Extremely clear, large sweet spot, kicks butt for home theater.

When louder than conversational levels (music only), experienced very harsh highs and mids. Sound stage not right.

Have a pair of sf2's on another sytem(see review)and they are great. Brought home the klf20's and as soon as they were set up, I was very disappointed. They literally ran me from the room--painfull even when not very loud. I've been playing music for over 30 years--piano, sax, and now pretty much only guitar. I know what Loud is, and these things hurt
at much lower volume. First I thought it was my room, which is approx. 20X13--rearranged the whole thing. Better, but still no cigar. However, with DVD's and Dolby Digital these
things shined--can't imagine it getting much better. In desparation, I stuffed polyester batting in the tweeter horn and the mid. This improved the sound immensely. But I kept thinking that with all the modifications it still wasn't right. Case in point--singer in middle of sound stage, bass to the side, drums in the back---and then the cymbal crash, right next to my head!!! It really should be back by the drums IMHO. Please note that I'm not bashing these speakers. I like them a lot. But, if I had to choose between HT or music, I would prefer the music be great and could settle for less on the HT. Possible problems are room size, receiver(solid state), wires, and more. These are excellent speakers. I rate them a six for home theater, but only a 2 music reproduction. Personally spoke with Trey at Klipsch on many occasions. Very nice and helpful. It's all about your "system" components. Apparently mine don't fit with the klf's :( . BTW, I kept the ksw12 and replaced the klf's with B&W 603s2. Completely different sound, but I can listen for hours, loud, with no ear fatigue. Sorry this review isn't as positive as the rest, but beauty is in the ear of the beholder. Thanks for letting me get in my two cents. Current system: Yamaha80W receiver/B&W 603s2 mains/B&W lcr6 center/KSW 12 sub/Yamaha surrounds/toshiba dvd-cd player/Mitsi VCR/Sony 48" RPT/monster cable all around Thanks again, Jay

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Advent, Klipsch SF2, B&W, etc...

the name says it all

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THESE JUST ROCK WITH THE CHORUS II AND THE KSW 15 SUB

Similar Products Used:

chorus II

Excellent sound, great bass. Will sound much much better after I add a subwoofer.

Me, speakers are 86.5 pounds. Moving them around and placing them for the correct quality of sound was heavy...

It took approximately three months and numerous visits to more than three Hi End Audio Stores, United Audio Center and one Douglas TV Store (both now Tweeters),to decide on which speakers I would buy. After listeneing to more than four brands, along with my Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" CD, I decided on Klipsch Legend Series KLF 20(s). The sound that these speakers produced was as if you were sitting at the live recording of "Kind of Blue". The icing on the cake was when I took the wife with me for the last audition. Straight away she liked the sound and style including the black satin finish.

It was no doubt that I was convinced. Mr. Gountanis, Audio/Video Consultant,Tweeter, shopped around and also found and a matching KLF C7 Center Speaker, from another Tweeter Store. The Klipsch Legend Series were being discontinued at the time and I was very pleased to get an outstanding set of speakers at a great price. I matched the speakers up with a Yamaha RX-V800 AV Receiver, 40 Inch Mitsubishi Tube TV, Bi-Wired Audio Quest Slate Speaker Cables and other accessories for my home theater unit. Jazz and all music listeners should consider these speakers. They are sounding better each day. The Klipsch sound should always be considered before any sound decision is made. I have a front row seat to good listening with these speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha NA A600.

They Are KLIPSCH!

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For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted a pair of Klipsch speakers. Back in 1978 I used to DJ Part time for a "gulp" Disco club. The only speakers in the club were a single pair of Klipsch LaScalla's tied to a McIntosh 200 watt power amp. The speakers would rock the entire club! While I was not all that broken hearted over the death of Disco, I was bummed when I had to leave that job! Since then, I haven't been able to afford them, only to listen to the occasional pair that I ran across in life's journeys.
Now I finally set my mind to buying new speakers, and I immediatley hit Audioreview to check out the opinions. This may be the best web-site I have ever seen for people to gather information, and to get honest opinions on the gear. After reading several of the reviews on the KLF-20's, I decided to give them a try. It's a little un-nerving to buy speakers without first giving them a listen, but the people's reviews on this site gave me the confidence I needed.
After lugging these huge puppies down to my family room (the only room that I have control over) and hooking them up to my Adcom amp, let me tell you I was completely flat out, knock me in my head, BLOWN AWAY!!!
These speakers have incredible sound quality. You feel like you are there! You're in the zone, You are Da Man! All kidding aside, I've never been one who was much for the stats, just listen to them if you can, because the one thing that I believe Klipsch does better than anyone else, is preserve the sound. That's whats important. You can have all the stats you want, but if the speaker doesn't grab you by the chest and throw you around the room...it just isn't a Klipsch. You feel it, you are there!
Home theater? Who needs a sub! Watched Tombstone a week or so ago. Better get ready to duck when the bullets start flying!
Here's My System (Still A Work In Progress!):
Onkyo TX-SV70PRO
Proscan DVD
Adcom GFA-555 (Dedicated to the KLF-20's)
Technics 5 Disc Carousel CD Changer
Sony 5 Cassette Changer (Getting dusty from sitting)
Yamaha NS-A636 Speakers (Rears)
Infinity Center Channel

Similar Products Used:

None

Full lisining range. Suprised me considering the mid and tweeter are horns.

Weight. But that comes with a good speaker.

These are the best sounding speakers I have purchased yet. The sound stage is full and I'm sure would sound even better if powered by an better source. Currently powered by an Onkyo txds797 and I feel these speakers have more to offer if I were to build a tube type system or a more upgraded receiver with THD in the .5% range rather than .8% currently in use. Bi-wired with Kimber Kable. These have been discontinued by Klipsch and you should be able to get some great deals out there. I have ordered the Klipsch RF-7's and cannot wait.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch RF3, Polk Audio 800i, Bose 301.

Soundstage, great lows, and find mids and highs; Crisp, clear and realistic sound for a variety of music. Hips of power for large rooms (if one needs it)

None for the price paid except possibly somewhat plain looks; however may provoke to be listened to loud with the music which is not for such loud listening (classical) creating the alleged harshness (see the detailed review)

I went some 5 months ago through the painful yet satisfying and challenging experience of buying a pair of speakers to replace my old ones and mach my new Rotel receiver. Being an ex pro musician, I listen to a wide range of music from classical (orchestral and vocal) to cool and funk Jazz, rock, Blues, World Music, Rock – Country etc …Klipsch caught my attention early in the piece but some of the reviews worried me when they stated the things such as ‘harsh’ classical vocals and ‘being too loud – disturbing the neighbors’. The latter concerned me as a possible indications that these speakers may not sound good when on the lower volume. This concern was quickly dismissed because these speakers sound very good on lower volumes both in shop and while I am enjoying them in my room these days. The other concern – harsh female vocals seemed to be somewhat justified. When I pushed the volume on the testing amp there was a bit of ‘painful’ effect with sopranos and alike. Concerned with that, I looked into a number of other speakers in the range, and while some might have been comparable or even better in some ways, none gave me the pleasure of feeling to be in front of the live band, in front of the stage. This, somewhat intangible quality, the ‘feels right’ touch ultimately got me back to these speakers. My conclusion on the only complaint I might have – the harshness of the sopranos was that I never listen to that music so loudly. On ‘normal’ volume, how I listen to classical, everything, including crescendos and violins from Four Seasons sound nice and full. By the way I started with KLF 10 and quickly moved to 20. With the discounts available for these now obsolete line, the price difference was definitely worth paying – the ‘20s’ are definitely superior speakers.
The others I compared with which were good to remember were:
Monitor Audio Silver 8I – wonderful smaller speakers which were very close as a choice and had a definite advantage of the size. I ended up recommending them to a friend who could not fit something as big as my Klipsch to his room and he bought them.
Celestion A2 – fantastic speakers, and even better with their looks in rosewood but too expensive for me.
Paradigm Studio 80 – very impressive speakers – I had to think very hard vs KLF 20 which as I said before won due to that best ‘live sound’ feeling.

Similar Products Used:

Old ARs (1979 models, three way, 12" Woofers - those were the days ..).

Super Clear Highs, Awesome Midrange, Deep Tight Bass

BIG AND HEAVY

These speakers have got to be the best in their price range. I listened to the Boston's and the Definitive's in the same room, and loved the Klipsch. I use them as front main speakers in a Dolby Digital home theater. They also play music great. I listen to everything from Country to Classical to Hard Rock and they sound great. They sound so good, I just ordered the KLF-C7 to match!

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSF 10.5, Klipsch CF-2, Bose Acoustimass System

Truly amazing sound!

They are big and heavy!

I purchased my KLF-20's a little over three years ago and posted a review to this site that was very positive. After three years of listening to these speakers I still find myself surprised by what they do for music. In my previous review I indicated they had excellent performance in the lower frequencies (they do indeed) and I could imagine a sub-woofer improving home theater effects but not music. I was wrong!

I recently picked up the KSW-12 subwoofer,an RC-3 center channel speaker (didn't have room for the KLF-C7), a DVD player and a new receiver with Dolby Digital capability. I expected a significant improvement over my Pro-Logic system for home theater - and I was not disappointed! What I did not expect was the jump in audio quality for 2-channel sources.

I generally turn off the center channel for listening to music-only sources (still the majority of my listening) but the subwoofer stays on and it makes a BIG difference. As good as the the KLF-20's are without the sub (I have enjoyed them for 3 years) the improvement with the sub is very noticeable. There is a lot of sound between 26hz (bottom end for KSW-12) and 34hz (bottom end for KLF-20) and it does amazing things for low frequency effects in movies. It also adds immensely to most kinds of music.

I spent a LOT of time mokeying around with placement and equalization to get things just right but it was worth it. I suspect that for $5,000 or $10,000 more (and a whole lot of setup time and effort) I could find better speakers but, as of the moment, I prefer the sound in my own home to anything I have ever heard in any theater or listening room. Short of having the musicians in my living room this is about as good as it gets!

Dynamic Range, visceral impact. Great for two channel and even better for Home Theater.

Lacks inner detail when compared to the best.

First thing up front...NO speaker will do ALL things well. This isn't a perfect loudspeaker. You either give up dynamics, bass extension, imaging, etc...I've owned a lot of high end speakers and all of them were great at certain things and weak in others. However, the KLF-20s can do a LOT of things very impressively and are the best speakers I've EVER heard for home theater.

My system consists of:
Harman Kardon Citation 2.0 Signature- Preamp-processor
Acurus A-200Five Channel Amp (200 WPC)
Sony DVP-S7700 DVD/CD Player
Main Speakers- Klipsch KLF 20s
Center- Klipsch KLF C7
Surrounds-Klipsch KSP-S6 (wish they were the white ones)
Subwoofer- Legacy Powered Impact Sub

For home theater you need the dynamics, the impact, that only horns can produce (that one of the reasons movie theaters predominantly use horns). I preferred my Carvers and Ohms for straight stereo listening (dipoles are great for stereo). I preferred the furniture grade quality and bass extension of my Legacy Focus and KEF Reference 4's. I preferred the imaging of my Spicas. But the KLF 20s are better than the all of them when it comes to immersing you into a movie and still are very very good at music (especially when listening late at night. Due to their sensitivity, they don't compress the music like a lot of speakers do).

I've always enjoyed the sound of a (good) horn speaker (yes, I know that is audiophile blasphemy to admit). I remember listening to a pair of Klipsch Forte's in 1986 and letting the dealer convince me the Vandersteen 2Cs and Quad ESL 63s sounded better (it was very close, but I preferred the sound of the Klipsch). I've owned a couple of pair of Klipsch the past few years to include the Cornwalls and La Scalas, both excellent as well. I also auditioned the KLF-30s, which are no slouch. I believe the KLF 20s to be better than the 30s. (Not to mention the fact they cost less). They have better bass extension (although the 20s use two 10" woofers they are -3db at 34 hz vs. the 30s which use two 12's are -3db at 36 hz). The 20s have the exact same mid and tweeter horns as the 30s but on a narrower front baffle. This is the reason I believe the 20s image better than the 30s, less diffraction.

The 20s do need a quality amp. Most make the mistake with these speakers thinking due to their high sensitivity (100db) all they need is an inexpensive receiver. While they will sound adequate in this setting, a high current amp or good tube amp will make these speakers really come alive. The Acurus 200Five I use is a dramatic improvement over a Denon 3300 I was using before.

While I am a rabid audiophile and really enjoy music, I find myself watching movies, dvd, and satellite more than audio only listening these days. Once I came to that realization, I found the Klipsch to be the best I've heard with Video. There is no substitute for crisp, clear, dynamics and the KLF-20s have this in spades. You can spend a lot more on speakers, and to be honest there are a great many speakers I would prefer for straight audio listening. But on home theater, none of them can keep up. I have the matching KLF-C7 center channel (the best I've ever heard, trounced the Big Martin Logan and Def Tech I listend to). The sensitivity of the KLF-C7 let you hear every whisper of dialogue. They are 99db efficient and match better to the KLF-20s (at 100db) than the KLF-30s (102db)in my opinion. I also went with the KSP-S6s for surrounds which I found to the be perfect surround speakers. The bass of the KLF-20s is augmented by a Legacy Powered Impact sub for that extra "oomph" in movies.

Bottom Line- This is a discontinued speaker with the newer models not being close to being in the same league (you buy a horn speaker for the horns and the newer offerings only provide you with a horn tweeter but not midrange) A lot of Dealers out their are unloading their stock of KLF-20s for a pittance (I've seen them as low at $500 a pair!). Talk about a no brainer. I think this is the best speaker Klipsch has ever produced for the price (Forte's had that honor) and maybe the best period (sorry Klipschorn). In the final analysis, you have to determine what you want a speaker to do for you. If you listen to music over movies at more than a 60/40 ratio, these may not be the speaker for you. However, if you listen predominantly to movies, dvds, tv, etc over movies AND still want a great speaker for music, I think you will have a difficult time finding something better. Just my .02 cents...

Enjoy the music...

Similar Products Used:

Legacy Focus, Carver Amazing Platinum and Silver, KEF Reference 4, Ohm Walsh 4, Klipsh Cornwall and La Scala, Spica Angelus and TC-50, NHT 2.9s, Infinity Kappa 8s.

Phenomenal clearness. Great separation of highs and lows. Efficient. Just plain wonderful sound.

None, unless size is a problem for you.

They are not cheap, but if you are interested in buying speakers that you will have for the next 20 years, these are the ones. I have had these for almost a year now and have had no regrets. It's like hearing music the way it was meant to be. Classical sounds like the orchestra is right there. I have heard notes and instruments that I never heard before in songs I have hear hundreds of times. I have always wanted Klipsch speakers since I first heard a friend's that were 20 years old, and that was in the 80's.
Simply put, Klipsch can reproduce a deep, clear and full sound that is unparalleled.

One more thing - I highly recommend quality cables, and I particularly urge you to bi-wire it. It's worth it.