Help deciding between klipsch rf-25 and rf-35! (1 Viewer)

[BradleyS.]

I have a very large HT room, about 8500 cubic feet. there are no open passageways into other parts of the house. I am concentrating my seating area in the middle of the room. I sit 12 feet from where the towers will be, sub placement will be 14 feet from the seating area and corner loaded. I already have the rc-3II center and I am buying the yamaha rx-v1400 soon. So now for the question, If I am planning on buying an svs sub, is it likely that the rf-25's will do an adequate job? The only difference is the larger drivers right? I will mostly be using it for 60% video games, and 20/20 music movies.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

I would go with the RF-35's if I was doing a lot of 2-channel listening (I plan on buying them - or the RF-7's), but the RF-25's would be just fine for what you want to do, IMO.

 

[Chuck_W]

I have auditioned the RF-25/35's several times. If I had to make this decision I would take the RF-35's...sub or no sub I thought they sounded much better than the 25's for music.

 

[Juan_T]

Are you sure you want a yamaha with the klipsch? I remember 3 yrs ago, when I was getting a receiver for my RF-3 towers, the yamahas sounded to bright with my speakers. Have you tried other receivers? like Denon?

but, again, its all to the ear of the beholder.

 

[Allen_N]

I listened to both and ended up buying the RF-25. I don't listen to music much so my sub that I plan on getting will make up the difference between the two.

 

[BradleyS.]

I dont see myself listening to much music, but the little I do listen to is hard rock so my svs should the job I have auditioned the klipsch speakers with the yammie and I loved the sound. I like the up and in your face style of the klipsch/yamaha combination. The way I am looking at it, the money I could use to upgrade to the rf-35's wouls virtually be enough to upgrade my sub to a pb2-isd instead of a pb1-isd. I might not be right on this, but I bet the sub upgrade will be a much bigger difference than the tower upgrade.

 

[MikeHU]

You're right. In fact, have you thought about bookshelves?
I recently went with the PB2 to compliment my RB-35's. I use mine primarily for HT. Even though I liked the RF-35's better in a side-by-side, I figured with the sub and my expected use, why spend the extra money. I'm very happy with the overall sound, and glad I went with the bigger sub.

 

[BradleyS.]

I'm just not sure if bookshelves would have enough oomph for the size of my room. I really like the look of the towers better also. Another question I thought about is would the rs-25's work good also? I have two wood beams running on each side of my seating position to hang the surrounds. They will be about 2 feet away and 10 feet up.

 

[MikeHU]

I first bought the rs-25's, and then traded-up to the rs-35's. I really cannot tell much difference. In fact, some people like the sound of the 25's better. I think they will work just fine for you. I got the little larger ones because my surrounds are mounted on a wall about 10 to 12ft. behind my listening area. Over the weekend, I just bought the Denon 2805 (7 channel), so I had to pick up some new speakers. I went with 2 of the rs-25's, so they will be my surrounds (on the sides of my listening area), with the 35's as my surround-backs. I haven't had time to set it all up yet, but have no doubt that the 25's will perform well. ps. I agree with you about the look of the towers - they are a nice looking speaker. It was a tough call to not buy them (or the RB-75's). But, I already had built-in bookshelves that would hold them nicely and make the wife happy. They really do have some pretty good oomph factor, but with the SVS, that really makes the system shine. I would do it the same way over, but the towers do give an impressive look. Either way, I think you will be extremely happy.

 

[BradleyS.]

Thanks for your help! The rf-25's and rs-25's should blend together with my rc-3II nicely right? From what I have heard the center gets most of the voice dialogue,I'm really not sure what the towers do as far as sound, and of course the surrounds give the background stuff. Hopefully I will be getting an awesome system.

 

[MikeHU]

I'm not familiar with the rc-3II. I looked on the Klipsch web site and didn't see it under their reference speakers.
I started out with the RC-25, and then traded-up to the Rc-35. I am happy with it. There is another step up, the RC-7. They may have other models, I just didn't see them.
I went from the 25 to the 35 for that very reason - the center channel is so very important for movies. Really, I think any of the Klipsch reference line will blend well. As far as the towers go, for HT, you really don't need that much fire power on the front R and L. There just isn't that much information coming from them that a smaller speaker cannot handle. To me, its a balancing of your tastes, listening material (ie. HT vs. music vs games), cost issues and space. In doing a lot of gamming, I don't see how the towers will add much. However, in terms of appearance/music preference- they may. It's all subjective, but in the end- I think yes, you will have an awesome system.

 

[BradleyS.]

Thank you so much for all your help mike. I belive the rc-3II is about the same thing as the rc-35. I am a heavy gamer, but when I get my HT set up I believe I will watch more movies and listen to the radio much more. One more question i had is, do you bi-wire your speakers? Do you hear any differences?

 

[MikeHU]

I do not bi-wire them, although the posts are set-up to accomodate bi-wiring. I am probably the wrong person to ask about whether you would hear any difference. 6-months ago I didn't know what it meant. I did some research on this site and others, and found people in both camps. I concluded that for any marginal gain I might realize in my system, it would be offset by the exta time and money involved to do it for all my speakers and the runs. For my HT, I can't imagine it getting much better by bi-wiring. For gaming, I wouldn't think so either - but that's just my guess. Good luck.