The CF 3's And CF 4's - Version One - Klipsch's Best Speakers ?

[ka7niq]

I have had two pairs of Klipschorn, in 3 different rooms.

They are not my cup of tea.

Yes guys, I have had everything hooked to them, strain guage cartridges, SET amps, push pull tube amps, digital amps, Luxman M 117's, Moscodes, you name it.

There is the coloration of the folded horn, and I can hear it.

I like my CF 3's, version 1's MUCH better.

I just dont feel you can take that folded horn up as high as they do w/o screwing up the midrange.

I hear the same coloration in the Belles I owned too.

Cornwall was free of THIS coloration, as was Original Forte.

I liked the original Forte too, just a TAD bright for my tastes, and too small, looked stupid in my room.

There is no doubt in MY mind the original CF 3's and CF 4's are the MOST musical Klipsch sppeaker I have ever heard, or owned.

But I have NOT had Cornwall 2's

MAYBE I did "something wrong" with my two sets of Klipschorns, I AM open to that.

I JUST got to the computer, after a two hour romance with my CF 3' version ones, hooked to a YAMAHA RECEIVER.

Yep, a Yamaha RX V1, and what a sound.

The CF 3's want what they want, and they LOVE the Yamaha.

I DO have the CF 3's truly bi wired, using two seperate lengths of Radio Shack Flat speaker wire.

I took the banana's off, bare wired to Yamaha RX V1 and speaker posts.

The CF 3's have a little "gargling", like most two way speakers do.

It is tolerable, unless you really push them.

They do "fall apart" at very LOUD levels.

The Forte's, Cornwalls and Klipschorns play louder and cleaner.

So what ?

I can HEAR crossover in the Klipsch 3 ways.

The CF 3's, and CF 4's are amp critical too, they want what they want.

How weird that a Yamaha Receiver, on the CF 3''s, EATS every combination of all the stuff I own, LOL

What a mind funk, huh ?

I talked with Roy Delgado once, and he used a Yamaha Integrated amp on his CF 4's.

Roy has a high regard of the CF series speakers, and NOW I know why.

After all, he designed them.

They can be had, pretty inexpensive too, except the version ones.

They are treasured, and get snapped up quick, by those in the know.

I just LOVE my pair.

The sound, when you get the right amp on them, and position them right is as follows.

They have that "old school" warmth in the lower mids.

I call it a "wurlitzer sound"

It is not really a coloration, just a voicing decision.

They have authority on male voice, and make you say "Dam, listen to that, THAT sounds good"

I have had audiophiles over who BOTH owned Vandersteen 5's, and they were tapping their toes, and saying how "outrageously good" the CF 3's sounded.

Barry Sadlers Voice on "Ballad Of The Green Berets" will give you goose bumps, the snare drum rim sound is like it is in the room, and when the bass drum hits, the dual long throw neo magnet woofers deliver the SKIN of the drum.

I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

In the evening, at low listening levels, music is all there, no need to crank it.

At lower levels, the CF 3 is an almost eerie speaker, almost electrostatic like.

Imaging is wide and deep.

EXTREME highs are not as good as my 801's, and they are a LITTLE "colored" in comparasion, but in a musical way, kind of like Spendor BC 1's if you remember them ?

I LIKE two way speakers, single driver speakers too, like Lowthers and Fostex.

I am sensitive to crossovers.

EVERY audiophile who has ever heard my CF 3's gets his world rocked.

They just make you tap your toes when you get em right.

It is EASY to get em wrong.

The distance away you sit from them is CRITICAL.

They want to be where THEY want to be, NOT a speaker for the whife whipped !

I did what Roy told me, and fired em right at me, till I was looking right down the horns throat.

I lost my spikes, so they are flat onthe floor.

Gotta get the thread size, and make some.

Thinking about using some smaller diameter wire for my bi wire on the horns only ?

Or, perhaps I will use a second amp with level controls to reduce the level of the horns only in a passive bi amp ?

MOST of the time, that is un needed.

But some old rock is a tad bright, like Styx and some Foreigner.

A LITTLE roll off might be good ?

My advice ?

Beg, borrow,, or steal a pair of CF 3 or CF 4 series one's.

The series 2's are NOT as good, and avoid the series 3 like an ex wife you owe alimony to.

Shhhh ..don't tell anybody ??