VinceLT Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 I find with older music from CDs or MP3s, 60's,70's, example Beatles Penny Lane, sounds very poor on a RF3-II setup with a HK525 receiver. Hard to describe but it sounds rough, not pleasing at all. Same with older MP3 material. My old cheap speakers and receiver gave a much better result. New music, DVD's, etc sound excellent. Problem is I enjoy a lot of the older stuff, whats up here, I'm on the verge of selling them, any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrPyro Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 VinceLT- The RF3s are wonderful speakers, they can produce loads of detail due to the dynamic nature of the horns. However, this means that "older" music recordings which has audiable noise levels and are poorly encoded to CD don't nearly sound as good as a modern CD (i.e., garbage in = garbage out). There are ways to minimize the distraction of the noise level by reducing the noise contributed by other components in your system. What do you have the RF3s hooked up to? Also, it sounds like that you have not had the speakers too long....it will take time to get use to the unique Klipsch sound. -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 The speakers only reproduce what is there, alot of those older recordings were originally recorded in mono or stereo and then transferred to CD in the analog domain. Are you listening to it on a DVD/CD Player via the optical input or are you using the analog inputs. I never use my DVD player to play CD's, I have a separate CD player and I always use the analog outputs. To improve detail, dynamics, restore impact, and reduce noise to absolutely nothing on older recordings I use my DBX 5BX-DS 5-Band Computer Controlled Dynamic Range Controller. If you do listed to alot of the older recordings, and want to be able to liven them up and get rid of any hiss or background noise I would suggest purchasing a DBX 3BX-DS "Digital Series" used on eBay. DBX consumer is no longer in business so these units must be purchased used. I can guarantee that this unit will give you what you are looking for in those older recordings. Some experimentation with your tone controls may help some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinceLT Posted May 16, 2003 Author Share Posted May 16, 2003 They are hooked up to a HK525 receiver, and my HTPC media server. Have also tried with a couple of CD and DVD players using analog and optical connections. Your comment on detail is right, I find it too much. I'm sure the CD transfer and original recording lacks from today's standards. But with my old setup older material sounded fine. I guess everyone is different, but I don't want to have to get used to a speaker sound. I want the speakers to sound pleasing on a wide range of material. For others thinking of buying, don't get me wrong, these speakers are amazing on most current DVD's and music, but they can sound quite bad with some material. I guess you need to demo with a wide range of music that you will listen to. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm listening... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Good Klipsch speakers are very accurate and reveal all the detail, or lack of it that you have in a good and bad recordings. They show what is weak in your system, or the recording. It is a fact of life. I have over 500 CD's and about 200 are good recordings which I really enjoy. Others are old, good music, but lack that real quality. Unfortunately, such is reality when you deal with the speaker that doesn't hide weaknesses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Vince - Don't know how long you've had them, but give 'em a few weeks (at least until the limit of your dealer's return policy). During that time, as suggested, try playing with the treble setting on your HK and see if that helps. Before I had my Klipsch, I used to jack the treble and bass up to overcome the "dullness" of my other speakers. With my Klipsch, I had to set those to "flat." ---------------- On 5/16/2003 8:57:59 AM VinceLT wrote: For others thinking of buying, don't get me wrong, these speakers are amazing on most current DVD's and music, but they can sound quite bad with some material. ---------------- And not trying to pile on you about this, but we just want to be clear that the speakers themselves probably don't sound bad if you like them on "modern" recordings and not on older recordings -- it's the quality of the recordings/source material which sounds bad. We hope you'll end up liking them! Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whell Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Another voice on this topic, and a fellow RF-3 owner. There is some break in time that Reference Series speakers require. However, I doubt your experience is cause by the need to break in the speakers more. I really must agree with other here based on my own experience. Poor source material sounds absolutly awful on my RF-3's and my KG-4's. I've got an LP of Emerson Lake and Palmer music, Brain Salad Surgury, that sounded OK on a previous pair of speakers. However, on my Klipsch, they are almost unlistenable without some serious intervention from the tone controls. I must also say that MP3's, to me, sound lousy no matter what system I play them back on, save my boombox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 My experience is that the better the equipment the worse poor recordings sound. I upgraded from an old Nakamichi CD player which I had been using with my KLF30's and a tube amp to my current Cambridge Audio D500se. A number of CD's that sounded at least passable on the Nak are utterly intolerable on the Cambridge. The worst offenders were my Neil Diamond CD's. The only way I ever listen to him now is by playing his LP's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzoz01 Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 I agree. I had my computer hooked up to my Denon for a while and mp3s sounded horrible. I couldn't figure it out, as they sounded fine on my 2.1s hooked to my PC. One thing to check for with MP3s, is record them at 196kbs, most are 128kb2 or 96 kbs, those really suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 One of the problems is that all MP3s sound bad and the lower the sampling rate the worse they sound. The lower sampling rate and file size is the reason MP3s exist, but because of that no MP3 should be used to judge the quality of any component. Just like all computer stuff, GI-GO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzoz01 Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 I've recorded many mp3s at 196kbs, which is the same as cd. The only real drawback is that the mp3 format cuts out some of the highs and some of the lows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio80 Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 Don't shoot the messenger! The speakers are designed to reveal every part of the recording. Whatever you had previously probably added distortion to everything you listened to, so you didn't hear the differences in the CD's. Now that you have speakers which are free of distortion themselves you are now able to hear the imperfections in the CD's. Of course if you don't like the Klipsch sound take them back. Its not for everyone and you shouldn't feel compelled to use something that is unpleasant for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invidiosulus Posted May 16, 2003 Share Posted May 16, 2003 ---------------- On 5/16/2003 4:01:31 PM jzoz01 wrote: I've recorded many mp3s at 196kbs, which is the same as cd. The only real drawback is that the mp3 format cuts out some of the highs and some of the lows. ---------------- Actually even at 192kbps mp3s are not the same as CD. Mp3s are not the "same" as CD at any bitrate. If 192kbps was the same as CD then a 320kbps mp3 would not sound better then the 192kbps version. Mp3s are great but they are not intended for critical playback. Peace, Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Money Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 Vince, you also might want to try upgrading your music library to cd's that have digitally remastered. Most older music has been digitally remastered and should sound much better on the newer systems. Also, if you look to get other speakers (other than klipsch), you are bond to run into the same problem with your older CD's. V/R G-Momey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 17, 2003 Share Posted May 17, 2003 yes, its sourse, not the klipsch. i dont care what you play, you will hear it, if sourse is good, so will the sound be good and visa versa, my son uses rf 3's and they just dont disappoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 Mp3's are just a lower quality ie: ( compressed ) than a cd. I'm sure that most people will agree that it is a good format, and that you can record many hours on a single cd, but as it was explained, mp3's should never be used for critical listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.