good for the size, only $200 invested on a set that was $400 when i bought them

a little bright by them selves, nee of a sub

i bought thes off of ebay, they had way blowen woofers which the seller did not say so i bought a a new set of replacment woofers for them plug them in and have been very happy with them
they are a little bright but i pir them with a pair of pioneer cs 88a that my dad bought in veitnam they take very little power to get loud and sound great although i would like a set of rf 5s

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a lot of cheap speakes , a pair of tequinqs that really rocked for the $100 ucks i paid

Very CLEAN sound, SMOOTH after break in, magnetic grills are sweet (no rattle on mine), eye candy appearance, room filling sound (large sweet spot), PRICE! Vinyl finish lets Klipsch put their money where it counts (to me speakers are for sound, not furniture)

Will sound BRIGHT with a sub average system.

I bought these for a music only setup, to be used with a RW-10 sub. These speakers have completely transformed over the first month of use. They were harsh right out of the box, say BRIGHT. Since then I have replaced my speaker cable with 10 guage biwire bannana cables, it was a hugely warming difference in sound, more than I could attempt do describe. Also switching from a optical to a high end RCA connection made them sound even smoother. Im using a 2 channel 120W HK amp with a Marantz 5001 CD only player, which makes things even better. All these changes (and break in time) have transformed these speakers into very smooth, incrdibly clean, full bodied speakers. Unless you have better than average equipment, these speakers may be on the bright side for most people. My changes have taken away some of the revealing chacteristics of these speakers to warm things up, but at high volume the still bring out every detail. Acoustic guitar and female vocals sound incredibley tight and smooth, yet they can rock like they mean it. It came down to the Paradigm Refence 40 or these. The Paradigms were great, but had no bass, and seemed to be a little soft for rock, electronica, or any punchy music(though they are great for jazz, classical, ez listening, etc.). And they were twice the price...That said I would say the RB-35's are very sensitive speakers that need to be setup with the right equipment to bring out their true abilities, if you do that these can compete with much more expensive speakers.

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HK, Paradigm, JBL, Infinity, Older Klipsch floorstanders, B&W

Great imaging and soundstage.

$$$$$$, nothing comes close for the $

Able to handle quite a bit of power.

Vinyl finish-these are SPEAKERS, not a cofee table.

None yet

Having owned many Klipsch speakers in the past, I knew what to expect in the "brightness" dept.. Not so with the RB-35. After about 20 hours of mellow break in these speakers are so smooth and DEFINED at the same time. The bass is still developing, but I'm using a powered sub so they still sound great. Most impressive quality to me is the imaging these produce. Klipsh has always been clean and defined, but IMO lacking in the soundstage and imaging dept. NOT THESE. I have a 2 channel, 125 watt, clean amp, and a 32 bit (192z) dedicated CD player. Speakers are biwired and CD player uses a 1000 series(pro) optical hookup. Another great move was to use vinyl instead of wood to keep costs down. Sure they have to look good too, but we have plenty of wood furniture to take care of that.

I auditioned the Paradigm 40's($1200), B&W(various), JBL(various), and many others for the last 6 mos. Paradigms sounded wonderful, (though the bass was mostly non-existent), but they were twice the price. They, along with many "audiophile" speakers, sounded good but didnt seem to be able to take the abuse the Klipsch do. By abuse I mean loud rock music(not beyond the amps capability, or distorted, but LOUD). Klipsch won in all catgories, and the audio shop that carried them was not a polo & caviar convention. Some upscale audio shop folks are soooooo snotty & pretentious. And yes, some of these folks HATE Klipsch(and any other brand they dont carry).

I got a great deal on these, and for the $ they are impossible to beat. Though they are very efficient, my 55 w/ch amp I started with just didnt do these justice. If you are using a dedicated 2 channel for music only, 80 watts or more really opens these up. An HT amp (IMO) should also be on the upper end(100 w/ch) for these to really shine.

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Paradigm, Axiom, JBL, HK, B&W

Eye-candy appearance. Phenominal soundstage. Accurate reproduction of both HT & music.

None to this point!

I replaced a pair of floor-standing JBL 3-way speakers with my Klipsch RB-35 bookshelf speakers. Can't begin to describe what an impact these new speakers have had. The soundstage for both music and HT is most impressive. No loss of mid- or lower-range frequencies. My JBL powered subwoofer does a lot of the low-end work, but the RB-35s impress with their handling of lower frequencies. I haven't experienced the problem with grill vibration mentioned by some other reviewers, but then again I probably haven't pushed them to that extent.

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JBL S310 3-way floor standers Bose Acoustimass

Wide frequency response, huge sound and great staging.

None.

When I first received these speakers, I was blown away by the absolutely enormous sound that these bookshelves were producing. They sounded "fuller" than most other floor standing speakers I have owned. I will admit, however, that the high end was a bit overbearing during the first week or so of use, but after a 2 or 3 week break-in period, the upper end of the frequency spectrum was very smooth. The other thing that impressed me was their frequency response. The 8" woofer was able to go down to 40 Hz without any audible distortion (granted, there was a large roll-off at this point). The compression driver is a beast that is effortless to over 19 kHz. All things considered, I would certainly say these speakers are worthy of bearing the Klipsch name.

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Other klipsch products, JBL, Infinity, Polk, acoustic research.

highs are very nicely nuanced and defined. This character gives these speakers a kind of emotion you will not feel from most speakers (and none in this price range), especially with vocals bi wire capability woofers are top notch HORNS

Speaker could benefit from metal banana plugs rather than plastic ones, grille, while looking cool, does rattle a bit (only when you are pushing these speakers beyond the ranges of normal hearing)

Purchased as a replacement for ten-year-old three-way Aiwa speakers. The Klipsch speaker company is kind of the rebel among audio enthusiasts. Klipsch’s stubborn adherence to horn technology is often denounced by "pure" (i.e. snotty) audiophiles, yet at the same time lauded by many, many people who simply appreciate good music. The RB-35's are yet another case in point. These bookshelf speakers are second in line to their best bookshelves in the reference line, the RB-75's (who share the same 8 inch woofer). To say the least, these speakers make for a commanding presence. They are heavy bookshelves that demand both space and attention. The RB-35's have bi-wire capability, as well as gold plated straps to connect the quad-banana inputs for singular wiring. But enough about specs, lets get to the sound. In part due to horn loaded technology, these speakers can get seriously loud at low volumes (sensitivity). In addition, the treble is smooth, albeit slightly high in the upper frequencies. The midrange is clear, with nice depth and stereo soundstage. (note: this review takes place three days after purchasing, so understand that the "break in period" of a speaker may change my opinions of these frequency spectrums later on) But what truly separates these speakers from lesser beings is the bass. THESE SPEAKERS ROCK WITH SERIOUS BASS (at least from my perspective). I had to totally readjust my RW-10 subwoofer because the bass from these bookshelves was so pronounced. In addition, the bass is smooth and unassuming, due most likely to the “cerametallic” woofers used in these speakers. My RW-10 now must work a lot harder to distinguish low from super low frequencies, due to how well these speakers command the mid-low spectrum (They go down to 35hertz for Christ’s sake!). The one problem that results from these speakers is that they tend to reveal the shortcomings of cd recordings that on “normal” domed tweeters would have sounded perfectly fine. In all, I would say these speakers are an excellent value at this price. Highly recommended.

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Aiwa speakers Yamaha bookshelves Totem Speakers (which ROCK) Athena speakers (Which ALSO rock!)

Very smooth after break-in, Crisp, extended highs, great 'aire', a midrange beyond comparison at this price, great efficiency, accurate bass down to 48hz (apporox.)

Couldn't hurt to have that few extra steps down to maybe 40hz...but i'm nit-picking

I am an admirer of the Klipsch RB5-II's, but i have read the specs, and this speaker appeared to be more solid; better corssovers, better internal wiring, front port (enabling more flexible placement; i.e. closer to a wall), better drivers. The speaker itself is better on paper, except for the finish. The quality fo the vinyl finish is excellent, it's just not ever gonna be as beautiful as wood veneer (duh). Upon first receipt of these babies, it hit me, they aren't as heavy as i thought (hoped?) they would be. And, they aren't as deep as i anticipated. These two things turn out to be moot-points. Both actually helping make them more stable on my studiotech sp-24 stands (which are excellent and are relatively cheap). The first thing i played on them, was an acoustic-pop piece that starts with just a guitar (Downhere, So Much For Substitutes, Track 1). The clarity of the midrange was very refreshing. The ability to hear the fingers sliding on the strings as if they were really right in front of you (i'm a casual guitar player, and i dabble in light studio work). However, these horns will require about 15-20 hours minimum of break-in time. Any reviews written that state harshness might not have exercised the proper break-in time. Before break in, they are VERY bright, harsh even. The texture is there in spades, it's just difficult to listen to for very long. Now, after the break-in, they soften up considerably. Not sacrificing any texture or clarity, but coming across as less kick-you-in-the-face in attitude, and more kiss-you-on-the-lips in character. Very articulate and (of course, it's a Klipsch Horn) very efficient. Skip the next paragraph if you're not a number person, because it's NOT gonna make a whole lotta sense. The speakers have great 'aire', as our british friends love to say. They are effortless to above 21K, and there's a gentle roll-off after that (still excellent for DVD-A & SACD). The midrange is what will make a Klipsch special; the horn really generates a depth-of-soundfield in the vocal range (1K-10K, roughly) that most other speakers struggle to match. These are very efficient, but they also respond well to power. I powered them with no sub, full-range, with my old Hafler P-225 amp (115W RMS). The amp weighed over 46 pounds, and the 115 watt rating is almost definitely conservative. It played louder and cleaner than a new adcom GFA-545 II (100W rms), with much more soundstage depth. Anyways, don't be afraid of blowing these unless playing lots of bass-heavy material. The 8 inch woofers are high excursion, but on stands, don't expect much bass below 50hz. Very even and smooth in the mid-bass. Might come across as weak to the untrained ear, but this merely is the lack of the artificial 80hz mid-bass hump that most cheaper speakers exhibit (it artificially bloats their apparent bass response). They play loud, most likely louder than you'll EVER need them to. I've mixed several live concerts (front of house), and these will bring you right to the threshold of pain. They'll make you wonder whether it's them that are distorting, or your ears (no sarcasm). You must watch playing them too loud, because of the absence of distortion in the mids and highs, you don't realize how loud you're playing them...only when you shut off your system and hear that ring (like 20 TV's are on in the room next to you), do you realize that, oops, may-bee that was too loud. The bass response on these is flat to 57hz...with gentle roll-off down to 48hz (-2db). That's in my room, on stands that are 24 inches high...14 inches from a flat back wall. These scream sub....they go deep enough to hold their own on most material, but would make a killer full-range system (as i use them) when paired with a sub. Mine is a HSU Reserach VTF-2...it, as a system, outperforms my friend's pair of Def-Tech BP-2002's (dual powered 12's). That comparison is a matter of preference only, bi-polar v. direct radiating because performance is equal. For $419, these speakers are great. See, after buying these Klipsch's, you quickly realize that you've also bought yourself a brand-new music collection. They uncover nuance, texture, depth, and that grand soundstage that few other speakers at this price can match. I'm very satisfied, and starting to wonder if the RB-75's could be worth almost twice the price!? Buy these, join the club of happy entry-level hifi owners. Oh, and bring a bottle of Advil. You'll need it, these babies like it loud and rough.

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NHT SB-3 (good, just not as good as these; a smidge 'darker' in the highs) Cambridge Soundworks MC300(great value) AR 219 (not HiFi)

Good range for a bookshelf. Great for a mid budget HT.

Grills rattled at certain frequencies

I was hesitant to buy the RB-35 because of the lack of bass most bookshelves produce. However, after budget constraints and the fact that I had a great subwoofer, I decided to try them out. They are great in the mid and high ranges and the bass, for a bookshelf, is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, if I had to buy bookshelves for a limited space, say an office or study, these would be a great choice. The other reviewer mentions the grills rattling. Mine also do this when I hit the right frequencies. However, I don’t know many other speakers that look so good with the grill off. They needed a short break in period and I have not regretted the purchase. Purchasing from www.acousticsounddesign.com was easy and they were great with helping me decide whether the RB-35 would be enough for my home theater. These are used in a 90% HT setup and they do a great job of filling the sound stage in my 24x20x8 room.

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Fraizer, Bose, Infinity, and other Klipsch bookshelves

Famous Klipsch quality

none

I bought these after purchasing Klipsch's 5.1 computer speakers. Well, these pretty much blow those away in terms of loudness and quality. Who really needs 5.1 for listening to music anyways? I've paired these with a Harman Kardon 3375 which I bought refurbished from HK's site.

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