Klipsch or Paradigm

Take a look into aperion audio.

I owned a couple different tower speakers from Aperion. Purchased Klipsch RF7IIs and will not be upgrading my speakers again. I say go Klipsch. Excellent for HT and Music

Klipsh are nice but I get ear fatigue. In the end it's all gonna depend on your own ears. Nobody else. One thing to remember though Just because ur ears like the horns of klipsh doesn't mean your family or guest will... People Eather love or hate. No in between... Aperion... Everybody just loves them. In my house its for everybody as well as my self...
Versus grand towers is where it's at....

Yeah the old Klipsch hurts your ears. I have my system hooked up to my living room so gets used everyday and no complaints from family or friends. It's more of a room problem not treated, hard floors etc...not a Klipsch making your ear bleed problem. Silk domes I was missing a lot of dialogue. Not the case with Klipsch. I owned 3 Aperion towers across the front. First were the 633s and then the 6 Ts. Glad I sold them and went Klipsch.

What do you mean by "umph?" Bass response? Or ability to get loud? What specifically?

Klipsch speakers do have a much higher sensitivity rating than Paradigms, which means they will get louder with the same amount of power from an amplifier/receiver. So if you are looking for the best maximum volume, Klipsch will be a better choice than Paradigms.

Otherwise, I would agree that Klipsch have a bolder sound, and it's partially due to the characteristic of their highs which also leads some people to find them fatiguing. But that's only one attribute to take into account. A bold, strong-flavored food will call more attention to itself than one that is more subtle and nuanced in taste, but that doesn't necessarily make the bolder better. With speakers, there are a lot of factors to consider when thinking about how they "taste": imaging, soundstage, detail resolution, flatness of the frequency response vs colored sound signature, etc.

So your personal listening tastes will have a lot to do with how you perceive the different "flavors" of the speakers. Unfortunately, room acoustics will also be a big factor. Even if you like one in the store, it might sound a little bit different in your room.

That's what they claim, but other than in the range of the horn loaded tweeter operation it isn't true.
OP, if you can't compare them side by side then the only way to make an accurate comparison is by looking at SPL charts. If the manufacturer doesn't have any and you can find any then look elsewhere.

Really? Because they keep getting recommended on AVS for how loud they can get.

Not doubting you, Bill. Just surprises me because of the reputation that they have here.

As mentioned by a previous poster, you really need to listen for yourself. I have owned both Klipsch and Paradigm. The Klipsch are long gone and the Paradigms remain. I also suffer from ear fatigue from the horn tweeters of the Klipsch. I will say they were great for movies and dialog. Be aware that Paradigm speakers aren't the value thy used to be. In many cases, Internet direct brands can get you more speaker for the money. Aperion that was suggested earlier has a strong reputation.

Compared to what? With similar driver sizes, driver count and cabinet size you will have similar sensitivity. Where Klipsch is different is their horn loaded tweeters, and those are higher in sensitivity than cones, domes, ribbons etc. But it's only the tweeters that are more sensitive, not the rest.

As for how sensitivity is supposed to be rated, it's roughly the average in the 100 to 200Hz bandwidth with full range speakers, so having a higher sensitivity tweeter would have no effect on the speaker's rated sensitivity if you're quoting that sensitivity according to AES/EIA standards. Other than with their Heritage series, Klipsch doesn't.

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like I disagreed with you. I'm just surprised how often the Klipsch Ref series gets recommended as superior for getting louder for HT usage because of their sensitivity.

For every guy who raves about they're being louder another complains about them being harsh, and the horn loaded tweeter is the cause in both cases. The Ref series woofers are not horn loaded, so they won't be any louder than anyone else's.
Not that horn loaded tweeters are harsh per se. What is harsh is when they aren't padded down so that they have the same sensitivity as the cone drivers. Some like their highs hot, some don't. To each their own.

See what I mean??? They Eather love them or hate them.... Lol let ur and who ever ur gonna be injoying it with determin what u get. Just a FYI aperion has a 30 day no question asked return. If u don't like them send them back... U can test them in ur own settings...

Thanks for the education, Bill. I think I would learn a lot more if I blocked everyone else on the site and just read your posts

My biggest complaint with the speakers I've owned up until now has been dialogue clarity in movies. I often had to crank up the volume to hear the dialogue, then turn it down during loud actions scenes. Simply bumping up the level on the center channel never helped quite as much as I had hoped, and I felt it affected the balance of the front soundstage.

Perhaps this is entirely due to the horn-loaded tweeter, but my Klipsch Reference speakers have completely solved this problem. Dialogue clarity is incredible, even at low to moderate volumes. In some cases, I'm hearing dialogue that wasn't even intelligible before (in movies I've watched a dozen times). I know Klipsch is a love it or hate it speaker, but I'm glad I decided to give them a shot despite all the complaints about "brightness" or "harshness."

I have not listened to Klipsch Speakers in many years. I was interested in them because of their high sensitivity and wide dispersion. To me, they sounded "horny". But, thats my opinion. Buy what you like to listen to.

I say go with Klipsch. Not sure why.

Both are great, IMO the real difference would be the tweeters as others have mentioned. The Klipsch horns are brighter, they have a more in your face sound. Some people really like it, others don't. Try listening to them at high volumes for as long as the store/sales associate will let you. When I find a speaker to be harsh, it usually doesn't take that long to set in at high volumes.

The paradigm will be slightly softer, maybe more natural or closer to the original recording (although not necessarily close to original recording in comparison to other speaker technology, just in comparison to the Klipsch as an example). Also, I like the imaging/sound stage from the dome tweeters a bit better than the horns. Try standing directly in the middle of the two speakers you're listening to, and equal distance (or slightly more than) the distance between the two, away from them. Play some familiar music and close your eyes. Do the speakers disappear? The klipsch certainly image nicely together, but I do prefer the paradigms in this case.

That being said, I think that based on what you have already said the Klipsch might be the better option for you. It sounds like you like the brightness, the impressive in your face sound that grabs your attention. They are great speakers, it sounds like they will be considerably cheaper for you, and you actually preffered the sound. I would suggest taking in your own demo material to both shops again, and giving them another listen. Make your decision based on your impressions with familiar material. And certainly, look at other manufacturers as well like others have stated.