Klipsch owner thread - Page 526

After you are done with the movie or near the end, place your hand above the AVR. I keep a fan blowing on mine. The bigger the amp the less you will use. Going "O" on your display is deep in the amps. I understand not all of us can afford all the high end gear. Me either I have a room full of Klipsch and a Yamaha RX-V1900 HD AVR and I keep a fan on my AVR all the time. Don't stack on the AVR and give it plenty of venting space. Enjoy. Watch 2012 and Hurt Locker. I have a small floor fan blowing on mine as my twin rear fans finally gave it up. I opened up the rear of my cabinet and mounted them.

Yeah the KG3.5's are bigger than the RB-81. Like I said it is a better bang for the buck. When you buy RB-81 for some $799 (or $699) you also need to get stands. Like I have also said before, there is no cheap stand in the market now that will be a good match for the RB-81. The partsexpress high mass metal stands are the ones I used and they are discontinued. Other cheap stands are flimsy with a small top plate. They are just useless. You are better of doing DIY stands using MDF.

KG3.5's come with spikes (yes not just plastic feet) and for under $200 you get a much better performance.

To me the KG's are reference grade. They sound better than RF-82. RB-81, PSB Image T-65, all of which I have owned. Heck they even have the similar sweet highs like my Magnepan MG12 (both compared after applying either manual EQ or Audyssey) and not to mention the tight bass.

People dismiss that they sound better because those speakers are old and also they have spent more money on new/current models, no offense. That is your right. I have tried many speakers (mostly new current models) and never been as impressed by the KG's, especially for the money I spent. I bought a pair of KG3.5, KG4.2 and KG 4.5 (all in great shape) for a total of $618 (including any shipping). I bought the Klipsch RF-82 brand new for $768 (got a deal at 6ave) and sold it for $540 (very very low hours, basically brand new). No I didnt hide what I paid for RF-82. I gave the buyer the original receipt.

I also got a pair of KG2.5's at local CL for $70! Got a single KG3 for $132, spent a few bucks to sand it and restain it. I might sell the 2.5 for more and recover some money I lost with the smelly KG4.2. A pair of 2.5's got sold on eBay for over $200 last week!

The only thing where I thought I got burned a bit was another pair of KG4.2. Paid $242 shipped from eBay but it had a strong smell which the seller didnt disclose. I was able to get rid of the smell from one, which I am using as a center. I am not able to completely get rid of the smell from the other KG4.2. It smells like cigarette may be, if I put my nose on the front or rear plate? I am going to remove the drivers and crossover and sell them separately or make an attempt on DIY cabinet just for the experience.

That is my Kg story

Louis, thanks for the tip. I will check that out after watching a movie next time. I am guessing you watch movies at reference without an external amp too? Did you notice any distortion ever?

New does not equate to better these days , the KG line is a bigger speaker & with larger cabinets ,the speakers will go lower in bass response . that's a fact that is well proven. The Kg line as well as some older Klipsch lines were phased out do to Fashion only . It now fashionable to have smaller speakers it's the WAF & other marketed treads . Large speakers are just not selling as well because marketing & the trend to smaller foot prints.
add in that Klipsch has always looked to use less expensive parts in newer lines . Klipsch old speakers parts for their speakers command a high price in Europe now due to the parts are just made better .

Yep the WAF is a bad thing. Fortunately I dont have to worry about WAF What is it with them that everything has to match the decor. They like small inconspicuous speakers and a sub that can be hidden in a corner behind an indoor plant One of my coworkers had to buy cherry speakers just because his wife spent some $1700 on some cherry entertainment center. duh! I could get a Sanus A/V 3 shelf rack for a fraction of the cost. I have been using that shelf for some 9 yrs now. Got it for under $200. I also got 2 Sanus 3-shelf audio rack last year on sale for $99 each from AudioAdvisor.
$1700 vs $400, that is fiscally irresponsible!

Yeah tell me about cheap made in China crap these days. Plastic binding posts, paper thin jumper plates, vinyl veneer etc. The only was US economy will get back on track is if all off shore crap stops. No other reform is going to help.

Anyway.. off topic :-)

fiscally irresponsible lol mupi you do realize this is a hobby(for fun). I would love to hear what you think about people that go to a casino. Don't over analyze what other people want to buy or spend. If anything buying new helps the economy more than buying used. Yes there are better deals if you buy used and if you're cool doing it that way more power to ya. I personally like to buy speakers take them out of there new boxes, and smell a brand new speaker. Spending hours sanding them down re-staining them and trying to get a nasty smell out of them is definitely not for me (just one example). But if that part is fun for you then by all means enjoy. There is always ways to save money like using coupons at a grocery store (I know I don't do you?). Just because you can get something almost as good for less doesn't make it better. I can tell you with a pretty good amount of certainty that nobody on here is all of a sudden secretly saying wow I should have bought used kg speakers like mupi instead of buying brand new reference speakers. I'm not defending the value of any speaker I'm just saying you bought the kg3.5 for $200 put hours of labor into them (for some people hours of their time can be 100s of dollars), and are comparing them to brand new speakers. You should just build your speakers and use the money you save to buy a bly ray player, and a hd projector.

I agree and disagree slappy the kg line size wise is very close to the reference line. The kg line was a little wider but not as deep. Today's box speakers are narrow because tvs are wide now and not square. If you look at the weight they are very close as well. Other than the real wood (most klipsch speakers where real wood) I would put most of the kg line in-between the synergy line and the reference line. The upper models where very nice. But even there top speaker imo wasn't close to the rf-7 or the rf-83. You would need to go to the top klf line for that. I know your old school slappy and I agree new definitely doesn't mean better. You always have to sort through the crap to find the good stuff. That hasn't changed and never will. The 70,80,90s and today is always going to be full of crap (gear, and speakers). We just remember the good stuff. Like music we all remember the great bands of the 70s but how many of the really bad bands do we remember? In 30 years we will remember all the great speakers of today and forget about all the crap. The biggest difference is right now we see the crap right in front of us. So the old saying they don't build it like they use to will live forever.

True. Used speakers may not be for everyone and it is also a hobby for me to do some DIY. But see I am not buying used just to save money. I did buy new speakers you know :-) but I was not happy with them. I just stumbled upon the KG's and liked them. Instead of getting new speakers for a lot of money and not being happy with them, I went with used.

It is not that every KG speaker has a smell. I was just unlucky that one pair happened to have smell but I managed to get it out of one speaker. I will salvage the parts from the other and recover some money.

I dont think I will buy any more speakers until all my KG's die. I dont see any sign of wear and tear on the cabinets or drivers. Will see how long they last.

I do have a couple of hundred bucks for a BR player :-). Will first see how I like the 46" LCD image when my projector dies. If it is still big enough, I will get a BR player.

It’s awesome that you found speakers your happy with. I don’t know about the 46” being big enough I have a 52” and it seems tiny now. I was looking at the new 70” sharp that I heard can be had for about 2700 to your door. I might wait tell I can get a 75” for that price. You could get a cheap 1080p projector for like 500 or a used one for less. Since you already have the screen and everything else that’s what I would do if money was an issue. The sound and picture on even a cheap hd projector would probably be a huge upgrade.

I've taken all these steps further than NEW VS OLD . After building my CS-1.5's I'll never agin buy a speaker that is from a manufacturer of speaker systems . I'm firmly in the Camp of build it your self . I will leave the design of speaker systems to others ( I don't have the equipment to test designs nor the time,it really is a complicated science to get right ) But I do & will use other peoples designs to make my own speakers , I like the fact of gathering the drivers,horns ,assembly, choices in finishes & building of the cabinets . My next build if ever I do one would be along a JubeScala, JBL Pro , Klipsch pro type of speakers but @ the moment I'm quite happy with 4 CornScala's & 5 CS-1.5 . I do like the 7's & Reference line for their clean look but they no way sound like as fine as the Heritage Line . Once you've heard the Good Stuff you can never go back . I M H O
not saying this path is for everyone & i'm also not saying anyone's systems are inferior in anyway .
the Older Klipsch speaks are for persons who have the time & means to restore them . If one does not have time & means to do that then the new Klipsch Reference line is some of the Best speakers out there for the money , there are speakers that cost 4 X as much that don't sound as good as the Reference line .

Slappy did you ever see or hear speakerlab speaker kits?

Some cool high res pics of cherry and black rf-7ii side by side
Scroll down on the page to see the pics
http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?b...tTypeCall=true

I try to stay with the Klipsch Flavor IE;horn loaded speakers

I've never heard them myself But have heard good things about them.

They are kit horn speakers (not now but in the 60, 70, and 80s). They are very similar to old Heritage speakers. I have two sets in storage. They sound very good.

Cross-over setting question

I used to crossover all my speakers at 80Htz and then the sub at 120htz since a lot of people said this was the best way. I then talked to some people who have the same speakers I do and questioned why I had them all at 80htz. They said to put the crossovers 10htz above what they go down to....saying that at 80Htz was waisting my speakers output since they could play down to 80Htz and I was loosing all the content from 40Htz-80Htz. If I am undersanding this right that when you set the crossover the speakers will play all content above what you set it at? they also said the sub should not be playing to 120 htz since there should be no bass at the high of frequency and suggested 80-90Htz. The speakers did sound pretty good...I think I may hear a bit more detail but the bass does not seem to be in movies/games/music that I know it should be.

Basically, what is the correct way?? any suggestions guys? I am just trying to understand all of this to maximize my speakers performance, so any suggestions would be VERY much appreciated.

Here are my speakers and what they play down to:

Fronts & wides: Klipsch RF-82II (33Htz) I have them at 40Htz
Heights: Klipsch RB-51II (50Htz) I have them at 60Htz
Center: Klipsch RC-62II (57Htz) I have them at 80Htz
Surrounds: Klipsch RB-61II (45Htz) I have them at 60Htz
Sub: I have it at 80-90 Htz

they look like they sound good , but I find the placement odd on the tweeter being vertical & not horizontal. Agin I have heard good things about them but never heard them those are the best pix I've seen of them , the other pix I seen before ,they were in really rough shape.
they are Rare aren't they ?

+1

Yes they changed that on later models

this is big issue on where to set the XO's & there are 2 camps of thought If It's a BIG "If" you have the power,
I set mine as Audyssey sets them & they run 40 & 50 . I like to hear my 15" woofs sing .. some will say off-load that to the subs & save headroom set @ 80.. I have headroom to spare soo that's why I'm a camper who believes setting XO's just above the speaker's roll-off point

those look like Forte Clones !

I almost had them refurbished about 10 years ago. But never pulled the trigger it's not something I would do myself so would probably cost more than it might be worth. They work perfect but to put them in my home they would need some work. They have a very clean warm sound. Not nearly as alive as my rf-7ii but the bass is way tighter and powerful. Subs weren't used much then so the bass had to come from the mains. I'm pretty happy with what I got now but thought I would share some old speakers I own to someone who loves old school.

Yes and the big ones are khorn rip offs (speakerlab k (khorn)
Heres another pic I found Look familiar

The two big arguments to crossover speakers at around 80Hz are to conserve power, and to minimize stress on your other speakers. I personally like running everything as large. Mainly because I don’t like adding more content to the sub signal. To my ears subs sound there best running just the lfe channel content. When you set a speaker to small you’re adding more content to the lfe channel other than just the lfe signal. Just like adding more subs will even out the bass in a room (which is true I run 3). By running your speakers large vs small can help in the same way. However if you have small speakers or you don’t have a lot of extra power (no power amp) then this wouldn’t be the best way. There is no right way to this so try different crossovers and find what works best for you. Every room is different and even if they have the same speakers and gear as you that doesn’t mean it will sound better in your room. When you change something live with it for a few days before trying something else. Don’t go back and forth in one sitting.

I'm a noob on subs, but I am giving Audyssey's recommendation a good trial, speakers set to small and raising low crossovers to 80 dB. The FAQs on the Audyssey site say the rationale for raising crossovers to 80 Hz is because Audyssey uses 8 times the filters for the sub vs. speakers, so there's more control of frequencies in the sub's range. But it's what I like that will determine the final setting.

I had immediate preferences for a lower crossover for the Heresy, it's the familiar, rich sound I'm used to, but the overall effect was less balanced, and the transition was obvious. At 80 Hz, the sub was livelier, with more dynamics, smoother transition, so that's where I left it. I'm beginning to like the Heresy sound with 80 Hz crossover, it's a clean sound. But I plan to try 60 Hz again once I find a Heresy center. Having the sub do more work for now may help with break in, it's like it can't get lazy.

What kind of sub did you get?

Referancehead has explained better than I could , seems he & I are of the same feeling , I get more dynamism outta my system with the XO setting @ the roll off point . (roll off is where the speaker can no longer produce sound @ the frequencies), those are the lower # in the spec's of any speaker ,my 15" woofs rolls off @ 30 & the 12" woofs roll off @ 40 . but he's right about letting any changes sink in awhile before changing as your ears take some time to adjust
there are other who insist that all XO's be set @ 80 when you have subs .

up-date the compression Drivers & you might be quite surprised !
a simple re-veneer is not that expensive ,as they are Just very simple boxes , they have a iron-on veneer now that is way easy to use .

It's a low budget Bic F12, but it really adds to the presence and covers a family room/kitchen combo far better than expected. It shakes the chair, body, feet. Movies are an entirely different experience now.

Never saw any RF7ll's look like them speakers.

Scroll down farther on the link