Jay481985 Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 IFI is now available in the apple store. Three came in today, two left one on display no takers today. Doesn't help that the apple signs did not come in yet so people are asking price and it all shock but I explained and they understand why the price is so high. though about 10 Bose sounddocks still sold today. no takers today though a kid on the brink of buying (my guess going to college and little money was debating) brought the gmx 2.1 cause the nice price of 149.95 and I would say about 2/3 the quality and loudness. In review, from the start. Very nice box it is I believe flame orange though the size of them are about the box size of a small college style fridge with two yellow platic ties. Well packaged. On the top are the remote, dock, ipod pieces, wires, and plug inplanted in the thick styrafoam and to remove that comes a box that is grey and contain both speakers. Everything so far is packed very well and plastic "klipsch" logoed bags all over. Then remove another layer and the subwoofer is wedged between the inch or more thick styrafoam. Connecting took about 5 minutes tops with no directions. Plug plug into amp (allows only one way), plug in the din cable into din socket though becareful (also not putting it in all they was makes the ifi not play and jiggling it doesn't help). Connec the speakers wires that have a black strip on each end, press power on the back. Put in ipod though the 30 gig photo that goes in the dock does not fit well at all... To loose.... So puts in 20 gig since there hair lengths differents. Ok tight fit but goes in no less but it is rather tight and I do not prefere. There are 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, mini pieces and I am guessing the 60 gig will fit without the plastic piece. Ok everything works, no DOA which is great. Remote syncs immediately. Though I do notice though when taking the remote in the back that the remote needs to resync if it is taken out of range. The volume still works but you must hit pause/play a few times to get it to work. Tested the RF remote. The store is 45 feet wide and I am at an angle. so give or take 50+ feet. Still works. Much better then the air click that is a remote for the ipod that has a tested range of 20 feet if that and claims to be 60. Also I did not point. Ok better wall test. I stand about 45 feet with two shelves that are similiar to walls. Works still. I like that the remote has a tacky feel on the bottom and the engineer who made that must be praised as without the tacky grip that ellipse shape would easily fall out one's hand. First impressions. The speakers weight in about 10 pounds. Great, solidly made. They are ported in the back and For the first time are the only speakers with in that apple store area to have binding posts and a metal bottom that can be wall mounted. The ball socket is a bit tight though I prefer since I rather have it tight and not fall over then loose and flop over. I knock my knucles on the side and the rsx 3 give a good sound back in the way that says I'm not 1mm of plastic. The amp after playing gets slitghtly warm if that. Ok Bass responce not that impressive. Though I can give a reason as to why since the sub is actually on the table and not on a ground floor. Have to boost bass to 100 percent to get great bass responce. But this is not even floor loaded. Speakers, great highs as it does sarah mclaughlin - fallen very well and for once she sounds like a woman and not like a tin can compared to the other ipod speakers. Using BT - Knowledge I believe the store is full of bass but the vocals can be hear. Ok the dock works great thought I acknoledge my concern before. I am a little disheartened that the IFI does not come with a 1/8 male stereo mini plug to 1/8male miniplug to connect to a computer! I did not try the headphones out. The volume yes is alittle weird since the wheel moves to the right or counterclockwise to raise the volume, and clockwise to turn the volume down. I must praise klipsch for the simplicity, though the volume knob as myself and the manager when we first unpacked seems more like a button then wheel. Also it sorta clicks if you press instead of spins. Ok so i had to educate a few customers how to raise the volume. Also the wheel light tends to actually spread out through the plastic instead of actually seeing bars like the manual shows. Also it seem to work on the lorithmic scale as half up is not that much loud at all. Never went full power but up to the last bar. The scheme seems to have the knight rider effect but full power is not actually just the last bar lighting up but infact full is when the whole right half is powered up. I would say that they can reach 115 solid db sustained and 125 peak db at listening position of 3 feet away. They get alot better as you step 5-10 feet back. I guess that is the situation since the rsx3 were made for a large room and not near field in actuality. The wire seems adequate though but seems to be 18 guage. 16 Gauge would be nice though the binding posts are a cool clear plastic with red or black. Customer thoughts, they liked it but thought to big. WAF was big since no woman looking for speakers even gave a second glance till they were actually on. They said great sound, What is Klipsch (then my jaw drops) Though all was not lost since A Klipscher was went wow I had Klipsch in college and we talked for 20 minutes. Though one woman very mean said when the ifi were on (I actually had them on to break them in all day) is that the bose that that sound is coming from and I went no, Then she said well I bet the Bose sounds better then that. And very rudely while she played the stupid Bose Soundtrack on the Sounddock I let the IFI rip and she told me to put it down and the Bose at that point sounded anemic. And it turned everyone's head though some women thought that was the Bose that made that sound. But in all seriousness EVEN though the sound is many times better then the BOSE, people still buy the bose because the name. Then they even go well its 100 dollars more. WTF the BOSE is 300 dollars what's another hundred. Also the smallness of the bose..... In all honesty yes they sound better, yes the ifi is better overall but who at the end of the day sells more.... Although us music lovers will find the pursuit of the best speakers we on the otherhand do not simply have the numbers that the common people that come to the store have that bose does. Name reconition. Though I praise Klipsch, Klipsch needs MORE name reconition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmesa Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 great review jay, i think you share insite that is much needed in this competitive market. I saw the bosedock thing today near the iFi when i was checking it out.. I did not even bother to turn the dman thing on because I knew it would suck... This was right after I was listning to some 8,000 dollar Vienna Acoustics speakers over at BestBuy (Magnolia subsection) Maybe I should get a job at the apple store this summer because I would love to atempt to persuade people towards klipsch away from bose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmesa Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 BTW, Jay, the ball socket thing is not supposed to be moved without adjusting the bolts around it. You need to turn the speaker over, pop out the included Allen wrenc on the bottom and loosen the four bolts around the ball. Then you can move it around. After you get it close to where you want.. tighten it back up, but be careful and dont slip, you could scratch the speaker! Then stick the long side of the Allen wrench into the small hole at the bottom of the stand and you will feel a 5th bolt. This on is the second metal support pole that needs to be elevated to just touch the RSX-3 and give it added support so it not all 100% friction. You need to twist the bolt up with the wrench just until it touches groove on the bottom of the speaker. This is not really necessary of the RSX-3' but on the 5' you have to use this 5th support bolt because they are a lot bigger and heavier. Its also much more necessary when you try and wall mount the speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 too be honest I knew the allen wrench was there when I inspected the speakers and knew it was for the bolts but the thing was, they are not solidly stuck and can be moved around without adverse effect. Also I went to 6th avenue today to get some cable..... This is the first and last time I buy Monster. They had 11 gauge monster and I got 5 feet and 5 feet of monster Z series. One was 1 dollar a foot, the other was 2 dollars. Not bad but still... the only other substitute was 8 gauge car stereo wire which was aluminum. Well atleast the monster wire looks sorta nice? Also for some reason I like the RSX3 better in black which I saw today with the lovely copper cone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 Also I closed saturday, while closing I tested to 90% volume. What a difference. It is the only speaker to fill the store up without sounding weak. Our store is 45 wide by 100 deep. Even the GMX sound underpowered in that store. While the IFI maintains its' composure. Also they sound much better as you get about 10 feet away from them. I believe as I noted these are not near field speakers. Also I brought my radio shack SPL meter and hit about 110 db with 115 peaks at 90% volume (the light is all the way to the right though full power is denoted by the light eating up half of the scale) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmesa Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 ok, i need to go to the apple store and test them. CompUSA just sucked! I know they should sound good, my RSX's sound great, but i think they are very good at near field, I have never had problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 are you 007? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy W Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Jay, If you really do have the sub on a stand out in the middle of the room, that would explain the need to turn the sub knob all the way up. If you place the sub on the floor against and the wall you can get up to 12dB improvement (the sub has a +/-10dB range). In your case I would expect an 8-10dB improvement, and have a much smoother response (the middle of the room is the worst place to put a sub). Placing it in a corner will give up to 6 dB more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted June 14, 2005 Moderators Share Posted June 14, 2005 ---------------- On 6/14/2005 1:31:04 AM Jay481985 wrote: are you 007? ---------------- Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 Oh Andy it's not mine and I know about sub placement. I work for the apple store hence the system is placed on top of a low shelf. But atleast it is next to a wall. Kinda hard to get proper sound while the speakers are 2 feet apart and the sub next to them. That is why I boosted the bass to +10 since a floor and a wall usually give +8 to +12. Also I know that the ifi was made in a team effort but I remmeber Don Inmon as head for the ifi. I was wondering if the subwoofer was designed with a certain sized room? Or to incorporate room gains? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 ---------------- On 6/14/2005 9:30:32 AM Amy Unger wrote: ---------------- On 6/14/2005 1:31:04 AM Jay481985 wrote: are you 007? ---------------- Yes. ---------------- figured after a few posts he made Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted June 14, 2005 Moderators Share Posted June 14, 2005 ---------------- On 6/14/2005 9:36:01 AM Jay481985 wrote: Oh Andy it's not mine and I know about sub placement. I work for the apple store hence the system is placed on top of a low shelf. But atleast it is next to a wall. Kinda hard to get proper sound while the speakers are 2 feet apart and the sub next to them. That is why I boosted the bass to +10 since a floor and a wall usually give +8 to +12. Also I know that the ifi was made in a team effort but I remmeber Don Inmon as head for the ifi. I was wondering if the subwoofer was designed with a certain sized room? Or to incorporate room gains? ---------------- Don is a sales manager. Andy is a lead engineer on the project. There is no head for the project, really. Just different people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Blah! my apple store isn't recieving the iFi system. They told me they could order it for me... Although I just wanted to hear it and see it in person. I know there are several other stores that are selling it, but the apple store is located at my local mall which happens to be where I go for lunch during work. Of all places not to sell it.. Okay much happier now that I got that out =) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 how big is the apple store? Is it a flagship? a 45' wide? a 30' wide? a mini store? If the store is about 25 by 25 it is a mini store, 45' and flagships carry most items. The 30 just doesn't have the space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 haha the store seems kind of small so my guess is 25 or 30... they do have enough room for the bose soundock though, they should just take down that display and put up the klipsch system 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy W Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 BTW, Jay, thanks for the kind words. We did a lot of our listening/voicing in our lab, and we also have "Beta" testers who listen in their own living environment. Our lab is about 22'x24'x8' with some definite peaks and nulls, so it gives us a good representation of what the customer might experience (the large room doesn't hurt the extreme lows either ) I had a beta system in my bedroom (12'x16'x8') and the bass was very good. The placement was about 3 ft from the corner on the long wall (to avoid the doorway and to try to avoid the double whammy of the 8ft and 16ft wavelengths, but stay clear of the 12ft wavelength). In the middle of the room the bass is not quite as good, but I listen on the bed so it's perfect. I didn't listen in my family room, but I should give it try sometime. Regarding the design, we measure all of our subs "anechoically" (outside), where we can simulate different sub placement (like ground plane, 1/4 and 1/8 space (on the floor, against a wall, and corner loaded, respectively). This way our measurements are free from room effects (and everyone has a different room). But of course we do all our listening inside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Andy I have a few questions if you don't mind! What type of engineer are you and where did you gradute? I'm on my way to becoming a computer engineer.. might miner in EE 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 man of man your bedroom is just a freaking room node as per you size. Man whoever designed the house must have never had any audio equipment. Anyway I said that the sub sounded a little weak without bass adjustments since the room is 45 feet wide and the sub is placed on a shelf on one side and the store is 100 feet deep. So the 24 hertz isn't so bad if I recall the size of a 24 hertz wave. Andy when you meant anechoically you mean not outside but in a anechoic chamber right? since ever outside is ground plane or 1/2. But I do say that bass improvement are not needed for a room under 15 feet. Also great job on the ifi. BTW AMY where is Don? I emailed him yet never got a reply and he seems to before never go unanswered. Is he doing the tour of apple stores as he said he would in march? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackmesa Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 ---------------- On 6/14/2005 9:36:34 AM Jay481985 wrote: ---------------- On 6/14/2005 9:30:32 AM Amy Unger wrote: ---------------- On 6/14/2005 1:31:04 AM Jay481985 wrote: are you 007? ---------------- Yes. ---------------- figured after a few posts he made ---------------- ya, Trey banned me for something on the gen board, along with a few other members who broke the rules.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Amy Posted June 14, 2005 Moderators Share Posted June 14, 2005 Don is a busy guy. Keep pestering him, though, he can access his emails on the road. Andy is an electronics engineer, by the way (he doesn't always check the board regularly). I believe he went to Purdue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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