shoe11 Posted December 17, 2002 Share Posted December 17, 2002 Last night I picked up my RF-7's and took back the RF-3's. They are some of the most physically impressive speakers I've ever seen even when not being played. It is readily apparent they are purpose built. Oh and they are damn heavy. I'm 6'3, 235lbs and they were still not alot of fun to get into position, but I knew the reward would be worth it and it was! So I get them home, installed the spikes and connected the bi-wires. Powered on the Rotel gear, and BB and Lucille came out more sweetly than ever before. However, while I was enjoying the sound, a closer inspection of one of the cabinets appeared to reveal smudging or some kind of hazy circular film on the top and side panels. These in no way appear to be scratches into the surface of the panels, but of course being new and me wanting them perfect, I am concerned. It looks like what you might see if you took a pencil eraser and ran it across the cabinet. Anyway being extremely cautious with them, I simply tried a soft cloth and had some modest success in removing the smudges, but some still remains. My question is has anyone else noticed this kind of film on any of their RF's when new and additionally, as anyone ever used anything beyond the standard cloth and warm water when caring for the cabinets. If I can't get them satisfactorily cleaned, then I'll probably request a new pair. One other RF-7 question springs to mind: For those who have them, did you receive consecutive serial #'s or not? I actually received a 66 and then 68. Not that I plan to sell them anytime soon, but to a Klipsch purist, is that a big deal? As for my thoughts on the sound quality of the new 7's: - They definitely have a more refined, audiophile sound. - The tweeter is much less tinny sounding than the RF-3 and believe me BB and Lucille can make a tweeter sound tinny and fatiguing. - The midbass is appreciably fuller and the lower bass frequency response is audibly greater than the 3's. Can't wait to add the REL Strata III to the mix on Wednesday! - There is more inner depth to the sound and more seperation between instruments. - The resolution is scary at times. During certain passages I could hear the sax player's breath and could even hear BB's hands moving on Lucille. I was really amazed by that. Anyway couldn't be happier. For anyone considering the upgrade, if you can afford to do it budget-wise, the audible improvements are definitely noticeable. Comments on my cleaning and serial # questions would be appreciated as always. ~shoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kain Posted December 17, 2002 Share Posted December 17, 2002 I too have that smudges on my Klipsch RF-7s, so I guess that is normal. My serial numbers are consecutive, but I don't think it would matter much. By the way, what is the manufacturing date of your Klipsch RF-7s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornBlower Posted December 17, 2002 Share Posted December 17, 2002 I did not have these buff marks on my units, and I checked based upon your post. With regards to serial numbers, mine are not sequential, but not separated by much. I think this wouldn't matter unless the units were produced say weeks or months apart from each other... My poor puppie get scared to death in Reign of Fire, unlike any prior dvd. And that's without a subwoofer still. I can't imagine the effect if I actually had a RSW-15... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe11 Posted December 17, 2002 Author Share Posted December 17, 2002 Kain~ You would think for 2k a pair they could clean them up a little bit before they ship them huh? I'll check the build date on them when I get home from work and let you know. Also plan to upload a few pics. Horn~ Yeah I have to be careful as well. My gear is downstairs, but during movies it shakes the hell out of our crystal cabinet upstairs. Can't wait for the REL. ~shoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornBlower Posted December 17, 2002 Share Posted December 17, 2002 Shoe..... My puppie was amazing. He has never blinked at any dvd, any noise level, until the fire breathing dragon effect. He took ran over to me, and hid between my legs and the couch. He was shaking like a leave and very much NOT a happy camper. After the third time, I found him 3 floors up, hiding under my bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe11 Posted December 17, 2002 Author Share Posted December 17, 2002 I'm sorry I love my Klipsch, but a man's audio system scaring his dog just ain't right! Given a dog's sensitive ears, I bet that did scare the hell out of him/her. Have you considered ear plugs for your faithful companion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMcGoo Posted December 17, 2002 Share Posted December 17, 2002 Shoe, My RSW-15 came through with spots on it. I used lemon oil on it with excellent results. My RF-7s came trough with consecutive serial numbers, but very minor spots. I suspect that the spots are water vapor condensation. The lemon oil taks care of it quite nicely. I would not be concerned with nearly consecutive serial numbers. A future buyer would only be concerned if the speakers were not a perfect sonic match due to changes in the component parts like the drivers or crossover. Enjoy!!! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kain Posted December 17, 2002 Share Posted December 17, 2002 Are all Klipsch RF-7 speakers that were ever made identical? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe11 Posted December 17, 2002 Author Share Posted December 17, 2002 To make a buyer's initial out of box experience with them a complete success one would think that Klipsch could wrap them in something before inserting them in those plastic bags. Those smudge marks I'm referring to came from the plastic bags in which the cabinets were wrapped so I assume with some TLC I should be able to clean them up without problem. ~shoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe11 Posted December 17, 2002 Author Share Posted December 17, 2002 Kain- I have 02470336 and 02470338. I couldn't find a thread which gave the complete explanation for RF-7 build date. If you could explain the mapping I would appreciate it. ~shoe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kain Posted December 18, 2002 Share Posted December 18, 2002 ---------------- On 12/17/2002 10:58:04 PM shoe11 wrote: Kain- I have 02470336 and 02470338. I couldn't find a thread which gave the complete explanation for RF-7 build date. If you could explain the mapping I would appreciate it. ~shoe ---------------- The first two numbers (02) represent the year. So "02" means 2002. The next two numbers (47) represent the week of the year. So, yours were made on the 47th week of 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo357 Posted December 18, 2002 Share Posted December 18, 2002 I didn't have any smudge marks on mine, the finish is furniture quality in a speaker. I do have consecutive serial numbers, the 5's that I had for two weeks were not consecutive though. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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