Well finally Klipsch was De-throned in my system!

[thirdeye]

Cool, it takes $9000 worth

of speakers to "dethrone" a pair of RF-35's. Way to go Klipsch!

Great point Dean.

Umm, not sure of the point accept yeah they beat the very close priced K-horns too, but okay?

[thirdeye]

No maybe not PSG, I might post more cause I still have all klipsch surround sound in another room.

[thirdeye]

Well I would say this particular

user likes the sound better as the quality goes down so I think

the new speakers actually place klipsch on a higher throne!

Craig

No not really , but okay...

[jdm56]

Very interesting looking speakers, 3rd-i. How did you discover them? I'm sure Chicago has loads of audio emporiums to check out, unlike here in the sticks where I live.[]

My concern is that they would be very directional between 12000 Hz and 1500 Hz or so due to the size of the drivers relative to the wavelengths, but maybe there is a whizzer cone that my cheap monitor wouldn't let me see.[^o)]

You've got something very unique there, which can be it's own reward. Enjoy, and don't let the klipsch faithful rain on your parade![st]

[DrWho]

For starters, they are a 3 way design....using two full range drivers surrounding a tweeter with a rear firing subwoofer (so 4 active drivers). The other three "drivers" are merely passive radiators and serve the same function as an old-fashioned port....at least that is what I gather from the articles.

Hoffman's Iron law is also being violated because sensitivity decreases with an increase in bandwidth and a decrease in cabinet volume. There is no way that those two drivers are digging all the way down to 40Hz while maintaining a 101dB sensitivity and also saving enough cabinet volume for another 10" driver to dig down to 16Hz! It's just flat out impossible....no matter how you look at it. Heck, even a single 10" driver in a 4 cubic foot cabinet couldn't be that high....let alone 3 active 10" drivers! Then again, the RF-7 couldn't be 101dB either []

I also find it interesting that these drivers have such a wide bandwidth, yet they choose to use two of them! The single driver crowd has a lot of merit to using just one driver because it gets rid of all sorts of other problems with interactions between multiple drivers....but to maintain the super-wide bandwidth and then use two drivers makes absolutely no sense. Going to just one driver results in a sensitivity of 95dB (assuming that the 101dB is real)...which is still extremely high for direct radiators.

And the thought of reproducing 15kHz with a 10" driver is a beaming nightmare...but perhaps that's what all the extra special equipment is for [] (perhaps they went with a "constant directivity" and are using massive EQ to flatten the response)

Anyways, the physics is a bit out there but if you like their sound then by all means go enjoy some music...that's what it's all about anyway.

[maxg]

First off - congratulations on finding a speaker system you are happy with. Take no notice whatsoever of what anyone else says - it is your money, your room, your music and most of all - your ears - enjoy.

Personally I have no way to comment on your choice as I have never heard the speakers in question - they could just be the best audio bargain out there for all I know.

You are not the first person to move away from the Heritage and RF sound - and you will not be the last. I know a few people over here that have done it. I would only caution that you might find this to be the start of a long road. My friend Tony, for example - bought the KHorns (these are the last speakers I will ever own) and then the Quad 989 (these are the last speaker I will ever own) and then the B&W 802 (these are the last speaker I will ever own) and is now selling the 802's.

As I type he is planning to buy a mini-monitor from Audio Physic (2 way with a ribbon tweeter) as the perfect speaker for his room and presumably the last speaker he will ever own(!)

What was interesting to me, however, was this statement:

"My last pair of Klipsch were RF35's, far more balanced than the RF7's I owned before them... And the cornwalls I owned before that... "

I would be very interested to hear what you mean by balanced. I would also be interested to hear how you felt about the top end in comparison to the Cornwalls. IME the top end of the Heritage range comes across better (to my ears and all that) than it does from the Trantix horns.

That, at least, was my impression when I tried the older 3 against my existing Heresy 2 speakers at home.

Having said that - I was seriously impressed with the RB75 at the high end show here - and felt that they too were a more balanced sound (smoother if you will) than the RF7's that stood next to them - if not quite as extended in the bass.

One final question - as I understand it you are planning to use this new setup for music listening. Is the ability to go down below 20 Hz important in your opinion for music?

[thirdeye]

Maxg, Yeah you never know the true end! But Balanced to me is the

bottom end fills in as much as the Horn, so it is not screaming at low

levels with no bass presence. Now that being said the HERITAGE

are far better in general including the Cornwalls, I however found NO

matter What klipsch speaker was used I always need to boost the bass

via tone controls to "balance" them out in general, I did this with my

other preamp a Mcintosh with 5 band EQ... KIipsch has many potentials

in general no doubt, but common guys if you think they are the most

controled speaker I'm sorry its not true, but they are A rockin fun

speaker if you can keep them from going over the top bright at high

levels to get the Bass drivers moving is all.

K-horns ARE far less Raw and aggressive sounding to me than the rest,

Cornwalls are not bad but it is a bit of a tuff speaker to setup if you

want to talk about "correct"... Not thats not a good solid design and

sounds like crap but I guess if you are in the position that I ended up

in at a near 25,000 system then I guess you might ask for more too.. I

am sure many of you guys have that much in collected gear and several

systems, but for me I like one system to deal with and do not keep

spares around as many guys do, (I do have a surround system) but I

don't think that counts as many here would agree...

[thirdeye]

One final question - as I understand it you are planning to use this

new setup for music listening. Is the ability to go down below 20 Hz

important in your opinion for music?

Max, This is just a Spec. in the end, but what I find important is to

not have restriction in the end, so why not? Especially Knowing it is

possible to get some frequencys we miss on recordings due to limited

bandwith.

As to the comment on "Best Value in Audio Today" I would not have ever

seen myself spending this kinda money honestly, But facts are the Pile

of parts alone are worth more than 90% of the speakers retail out there

being sold to you in general..

I did not pay close to retail on these either, but even at 4500.00 a

piece with amps taking care of the 40hz and below with the capabilities

of a speaker like this not even talking about the incredible quality

finish on them and 14 custom drivers(and being larger 10" for the most

part) total doing what they do, not to mention the fact No there is no

crossover costs involved but No crossover is better than ANy thing you

could put in the path of the wire and drivers in existance anyway. I

say yeah they are a great value in this audioworld.

[thirdeye]

~

[JBryan]

Don't let our defensive posturing get to ya 3rd-I, but what were you expecting...? Its like bringing a Yamaha to a Harley meet - even if the Yam can smoke 'em all you're just asking for trouble!

I think its great that you found what you were looking for and I wish we all could find (and afford) our desires. Unfortunately, one size doesn't fit all - especially in this hobby/obsession. If there were one BEST of anything in the audio world, we'll all own it eventually. Even the folks that fall for all the marketing hype will sucuumb to the peer pressure - its our nature.

Who knows - maybe the Zu's will be the ONE and Klispch Inc will be making their own version (with horns and copper cones no doubt) or they'll close up, dismantle this website and become a museum and parts supplier to the deaf and ignorant (read: old farts).

Thanks for the post and enjoy your new toy, Bryan

[thirdeye]

~

[JJkizak]

3RD EYE:

A couple of questions: What levels do you use to test at? What are the dimensions of your room? What is your hearing range?

JJK

[jacksonbart]

shoe size and how tall are you?

[thirdeye]

shoe size and how tall are you?

Well the room as it sits is 29ft X 15ft... Level tested at is

whatever the recording can produce and sound pretty "Live", so if its a type of music that

demands more I give it more, if its peter gabriel clean type fairly

balanced recording that sounds smooth at a certain volume then thats

what I play it at dont need to drive it ... Do I use any equipmentto measure ? No,

but I do have a Rat shack db meter and only use that to set up my

surround system via white noise.

[stan krajewski]

What did you expect?

What common ground can 99% of us here at the Klipsch forum have with a person who spends $9,000.00 on an obscure brand of speakers and then expects people to engage in an intelligent discussion about something they will probably never hear and most certainly will never own?

[thirdeye]

~

[Parrot]

Quite a remarkable LP collection.

[Bill H.]

ThirdEye,

Glad too hear your enjoying them.............However

K Horn MSRP is only 7,500.00 and members have purchase new ones for much less.

[Parrot]

And used Khorns sell for around $2000 or so, sometimes higher, but when

you figure in Garymd's FREE PAIR, it lowers the average.

[hwatkins]

One final question - as I understand it you are planning to use this new setup for music listening. Is the ability to go down below 20 Hz important in your opinion for music?

Max, This is just a Spec. in the end, but what I find important is to not have restriction in the end, so why not? Especially Knowing it is possible to get some frequencys we miss on recordings due to limited bandwith.

I'll give my 2 cents here. There is a school of thought that a speaker should produce quality sound an octave below and above auditory limits of the human ear (although that is a pesky thing to make the same for all folks). My experince has been that it is reasonable to do so and that there 'seems' to be some difference when folks do so.

I try to design my listening rooms for just that and I am quite pleased.

So if 40 hz is as low as a grooved piece of vinyl gets, then the 20 hz meets my octave rule (in this case an octave below the reasobaly produced lower limit).