leok Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 Since my trip to Chris's a few weeks ago, my RF-7s have sounded pretty thin. I did reclaim some low end power by placing bass traps halfway between the listening position and speakers, to block floor reflections. But the big gain was more obvious. As Klipsch (including Paul himself) states in literature with their speakers, and in various editions of "Dope from Hope" (Thanks Art), Klipsch speakers work best as corner speakers. So, I placed the RF-7s in the corners (except I had to make a wall on the right side because there is a passageway there). The new wall is only 18.5" long and 28" high, at which point it becomes the side of the stereo equipment cabinet. But it's a slab of Corian, so it's dense. Speakers are about 6" from each "wall." The overall presentation makes much more sense now .. much more power. Now the bottom is a better acoustic match for the highs. Anyone with RF-7s, wondering about bass and general acoustic power might want to give it a try. I guess it would help with the Fortes too, since much of their low end power exits from the rear of the speaker. I got the partial wall idea from some posts here showing free standing KHorns with their own walls and, again, some articles in "Dope from Hope." leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 I agree with your corner theory,it makes a BIG difference.It really makes the 7's sound their best.I had mine in the corners and soon will move them back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 leok, how far from the corners did you place them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted March 18, 2003 Share Posted March 18, 2003 Hee, Hee -- For once I'm a step ahead of you Leo, but you beat me to the post!! About a week ago I posted a question regarding the formula for port distance from the wall, in relationship to port size. I've been reading through PWK's autobiography, and there is a good section on his thoughts regarding placement. One of his thoughts that stood out was, "...corner placement effectively doubles the size of the room." My RF-7's were almost three feet out into the room, and two feet in from each wall. Imaging tends to be somewhat important to me, and I've always been careful to avoid the effects of 1st order refections. I finally decided that "imaging" could mean different things, and thought it would be interesting to see what happens if I started moving them around a little -- ignoring my good sensibilities. I held several contradictory ideas in front of me: Kelly and my ideas regarding reflections, Mark's comments regarding his preference for using the walls, and Colins comments in the past about getting the horns shooting just BEHIND the ears. So, the experiment was on. Agonizing. Inch by inch, hour by hour. Tedious, time consuming, uhg. Since I do near field listening, I used the center image to tell me how far apart I could go. I just kept spreading them out until the middle started to diffuse a little, then I would move them in an inch at a time until the center stablized. I then started moving them back, inch by inch, waiting for the room to energize. I decided I didn't care about my in room frequency response -- or flattest response -- I simply went for what brought my ears the most pleasure. I found that very close placement to the back wall (6"), energized the extreme low bass, but left the midbass wanting. 16" off the wall seem to bring it all together for me. Slightly less than 20" from the sides and large panels of acoustic foam running down the sides of the walls worked some magic as well. The acoustic foam was necessary because the speakers are NOT toed into the room anymore and pointed directly at my head -- the horns are now shooting behind my head, and the lesser degree of toe in has more high frequency energy going at the side walls. I also covered the window on the wall behind the system with a nice, thin, soft blanket (black, in case you were wondering). This placement has loaded the whole room down. Sound is everywhere. Not just the bass -- but the middle and top as well. In spite of the acoustic treaments, I think what is happening is that most of the rear wall is acting as a baffle. BIG sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Dean's approach for figuring distace will optimize the placement. Because of the one very short wall, I've started real close .. toed in about 30 degrees (directly facing the listening position 10' to 12' away. The rear corners of the cabinets are just 6" from rear and side walls. There may be a bump in the real low stuff that I'll fix by increasing the distance, but for now 'm happy. Also, in my case, I didn't experiment with distance apart, but placed the cabinets squarely in the corners to take advantage of the new short wall. Image is fine .. no hole. Room width is only 15' to begin with. leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Mark, In your corner design, was there any rear-firing energy? What was the woofer baffle technology: horn, port, etc? I really am, in fact, trying to use the walls as part of the speaker. Maybe I can build an extension to the RF-7 cabinet, similar to your angled approach, to more directly couple it to the wall. I also prefer as direct a sound as possible. For me, getting that right is hard enough. leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted March 18, 2003 Author Share Posted March 18, 2003 Something I haven't heard, but want to, is a good implementation of the Altec Lansing approach and components. One of these days. leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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