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Klipsch RF-7III, the journey begins.

Dave C

Dave C

Super Member
Back in the day my first Klipsch purchase was a pair of RF-25 speakers. I broke them in and then upgraded the crossovers with Mundorf Supreme capacitors and North Creek Music inductors. I've enjoyed the many years of top notch sound I got from them. Last Weekend I laid down the cash for a new pair of RF-7III speakers, it's winter in Wisconsin and this should help me with that immensely. Out of the box and before break in they sounded somewhat more lush than the RF-25's but with the mods I did the 25's were really nice. At 5 hours of playing time on the RF-7III's the sound stage has expanded and the sound has elevated to a point the RF25's never went to. My plan is to go the same route with these as I did with my first Klipsch purchase, a massive cross over upgrade. North Creek Music is no longer around and I'm looking for a high quality inductor company if anyone has recommendations. I also need a schematic of the RF-7III cross overs if anyone here has one. I will document my progress as my time permits.
My RF-25 project can be found here https://audiokarma.org/forums/index...rf-supremes-and-north-creek-inductors.288022/ This was one of the more looked at forums back in the day. We will see how this RF-7III conversation goes!
 
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Post up if you find the crossover. I found one for previous model RF7s over on the Klipsch.com forum, but never found the latest. It took a while for the bass to break in on my RF7s too, so don't over-correct!

-Geoff
 
SomeGeoffGuy said:
Post up if you find the crossover. I found one for previous model RF7s over on the Klipsch.com forum, but never found the latest. It took a while for the bass to break in on my RF7s too, so don't over-correct!

-Geoff
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I've got some feelers out as well Geoff but nothing has come back yet. I may have to remove and map it myself.
 
After about 8 hours on these speakers I have to say they are fabulous. They take a bit more to drive than my previous RF-25's did and the RF-7III's are advertised at 100db sensitivity VS the 97db of the 25's. My 300B SET monoblocks do a great job of driving them, just need a bit more crank on the volume. The stock cross overs for now do a good job, good soundstage and black background.
 
15 hours now and, tones have moved around as the speakers settle in. At this point they have really opened up, I look forward to my listening sessions. Crossover upgrades will wait until I'm at 50 hours or so.
 
Dave C said:
15 hours now and, tones have moved around as the speakers settle in. At this point they have really opened up, I look forward to my listening sessions. Crossover upgrades will wait until I'm at 50 hours or so.
Click to expand...
I noticed my bass took a long time to really come in strong. I never did a burn-in though, It was just an hour here and there for a few months.

-Geoff
 
Back in my home audio retail days, when we got a new set of higher end speakers in, we would hook them up on another room and run them face to face, out of phase, with pink noise from 24 to 72 hours non stop. It was typically done about half of the speakers rated power. Worked like a champ.
 
SomeGeoffGuy said:
I noticed my bass took a long time to really come in strong. I never did a burn-in though, It was just an hour here and there for a few months.

-Geoff
Click to expand...
I'm in the 20 hour range now and the sound is superb! Like you it's been an hour or two here and there. Fabulous sounding speakers!
 
The crossover is located in the top woofer bin. I didn't pull it out yet for risk of loosing a screw. I looked over crossover calculators I found on line and see little similarity of capacitor values to what the calculator puts out. Closest would be a 3rd order Bessel but those vales calculate as 7.6uf, 38uf, and 18.2uf. I've received nothing back from Klipsch on my schematic request.
IMG_0822.jpeg
 
This short video describes to some detail why a crossover calculator doesn't work well in most applications.
After listening to fantastic sound the RF7-III puts out I feel Klipsch has done their homework on the capacitor values and inductor values. As I move forward I'll use their numbers for my new components. Right now I'm looking at Auricap XO capacitors and Duelund resistors. The inductors are all air core and of an exceptable quality. I'd consider ribbon inductors if I were to change them.
 
Opened up my speakers and visually verified the components. First upgrade will be Auricap XO capacitors, all other components will remain.speaker 1.jpg speaker 2.jpg
 
Did you get it down to a schematic yet?

Edit; If you can get a picture of the backside and a clearer shot of the inductor values I can sketch one out.

-Geoff
 
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SomeGeoffGuy said:
Did you get it down to a schematic yet?

Edit; If you can get a picture of the backside and a clearer shot of the inductor values I can sketch one out.

-Geoff
Click to expand...
Hi Geoff, The replacement Auracap XO caps arrived a couple days ago. I sketched the schematic out but to find the values of the inductors I'd have to remove them, the values are on the board under the components. I'd like to get inductors with heavier wire to lower the DCR but will change out the caps and make that report first. I'm also thinking about locating the crossovers on the back of the cabinets as I did on my RF-25's The woofer side of the cross is just the 33uf cap in parallel with the inductor. The tweeter cross is somewhat archaic to me.
 
I installed the Auricap upgrade on the tweeter circuit of the crossover on the LEFT speaker and have had two evenings to listen. Sitting in the sweet spot I detected volume levels the same, no need to re balance anything. The Auricap side definitely projects a more transparent sound. Kneeling 1 meter or so in front of each speaker, I listened and thought of how I could accurately communicate the difference in sound. Best way I can explain, the stock speaker sounds like an AM radio (a very fine one) as compared to the Auricap speaker which sounds like FM. Back in the sweet spot the Auricap side of the room is noticeably more transparent and less harsh. I still have the woofer end of the cross over to do. I ordered new Solen litz 14 gauge inductors and will build the low cross separately from the high cross. Later this week I plan on upgrading the tweeter circuit of the right speaker, I'm really looking forward to what I'll hear. All of this said, speaker companies have to design for the masses, these boutique upgrades need to be done by the end user. Your equipment and your ears will play a huge role in the end result.
 
It's my understanding that Klipsch will not release x-over schematics for their current speakers. I noticed seeing several requests on the Klipsch forum and they don't bother to even reply.

Years ago I upgraded the caps in my RF-7 1's along with my RC-7 using Auricaps and Solon's along with the Dean G mod. Still enjoying them today. For the RC-7 I had to seperate the x-over into 2 seperate boards because the new caps were too large.

IMG_0006.jpg
 
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