Klipsch vs. DIY? I'll take the damn DIY

[prodj101]

you know just when I thought I was putting together a nice system over the last 2 1/2 to 3 years, the same stuff I had bought thinking it was "audiophile" like, is now availible at best buy. I don't even like to listen to the damn things. I wish I had waited just another week to get my RF-5's so I would have read the thread and skipped over them. Sure, they might sound good, but now when people ask what kind of speakerse I have and I say Klipsch, they're gonna say "oh yeah, I used those at best buy, they were ok compared to the sony's and yamaha's and BOSE!!" well you can count me out on them, I feel like selling off my RF-5's right now and just keep savin and get some Joseph Audio's or something. I say screw this- Klipsch you have betrayed me, and don't count on me coming back anytime soon. I am perfectly happy with my DIY speakers until I can get something beyond the cheap best buy stuff.

[Dale W]

Why people think they have to spend a pile of cash or buy there products at some elite store in order to be happy is beyond me ?????

who gives a flying f@#k where you buy your gear ?? as long as what your buying sounds like what your looking for then who cares .

God some of you guy's can be real anal sometimes, thinking your something special because you own klipsch speakers. Man take a long walk and get some air.

[prodj101]

the point is that this is the first step towards suckyness for klipsch. you think this retard Fred really cares about the quality of the product the company is putting out, or company image? all he's probably thinking is how he can milk the company for all it's worth than toss it aside as a 3rd rate company. Also, when you buy something, you're buying an image as well as performance. if everyone only bought things for performance why don't you see people walking around in blank T shirts instead of those 40 dollar rip off abercrombie and fitch BS clothes? Klipsch has just changed their image from badass, high end audio company for people who just like music instead of being preppy audiophiles to an image where all they are is another run of the mill company who's speakers get tossed around in an electronics department store.

[minn_male42]

so you're more concerned about what other people think than what your speakers sound like???

i could give a rip about anyone else's opinion...my klf-30's will blow away just about anything else out there....

russ

[prodj101]

part of it is that I have extreme hatred towards best buy. they're always rude to me and jipped me on a deal once that ended up costing 50 bucks.

[prodj101]

also, if you haven't noticed now there a ton of people on here who can no longer have access to klipsch speakers.

[minn_male42]

"some" people will no longer have access to klipsch....i just counted on the other thread...there were 7 different individuals voicing their concerns over not being able to hear klipsch because of tweeter losing the klipsch line...

i guess i don't consider "7" a ton of people....

russ

[WMcD]

Yeah, I can see where this is going. The world changes.

Klipsch must be looking for the distrubutor with the lowest mark up, to keep the retail price as low as possible. The next step is direct sales from the factory. Horrors! (smile).

I can appreciate that PWK was selling his wares by having the stock on the floor of dealers where people could listen and be "converted" to the merits of the product. Yet buyers knew, and know, they are paying for that overhead.

For good or for bad, buyers are not willing to pay for the showrooms, and there is a relentless pressure by buyers to purchase without the cost of a demonstration and hovering salesman. And we don't want to pay for the cost of advertising outside the modest investment on the 'net.

Hey, it is like automobiles. In days past, you'd go to a showroom and get convinced, if not seduced, this is a good car for me. Not so today. We want rock bottom prices on the internet.

There is some some sanity to direct sale, where we are going. We want technical performance and the results of R&D. You can't help but look at a speaker and conclude, "I paid for a slick ad in Sound and Vision."

The interem is that Klipsch is using the most low cost distributor. We should not be surprised. Hewlett-Packard, a powerhouse of high tech technology, is reduced to the same. Are there any HP show rooms? Do we want them?

Gil

[JasN00b]

*smacks prodj*

your being snobby and stupid.

you own some of the better loudspeakers out there... so what if you can buy them at best buy.

think about how insane klipsch will sound next to the sony, KLH, etc... even "Retarded fred" would notice

thusly theres a good chance klipsch will be able to make more money than they used to, because of the larger target market.

not only would this allow for them to lower thier prices, but it would ALSO allow for more research/development and thusly coming out with better products.

if for some reason ashamed to own klipsch now...

cover them with some acousticly transparent fabric or something and enjoy them.

sheesh...

[Juba310]

i'll take those pesky rf-5s off your hands =D

seriously tho...just because something can be bought at a ****ty store doesnt mean you should be embarassed...dang, if they sound good, leave 'em be, who gives a flying feck about what anyone else thinks about your audio system, as long as it sounds good to YOU. Keep your rf-5s, you know you want them.

[kenratboy]

I'll unload your RF-5's for $500 shipped.

[Juba310]

rip off.

[Juba310]

ooops...double post

[Invidiosulus]

Who cares where they are sold?

There wasn't a tweeter in my hometown until sometime within the past year.

As it is I have never heard a single pair of klipsch in a store.

What made me want to buy a pair can be traced to two things.

1. John Albrights killer system that he was kind enough to let me and my dad come over and listen to for an afternoon.

2. A single heresy hanging on a tree in a park as part of the sound reinforcement for an outdoor concert.

Not wanting to be associated with something because it is easily available or popular makes you as much of(if not more so) a slave to the pop culture mall crowd that it seems like you are trying so harrd to avoid.

If you really wanted to be anal about it you could just say "hey check out the serial numbers I've got on my speakers, they are from before klipsch was common in stores".

Don't let it worry you dude.

Klipsch makes great speakers.

If you really don't want those rf5's I'd be glad to make some room at my place for them.

Peace, Josh

btw, I have plenty of blank t-shirts

[jdm56]

ProDJ,

Hey, does Chevrolet not make the Corvette and the Cavalier? Don't sweat it. I don't think we're gonna be seein' La Scalas on the BestBuy showroom anytime soon So, you know, different strokes for different folks.

Besides, contrary to what most of us here on the good ol' BB think about Klipsch, they are not really considered a "high end" audio company by most people who are really into that whole thing. For instance, you'd have to look long and hard to even find a klipsch product reviewed in STEREOPHILE or any other "high-end" rag (if there are any left)-ha. I've read STEREOPHILE for years, and except for occasional, largely historical references to the klipschorn, klipsch is seldom even mentioned. The general concensus in that world seems to be that our beloved klipsch speakers are hopelessly colored; beset with "horn glare" and any number of other sonic nasties that supposedly arise from the use of those dreadful horns and (admittedly) NOT over-built enclosures, along with generally less than audiophile-approved components.

But don't despair, DJ-mon; that high-end schmooze is mostly about exclusivity and wretched excess, imho. Not that there aren't fantastic sounding products to be found in the high-end, of course. At mostly fantastic prices, though. Which is fine (the dif. strokes thing again)

[Frzninvt]

I feel pretty confident that I will never ever see a Heritage speaker at Best Buy so I can still consider myself "Elite"! Woo Hoo I'm somebody now! I hate to be an ***hole but I still only consider the Heritage line as the true Klipsch speakers. Anyway who the hell cares where the speakers are sold it certainly is not going to degrade their performance in anyway. If you are worried about status, dump the RF5's and get some Forte's, Forte II's, Chorus, Chorus II's, Cornwalls, La Scala's, Belle's, or the Mighty Klipschorn, no one would dare reckon with you then.

[m00n]

prodj, that's just marketing man. If they don't sell speakers, then, they don't survive and I am sure in todays economy, the age of the Internet and stiff competition from other companies, it's got to be hard to stay above water financially.

By putting thier speakers in Best Buy, they get more exposure to the public... Best Buy does not = "Trifty Value" (a second hand store). They are simply trying to have more exposure to a wider audience is all man. They are still in nice hi end audio stores here where I live.

But damn, far be it from Klipsch to keep you from your elite peanut butter canister speakers.

[horonzak]

Those who travel & those who travel well. But its still a truck driest in a tuxedo. Who cares where you buy your KLIPSCH its the performents that counts. AND IT DOES SO IN SPADES.

[mkl]

Another installment of the soap opera that is prod's audio life. I was just starting to be impressed, all of his recent posts (that I read anyway) seemed to be of high quality, with none of that pesky teen-angst coming through.

Here are my opinions prod (some of them have already been stated by others it looks like)

1. If "image" is what appeals to you (ie if you just care what people think of your system, not of its actual quality) you probably should steer clear of Klipsch anyway. Any one of thousands of snobby "Audiophiles" would already laugh at anything done recently (or in a lot of cases, ever) by Klipsch ,in my experience anyway.

2. I already have more klipsch than I know what to do with, but since your Reference speakers are now the laughing stock of your highschool, I'll take them off of your hands (cheap ofcourse, I mean, they are crappy speakers that are sold in bestbuy)

3. Not that I think this even matters, but just because a company sells a lot of something, doesn't make it bad. Being exclusive does not equal being quality . In the same vein being quality does not mean it must be sold in shops that require an appointment. With any luck, the klipsch will sound better than the other speakers in best buy, and people will think your reference speakers must really rock.

Since the klipsch's are more efficent, they are going to sound louder in those best buy audition rooms, and we all know that louder= better!

Personally I don't care where the products I buy are sold, as long as the quality is what I expect. Who cares what other people say about your system, be secure with the fact that you enjoy it. Screw everyone else.

And if all else fails, get your 8000$ b&ws or whatever you were stuck on before.

Enjoy your quality speakers and sub, and forget about what the "audiophiles" say.

-mkl

[j-malotky]

This does not effect me at all. I got my last three sets of Klipsch speakers off of Ebay as well as a good supply of parts for me to finish my HT.

Who cares how much money you spend on speakers or the brand name.... Remember the fashon designer who made the line called DOLT, as a mock against people who buy names.

What a sad world we live in where image or perceived image drives people like this. I guess that is why I drive an 11 year old Chrysler instead of a Lexus. Because to me a car is relable transportation not image.

I built my HT arround my beloved Khorns, because that is what I wanted to do and what I enjoy listening too. Not to brag about it to my neighbors etc.

JM