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Kyuss_79

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The Klipsch RF-7 III are on my short list for new speakers. I listen to 70 percent Metal-punk-Hard-core and 30 percent- Diana Krall, Duke Ellington, Jazz etc...

Current speakers, Dynaudio Excite 44's. c52 pre amp and mc 452 power amp. Medium sized room bordering on Large, very undedicated listening room right now..

In the Market for new speakers, 7500 Canadian dollars to spend. My short list

1-Klipsch RF-7 III

2-Second hand Focal Electra 1038Be

3-Tekton Double Impact

I would love to hear from some of you. I could really use the insight. Enjoy the music.

Mikey

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Are you aiming for speakers with both excellent sound and good looks (with high WAF)?

 

OR

 

Are you looking for the best sound, period?

 

If the latter, consider the Klipsch Jubilee (not the KPT version for theaters, which has been discontinued).  I believe you can get various configurations, including time corrected bi-amp compatible versions.  Contact Chief bonehead (Roy, the co-designer of the Jubilee, with Paul W. Klipsch) in a PM through this forum, and he can direct you.  image.thumb.png.a4574ef6abeac7f30f8862de3860332c.png

 

image.thumb.png.a3b628b6a12af86a4047c2084a58e791.png

 

See the post after the next (Klipsch forum upload max or 2 mb has been reached)
 

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Good luck with your speaker search.  Stick with Klipsch and go as big as you can.   

 

Im taken back by your choice of forum name.

 

Hope this thread crap reaches you well and other members that don't have a clue who Kyuss is.  The list of great stuff is deep with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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If not that, consider the new Klipschorn, with the new tweeter, that came out about 4 months ago.

image.png.014fd44e30fb6b08cdbdf8795f741523.png

 

My reason for recommending the Jubilee or the Klipschorn is that they are fully horn loaded, i.e., the bass, too, is horn loaded, which should reduce the modulation distortion that all non-horn loaded speakers have in greater quantities  (but can still sound pretty good).

 

Both of the above, and the RF 7 III, should be used with subwoofers, if they will ever be used in a home theater, given the LFE can go down to 10 Hz on some soundtracks.  For music they should be fine without.

 

If using a sub, ideally it should be a horn loaded sub, some of which are DIY.

 

I'm sure the RF7 III is a fine speaker, but it is not fully horn loaded, so may not have as low distortion as fully horn loaded designs.

 

IMO, all of the speakers I've heard could use some EQ.  I run my Klipschorns with about 6 dB deep bass boost.  Roy provides PEQ for the Jubilee.  Part of the reason for this need is that many commercial recordings have the bass attenuated -- see Chris A's threads and posts on this forum, including The Missing Octave and his other posts concerning de-mastering commercial recordings.  Unfortunately, not only does the music industry shave off the bass, they sometimes turn up the upper midrange to the screech level, while sometimes rolling off the highest highs (the "air").  This doesn't seem to happen as much with classical and jazz as it does with pop, rock, metal, etc. 

 

Don't go by specs of any kind.  Some great sounding loudspeakers have lackluster specs.

Hoffman’s Iron Law of Speaker Building

You may have two and only two:

1) Bass Extension

2) Efficiency

3) Small Enclosure

 

"Why Horn-Loaded Sounds Better Than Direct Radiating" FAQ

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On 4/7/2019 at 12:23 AM, Kyuss_79 said:

1-Klipsch RF-7 III

2-Second hand Focal Electra 1038Be

3-Tekton Double Impact

 

1) On the right track, but I'm with the others suggestions re Jubs/Khorns, which are >>>Rf7.  If it's for a behind a screen install where looks don't matter (or if looks simply don't matter), the KI-396 >> RF7.  Heck, CW and Forte > RF7 IMO, but that's more debatable.

2) Focals are quite nice. Different approach than Klipsch, similar to what you have with the Dynaudios.  (Think room interaction...which approach would suit your situation the best, a speaker with broad dispersion or one with more controlled, narrower dispersion?)

3) What the...?  I would never personally spend what you are suggesting for your budget on some odd-ball idiosyncratic design out of left field.

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2 hours ago, Max2 said:

Hope this thread crap reaches you well and other members that don't have a clue who Kyuss is.  The list of great stuff is deep with them.

Enjoyed your crap. Beat me to saying something about Kyuss. Great guitar work and grooves.

 

Haven't heard and can't comment on Jubs, Klipschorns, or RF-7 IIIs, but they're the flagships of the Heritage and Reference lines. Looking forward to hearing them at the Pilgrimage this year. You should consider going!

Welcome to the forum @Kyuss_79.

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I want to thank Gary, Ski bum and everyone else for their insight, I appreciate it.  MAX2 and Rivernuggets, It's always great to meet some fellow Kyuss fans. :smile:  What a band, Needless to say they never got their full due. Oh well. Too bad. Any of you ever heard the McIntosh XR 100's?

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2 hours ago, Kyuss_79 said:

Any of you ever heard the McIntosh XR 100's? 

 

  • I have heard of it, but haven't heard it.  IMO, you should hear a speaker before recommending it or buying it.  Take in two sets of music recordings, 1 set of music you are familiar with, and 1 set you have never heard, but friends or reviewers recommend.  The reason for the second set is because there may be a tendency to reject a speaker that sounds different than what you are used to.  Try the speakers soft, medium, loud and very loud (unless you absolutely never play music loudly).  I arbitrarily try each flat and also with some bass boost, to see how they handle it.  If you have the Crystal Clear Recordings Direct to Disc Sonic Fireworks, take that!  Play "Fanfare for the Common Man" and play it loudly enough so the Bass Drum, Timpani, and Tam-Tam flap your pants legs in the breeze (not kidding).  That should stir up some modulation distortion in the direct radiators, but sound very clean with fully horn loaded speakers.  image.png.0bc1603d79b56d47c4564a15863ec5a8.png
  • It's hard to imagine anything by McIntosh that isn't excellent, although I did have a McIntosh C28 preamp once in which the right phono channel kept going out.  When I walked into the warranty repair shop with it, I heard a voice saying, "Don't tell me, the right phono channel is out!"   It turned out it was the Achilles Heel of that particular preamp design.  Anyone can make a mistake.  The speakers almost have to sound excellent, if not quite as distortion free as fully horn loaded ones.
  • The McIntoshes are direct radiators, so wouldn't be expected to be as free of modulation distortion as horn loaded designs.  Propaganda was put out by two speaker manufacturers (not McIntosh and not Klipsch) claiming that modulation distortion was not audible, and apparently many people believed them, but put a good fully horn loaded speaker (low modulation distortion) in the same room as a direct radiator (higher modulation distortion), and it the mod distortion should be obvious in the DRs.  In the 1970s, Klipsch, in their spec sheets said that their Cornwall direct radiator (an excellent speaker) had 3 times the modulation distortion as their Klipschorn -- at 10 dB less SPL!  Modulstion distortion is sometimes called Doppler distortion, thus the following Stereophile article:

    https://www.stereophile.com/content/red-shift-doppler-distortion-loudspeakers-page-3  My favorite quotes from that article include "Distortion of the flute was gross at 10mm peak diaphragm displacement and not in the least bit euphonic. On the contrary, Doppler made the sound as harsh as you might expect of a distortion mechanism that introduces intermodulation products" and, "Having done the listening, I side with Moir and Klipsch more than with Fryer, Allison, and Villchur on this issue."

  • I think the McIntosh XR 100s have a sensitivity of 87 dB -- is that correct?  IMO that is low normal sensitivity.  I believe McIntosh recommends a 600 watt amplifier.  With a Klipschorn you can get the same SPL as you get with 600 watts into the XR 100, with 60 watts in, using the most conservative rating of the Klipschorn's sensitivity I've ever seen (improperly done!).  When the Klipschorn is in a trihedral corner (1/8 space), which is recommended for the new closed back model, and absolutely necessary with the open back models, the sensitivity is more like 105 dB, which means a qualified 10 watt amplifier would produce the level the XR 100 will with 600 watts.  So if what PWK called "The blood stirring level of a full symphony orchestra," is important to you, Khorns or Jubilees might be just the ticket.  Although medium level is only about 80 or 85 dB, the instantaneous peak level is more like 105 dB, with 115 dB very brief peaks in the bass. 

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On 4/7/2019 at 12:23 AM, Kyuss_79 said:

The Klipsch RF-7 III are on my short list for new speakers. I listen to 70 percent Metal-punk-Hard-core and 30 percent- Diana Krall, Duke Ellington, Jazz etc...

Current speakers, Dynaudio Excite 44's. c52 pre amp and mc 452 power amp. Medium sized room bordering on Large, very undedicated listening room right now..

In the Market for new speakers, 7500 Canadian dollars to spend. My short list

1-Klipsch RF-7 III

2-Second hand Focal Electra 1038Be

3-Tekton Double Impact

I would love to hear from some of you. I could really use the insight. Enjoy the music.

Mikey

you should place Chorus ll KLF30 and CF4 on your short list to consider all sound great and will give you way more than a RF7lll and they all can be upgraded for even more enjoyment.

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You really need to hear some of these speakers for yourself before you buy. Everyone is giving you opinions on what they own and what they like.

You gotta buy what YOU like.

So..... now you just have to go out and buy some used KLF-30's and then rip out all the old parts and put new ones in there. Then you can really rip some Kyuss. [emoji39]

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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If you decide not to go the horn route, but pursue the Focals, don't waste time on the Electra line. If you can spring for it, go for the Sopra. A buddy of mine just bought a pair of Sopra 2s and I think they are head and shoulders over the previous line. This is a very good speaker that gets most things right.

 

Shakey

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@Kyuss_79 since you noted $7,500 Canadian ... have you checked Canada Audio Mart?  Depending on where you live in our little country, there are Cornwalls, Forte and Belle Klipsch speakers plus, 2 sets of KG4 listed now.  In Calgary, there are also 2 sets of KLF20 listed on Kijiji.  So a few choices to pick from in the used market.   Good Luck with your search.

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