Bought Klipsch Reference RF52's, kinda wish I had Polk RTi8s?

sbpolk

Hey guys, just moved into a new house, and just finished building a dedicated theater. I sold my old speakers, and just got new ones. I am wondering if I made a mistake.

I bought Klipsch Reference RF52 speakers, and the matching center and surrounds. I hooked them up today, and they just don't sound nearly as good to me as my old speakers.

I had RTi70 towers and a CSi40 center. I previously had RT55i's and CS400i which I think I liked better than the RTi70 setup I had. At anyrate, the setup is dissapointing to me. The speakers are a bit smaller than the RTi setup I had. I had planned on getting RTi8's and a CSi5, and then didn't do it.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this? I am using the same receiver I was before, but my room dimensions have changed. I was in an 11x24 room with the polks, and the Klipsch are in a 16x15 dedicated theater. They just sound smaller!

Am I crazy?

audiobliss

That's interesting. I mean, everyone has different tastes, and I would definitely take into consideration that you just might not like the Klipsch as much as the Polk sound, as the two are very different.

However, I just can't see your new setup sounding 'small'. The Klipsch are very efficient and should sound rather 'agressive', if not 'big'. What kind of amp are you using? Impedances shouldn't be an issue, I don't imagine the room sizes would really come into play much, either.

Like I said, though, this is all subjective. If you don't like them, no matter who does, you should take them back and find something you do like. Did you demo them at all before purchase? What were your thoughts on them then?

Toxis

Well, the speakers do need to break in and they'll smoothen out some. Other than that, you really should've stepped to the 62's at least but that's just my opinion. I do love the new reference line. Not enough to get rid of my 9's though. lol

audiobliss

I do agree that the RF52's are rather small. I just don't see the point in such a small floorstander; I think I'd almost rather have a bookshelf speaker.

Sherardp

give the 8s or 10s a listen, and make your decision from there. I heard the klipsh reference line, and just decided on the 12s in the end. Perfect for home theater and music when I wanna listen to it. Overall its a good speaker. I guess its really dependent on what kind of sound you like.

organ

How do you have them set up? If the tweeters are below ear level, tilt the speakers back a little so they point at your ears. Toe them in so they face the sweet spot too. Because of their "controlled dispersion" by the horn design, if not properly set up, they will sound "smaller".

sbpolk

organ wrote:

How do you have them set up? If the tweeters are below ear level, tilt the speakers back a little so they point at your ears. Toe them in so they face the sweet spot too. Because of their "controlled dispersion" by the horn design, if not properly set up, they will sound "smaller".

Maybe that is the problem. I think I want to get the RF-62 and RC-62. I actually watched a movie last night rather than just cranking the speakers to see what they sound like, and they sounded good. I think the center might have just sound a little small. I experimented with setting them to large and small, to see what they did. My reciever is an older sony, STR-db930, it used the same chassis as the ES receivers at the time. It was before Sony really crapped out on their non-ES receivers. It sounded GREAT with my polks that I had previously, and I had just left the settings the same.

I guess I am not audiophile enough to explain what I was hearing, or why it does or does not sound good.

I did hear some noise though that I would describe as a "chuffing" sound during the matrix. Maybe I wasn't driving them hard enough, or too hard power wise, I just don't know.

Any thoughts on that?

McLoki

You said that you just set them up in a new home theater? I would start with setting all the speakers to small, sub to on (you do have one right?) and get a Radio Shack SPL meter and an Avia or Digital Video Essentials disk and calibrate your system.

Make sure all levels are set to the same volume (from your main listening position using the SPL meter and calibration disk) and that distances are set correctly in your AVR to each of your speakers.

It sounds like your polks were in a known evironment and the AVR was set up to deliver good sound. Now you have new speakers and a new environment and have not calibrated yet. Get that done before you pass judgement one way or the other.

Michael

sbpolk

McLoki wrote:

You said that you just set them up in a new home theater? I would start with setting all the speakers to small, sub to on (you do have one right?) and get a Radio Shack SPL meter and an Avia or Digital Video Essentials disk and calibrate your system.

Make sure all levels are set to the same volume (from your main listening position using the SPL meter and calibration disk) and that distances are set correctly in your AVR to each of your speakers.

It sounds like your polks were in a known evironment and the AVR was set up to deliver good sound. Now you have new speakers and a new environment and have not calibrated yet. Get that done before you pass judgement one way or the other.

Michael

I imagine that is the case, I need to get avia or dve for my projector anyway. New environment, new speakers, of course it will sound different. Sometimes I think I might interpret different as "not as good" so I will give it some time.

McLoki

The other thing that I overlooked was room treatments. Even the same speakers will sound dramatically different in a living room with carpet, lots of furniture, and curtains over the windows compared to a new home theater with tile floors and bare walls.

I don't know what your new media room is furnished like, but pay attention to what will absorb sound and what will reflect it. To much reflection can cause issues, especially with brite speakers.

Michael