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klf 20, cf3 or diy build?


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Hello everyone,

 I have owned a few klipsch speakers. I had a pair of klf 20's that i sold a few years back and am thinking about another pair. for my style of music they just seem to work well. I have a pair of cf-4 rev1  that I like but they are for a different space. any thoughts on klf' 20's vs CF 3? . Anyone designed a diy with a double base cabinet and horns on top? they will be used for music and home theater. parasound amp 220w per channel

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Not much help as I never heard KLF20's ... :(  But, tried K-510 horns with Forte's ... could never get them to match :(  So, started looking at building dual 12 or 15" bass bins to use with the horns.  Got lazy and replaced them with some CF-3's ... pleasantly surprised :D  (Just stay away from version 3.)

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I have the CF-3's version 3's and they sound fantastic. There are minor changes across the versions but I wouldn't get hung up over it.  Some of the best speakers Klipsch ever sold in my experience.  I prefer the 2-way sound of the Epic's over the 3-way KLF's but that's just my opinion. Both are great speakers if you can get them.  Both can be tuned to your liking but to date, I have made zero changes to mine and love them.

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52 minutes ago, sci85 said:

I have the CF-3's version 3's and they sound fantastic. There are minor changes across the versions but I wouldn't get hung up over it.  Some of the best speakers Klipsch ever sold in my experience.  I prefer the 2-way sound of the Epic's over the 3-way KLF's but that's just my opinion. Both are great speakers if you can get them.  Both can be tuned to your liking but to date, I have made zero changes to mine and love them.

 

I agree completely with this.  Too many people get hung up on thinking they just have to have the version 1's and that's all they recommend.  My v3's sounded awesome and I'd buy another pair in a minute if given the opportunity.  I, too, preferred the sound of the CF-3's I had over the KLF-30's I had at the same time.  Of course, it's all room dependent and the CF-3's won hands down.  It had a lot to do with front ports versus rear ports (and passives).  (One of the big reasons I'll never buy Forte III's (and I can buy them at cost)).  I'd thought about the baffle change in putting the horn on top but once you got the right distance back, they were just fine.  I guess if you're near field, it would help but 10 to 12 feet back, they did everything right.

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I always wanted to move the ports from the rear to the front on the KLF-30's and see what happened, but, the CF-3's sound so much better so the the KLF's were sold.  Really hated to hack up the stock baffle.  I've got a pair of Cerwin Vega VS-150's that are rear ported and the cabinets are not worth fixing up, 2 different layers of paint & some damage, so I'm building new cabinets some day and relocate the ports to the front.  Or, I'm going to make a panel I can swap from front to rear easily.

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10 minutes ago, avguytx said:

I always wanted to move the ports from the rear to the front on the KLF-30's and see what happened, but, the CF-3's sound so much better so the the KLF's were sold.  Really hated to hack up the stock baffle.  I've got a pair of Cerwin Vega VS-150's that are rear ported and the cabinets are not worth fixing up, 2 different layers of paint & some damage, so I'm building new cabinets some day and relocate the ports to the front.  Or, I'm going to make a panel I can swap from front to rear easily.

 

I purchased a pair of Elac debut B6.2 bookshelf speakers @ half off around Christmas from amazon for my desktop computer. 6" woofer and a 1" silk dome tweeter with a front port. They sound fantastic. Pushing them with a Fosi mini amp @ 50 wpc (also from amazon). Best desktop pc stereo system I have yet to own, and I have had a few 2.1 systems including a Klipsch Pro Media rig (which ultimately failed like all the rest). That front port rocks and the imaging is perfect! It helps that the mini Fosi has treble, bass, and volume adjust knobs right up front. Highly recommend the Elac B6.2 when on sale. 

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I already have a few small speakers around the house I don't listen to.  Plus, my desktop PC is upstairs tied to a 47" TV and I use it from my recliner to access FLAC files, stream, or browse, and hooked to my Belle cones.

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3 hours ago, avguytx said:

I always wanted to move the ports from the rear to the front on the KLF-30's and see what happened, but, the CF-3's sound so much better so the the KLF's were sold.  Really hated to hack up the stock baffle.  I've got a pair of Cerwin Vega VS-150's that are rear ported and the cabinets are not worth fixing up, 2 different layers of paint & some damage, so I'm building new cabinets some day and relocate the ports to the front.  Or, I'm going to make a panel I can swap from front to rear easily.

I did exactly this with a pair of KLF20 for my daughter when she was going to University and living in small quarters having the vents on the front took up less floor space. I removed both baffles cut the vents off the rear baffle and spliced them onto the front and then placed the section from the front baffle on to the rear baffle I only had to ad the thickness of the saw cut. I reinforced the joint and they cabinets were stronger than new. You could not tell they had been touched.

   Personally I prefer a rear port as it results in less internal leakage of the woofers top end response directly toward the listener but back and around the room resulting in a much longer ride to the listeners ears. I does let yo however place the speakers much closer to the front wall than a re vent or passive does.

KLF 20 or Quartet rebuilds 026.jpg

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44 minutes ago, polizzio said:

More of a testament to front ports, like my beloved CWs too.

 

Belles for your pc........now that is real authority!

 

Well, we have a study nook in the new house with an area for two computers (laptops) but that's for the kids.  My "domain" is now upstairs and that's where I keep my desktop PC as there is really no desk in the house (except study nook). 

 

Yeah, Belles make quite good PC speakers.  ha  I've got a pair of JBL L1's that are rear ported that typically need to be off the wall some.  Need to try those upstairs one day once time allows and we'e settled in more.

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Old user name from back when I lived in Texas and was a manufacturers rep; they needed an email address to "forward" the work email to.  But, I just kept the email address even after that part of the company shut down summer 2009 and I moved back to Arkansas, went back to college at 43, and started my 2nd career. 

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