jmorgan32 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I bought some RF-83's based on the praise they get on the forums. I listened to them at the local Ultimate store and they sounded okay, but were powered off some 7.1 Pioneer so I figured they would be much better with one of my rigs at home. I unpacked them with great care and marveled at the copper colored wonders for a while then hooked them up. I ran a 30 sine wave through them for about 12 hours to break in the woofers a bit and things got better. I was happy for about a month until I decided to start A-B comparisons with some of my other Klipsch speakers. Well, bad idea the Forte's smoke them, the Cornwalls, smoke them, and the Choruses, smoke them. What is disappointing is these are a flagship model and they are being bested by 60's and 80's tech speakers. I bought into the whole better newer materials garb and advances in CAD, CAM processes. Bummer... I love my 83's. Have you given them adequate break-in time? I drive mine with a McIntosh 6300 integrated and my source is the Marantz SA-11 (reference series SACD player) I love the overall sound, the aesthetics and the flexibility on speaker placement. I also auditioned the RF83's vs the Khorns & LaScalas at Klipsch headquarters. Yes, I heard a more "sensitive" and louder mid-range on the heritage speakers, but the low end on the 83's blew away the LaScalas to my ears. I also place a high degree of personal preference on the aesthetics of my speakers. ie I love the look of the newer design (ie the 83) and do not particularly care for the the look of heritage spkrs. I also did not have the room for a Khorn that requires corners. My dealer even came over and we agreed that it would be very difficult to find a system for under $10k that could compare in sound. (I only buy new components.) I know that I can expect to get smashed by 99% of the forum here since it is a "2 channel" forum and seems to be comprised of mostly heritage owners. That's fine. I can handle it. I believe in personal preference, how much you not only enjoy the sound but the look of your system. I have a beautiful Billy Bags rack, McIntosh gear, et. al, and it looks great! Sounds great too! Remember, it is all up to our own ears. I did take the time to drive 3 hours each way to listen to the heritage speakers in the headquarters listening room. My choice was and still is the 83. To each his/her own. Good luck, and I hope you get a reasonable resolution to your situation. All the best, Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Dotson Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Joe, it seems as though your one of the only ones giving a good reveiw of these speakers, but I'm glad to hear it. I too like the looks of this speaker very much (at least from what I can tell on the internet) and was really hoping they sounded as good. I actually use my system much more for HT these days than music so I'm looking for a speaker that's good in this regard, but I also want something that's going to do a nice job with two channel audio as well. Specs indicate a more extended bass, but I learned long ago not to trust specs. I have a fairly large room with and open floor plan and high ceilings that just eats up the bass, so I had high hopes for the 83's. My problem is that I can't find a dealer to do an audition and I never buy anything that I can't hear fist. I've found them for under two grand shipped on the internet, but not from anyone that offers a return policy and I imagine these would cost a pretty penny to ship. What to do? What to do? Trying to go back to Klipsch, but finding it hard. Just not enough dealers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I love mine... paid 1600 authorized dealer... my dealer ships too. But the RF-83 I guess people love what they have, its more or less a speaker that is not the runt of the litter but more or less looked upon as the middle child. I dunno why because this middle child sounds wonderful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Dotson Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Jay, that's sounds like a good price. But, shipping from NYC to Corpus Christi would probably be very expensive. BTW, has anyone heard the KLF-30's. I forgot that I also owned this model for a couple of months a few years ago. I didn't really care for them. Hopefully their new line doesn't sound like these. Don't mean to offend anyone who might own this model, they just weren't my cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Jay, that's sounds like a good price. But, shipping from NYC to Corpus Christi would probably be very expensive. they charge at cost (around 100 dollars or so a speaker?) BTW, has anyone heard the KLF-30's. I forgot that I also owned this model for a couple of months a few years ago. I didn't really care for them. they are arguably the best rock speakers ever made Hopefully their new line doesn't sound like these. no Don't mean to offend anyone who might own this model, they just weren't my cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Joe,I'd like to think anyone would respect your well reasoned choice.The 2ch guys are ok,most would reply with some respect or ignore the post or go crazy only on the most outragous statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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