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from Klipschorns to four RF-7 speakers... Wow!!!


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I think this is called breaking the lore of the forum. Interesting observtions to be sure - way out of line with what others report - but that dont make it wrong.

The RF7's and I have a reservation to meet seriously one day and shoot it out. I was as impressed as hell with them last time I heard them - certainly if image depth is your critiria they destroy the KHorn. Not sure about the speed of bass / slam / enhanced definition bit though.

Need to hear these things one more time.

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On 2/5/2005 1:44:21 PM maxg wrote:

- certainly if image depth is your critiria they destroy the KHorn. Not sure about the speed of bass / slam / enhanced definition bit though.

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Max, no disagreement with you here. The only issue is that we have "apples and oranges" again. Whenever you can pull speakers out into the room, you're going to have an edge on the image. Hell, the Klipschorns, by definition, are up against the wall.

If you have corners like DeanG, then you can pull them out into the room and you have an even contest. That would be an interesting comparo 11.gif

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On 2/5/2005 1:09:58 PM Dylanl wrote:

I am getting the feeling that the deal is not going to happen. I will make this same offer to anyone else also. My Immaculate RF7s for Khorns any model or finish as long as the are in working order. If the Khorns are scratched and beat up that is OK.

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What finish are the RF 7's ? If you still have them , I may be interested in buying. email - berthypo@hotmail.com

Bob

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I don't own the RF7s but would like to add to the "Khorns and the room" thought.

I have a pair of Khorns in a medium size HT room with perfect corners against a short wall with Belle Klipsch as a center. The room is also treated somewhat with velvet curtains all around with very little direct reflections. The sound is dynamic and as good or better than any other speakers I had in the room including a pair of Sound Lab A1s, Quad ESL63, JBL S3100s, and B&W N802s.

Then I have another Khorns in a bigger room againt the long wall with perfect left corner and somewhat good but not perfect right corner (due to window moldings) but what a sound! I must say I did have better holographic imaging from the electrostatic panel speakers but they never gave me the goosebumps when I play some of my favorate piano recordings. I should know what the real piano should sound and feel like - having lived with two piano player wanta-be's for many years.

I can not agree more, it's the room. Any properly designed speaker would sound good in a good room but even the Khorns would not shine in a so so room with no good corners. When you do have the right room with perfect corners, it's hard to beat the Khorns. I can not say that the Khorns are my last speakers but they have come closest - so far.

Ki

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You Klipschorn users are all hearing some very different things regardless of the fact that you are all using Klipschorns. You have different rooms, different seating positions, different networks, different choices in gear, and most importantly -- different ears. It's almost apples and oranges just comparing the sound of various Klipschorn setups!

Some of you may make the pilgrimage to Dee's in Little Rock this year, and I'm going to bring some different networks along, including my AK-4's (and K-55-X drivers), and maybe a set of 30 year old AA's. I'm sure many will be surprised at just how different these changes impact the sound of the K-horn. Throw in the different amplifiers we are sure to use, and it makes for plenty of things to think about.

The same can be said for the RF-7. The speaker is very sensitive to changes in gear and setup, and it shouldn't really surprise anyone that a set of them properly setup, and possibly with a good sub -- would probably bury a mediocre K-horn set up. Those who heard the RF-7's last year in Arkansas, did not hear them at their best. To do that, they need to be spread out, backed into the corners somewhat, and angled into the listening room. Like PK said, "All speakers are corner speakers."

One simply can't make all encompassing, definitive statements -- there are simply too many variables.

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Nice post, Dean. With respect to a hobby that is subjective and based upon a person's hearing and taste, absolute audio statements are always somewhat amusing. Dean makes a good point about the variables for both Klipschorns and RF-7s.

Maybe everyone will have the opportunity at some point to listen to a nice pair of RF-7s, with Dean's modded crossovers, run by a nice preamp and tube monoblocs (or solid state McIntosh)- in a room as Dean described.

Then we could resume the discussion. 9.gif

Carl.

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Hi Dylanl, sorry I didn't see this sooner but I'm just getting back on the computer. Wow, that would be great! I think the shipping would be

really costly though, I'm all the way out in Oregon, a long ways from you! Funny thing, I was just talking to my brother yesterday about

him listing the Klipschorns for me on his ebay account for local to see if it does better than the local posting I did. He said you just talked

Dad out of those a few months ago and now you want to get rid of them. I explained to him for my second stereo setup, that I wanted another

2nd pair of RF-7 with that one too but that Dad has that one now and he won't give them up. Later on, after we finished the yard work, he

asked me if I would help him move the Klipschorns to his place, that he wanted to give it a try and if he likes them, and if he does that I

could just go out and buy another pair of RF-7 and he will make the payments on it, in exchange for the Klipschorns.

I'm very surprised, he had no interest in them before and now I wonder what's changed his mind. These Klipschorns are all original, Dad

has never had a problem with them, and he has never had any mods ever done to them. I asked him to be sure, after reading some have had

mods done to theirs. He told me he had never heard that before, nor would he have changed the original way Klipsch made them.

I'll let you know what my brother is going to do. Thanks, Kevin.

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Since that Khorns come apart shipping is not so difficult. I will promise you that I if I ship I will build my package like a tank. Not even The monkeys in Brown could hurt it. Truck line really is the only way to go. By the way did I tell you that these are black ash & I aslo have a center channel.

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Hey Dylanl,

I talked to my brother tonight to see how the setup was going. He said one of his amps sounds great on it and the other not so good but I could tell the exitement in his voice when he was telling me about the big flood of sound he felt, like the music was swallowing him up. He said his wife isn't too happy about the speakers, she doesn't care for them in the living room. I knew she was going to let him have it once I left their house earlier when we dropped

the Klipschorns off and had to move her hutch to get one of them in the corner.

By his excitement, I think he will end up keeping them but I'll know for sure

in a little more time. He said he wanted to try a couple more things with

them, and let his wife warm up to the idea of the hutch having to go in the den.

Did you check out ebay, it has a 1959, 1974, and 1964 pairs of Klipschorns.

I was looking at some of the pictures and I can see Klipsch changed them

a little here and there over time. Mine looks a little different with the horn

and crossover than the pictures I see on ebay.

Thanks, Kevin.

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Well, now I think I started something! My younger brother is upset

that I didn't offer him the Klipschorn's first instead of my older

brother and tells me that I knew he always wanted them in the first

place, now my older brother won't give them up. So now, I have to

try and find a Klipschorn pair for my younger brother to buy so

he will let me off the hook! He never mentioned a thing to me about

the Klipschorn's! 6.gif

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I heard Reference series loudspeakers briefly over the years in the local Sound Advice/Tweeter audio boutique. I also had a chance to listen to a FR7 pair before Dean upgraded their crossovers with a number of different amplifiers at preacherman Daddydees May 2004 Klipsch gathering in Little Rock, Arkansas. We listened to tube amplifiers and classic Klipsch corner Khorns. Although I love what the big ole horns do with music, I have to admit being very impressed with the upgraded RF7s, for the money and size.

After hearing what DeanGs crossovers could do for the RF7s and never finding an ideal listening room in any house I have ever seen, except dedicated HT rooms, I could see someone liking a 7.1 Reference system when multi-channel audio becomes standard.

There is no way I would ever part with my Khorns, only continue to make them better. I love what the big ole horns can do, even if you are NOT a tweaking audiophile seeking the best watt in flea-powered amplification. They cast a big, wide, clear, dynamic soundstage that sounds more like the real thing for less money than any meg-buck system I have heard. The huge bass bins create real live acoustic bass, not a electronic copy of the electric thing. Vocals sparkle and shimmer as if flowing down a mountain stream. Imaging is as solid as Tinkerbelle. I heard only two different Khorns at preacherman Daddydees May 2004 Klipsch gathering in Little Rock, Arkansas, in two very different rooms and set-ups, but they both sounded like Khorns to me. They got it. They both conveyed the elusive magic tweaking audiophile all seek. There is no way I would ever part with my Khorns...unless there is a deal on JBL bass bins, with lets see, Altec 511B horns and ...

9.gif

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