Original Klipsch RF-7's?

JayMX

I really want to like these. Very bright and in-your-face, nice, tight low end. I’ve been holding them for a friend while he moves. Thinking about buying them, but I don’t need them. Also not sure what I should offer. They are in fairly decent physical shape, and work perfectly. No grilles. I also find almost no “recently sold” listings for the original RF-7's, just mark ii & iii. Thoughts? Thanks!

jeremymarcinko

I have heard them in a HT. They were awesome for that.

I wouldn’t think more than $600 being they are the older ones and are missing grills. But IDK. They were much more than that new.

rooftop59

My brother in law has some version, GREAT HT and really fun for music, but not accurate and I think I would find them fatiguing long term. Ya sorry I have no idea on price. Does he want to sell? Ask he what he wants and go from there I suppose...

JayMX

For future reference, I was able to sell these for my friend for $700.

mhardy6647

Friends don't let friends buy Klipsch.

I say this as an erstwhile Klipsch owner (a 1974 pair of Cornwalls, which I lived with for a decade). Fun, loud, dynamic -- and great for paint removal.

A little too aggressive and harsh for my taste.

If you want something with the whipcrack dynamics, there are sweeter-sounding options out there.

Listenin' to some [better options, that is] as I type this, in fact

Just my opinions, of course -- hardly humble ones, tho'.

JayMX

@mhardy6647 - agree 100%. The RF-7’s were nice and big and loud, but not really very elegant. I owned LaScalla's through high school and college as part of my DJ rig. Efficient and clear, I do kind of regret selling them, but I wasn’t into restorations back then, and they were beat down from too many high school dances. Would have been a fun project, oh well c'est la vie. I’m refurbishing a pair of KG-4's right now, going to try the Crites diaphragms, but ultimately will prob just sell them too. The Klipsch speakers are well built with good engineering behind them. But RD0-194’s and 6” MW's really do it for me anymore.

tonyb

Never heard a Klipsch speaker, new or old, that didn't make me want to run away after 20 minutes. You'd have to mate them with some pretty warm tube gear in my opinion to maybe be able to listen to them longer.

dromunds

KG-4's with the Crites titanium diaphragms are decent bang for the buck.

tonyb

The crites upgrade I here turns them into a different animal. Haven't experienced a set with it yet though.

mhardy6647

tonyb wrote: »

Never heard a Klipsch speaker, new or old, that didn't make me want to run away after 20 minutes. You'd have to mate them with some pretty warm tube gear in my opinion to maybe be able to listen to them longer.

The Chorus II ain't bad -- and, despite my denigration of them, at least the Cornies are full-range loudspeakers with plenty of snap and decent bass. Just too harsh and aggressive in the midrange for me, when it's all said and done. I like smooooooooooth but real sounding midrange. Not all that hard to find -- just a little 'spensive

All this being said, Klipsch are good, cost-effective (borderline cheap) entry level to the world of high-sensitivity, dynamic "theater horns", and the K-horn itself ain't bad, either.

FWIW, the absolute best sounding K-horns I ever heard had nothing Klipsch left to 'em besides Col. Klipsch's clever folded bass-horn enclosure and the grille cloth on the treble drivers' 'box'.

mhardy6647

Oh, and to @tonyb's comment -- the Cornies were pretty much unlistenable driven by the McIntosh MC-2100 that came with them (autoformer coupled, early soiled state abomination from the folks in Binghampton) -- but were indeed much, much better with a decent single-ended triode (or triode-wired pentode) amplifier.

JayMX

I placed an order for some Crites diaphragms today and his sonicap upgrade kit for the crossovers. Will report back when they’re all back together and burned in. If they suck I’m pretty sure I can get my money back out of them. Here’s to hoping!

pitdogg2

At least he uses good caps

mlistens03

Sounds like a plan!
I’ve liked the Klipsch speakers that I’ve heard, they seem to be a bit of a love it or hate it deal.

verb

mhardy6647 wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Never heard a Klipsch speaker, new or old, that didn't make me want to run away after 20 minutes. You'd have to mate them with some pretty warm tube gear in my opinion to maybe be able to listen to them longer.

The Chorus II ain't bad -- and, despite my denigration of them, at least the Cornies are full-range loudspeakers with plenty of snap and decent bass. Just too harsh and aggressive in the midrange for me, when it's all said and done. I like smooooooooooth but real sounding midrange. Not all that hard to find -- just a little 'spensive

All this being said, Klipsch are good, cost-effective (borderline cheap) entry level to the world of high-sensitivity, dynamic "theater horns", and the K-horn itself ain't bad, either.

FWIW, the absolute best sounding K-horns I ever heard had nothing Klipsch left to 'em besides Col. Klipsch's clever folded bass-horn enclosure and the grille cloth on the treble drivers' 'box'.

Interesting to me as I have been searching for a high-sensitity pair for my Bottlehead. Never actually heard a Klipsch, but defer to the judgement of those in the know!

mhardy6647

verb wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Never heard a Klipsch speaker, new or old, that didn't make me want to run away after 20 minutes. You'd have to mate them with some pretty warm tube gear in my opinion to maybe be able to listen to them longer.

The Chorus II ain't bad -- and, despite my denigration of them, at least the Cornies are full-range loudspeakers with plenty of snap and decent bass. Just too harsh and aggressive in the midrange for me, when it's all said and done. I like smooooooooooth but real sounding midrange. Not all that hard to find -- just a little 'spensive

All this being said, Klipsch are good, cost-effective (borderline cheap) entry level to the world of high-sensitivity, dynamic "theater horns", and the K-horn itself ain't bad, either.

FWIW, the absolute best sounding K-horns I ever heard had nothing Klipsch left to 'em besides Col. Klipsch's clever folded bass-horn enclosure and the grille cloth on the treble drivers' 'box'.

Interesting to me as I have been searching for a high-sensitity pair for my Bottlehead. Never actually heard a Klipsch, but defer to the judgement of those in the know!

Not a fan, sorry
Many folks do like 'em, though.

There are so, so many other choices.
Try to listen before you plunk down your Gelt.

EDIT: One thing I will say -- if one buys a pair of "Heritage" Klipsch (at least) and if one doesn't care for 'em, it's easy enough to resell them with little or no risk of "loss of principal". They do have that goin' for 'em.

mhardy6647

Along these lines (and sorry to derail the thread; I'll stop now!) -- @verb, if you haven't read this column by Art Dudley... I'd recommend that you do. I'd, further, recommend that you try to listen to those loudspeakers, too, ideally on this side of Eternity, as Art suggests

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-116

They're not all high sensitivity, but some of 'em are

EDIT: No, I've not heard a WE 753c (but I've heard most of the rest of 'em, and own a couple on the list as well).

dromunds

If you're budget-conscious, the KG-4 remain very reasonably priced on the used market. Once you do the Crites upgrades you start to get a bit more into them, but I liked the pair I had after the upgrade, and they are a handsome speaker at that. Even after I sold them to a friend, every time I go over to his place I remember why I liked them. The Crites upgrades ameliorate some of the typical Klipsch issues. The price of the KG-4's differentiates them from many other Klipsch models which have gone sky-high in price. I had a chance to purchase a pair of LaScalla's in somewhat rough shape during the recession and they were still price-prohibitive to me. Some of the others are just out of this world price-wise. The Quad's have also seemingly escalated in price. I'd like to get a nice pair of Altec's but as far as I can tell the same has happened to many of them, although I am just a casual observer. For whatever reason the KG-4's seem to have remained a relative bargain. That said, if I were a budget-conscious purchaser and Polk LSiM 703's are available new for six hundy a pair or less, I'd be hard-pressed to pass them over for a pair of upgraded KG-4's, dependent of course upon my usage and propensities. For the money, the KG-4 are certainly a decent bang for the buck speaker with the upgrades. Kind of depends what your budgetary constraints are and your particular penchants.

mhardy6647

For used stuff -- always, always, always (IMO) Pasteur's Dictum (as I like to call it) still holds.

Chance favors the prepared mind.

I.e., if there's something you seek -- keep your eyes open all of the time.

Free tip: check out local/regional hamfests and amateur radio swapmeets, or go for the gusto (next year) and make the pilgrimage to Kutztown.

http://jelabs.blogspot.com/2018/10/kutztown-radio-show-september-21-22-2018.html

kharp1

@JayMX If you're interested in a pair of Klipsch don't let the naysayers here deter you. It's like a lot of things in audio...what is your personal preference. I have owned Klipsch Heritage speakers in the past, and, currently have a pair of Epic CF-1's that don't get much use, but, still I won't let go of them. I don't think they are cut out for every type of music, but, certain genre of music really see to shine on Klipsch.

If you really want to explore everything Klipsch, including upgrade options as well as access to most crossover schematics, you can check out their audio forum here: https://community.klipsch.com/

JayMX

@kharp1 - I always loved my LaScalla's so I have a soft place in my heart for Klipsch, will see if these little KG4’s live up to the hype. If not, I’m sure I can move them on down the road. The journey of reworking the cabinets is as fulfilling as anything for me. And for good measure, here’s a pic I call “back when I was cool”:

adam2434

Can't speak to the original RF-7, never heard them. They often described as pretty bright.

I've owned the version II, and currently own the version III.

Version II could be a bit bright on some material when the volume was pushed. However, they were no where near the brightness of RTi8, which I found to be unlistenable.

Version III is very well-balanced, IMO. No brightness at all. Very nice speaker, best floorstanders I have ever owned.

Both the version II and III are very dynamic speakers that keep their composure even at high SPL levels. They are built like tanks with true compression drivers, heavy cast basket woofers, and solid enclosure. The version III are 97 lbs. each - not fun to move and place!

mhardy6647

Hmm. Not sure what a false compression driver would be.




(e.g., something like a "waveguide" loaded dome tweeter is not a compression driver in any way,shape, or form -- although the driver will pick up a little bit of sensitivity within the limits of its radiation pattern by dint of the "waveguide")

adam2434

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Hmm. Not sure what a false compression driver would be.




(e.g., something like a "waveguide" loaded dome tweeter is not a compression driver in any way,shape, or form -- although the driver will pick up a little bit of sensitivity within the limits of its radiation pattern by dint of the "waveguide")

Exactly!

False would be a typical tweeter mounted to a waveguide/horn.

It was really a reference to the lower-tier Klipsch models that use a typical tweeter mounted to the horn.

mhardy6647

some of us take our compression drivers pretty darned seriously 'round here...



DSC_0457 (3) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

JayMX

The KG4 restoration continues. I’m about to drop the Crites titanium domes in and build some new xovers!! We'll see how they stack up shortly. Good times!

adam2434

JayMX wrote: »

The KG4 restoration continues. I’m about to drop the Crites titanium domes in and build some new xovers!! We'll see how they stack up shortly. Good times!

Cool!

I also have a pair of the Original Forte from around '88. Use them in the basement workout room. Redid the crossover caps with Dayton Precision caps while back. The Forte sound very good, but can be a bit forward in the upper midrange with some material at higher volumes.

jayu969

Anyone have experence with the RF-7 II's? I have heard they are less bright than the original 7's.

audioluvr

I have KG4'S and Forte's both with Crites rebuilt crossovers. As for the KG4'S, after the crossovers were burnt in, I prefer the sound of the original tweeter diaphragms as the titanium ones (to me) were too bright. I did all the internal upgrades for sound dampening possible and REALLY like their sound. Tip them up a few degrees for better bass and tweeter direction.

As for my Forte's, even after all the upgrades I did. I can't listen to them long as the mid-horn is just too obnoxious.

JayMX

I finished the KG4’s up and they sound great. The TI diaphragms are very detailed and exposed every bit of noise on my garage AVR. But when I brought them inside and ran them on the Kenwood KA-8150 and then the GFA555, I was all smiles.
Fun project. Can’t decide if I’m gonna keep them or sell. We will see.

audioluvr

Get about 100 hours burnt into them before making a decision. I put mine in the TV room for my front drivers. No sub and they sound superb!