Klipsch RF3's

BlueMDPicker

Scored a minty pair of RF3's locally today for $300. I'm moving quickly away from high power SS gear to tubes and I'm going to build the Bottlehead Paramour 2A3 monoblocks or Transcendent T16 OTL (or both) in the near future and wanted something fairly efficient for them to drive. I'm sure someone in the group has had some experience with one or the other. Any viewpoints to share?

Mike

dorokusai

I know someone has them, or something in that series here....damn who is that? Efficient is a good thing in my book. I have heard that tubes and the K sound real nice, but have not experienced that personally.

Nice to see that your not a slave Mike, experiment away!

VR3

Glad to see others trying other brands, like Mark said - not a slave...

Mike (audiobliss) owns some Klipsch and Maurice (organ) owns some Klipsch

Congrats on da spooks, we need reviews man

BlueMDPicker

Thanks guys.
Initial review: PFM!

organ

Congrats on the find, Mike! Be prepared to be blown away. Dynamics and slam is damn close to live music.

I own the RF-3's replacement (RF-35). Don't want to sound like a punk but they're the best speakers I've heard, IMO.

The Klipsch and ST-70 is a match made in heaven. After you've had time playing around with the K and Dyna, strap that amp in triode and hear a completely different sound. The lowered output power should still be enough for them. You'll lose some bass but the mids and highs will sound very, very real.

What's PFM?

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by organ
What's PFM?

Pure Fuckin' Magic!

organ

LOL! Damn right!:D

Maurice

BlueMDPicker

I finally got to do two 60+ minute critical listening sessions with the RF-3's (a hard commodity to come by with two small children on the loose!)

I'm very impressed with the overall SQ and dynamics. They are very open and detailed, quick and responsive throughout their range, with a bass that's filled with power, speed and tightness. After toying with the toe-in slightly (increasing it from approx. 30 degrees to 40 degrees) I was able to eliminate the palpable feel of the horn loaded tweeters, the cabinets "disappeared", the sound stage widened, and the realistic depth became nothing short of extraordinary.

My point of reference was, of course, the SDA SRS and I had no expectation whatsoever of the RF-3's challenging their SQ. I was more than a bit shocked that they did challenge, and even exceed, the SDA's in realism of bass and depth of soundstage. They were also easily on an equal plane with the SDA's on imaging and separation. The SDA's beat them rather handily in the upper-mid range, but not to the point I felt the RF-3's were "lacking" - the SDA's are, quite simply, amazing in that regard. And, while they are obviously incapable of moving the air volume of the SDA's, they create an acoustic dynamic within my listening space (which is somewhat large with high, sloping ceiling) that brings a well recorded performance completely to life.

They won't be replacing my SDA SRS's as mains in my two channel line-up. But, I must admit, if I had to live with them as my only speakers, I wouldn't feel deprived in any sense. All in all another wonderfully pleasant surprise in an audio odyssey I hope never ends.

Mike

fireshoes

Good on ya, mate! I'd heard that about really toeing them in before. The idea is to reduce the tweeter's interaction with the side walls. The outside angle of the horn should be parallel to the wall.

organ

Glad you're enjoying them so much. Like you, I find that their real strength is in the dynamics and effortless presentation. They sound just like live music. I've had mine for over a year and I'm still blown away everytime I listen to them. That's insane. I usually start planning my next speaker upgrade in less than a year of buying a new pair. If and when I decide to upgrade, it will be the RF-7 or the new mains from the Reference Premeir line. Their Heritage series like the La Scala looks impressive but they take up a lot of space.

If you want to improve the mids, try asking the Klipsch forum if anyone from there have changed the RF-3 x-over to the RF-35 x-overs. I know that the RF-3 are crossed at 1900Hz while the 35's are crossed at 2300Hz.

Another thing I've done to improve the sound is to tilt them back a bit so the upper woofers are also pointing at your ears.

Maurice

BlueMDPicker

I decided to "wring them out" this afternoon - amazing! I put them on spikes and drove them to an average of 94 db at the listening position (11 o'clock on the DCM 75+75) for 45 minutes spinning the John Mayall 70th Anniversary Concert CD. One would think this SPL would become fatiguing after a few minutes. That was not the case at all. Totally engaging, I was there. The tightness and precision of the bass is what blows me away. Was it more power or spikes that brought the upper mids to the level I like? I'm not sure -- I didn't want to shut it down to change a thing. Pinetop Perkins "Pinetop's Boogie" is spinning right now in the other room. WOW!