Saw Klipsch at Best Buy

jkratzer

I saw the line of Klipsch speakers at my local Best Buy. They look like the Synergy Series speakers. I did not care for the look. They had a look and feel of cheapness to me. I did not get a chance to listen because the Best Buy listening room was not working. My first impression is they would be competition for Polk's R series speakers but are of lesser quality than the RTi series. What is the general opinion of these speakers?

burdette

I don't know if BB carries more in the store, but the three most expensive speakers they carry in pairs online are Bose - the 701 and two 601s.

The Acoustimas gets slammed around here.. and I agree in terms of what you get for your money. Are the Bose floorstanders any better? The 701 is $800 a pair.. at retail prices, that puts them between the Polk R50 and the RTi70, and right at an LSi7. You could also get a pair of RTi38s and a PSW250 or 202.

I owned a pair of 301 Series 2 (I think).. bought in 1983 to take to college (traded in a pair of large Sansui 3-ways that I'd bought from Wisconsin Discount Stereo.. and got more for them than I paid). Given the trade, my choices were limited.. the 301 beat out the AR28 and some other little speaker. Ironically.. the deal was made at one of the original couple of BB stores. Anyway, that 301 was allright for the price at the time.. pretty boomy, though.

fireshoes

The Bose towers are awful. They don't come close to recreating the music accurately in any frequency range.

ncw

I listened to Klipsch Synergy SF-2 with dual 6.5" woofers at Magnolia HiFi, a high-end audio store (before Klipsch changed their distribution strategy on the Synergy series). Not bad I thought -- really good base, warm sound, clear highs. The base is really good - rich. full and vibrant. For most music you can do without a subwoofer (except pipe organ lovers).

When it comes to individual preference, it is hard to say what your ears will tell you about the speaker overall.

I looked at Klipsch long and hard, even looked at their Reference series. For me, I favor quality over sound pressure level. I favor maximum performance/price ratio. If I were to die for the magnificient output (some can do 115db), I would certainly buy them. Please don't misinterpret me, the Klipsch Reference series of speakers are very respectable.

Well I bought a pair of Energy speakers for my bedroom. I probably would have bought Klipsch if I have a very large room. But hey, it's my ears and my ears like other speakers. I like variety and I decided that my bedroom is going to have speakers of another respectable design other than Polk. I still own Polk. I love Polk and I'm not done upgrading my HT yet. Polk is still in my future plan.

organ

The lower end Klipsch can be too bright at times and IMO doesn't come close to the RT for music. The new Reference line looks very nice though. Probably the best way to get into horns.

Maurice

i4gotmyid

I'm not sold on horns, I have some Klipsch Refence bookshelfs and a reference center channel, and I find them fatuiging at times. It is very clear, but also a little too bright for my tastes. I prefer clear, but not harsh which I find horns to be for me.

ncw

I did not find the Klipsch Reference series too bright. They have smooth highs, and they are not harsh at all in the demo room at Good Guys. However, room acoustics and the amplifier that drives the Klipsch could possibly make them brighter than you like them.

organ

i4gotmyid,
Which Reference bookshelf did you get? Before I upgraded I was looking at the RB5 bookshelfs. The store didn't have them for demo or in-stock so I got the LSi.

What are you powering them with? The Klipsch forum members really dig tubes for horns. I've never heard it myself but everyone claims this "magic" occurs in the mid-range to the highs. I believe the stores are clearing them out for the newer Reference line right now. If I see one on sale for cheap I'm going to snatch me up a pair.

Maurice