F-3 question

[dakayus]

So I went to best buys to go listen to some F-3's, it's a shame they didn't have any references, but anyways I was testing out the speakers and when I tested out the F-3's I couldn't hear the 8" drivers really. Right now I'm using the 5.1 ultra's and the two 8" on my current system puts out audible bass and a decent amount, at least for computer speakers. The drivers didn't seem to be moving much and until I turned on their synergy sub-12 I couldn't hear any bass. Perhaps it was because the place was wide open, but I still couldn't hear anything. All I could hear was the horn. My overall impression was that I had a lot of highs and mid highs, but not much mids, low mids, or lows from the F-3. The parts that I heard sounded great though.

[sn3nut]

I have a pair of F3's for front mains and a SUB-12 also. Getting low-end out of the F3's depends on the receiver setting for bass. My Yammie gives me the option of mains only, subwoofer only, or both. I use the "both" setting and get really good bass out of the F3's and seem to feel rather than hear the extremely low-end out of the SUB-12. It could be that the BB folks had their system set-up for subwoofer only for everything below cut-over frequency.

[Steve_L]

I have F-3s and the sub-12, and I believe I have my cross-over set at 80 on my Pioneer 1015 and the speakers set to "large" which means I get the lows sent to both the F-3s and also the sub-12 below 80 hz..

It sounds great! The F-3s handle the mid range and lows very VERY nicely and the Sub-12 does an awesome job way down low where the F-3s might lose an octave, especially in movies with earth shaking sound.

PS I have a 5.1 system but a 7 channel Pioneer receiver that allows me to bi-amp my F-3s and I do that and noticed some improved clarity in the mids and lows when at very loud volumes.

I had Stevie Ray Vaughn at Montreaux on the other day so loud (+4 on the amp) that the receiver finally went into "overheating" mode and shut itself down. I have to get a little computer fan to move some of the dead air in my equipment cabinet so that doesn't happen again. Believe me, this system rocks! You won't be disappointed.

[rlr267]

I am not knocking the F-3s, but I just don't see why anyone would buy

them when you can get the Reference series RF-82 for less money.

Sure the RF-82 list for more, but the list price and the street price

are vastly different. The 82 IMHO sounds significantly better.

[Steve_L]

Well, maybe they are "significantly" better, I don't know. They didn't have 82s when I bought my speakers, but I was unable to find a dealer that would deal on the Klipsch reference line. Also, that same "high-end" dealer wanted to sell me a whole bunch of Monster cable and a Pioneer Elite, while BB threw in a Pioneer 1015 free of charge with the package.

I'm sure you can hear the difference, but try as I might, I couldn't, even though I could quickly hear differences in other speakers, such as Paradigm and Boston Accoustics.

I guess I got a little turned off on the high end dealer when he started pushing gear that he obvioulsy could make more money on. Quoting $300 for Monster cable made me feel just like I was back at Best Buy.. only this guy was serving espresso.

I haven't heard the 82s yet, but I think my ears must be a bit less discerning than yours, prolly due to all those rock concerts and the loud pipes on my motorcycle and old age in general. Whatever floats your boat, but I really am enjoying my low end Synergy system.

How much did your dealer sell you the RF-82s for anyway?

[rlr267]

$720 for the pair and the dealer personally delievered them to my door

(it was on his way home, but still, that is good service).

As for the guy pushing the monster cable, that is a travisty of

justice. Whoever got the marketing ball rolling on that one must

be stupid happy with all the money they made. My dealer was not

only fair, he was honest. I was told by Circuit City and Best Buy

that I had to have the Monster cables at a horrendous price. My

Klipsch dealer on the other hand, told me to go to Lowes or Home Depot

and get some 12 AWG zip for 25 cents a foot.

[Jay481985]

the synergy f3 were better than the aging rf-3. The rf-82 and the f3 is debatable. I did not hear them side by side. Also the f3 can produce alot of base according to rttr which is running nad separates on the f3 and find no need for subwoofer but he only listens to music

BTW the owner of monster cables is a collector of rare ferrari and porsches to tell you how much money he made

I have some bluejeanscable 10 gauge made by beldin for 54 cents a foot

[RTTR]

the synergy f3 were better than the aging rf-3. The rf-82 and the f3 is debatable. I did not hear them side by side. Also the f3 can produce alot of base according to rttr which is running nad separates on the f3 and find no need for subwoofer but he only listens to music

BTW the owner of monster cables is a collector of rare ferrari and porsches to tell you how much money he made

I have some bluejeanscable 10 gauge made by beldin for 54 cents a foot

Like Jay said, I get very good bass extension out of my F-3s for all types of music, I think in part due to the NAD's very good bass reproduction, it was kind of flaky on my old Pioneer receiver, and yeah I do only use the F-3s for my 2-Channel music system. No insane 16hz movie bass through my speakers so I don't know how they would perform for that.

EDIT: Also I run the tone controls on the NAD preamp set to zero.

[dakayus]

i'm just curious, what receiver are you using with your F-3's? I just bought a pair of RF-3's and they are comming soon. I don't have the money yet to buy a receiver, which makes even more anxious to here my speakers, but I want to buy a decent one at least. I was thinking denon or sony. The pioneer, non-elites, looked pretty crappy.

[Jay481985]

actually, the pioneer 1015tx is just a rebadged pioneer elite. I was looking at that for a long time, brought it but decided to get a hk3480 for my rf-83 which sound better than some 700 dollar recievers out there though you pay more for the 5.1 or 7.1, the hk3480 is stereo. No paying for dolby, dts, thx, etc in roylaties Also they just stole the amp (hk) for the hk635 or so..... same specs

I highly recommend the pioneer 1015 though

btw rttr does not have a reciever he is separates, pre/pro

[Steve_L]

The Pioneer 1015 is an excellent match to the F-3s and is indeed a rebadged Elite 52TX, missing only the a couple of minor features. It's been discussed to death on many other AV forums, but just take a quick look at the Pioneer homepage and specs for these two units and the close-up of the front and rear view if you are doubtful.

The 1015 is a very impressive receiver with a very rich feature set, plenty of power and arguably the best equalization capability on the market.

The 1015 isn't a lightweight.. it's the real deal and you can buy one from your local BB (as evil as that is) for less than $400.

The Denon, HKs and Yammies also get good reviews here and elsewhere as does the Sony digital receiver.