Is Klipsch changing its sound? (1 Viewer)

[LanceJ]

Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed that Klipsch's sound is different that it was about five years ago?

As I wrote about recently, the last Klipsch that sounded like the Klipsch's I grew up with were the "KLF" series. My favorite was the KLF 20 (2 10" woofers, horn midrange and a horn tweeter). Wow, what energetic speakers to listen to--they sounded great with rock & pop music. The last time I listened to them was with the song "Candy-O" by The Cars (a great demo CD). Tweeter was using a large Denon stereo receiver with a 100w/ch. to demo them. That (mechanical) knob never got past the "10:00" position: jeez they were soooo efficient and clean sounding!! I was causing kind of a scene. :b But one of the salesguys came in and listened with me--& he agreed they sounded very "live". A nearby customer disagreed though. He thought they had a piercing quality.

I've heard the RF-7 models (the KLF 20's closest cousin) three separate times, & in two different Tweeters. All three times the same result: muted, metallic high frequencies (like a cotton ball is lodged in the horn's throat), blaring midrange and weak bass (for a model with such large woofers & in a large ported enclosure). "Dry" would be a good adjective to describe the overall sound. I really wanted to like them, but just couldn't. I then switched to some large Mirage OM series speakers and the sound became full & sparkling again, with much deeper & richer bass (I know these are bipolar speakers, but it was the sound itself that I am describing).

We're not going to see "polite" sounding La Scalas next are we? :frowning:

And one day while I was at Tweeter (Voss & Westhiemer) again last year--I swear this happened!!!--a couple was returning their Klipsch RF-5s. I point blank asked them why. The man said they (quote) "sounded like noise". I asked if they were blown & he said no, they just didn't like their sound. And here comes the "yea, right!" part: He asked me what I owned and I told them Boston Acoustics CR9s. And @45 minutes later, they bought a pair of Boston CR75s. This really happened!

Anyway.......

I know that Klipsch has been going through some organizational changes lately. Are they also tinkering with their product's sonic signatures? If so, why???

LJ

 

[Haris Ellahi]

I own the Klipsch RF-7 speakers, along with the Klipsch RC-7 and Klipsch RS-7.

The Klipsch RF-7 are meant to replace the Klipsch KLF-30. I power them with a Rotel RMB-1095. They are silky smooth with excellent highs and lows. The stores you visited must not have set them up properly. Klipsch is VERY sensitive to improper settings/calibration. Garbage in = garbage out.

I would suggest listening to the Klipsch RF-7 in a home environment.

 

[Haris Ellahi]

By the way, it is also a matter of taste, or how you like your sound. Everyone has different wants, thus everyone has different "definitions" of "good sound."

 

[Keith M.]

Haris:
"The Klipsch RF-7 are meant to replace the Klipsch KLF-30"

I dont think so...

The RF-7s were introduced as a completely new line geared more toward the home theater speaker market. Speaker manufacturers were forced to shift there attention to this growing market.

I personally own both an RF-7 system and a KLF-30 based system. And they are 2 completely different beasts. Dont get me wrong, I love em both, but the KLF-30 are my favorite! Especially for critical music listening.

I agree w/ Lance, the KLF speakers were the last of the legendary Klipsch sound, hence the name "Legends". I will NEVER part with mine and so far have personally never heard a speaker I would rather own. Damn heavy though!!

 

[LanceJ]

Keith: whew, I thought maybe I was all alone in this matter!

My first exposure to Klipsch? At an open-night frat party back in 1984. La Scalas powered by a McIntosh tube amp. Holy crap, there living room was turned into Studio 54 with that system! Loud as heck, but totally clean and ultra-sharp sounding. And the bass pulsed in my chest. I can still hear Thomas Dolby belting out "She Blinded Me With Science". Fun times!

LJ

 

[Eric Kahn]

I have Chorus II's, I liked the KLF 20's I heard but got the Chorus II's for less than hlf the cost of the then new KLF 20's

I love their sound but if you really crank the volume, it does become piercing as the tweeter horn is the most efficient driver and gets correspondingly louder than the mid and woofer, but that is at ear hurting levels

 

[RickBlacker]

So what is everyones opinion on the best 2 channel Klipch out there disregarding the heritage lines. Wife does not like them.

My theater is all Klipsch R7s. But someday I am going to get a better 2 channel system for our living room. At this point, I am still leaning heavily towards 2 RF7s and an RSW-15 for a 2 channel system. I just really like the RF7s I suppose but would still like to keep my options open.

 

[LanceJ]

Wife does not like them.

How come?

And: You use FIVE RF7's?! Yikes! How big is your room??

LJ

 

[Chris Elm]

And: You use FIVE RF7's?! Yikes! How big is your room??

Hmm not necessarily did he say he used all ref. 7 floorstanders, only that his theater was all R7.
Not to say that he doesn't own all towers (some do; makes for some great multichannel music experiences), but this could also mean that he has a setup consisting of 2 RF7, 2 RS7, 1 RC7, so on and so forth.

 

[LanceJ]

Oops, you're right. There's no "F" in there--my bad. :b

LJ

 

[RickBlacker]

Na... I don't have towers all the way around... Here is what I have everything is Klipsch

Left/Center/Right................ RF7s
Row1 Side Surround........... RS7 pr.
Row2 Side Surround........... RS7 pr.
Rears................................ RC7 pr.
Sub1................................. RSW-12
Sub2................................. RSW-15

It's nice having a perfectly matched front array of speakers.