Calling Klipsch RF7 owners...

[H.Donald]

I know that all you Klipsch owners love the pairing of your RF 7s with Rotel products.I am using my 1068/1095 combo with a Paradigm ref 40 set up.You know the 40s are the large bookshelves on stands.It sounds great and I am happy...allmost.I have never owned floorstanders and I think is about time.
Here is my choice...buy some Paradigm 100s or change to Klipsch RF 7s,which
would mean changing to the matching surrounds and center ect.Of course it would be cheaper to just buy the 100s...my question is,would it be a signifigant upgrade?Or would it be more of a lateral move?Anyone have experience with Paradigm 100s and Klipsch RF7?

[pyroponic]

I can't really comment on the Paradigm's, but I think the RF-7 is a great speaker. Also all of the 7 series speakers match very well, allowing flexiblity if you want do 5.1 or eventually go up to 7.1. I heard about people running RF-7's up front with the RC-7, then putting RC-7's or RB-75's in the surrounds/rear. Some other people have run floorstanders (RF-5) with fantastic results. Or you may like the RS-7 speaker in the surruond if you're really into movies. So I suggest listening to a broken-in pair if at all possible.

Basically next week my setup will be identical to the one you're thinking of getting, so if you want I can tell you what I think about the combo at that time.

[DrJRapp]

The RF7s are perhaps the most highly underrated HT speaker out there. The lack of proper recognition results from two major factors. 1st is the general HT consumer public's lack of understanding of the true benifit of horns, (most real cinema speakers are horns) and the second comes from the fact that Klipsch has the unmitigated GALL to charge far LESS than the speaker is really worth, so it's perceived value is less than it really should be (kinda like Rotel).

Also, there are inexpensive crossover mods that help the RF7 become one of the absolute best tower speakers available for music.

[BlazeMaster]

I agree with Dr. J Rapp, Klipsch are my favorite speakers for HT. If I have a dedicated theater room, where all I play in there is movies, I'd for sure use Klipsch speakers in there all around.

[Elvis]

RF-7s + Rotel =fantastic,the 7s really need quality like Rotel,a good combo for sure.If you audition the 7s in your set up,give em' a little while,you may be hooked.I can tell ya the 1068 sounds like a 5k pre through em' to me.

[soundhound]

Also just a side note that if you drive them with descent gear they can produce 2 channel that is incredible. We have the RF-3's (14 x 16 room, the 7's would be overkill) Most of our use is 2 channel, and once you get them dialed in you get lost in the music, many a naps have been taken in front of them............

[H.Donald]

Thanks all for your input.I guess what I am wondering...is it a large enough difference between the Paradigm 100s and the RF7s to justify getting rid of Paradigms completely and moving to Klipsch?I have not found a place where I can A/B them.I know both will sound great in the showroom.I can pick up a new pair of 100s for between 1800-2100 dollars.A new Klipsch system...around 4000 dollars??give or take a couple hundred...surrounds,center.So...I may travel into Boston this week to hear the 100s,and the Klipsch not too far from me.

[Patt]

I've done some auditioning at our local dealer of the 100's & RF7's over the past couple years several times. I own the studio 40's and a purchased a new set of KG4.2's years ago.
The 7's & 100's are made completely different and they sound completely different to me. The 7's do have incredible detail in the upper frequencies and the 100's have a sleek looking cabinet.

lol...lol...you have a tough decision on your hands It sort of boils down to which sound and cabinet style you like best. You seem to find them priced the same as here.

I can clearly hear the difference without hearing them side by side.

Good Luck.....let us know what you decide and how you like them!

[Locutus2k]

Also, there are inexpensive crossover mods that help the RF7 become one of the absolute best tower speakers available for music.

PLease, can you tell me something more about this "inexpensive crossover mods"? I'm REALLY interested.
And to reply to H. Donald: go for the RF7, i just LOVE those speakers that, at the moment, i can't imagine anything better for my music/HT .. at least not in that price range Ah ... and i use a 1095 to drive them
All the best,

Locutus2k

[DrJRapp]

PLease, can you tell me something more about this "inexpensive crossover mods"? I'm REALLY interested.

The best way to explain this is to invite you over to Forums at Klipsch.com, home audio, then select 2 channel and then do a search for Dean's crossovers. There is a guy there with the handle of DeanG who reworks crossovers for the RF & RC 7s with premium parts and some other mods that improve both the low and high level clarity of the 7s. (As if they wern't critical enough already!) This really helps with delicate musical passages and 2 channel imaging.

[Patt]

After all these years I thought it was time to get rid of the 4.2's until having DeanG. do the crossover mods.
Now they will be staying a while longer and should I ever pick up some RF7's they will probably be getting the same treatment.

[arrow]

hey DrJRapp Do you know whos is doing the rf-3 crossover upgrades

[june]

Hello All,

We have the Paradigm 100's v2 with the 1068 & RT-02. I've been a Rotel owner for only a few months but the sound is unbelivable! It's like a blanklet was lifted off my speakers. I'm afraid to hear speaker that cost more!!!


June

[DrJRapp]

hey DrJRapp Do you know whos is doing the rf-3 crossover upgrades

Not sure, but DeanG may know. I'll ask.

[DeanG]

Hi everybody,

Jerry sent me over to check out the thread and to answer any questions you might have. Maybe it's best since I'm new here, if I tell you my story.

About 5 years ago, I dumped my Magnepans for a set of diminutive Klipsch RB-5's. Having lived with good planars for over a decade, and being quite happy - and I had no intention of dumping them for anything when I started shopping for a new CD player in two of the well know high-end shops here in Dayton, Ohio. My "audition" of the newest Klipsch products was purely by accident - and I ended up buying a set on the spot. The speakers were the $500 KSB 3.1's, and my intention was just to use them as near field monitors in a second system. It was very depressing to hear those things trounce all over my Maggies. The Maggies had the soundstage, but the 3.1's were insanely clean sounding -- with dynamics to die for. It took about two hours for me to fully realize I really dug "the horn sound".

I started working on my upgrade game-plan, which basically amounted to selling off the Magnepans, trading in the KSB 3.1's, and coupled with the cash from the Magnepan sale -- go for something in the Reference Series. Since I'm a sucker for good monitors, I ended with RB-5's and a CD player that cost much more than I had originally planned on spending. No surpise there if you know what I mean.

At the $800 price point, I couldn't find ANYTHING that sounded as quick, dynamic, punchy, clean, and open - WIDE open. In fact, I had to go the $1200 price point before I found something that I thought sounded almost as good -- Paradigm. If there is one manufacturer that has their act together in the bang for the buck category -- it's those Canadians at Paradigm. Still, I was hooked on the horns.

Sometime later I added a Boston Acoustics PV-1000, and I ran the whole deal with an Anthem tubed preamp and 200wpc Luxman amplifier. I sat that way for some time before I got the itch to upgrade, and ended up running a pair of Klipsch RC-7's as two channel mains. Very killer indeed, and a year later I landed my RF-7's -- which I consider to be one of the best sounding speakers ever made, period.

I'd been listening to them in stock form for about two years when an electrical engineer by the name of Leo started posting about some "improvements" to the stock network. I'm a skeptic's skeptic, and I was definitely taking it all in with my BS meter bouncing into the red. I shot an email off to Leo (similiar to the ones I get now), back and forth we went -- and I started learning some things.

Everything is built to a price point, and the engineers and designers are at the mercy of the marketing department. Now, some companies are better at pulling the balancing act than others, and most of us know who they are. I think it's obvious that companies like Klipsch, Paradigm, Mirage, Polk, NHT, etc. do a pretty good job. Different sonic signatures to be sure, and we all have our preference -- but I think everyone here can agree that there is a lot of available good sounding stuff out there that doesn't break the bank account. The strength of most of this stuff is found in the solid engineering that results in well integrated drivers and superior filter design, and believe me when I tell you -- it's one step removed from rocket science.

Now, if you are designing a speaker for the $2000 price point, who are you designing for? The average Joe who has some money and knows good sound when he hears it, or the audiophile loon who wants the $5000 speaker but has to work at the $2000 price point? An extremely high quality refined sound costs big bucks, and "average Joe" really isn't interested in that level of refinement - but we are! The problem is, most of us don't have that kind of money. Just think, I live in a two-channel world, where my example applies -- so imagine what happens when you translate this to the HT arena where you need seven speakers!

All of the loudspeakers made at the price points we inhabit are built using electrolytics or metallized Mylars in the LF section. HF sections are built with metallized Mylars, epoxy coated oval metallized polypropylenes, or epoxy capped thin filmed metallized polypropylenes, made with recycled polypropylene. These capacitors range in price from .25 cents up to a whopping two bucks. They get the job done, and obviously do a pretty good job or we wouldn't like our speakers. But what happens when you replace these parts with the same parts used in the $5000 speaker -- thick filmed metallized polypropylenes or film and foils? These capacitors range in price from $10 to $40 each. Think it makes a difference -- you bet it does. So, without getting technical -- there's the pitch.

Most speakers I've done for people can be done for between $200 and $350 a pair. Cost is primarily determined by the capacitor values, since the bigger the value the more the cap costs. Besides Klipsch, I do Dahlquist DQ-10's and vintage Advents, primarily because I grew up with those speakers and still have a love affair with them. However, any speaker network can be upgraded by me if it can be made to show up on my doorstep. If you know how to solder, you can also do it yourself.

[soundhound]

Cool, Welcome to our slice of the world Dean. I admire you're passion for Klipsch, which many of us share. Sounds like this could open many avenues of discussion, so hopefully the "mods" will give a little le-way to the topic and let the fun begin. P.S., thanks Jerry.

[Patt]

Hello Donald,

Wish I caught this post earlier. Seems I'm in a similar situation concerning the Paradigm/Klipsch choice. Yesterday I heard the S40 Paradigms hooked up to a Krell, integrated and it showed me just what the Paradigm signature sound is like.

Now I'm curious to hear the RF7's with some good amplification so I can get a feel for what they sound like. A reciever, at least my lower end one just doesnt "cut it" or reveal all the qualities of a speaker so it seems.

Please let us know if you make a change with this because I for one am interested in reading about it.

Dean,
I was very suprised and pleased to bump into you here at HTGuide, thanks for extending the invitation to him Jerry :T

..........Pat...(Speedball @ Klipsch)

[H.Donald]

I still have not gotten into Boston to hear the Paradigm 100s...the Sigs are way out of my budget at this time.The Klipsch,of course sounded great...but I believe in order to justify getting rid of my Paradigm surrounds and center....the 100s would have to be a total bust.If I decide to purchase the RF7s...I would,of course also have to buy the matching surrounds and center.I did love the Klipsch...but,this is a true dilemma.Further complicating matters...I have decided to upgrade the speakers on the main floor in home....oh well,that's another thread.

[i_amadeo]

drjrap is correct the best sound comes from speakers with horns although i think klipsch stole the original idea from an old jbl speaker desighn with horns ...i could be wrong but ithink it was originaly jbls desighn

[DrJRapp]

drjrap is correct the best sound comes from speakers with horns although i think klipsch stole the original idea from an old jbl speaker desighn with horns ...i could be wrong but ithink it was originaly jbls desighn

True and False at the same time. John Lansing had used horn designs in his Altec, University and Electrovoice lines before Paul Klipsch invented the corner horn ( aka KHorn) that uses the corner room boundaries to effectively increase the size of the horn, therefore radically increasing efficiency and allowing for a much smaller sized horn speaker system that could be used in ones home (Although by today's standards the Khorn is huge.). Paul Klipsch was much like Henry Ford, who didn't invent the automobile, but made it practical for most to own.

The success of PWKs efforts are evident today, as Klipsch is still family owned and remains a dominant force in both the commercial and residential speaker business, whereas JBL & Altec now are just trademarks of some big company and EV?

[fastharley]

I know that all you Klipsch owners love the pairing of your RF 7s with Rotel products.I am using my 1068/1095 combo with a Paradigm ref 40 set up.You know the 40s are the large bookshelves on stands.It sounds great and I am happy...allmost.I have never owned floorstanders and I think is about time.
Here is my choice...buy some Paradigm 100s or change to Klipsch RF 7s,which
would mean changing to the matching surrounds and center ect.Of course it would be cheaper to just buy the 100s...my question is,would it be a signifigant upgrade?Or would it be more of a lateral move?Anyone have experience with Paradigm 100s and Klipsch RF7?

I have had a wide range of speakers over the years..including a pair of home built Radford studio towers.Now that I have the RF 7's ,I have to say that my ears have never been happier.I am planning on upgrading the cross overs soon and wondering what will be the result.I have a Marantz K1 Pearl amp and a Michelle Prisma TT with a SME arm.Love the way it sounds ...(especially half speed master recordings on the TT.). I would go with the RF 7's....
Jim