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Can of Worms! KLIPSCH "pecking order" ?

for the money I find the klipsch rf7iii are well worth the price and may exceed the performance of speakers more expensive.
 
Rhettman said:
for the money I find the klipsch rf7iii are well worth the price and may exceed the performance of speakers more expensive.
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It seems like the entire audio market has gone the way of bookshelf and tower speakers. I used to have a pair of RF-3's. But I was happy to replace them with Quartets. I have a pair of RP-150 M's and I have to say they are impressive. But... There is a reason why the original heritage line still has a very strong following in todays market. Im sure your RF-7's are very fine. This is so cliche, but for me personally there really is no replacement for displacement. If you haven't sampled any of the original heritage line I highly recommend it.
 
When I answered previously I assumed we were speaking of a two channel system. When it comes to Klipsch I prefer three channels. So listing speakers can be a different can of worms. Of course Khorns in the Corners, but what kind of sound do you want from the middle. If you want a real defined center you want a La, Scala, maybe less so A Belle where you're depending on the Khorns to produce all the lower bass. If you are fairly close to the center channel and you want a touch warmer sound the. Cornwall. Now if you have a smaller room, I would pick 3 Cornwalls. I have installed all four combinations and like I say 3 Corn walls for a smaller space where you want a wide stereo image can be very satisfying. Throw a couple of Small tall RF series in the rear and find your self a nice smooth AVR and you will be in for a whole new experience for 3 channel stereo or HT. And if the AVR will let you mix the LFE to the front Cornwalls you really won't subs unless you think you want to shake the entire house. Some people do some don't. I don't have the right space for 3 channel Klipsch, but its fun to think about having experienced the sound many times. And there are a few great sound tracks out there in just 3 channels. Most of the time I turn the rear 4 channels off. There is no picture back there, so why have the channels on.
 
I have some Mobile Fildelity. digital recording by Sound stream on LP of steam locomotives. One of my favorites is 4449 traveling North to San Francisco. It starts off where you can just hear the crickets and then the locomotive signaling with both its throaty steam whistle and then again with the disappointing horn used by diesel locomotives. Then it rushes by doing close to 70 raiding off into the distance as you begin to hear the crickets again. My Favorite engines are 8444 and 4014. I did my own recordings of 4014 and its amazing how technology has improved over the years. I just need to find an owner of a 3 channel Klipsch system to play the video with great audio on.
 
I can't help on the 3-channel (unless we hoist one of my LaScalas in between the 2 Jubilee's).....

But, I can show you a recording of Apollo 11 taking off, as recorded from (I don't know) something like five miles away...will still literally shake the foundation if you ......ahem...... turn it up a bit.
 
For me the Belles had too much of a hump in the (estimated) 100hz area. The cabinet contributed to this hump. The Cornwall III have this problem too, but less so. I prefer Forte I and second choice would be Forte II. I just cannot tolerate when the cabinet "sings along".

I only heard two sets of K-horns, and they too have a resonance I just do not like. The Heresy III sounds great with a good subwoofer. If Klipsch could only make a Heritage speaker with a very dead cabinet that totally "disappears" much like the best British monitors do, (think many ProAc models), then they would be the best speaker for most applications.
 
kink56 said:
For me the Belles had too much of a hump in the (estimated) 100hz area. The cabinet contributed to this hump. The Cornwall III have this problem too, but less so. I prefer Forte I and second choice would be Forte II. I just cannot tolerate when the cabinet "sings along".

I only heard two sets of K-horns, and they too have a resonance I just do not like. The Heresy III sounds great with a good subwoofer. If Klipsch could only make a Heritage speaker with a very dead cabinet that totally "disappears" much like the best British monitors do, (think many ProAc models), then they would be the best speaker for most applications.
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Some simple brace work on the mouth of the Belle (and the LaScala) will easily deal with the resonant issues that you are concerned with. See attachment below this will brace the outer cabinet walls as well as the walls of the doghouse.
 

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moray james said:
Some simple brace work on the mouth of the Belle (and the LaScala) will easily deal with the resonant issues that you are concerned with. See attachment below this will brace the outer cabinet walls as well as the walls of the doghouse.
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Yes thank you. The question is if it CAN be done, why doesn't Klipsch just do it? Klipsch forums are chock full of people having to modify these speakers to rid them of offending aspects. You would think after all these years Klipsch would build them in such a way to rid the cabinet resonance that obscures detail. The last thing I want to do is spend $12K on a set of speaker only to tear them down and add bracing to them that SHOULD have been done at the factory.
 
kink56 said:
Yes thank you. The question is if it CAN be done, why doesn't Klipsch just do it? Klipsch forums are chock full of people having to modify these speakers to rid them of offending aspects. You would think after all these years Klipsch would build them in such a way to rid the cabinet resonance that obscures detail. The last thing I want to do is spend $12K on a set of speaker only to tear them down and add bracing to them that SHOULD have been done at the factory.[/QUOTE

Klipsch now build the LaScala ll ( for a long time now) with double thick side walls though they ought to double the top and bottom of the large horn as well this pretty much deals with the resonance of the mouth but does not help the doghouse at all. Most are very pleased with the results and the visual esthetic is nicer to most than horizontal braces (I would rather have the braces and the thicker side walls top and bottom, but I don't have room any longer for LaScala I plus I prefer the Peavey FH1). Reason is a combination of visual esthetic and cost. Think what you want Klipsch do their best in a tough market to make a working profit.
If you want to build a horn that performs at another level than the LaScala look at the E.G. Beck California not much larger far better performance. Hope this helps and is of interest.
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PS: most people do not notice the colouration so Klipsch did not feel compelled to throw the kitchen sink at the problem as they did not feel it was very serious. As always YMMV as they say.
 

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I am in TOTAL agreement with you. Especially on the Klipsch forum, it seems only a handful of people notice or care that these big Klipsch speakers have this coloration. In fact I think MOST of them prefer it.
 
Regarding any internal braces (for something like the LaScala) I think Roy said there are enough minute manufacturing differences between speakers that the braces would have to be individually measured/cut and installed.... They couldn't justify the costs for that (my interpretation of his comments). So, they blended the Belle and LaScala together....made the new LaScala II with 1" walls and that corrected the problem.

Having heard the LaScala II's and having owned the original style for most of my life, there IS a substantial and noticeable difference when you hear the LaScala II's. I asked Jim Hunter (at Klipsch) and his comment was the sonic information (bass output) is the same on both speakers, but with the sidewalls of the LaScala II's not resonating, it SOUNDS (to me) like it has an additional octave of deep output.

It was a "wow" moment when I heard the difference.
 
kink56 said:
I am still very skeptical because the Belles have the MOST resonance problems of all Klipsch speakers.
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I fail to understand yur skepticism? the Belle has no braces and is not much different in size as the La Scala. When you have a resonance that you don't want you simply brace it and stiffen the panel, the ideal is to push the resonance up an octave and this will remove it from the bandwidth of the drive that feeds the resonance. Problem solved, this is not complicated.
 
My skepticism is about the previous post that the bass bin of La Scala II is 1" like Belle and thus resonance is "cured" And since I KNOW how bad the Belle resonance is, I do not take that as reason to believe La Scala II has eliminated the resonance by simply using 1" stock to build the bass bin. My contention is I should not have to modify a speaker to this extent to rid it of annoying resonance. For this kind of money the resonance should not require that the customer has to take the speaker apart and brace it!

I do not trust a reviewer's opinion about Klipsch. I have been burned too many times.
 
It's a free country and all (or so they tell us)

Anyway, I'm guessing you're in the minority.....as most people feel the LaScala has the worse problem. After all, it's the LaScala that has the larger side panels (that resonate) and the Bell's don't go so deep....

None the less.....hearing is believing and I heard it as have many others.

Part II: The Bell is out of production. Those that were made used 3/4" BB for the box. There have been many threads about adding an internal brace or simply adding another layer of plywood (glue/screw type thing) on the outside to kill the resonance (for the LaScala)

Klipsch not only took the LaScala II to 1" sidewalls, they (as I understand) are also using MDF which will further deaden the sides.

Believe what you may.... but the world has turned, the sun will rise tomorrow and we will all wake up "down the road" and this Covid-19 will be a thing of the past.
 
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Greetings fellow Klipsch" addicts "
I heard my first pair of Khorns in 1975, at the home of my math professor. Powerd by a Scott tube and with a dual turntable
I was screwed, from then on .My income would not support that habit for another 4 years.
I now own, and continuously use 2 khorns circa 1968, 2 cornwallis circa 1963, in use in my bar. 4 cornwallis professionals in use in my basement, and 2 kg4s in my bedroom.. the bar system is driven by a harmon kardon 3385 with 2 bang and Olufsen 3404s. Many, many amplifiers I have tried with these speakers, Pioneer tube amp, Dynaco tube ,Fisher tube, liked them all,,,,
The Harmon kardon anp isn't the most expensive
Driver of the bunch but , to my needs made the group. "ORGASMIC " Every time I listen to anything on that group transports me to that first" virginal"
Day in 1975. My ears are not quite as sensitive as then, but , Paul's horns take care to help them hear the highest frequencies of. my collection.
God bless you Paul, oh and my math professor,
'Chelle Boehning, MSU, You gave me the only addiction I will never give up.
Cheers
 
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