New Speakers Advice (1 Viewer)

My current setup is Yamaha RX-V3900, Klipsch SUB-12, Yamaha NS-7900 Mains, Yamaha Center, Yamaha Surround.... Dont know the model numbers of the center and surrounds coz they are not worth knowing. But overall, all the speakers are crap except for the sub. I feel I am not doing justice to the monster AVR and not getting the most out of it due to crappy mains and center, so I have decided to replace the mains and center channel with reference series Klipsch RF-52 II and RC-52 II, respectively, keeping in mind my budget and space constraints. Any ideas on how these speakers would mate with my AVR and sub considering the sub is also from klipsch....

It will match perfectly but will you like the sound? Klipsch is sometimes described as "bright". Others describe Klipsch as "harsh". It all depends on YOUR ears.

OK lemme specify the kind of sound I like ..... I like heavy sound both in movies and music i.e. the sharpness or treble or shrillness in the higher frequencies should not be thin but mixed with bass such that it sounds heavy, also I like heaviness in vocals just like the same naturally present in the voices of George Clooney or Liam Neeson. I dont know if I can covey the kind of sound I am after. But I have to decide between (Polk RTi A5 and CSi A4) and (Klipsch RF-52 II and RC-52 II). Which pair offers the kind of sound I described above??

Are either local so you can audition? Everyone hears differently. I've probably blown out my ears due to heavy metal concerts in the 80's, 90's, 00's....Heck, I've never stopped. I'm going to see Guns N Roses in a few weeks. But now I wear hearing protection for concerts and sport shooting. The damage is done though.

I can't audition them. Ok I get what people on this forum mean when they say Klipsch are bright or harsh. But aren't they, at the same time, bass heavy also?? I mean I am using sub for 90 hz and below frequencies in order to not tax them unnecessarily, but I think Klispch should handle mid bass well despite being bright towards the higher frequencies. Also, if brightness or harshness is the only complaint, can they not be be beaten to submission using a graphic or parametric equalizer??

Also, if brightness or harshness is the only complaint, can they not be be beaten to submission using a graphic or parametric equalizer??

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Sure, you could, but why buy something just to spend more money to add further signal alteration. Equalizers alter a signal, and they can never be perfect. On the other hand, brightness isn't inherently bad; some people always crank up the treble. If you like the sound then they're the speakers for you.

Ok I think um gettin to the real thing here. Since, sound is very subjective and some prefer sharpness more than bass and vis a vis. But I stand right in the middle....I want the speakers to be adept at both i.e. bass as well as sharpness. So, again my question is, "Are Klipsch Reference series speakers capable enough to hold at solid mid bass i.e. 80-90Hz and above?". Also, um thinkin of pushin my budget a lil up. Doffed the idea of Polk (RTi A5 and CSi-A4). Rather, I will go for either Klipsch (RF-52 II / RC 52 II) or (RF-62 II / RC 62 II). Any suggestions on whether the extra bucks on 62s are worth spending.....

I want the speakers to be adept at both i.e. bass as well as sharpness

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Even that statement could be taken two ways, do you like heavy peaks at the extremes, or do you like a level/neutral response. (Back in college I was real big on setting a graphic equalizer to a "V" shape, accentuating the upper bass and the highs; now I like the response fairly flat. So things change) But to your specfic question regarding 80-90 Hz, I couldn't find a frequency response graph on the Klipsch site. The best I found was this comparison on Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/pc-speaker-2.1-channel-subwoofer,2835-8.html Going by that, there seems to be a large slope from about 70-150Hz; but they were no worse than the other speakers in the comparison. On the other hand, this graph from my favorite neutral speaker is pretty flat throughout. http://www.axiomaudio.com/m22.html# (direct link doesn't work; you have to select the Specs tab and then click on Frequency Graph) You probably want to try harder than I did to find a graph of the speakers you're considering. But as always, best would be to try them out, or at the very least buy from a source that will let you return them if you aren't satisfied.

Thanx for help. I think um gonna pull the trigger on RF-62 II and RC-62 II eventually.

I ordered Klipsch RF-62 II, RC-62 II, and RS-52 II. I receievd Fronts and Surrounds yesterday and center speaker will arrive in a week's time. Anyway, I hooked up mains and surrounds with my receiver (Yamaha RX-V3900 at 8 ohms) to check as to how they sounded. Contrary to what everybody on this forum was saying that Klipsch had harsh and somewhat bright sound, they do not sound thay way at all. Rather, I feel the sound is too warm and melow even without breaking in. I feel the sound is muffled up and muddy. Am I doing something wrong here in terms of hookup or what?? Note: I haven't level matched them yet. Also, um using the same old crapy yammi center till the time I receive RC-62 II

I ordered Klipsch RF-62 II, RC-62 II, and RS-52 II. I receievd Fronts and Surrounds yesterday and center speaker will arrive in a week's time. Anyway, I hooked up mains and surrounds with my receiver (Yamaha RX-V3900 at 8 ohms) to check as to how they sounded. Contrary to what everybody on this forum was saying that Klipsch had harsh and somewhat bright sound, they do not sound thay way at all. Rather, I feel the sound is too warm and melow even without breaking in. I feel the sound is muffled up and muddy. Am I doing something wrong here in terms of hookup or what?? Note: I haven't level matched them yet. Also, um using the same old crapy yammi center till the time I receive RC-62 II

With a 97 db sensetivity rating and a 1" titanium diaphragm compression driver mated to a square Tractrix horn tweeter they should be anything but muffled and muddy . But we all hear things our own way. Maybe when you get the fuul setup and calibrate things properly they will open up. Otherwize, don't know what to say.

Sorry Gene but I couldn't get your point. Can u pls explain in simple words....I aint expert like u guys

A 97 db sensitivity rating means those speakers don't require very much power to play very loudly. They measure this by putting an spl meter (sound pressure level) 1 meter from the speaker and supply the speaker with 1 watt of power. Most speakers are 87-90db. Some as low as 79, others as high as 105. 97 is on the high side. But don't equate volume with better sound. It might not be better, just louder. Titanium, and other metal drivers, are thought to produce very crisp and detailed highs. Some say a very bright response. A cloth or soft dome tweeter woulldn't sound as bright. A horn loaded tweeter increases the sound output of it. Same principle as "cupping" your hands around your mouth to while shouting, to increase your vocals volume. This type of thing is usually used with metal and ribbon tweeters. All these things added together means you should be hearing bright and tinggling highs, and lots of it. The exact opposite of muffled and muddy. Perhaps when you run the YAPO in the Yamaha with all the Klipsch speakers in place things will sound different.

It is strange coz I am not getting crisp sound out of them also there is no distinct channel seperation. Even my old crappy mains yammy NS-7900 sound twice as good in terms of detailed upper frequencies response. I will run the YPAO today and check if there is any improvement. Update: Ran YPAO, but Nopes........ um not hearing that famous distinct and bright Klipsch sound. Don't know what's wrong. Um hugely disappointed. One thing is for sure the gear is original coz I bought it from authorized Klipsch dealer, though made in China. No offence to "Made in China" tag, but it also says "Designed in USA" next to it. Could this be the factor or my receiver (RX-V3900)??? I read somewhere that Yammies have typical warm sound.

hi Gene....any clue as to what wrong I am doing. I am using Seagate FreeAgent Theater+1080P HD Media Player to play .mkv movie files. Um using HDMI out from it into the HDMI in (Cable/Sat) of my receiver. Could this be the reason I am not getting crispness in sound?? But I've checked on DVD player also which also is connected with my avr through HDMI, but problem is the same. I was running my old yamaha NS-7900 fronts the same way. They lacked in the midrange but had more crisp upper frequencies response. I know they are no match to Klipsch RF-62 II keeping in mind that the entire setup is perfectly timbre-matched except for the RC-62 II, which I will receive in a week's time. Can anyone else chime in to troubleshoot this problem??

Can anyone help me on this??

I can't think of anyhting that would be causing your problem. Maybe check to make sure you aren't using some less dynamic audio setting, like PLCII; it should be on DD or something like that. Othereise you'll have to find a way to do a comparison with a known quanity. If you still have your NS-7900 speakers. try attaching them and see if they still sounds as good. Or maybe bring your speakers to a friends house and try them on his receiver and see if they sound better.

Can new speakers be faulty?? I wonder if the speaker binding posts are reversed from inside. But that isn't possible coz 1) I bought em brand new from authoized Klipsch dealer and 2) they pump out tremendous amount of mid-bass though crossed at 90 hz. Or may be my ears are immuned to upper frequencies as I have been a big fan of "V" setting on equalizer since childhood i.e. high bass and high treble setting. Dont know ..... but I am cross-eyed. I am hugely disappointed by hugely hyped up crisp and bright Klipsch sound if this is the sound I am getting that has no detail whatsoever. I think I have wasted US$ 2100.....It is way way below my expectations

Talk to Tierry Budge at [email protected]. Tierry is a remarkably talented speaker designer and engineer. He has developed speaker technology that truly reproduces all the octaves that the human ear is capable of hearing. Talk to him before you buy any speaker, and you don't need high end amps to drive them.