiums have a 3x8+ with horns and tweeters. That's 3 RF-7s and horns. The price to me wasn't that drastic at a few thousand dollars difference. The question in my mind was whether the Palladiums live up to their price tag. They definitely are eye candy and I could see investing additional money for furniture and a conversation piece. As of now I see Amazon has these speakers for 15,000.00. I''m not interested at that price. 

 

 

Edited by Shimei
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Really?  The new member wants to buy some great speakers and nobody has mentioned Jubilees?  If he wants to dive into the deep end of the pool, Jubilees are clearly the way to go.

 

Also, if you want the speakers you'll never need to upgrade from (but can do upgrades to, if you really feel the need), they are the ones.  If you decide to go with these super-sensitive speakers, you should buy very clean-sounding amplifiers, but they do not need to have really high output, so you can save in that area. 

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21 hours ago, Dawson's Ridge said:

Looks like a mismatch, Onkyo and  Emotiva and $9k speakers?  

 

17 hours ago, Shimei said:

Dunno, I love the Onkyo 5100, I'm sure the equipment I have may be low end compared to pros but I was shied away from Marantaz and even Emotiva processors due to reviews. The Onkyo 5100 is their flagship minus built in amp, it's a preamp with 11 channels XLR etc. 

Keep in mind folks that the Integra line(luxury pro custom install division of Onkyo) of pre/pros have been very successful and rock solid for the past 12 or so years.  No shade in my opinion should be put upon their current Onkyo pre/pro.  I would though consider other amps than the Emotiva.

 

Bill

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Respectfully, Palladium and Jubilee are apples and oranges. 

 

Palladium are beautiful luxury-grade speakers that could be displayed in the finest homes.   

 

Jubilee have flat-black painted plywood cabinets, and don't even have grill cloth covering the metal horn.  Jubilee are industrial products designed to be installed behind a movie theater's screen - not in the living room of a home.   Plus ... there's the size ... consider carefully the dimensions of Palladium speakers vs. Jubilee ...

 

If you are a wood worker who can install veneer on the Jubilee, and fabricate grill covers, my hat is off to you.  Or, if you think that the "industrial look" of Jubilee looks cool in your "man cave" then, OK ...   but recognize that many people would not have flat-black painted 42" wide cabinets and huge exposed metal horns in their living room.

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13 minutes ago, robert_kc said:

 

 

If you are a wood worker who can install veneer on the Jubilee, and fabricate grill covers, my hat is off to you.  Or, if you think that the "industrial look" of Jubilee looks cool in your "man cave" then, OK ...   but recognize that many people would not have huge flat-black painted 42" wide cabinets and exposed metal horns in their living room.

 

The horn on the Jubilee is not metal. 

 

Personally I think they are one the best looking speakers Klipsch offers and if you have corners they don't take up much room at all.

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Yes, Jubilees have plastic/resin horns, which don't look so big when they're sitting on top of bass cabinets that are equally wide.  They're not made of metal.

 

As well, if the finish is anything like my "utility finish" La Scalas, the finish is transparent shiny black, so the wood grain of the Baltic birch of the cabinet shows through nicely.  Also, Jubilees are available with a factory installed wood panel in the front, in a variety of different woods.

 

Certainly, Jubilees do look kind of industrial/commercial, but nearly everyone who has heard them was highly impressed, and the music fans who own them rarely sell them.

 

Finally, they cost under $10,000, so they are a relative bargain, considering their sound quality.  There are some added costs for the amplifiers and crossover/processor, but, once more, the vast majority of those who have bought them are very happy that they did.  Accordingly, If someone wants to buy great speakers that may well be the last speakers they ever feel they need, Jubilees deserve to at least be investigated, and hopefully heard, before any decision is made on which speaker to purchase.

 

 

 

Quote

 

 

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4 hours ago, robert_kc said:

Respectfully, Palladium and Jubilee are apples and oranges. 

 

Palladium are beautiful luxury-grade speakers that could be displayed in the finest homes.   

 

Jubilee have flat-black painted plywood cabinets, and don't even have grill cloth covering the metal horn.  Jubilee are industrial products designed to be installed behind a movie theater's screen - not in the living room of a home.   Plus ... there's the size ... consider carefully the dimensions of Palladium speakers vs. Jubilee ...

 

If you are a wood worker who can install veneer on the Jubilee, and fabricate grill covers, my hat is off to you.  Or, if you think that the "industrial look" of Jubilee looks cool in your "man cave" then, OK ...   but recognize that many people would not have flat-black painted 42" wide cabinets and huge exposed metal horns in their living room.

 

 

 

The sound improvement of the Jubilee over Palladiums is greater than the increased level of performance of a Palladium over RF-7IIIs, the Jubilees really do sound that good.

 

Roger

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6 hours ago, robert_kc said:

Respectfully, Palladium and Jubilee are apples and oranges. 

 

Palladium are beautiful luxury-grade speakers that could be displayed in the finest homes.   

 

Jubilee have flat-black painted plywood cabinets, and don't even have grill cloth covering the metal horn.  Jubilee are industrial products designed to be installed behind a movie theater's screen - not in the living room of a home.   Plus ... there's the size ... consider carefully the dimensions of Palladium speakers vs. Jubilee ...

 

If you are a wood worker who can install veneer on the Jubilee, and fabricate grill covers, my hat is off to you.  Or, if you think that the "industrial look" of Jubilee looks cool in your "man cave" then, OK ...   but recognize that many people would not have flat-black painted 42" wide cabinets and huge exposed metal horns in their living room.

 

As I commented to someone else, Jubilees can be put behind acoustically transparent fabric, e.g., a cloth wall at the end of the room, instead of grille cloth.  I first saw such a wall in an old High Fidelity magazine with JBL Hartsfields behind it.  I've seen a few since.

 

Or, the wall can be grille cloth.

 

Also, I believe Klipsch sells this one (?)

 

image.thumb.png.7bdfb4a917ffa2200e8b31a6d70bf15a.png

 

Both the Palladium and the RF7 III have direct radiators for bass.  The Jubilee has horn loaded bass (is fully horn loaded) and would be expected to have tighter bass, with less excursion, lower modulation distortion, and probably be more dynamic, wouldn't it?

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I have a Palladium home theater consisting of P-37F L&R, P-27C, P-27S sides, P-17B rears and front heights.  I have heard the RF-7 III at a dealer.  To my ears the Palladuims win hands down except in the bass region.  With good subs that one advantage for the RF-7 III disappears.  (I have a pair of VMPS Original Subs in the system so I have no lack of bass.)  I've never really been thrilled with the sound of any Reference or Reference Premier (or really any 2-way Klipsch consumer speakers).  The Klipsch sound to me is what I hear from Heritage speakers, 3-way Legend Series (KLF), or Palladiums.  I have KLF-20 and KLF-30 in my other systems.

I bought all my Palladium speakers used.  I'm not sure I would have paid the retail price for them but used market prices (usually less than half retail) seemed worth it to me.  The sound is more "refined".   It sounds to me that Klipsch and B&Ws got "busy" and had Palladiums as children.   They have refinement like B&W but with Klipsch dynamics.

 

It's true that they are getting much harder to find.  I've been looking for one more pair of P17B in Natural for rear heights (using AW-650 now) and haven't been able to find them.

So, you may be better off looking for some Heritage (used or new), 3-way Legend Series (used), or if you have the space/money/WAF Jubes.

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