outstanding clarity, good resolution/inner detail, huge dynamic range,good sensitivity

thin lower mid/upper bass, bass should extend lower considering 8inch woofer, rather directional, a little too forward, bass driver does not match tweeter output, build quality

Broke in the speaker for 80 hours with AudioSource test disk.

Looks/build: Nice mohagany veneer work. Looks impressive. Has good heft. Good quality binding post. Solid feel to the cabinet. Look inside and another picture emerges. Mid grade cross over, cheap internal wiring, no internal side braces, interior dampening material looks like an after thought. Speaker screws are short, should have bolts/sleeve. These are not reference build quality.

Imaging: Once set up properly, the speakers disappear. Good wide and deep sound stage. No evidence of compression. Soundstage has good height. Sound just soars into the room. There is a smallish sweet spot when compared to other mini-monitors...attributes of horns.

Bass: Nice, clear, clean, tight. Wish it had more extension, especially for a 8 inch woofer. The 'X' max of the woofer could have been greater.

Mids/highs: No sense of strain or compression. Outstanding clarity, resolution, inner details, micro dyanmics. Approaches the effects of electrostats. Tremendous dynamic range. Brass/horn instruments sound great. Voices are natural. As close to 'Live' as one can get. When compared with SL3, the mids were on the lean side; on the cool side of neutral. Also noted that while the outstanding inner detail was commendable, it also could be too much of a good thing. Yes, you could hear subtl details that most speakers gloss over, but at times it can sound exaggerated...like sticking the mike inside the performer's mouth. These speakers does such a great job at stripping off viels, it does a too good of a job. Its like overfiltering water. Overfilter the water and its taste becomes bland, no character. Audiophiles call this clinical. The mids, especially the lower mids are a tad lean.

Overall sound: Definitely forward in nature. Those who like warm/woodsy laid back sound will find these speakers generally too 'sharp' for their taste. Never harsh or hard though.( I believe the forward sound results from the horns being considerbly more efficient than the bass drivers. Klipsh could have matched the horn to the bass drivers via crossover engineering, but they would sacrifice their 96db sensitivity--their strong marketing point.At times, I also sensed a disconnection between the woofer and horns).I like slightly forward sounding speakers, but in time I too thought these speakers were too forward for me. When compared to my SL3, I noticed that from the mid on up, there is an obvious 3-4db rise thoughout the mid/highs. Using the excellent digital equalizer in the Sony 9KES preamp I was able to shelve down the whole mid/high region by 4.5db. This made a dramatic improvement, removing the forward sound and bringing the horns more in line with the bass. This also made the mids more fuller/fleshed out. Still slightly lean for my taste, but much more enjoyable.

Conclusion: Audition carefully. First impression really grips you. That initial onslaught of fantastic clarity, livliness is really compelling. Spend time with the speakers because long term forward nature may not be your cup of tea. Using an equalizer to fix the sound is not the way to go....a simple volume control on the horn would have been nice. Also bear in mind that this tilted forward sound is EXACTLY what home theater is all about. In this case, make not mistake, the RB5 has no peers. The clarity, the gripping dynamics, the forwardness adds new meaning to surround effects. For home theater, its a 5 star rating, for critical music its a 4 star. For the price 5 star.

Similar Products Used:

paradigm reference studio 20, martin logan sl3

Nice real mahogany cabinet; good looking with grill off; high-resolution sound

Barely adequate internal wiring; strange rolls of foam rubber used for internal dampening.

I decided to purchase a pair of these after becoming annoyed with the performance of my AR-9s. Considering the reviews on this speaker, I had high expectations, and for the most part, I have not been disappointed. The sound is very musical and a little forward in the upper midrange. Detail and vocal resolution are excellent. The speaker does not have warmth in the upper bass- low midrange frequencies. This seems to be a characteristic of metal cones. One can compensate with a good equalizer. Be careful not to ruin your signal-to-noise ratio with a piece of crap from someplace like Worst Buy. My biggest complaint about this speaker is the use of 18 gauge aluminum wire running from the crossover to the woofer and the horn. I removed this and replaced it by soldering in 14 gauge high-purity copper wire instead. It was well worth the trouble and I recommend it to RB-5 owners. It is interesting to note that the RB-5 II (2) which became available in October, uses Monster Cable for the internal wiring. This is the only difference according to Klipsch tech support. Sounds to me like an indirect admission that they should have used better wiring to begin with. The reason that these speakers cost the same as the larger RF-3s is solely due to the difference in cabinet construction material. The drivers are the same. My musical taste is wide and varied. Some of the female jazz vocalists I listen to through these speakers just have to be heard to be believed. I also use an Integra DRT 5.2 receiver, Onkyo CD player and pricey interconnects along with 12 gauge speaker wire. If you love music, it is worth the trouble, even if you have to buy it one small piece at a time. Lastly, I recommend some solidly built speaker stands that are at least 24 inches high. Ear level while sitting works best for me. The Klipsch tech support person can be e-mailed at trey.cannon@klipsch.com. His name is Trey Cannon. Don't tell him I sent you. Happy Listening!

Similar Products Used:

AR-9 speakers

Dynamic capability, Clarity, Detail Retrieval, Low distortion, Balanced presentation

Bottom two octaves missing, Didn't like my tube amp

Since I have owned these speakers and the Klipsch RF-3s for awhile now, using different amplification and sources, I feel I can put in my two cents and submit a review. The speakers are set up along the long wall of my 17' by 12' by 8' living room, which fires them across the width of the room and not the length. I tried them in the other configuration and the sound quality really took a step backwards. It became one-notish in the bass, recessed in the mids and never opened up in the treble. It also took on a "hard" quality in the lower-treble, upper midrange area and was quite unlistenable. With the speakers set up as I have them now along the long wall the sound is totally different and improved in every area. They are about 2' out from the front wall, 6' apart, and 8' from the listening position. The pair is faced straight ahead with no toe-in, and the tweeters are about ear height. Sidewall reflections are not an issue in this setup (as they were firing the length of the room). The speakers are placed on high quality 18" spiked, sand-filled steel stands with protective feet on my hardwood floor. Blu-Tac secures the speakers to the stands. My room is somewhat sparsely furnished and leans to the "live" end of the scale. It took about 2 or 3 months for the speakers to fully break in. This is probably due to the fact that they are quite efficient and therefore weren't pushed very hard to produce satisfying volume levels. The speakers did not like my Sonic Frontiers SFC-1 tube integrated all that much. The frequency extremes were too rolled off and their dynamic capabilities were stifled somewhat and never seemed to "come alive" or "open up". With good quality solid state gear such as my Bryston B-60 and Adcom GFA-5500 the sound improved greatly in every area. Bass filled out and became surprisingly tight and tunefull. The higher octaves sparkled and shimmered, and the midrange retained most of the warmth that was realised with the tube amp. Most importanly however was the much improved dynamic capabilities of these little wonders. They just refuse to distort or compress even at highish listening levels. Even though I normally listen to my music in the 90 to 92dB peak territory, there are times when I have the house to myself and want to "up" the volume a bit and listen to my music at more "realistic" listening levels. These speakers will play with great composure to the 100 decibel range (at the listening position), with no distortion, compression or box colorations of any kind (providing you have decent electronics up-stream to compliment the speakers). The bottom end is very tight, rythmic and detailed and makes it possible to follow the bass lines of the performers from Rock to Jazz to Blues etc. Using various test cds I determined that the RB-5s produce this bass output down to about 40Hz in my room, and although there is still some energy down to the lower 30 Hz mark, it is much lower in level and pitch definition. In my experience, smallish bookshelf speakers like the RB-5s sacrifice a little extension in favour of tighter, quicker bass. Much like watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your new Mercedes, it's both a blessing and a curse (man those Mercedes are nice cars!) The point here being that these speakers are in favour of "quality" bass as opposed to "quantity". At no time did I feel I was missing anything down there although the very bottom couple of octaves are missing in action. Also, I should note that at no time did I detect the bass lagging behind the rest of the frequency range speedwise. Properly set up with good electronics feeding them, these speakers sonically disappear and float a huge soundstage. Their micro dynamics are exemplary for a speaker in this price range and they are able to play at satisfying levels for extended periods without producing listener fatigue. The sound is always clean, quick, natural, and has a very "alive" sound that makes other speakers in the RB-5's price-range (and above), seem closed-in and muffled by comparison (the Paradigm Studio 40 for example). The build quality is first-rate and they passed the knuckle test quite handily. The binding posts are of the gold-plated high quality type and are conveniently located. I chose these over the RF-3s simply on the basis of their ability to disappear sonically more successfully than the RF-3s, and their superior build quality. I have owned a lot of different gear (including speakers) in my 20 or so years of this hobby, and I can honestly say that these speakers produce an almost unbelievable level of sound quality, build quality and musical satisfaction for a fraction of what other companies are selling comparable product for. Take the time to properly set these speakers up, make sure you have decent source, amp, and cables upstream and enjoy the music!

Current System:
Adcom GCD-700 cd player
Adcom GFA-5500 power amp
Rotel RLC-900 power line conditioner
Kimber Hero interconnects
Homemade speaker wire
Klipsch RB-5 speakers

Other components cycled through the old system:
Bryston B-60
Sonic Frontiers SFC-1
Pioneer PD-65
Audio Refinement Complete CD
Adcom GFP-565
Bryston 3B-ST
Bryston .5B

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch RF-3, Energy C-8 and 5.1e, Paradigm Studio 40 and Studio Monitors, Mission 750LE

Awesome Sound

none

After months of auditioning many Speakers, I decided to buy a Klipsch surrond Reference system. Choosing between the RF-3 and RB-5 was difficult but I selected the RB-5s for their tighter, less muddy sound at lower volume. I might have selected the RF-3s if I didn't have a subwoofer because of the extended base that dual woofers offered.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity,Bose

Today I went to my local Klipsch Dealer, listened to some M&K sat's, B&W 601's and 602's, 302's, Paradigm Monitor 7's, and Studio 100's, and then heard these, with track number 6 on Dave Matthews Crash Alubum, Sarah Mclauglin Surface Album tracks 4 and 7, and Pink floyd Division Bell, track 10, and a Stevie ray Vaugan CD that my freind brought. These speakers are unreal! Waay, waaay, better, and any listed above. It was a true "They are here" experience. I thought that each artist was right in front of me, unmatched realism, and dynamic range. These are it! For 800 dollars, it will be hard to find better. Again some people may find the horn Bright, its very detailed and brings the music "ALIVE"!

mids, and wood veeneer finish

none yet

Klipsch has a winner! For the size
and price, these speakers produce some great sound. I was looking to replace
my current klipsch's (5.5) with a much smaller speaker (5.5 are big). Something that was at home with music,
HT, and had midrange purity (the 5.5 were always laid back in this area).
I auditioned a couple different highly recommended models from psb, infinity, paradigm, definitive, b&W, kef, and jamo in the under 1000.00
range. I was amazed by some of these speakers, but none of them really reached out and grabbed me like the RB-5 did. I even compared them to their bigger brother RF-3 and found
the mid's more pleasing. There is enough bass response for me with music, but in HT I kick in my sub.
If you are lookng for some out standing monitors in the 1000.00
range check these out. They can handle
a lot of power (150 rms, 400 peak) and sound great, the finish is real wood,
and able to bi-wired. These aren't
like klipsch's from the past, these are a different animal.

Similar Products Used:

infinity, praradigm, definitive, psb,
and jamo

Dynamics, realism, detail,imaging, soundstage

NONE

beautiful to look at, the titanium horn loaded [not metal horn] tweeter and aluminum woofer are a total joy. Listening to a variety of music and HT, The RB5's sing, and do not shout on all material played through them. A staggeringly real, and huge soundstage envelops you in sonic bliss. This is the finest sounding monitor Klipsch has produced. It has the strengths of the heritage series, but none of the weaknesses. They tell the truth. Absoloute 5 star performance in every area!, 5 star value!

Similar Products Used:

KG4.2, Forte, Paradigm Ref 20's, Celestion, etc.

Natural Sound

None

See my first review, about 4 down from this one. I am reporting again as I have now had slightly over 3 months of listening experience (pleasure) with these speakers. They just sound better and better as time goes on. No fatigue factor at all. I am still amazed at the clarity and definition these speakers provide while at the same time offering such smooth and liquid sound. VERY NATURAL sounding. If a 10 rating were allowed here, they'd get it!

Clarity, soundstage, depth

I purchased these speakers after my father purchased a set of RF-3's. I was so blown away by the sound of the RF-3's that I had to have a pair for myself. The problem is my room is entirely too small for them. So I decided to purchase the next model down.

I am driving the RB-5's with a NAD 711 receiver and couldn't believe my ears. The sound is so rich and full with a beautiful soundstage. It doesn't matter what you listen to, I have been playing everything from jazz to alternative and everything sounds great. It is the best sounding bookshelf speaker that I have heard to date for the price, just under $700/pr. They match well with the RC-3 center channel.

Although I don't have DTS yet, movies play very well even in pro-logic mode.

Similar Products Used:

NAD AV711, NAD CD523, Klipsch RC-3

Fantastic audio imaging & clarity

Low frequency response is limited by bookshelf form factor & woofer size

This review is for the RB-3 the RB-5's "little brother" in the Klipsch Reference line. It is a lower price point smaller speaker with a smaller 6.5" woofer but is otherwise surprisingly close to the RB-5. Not surprisingly the smaller RB-3 falls off in the low end sooner than the larger RB-5 8" woofer. Teamed up with a good sub like the KSW-12 these are a reasonable alternative to a set of floor standing speakers such as the RF-3 II if your room can't accomodate such a large pair. I'm sure the new RSW-12 must be a better match but I haven't heard it. I have heard complaints lodged against Klipsch horn speakers for being too bright. This is certainly not true for the reference line including the RB-3. I've found them to be surprisingly warm and clean. The tractrix horns are of course a significant factor in the excellent sensitivity on reference line. Again the RB-5 edges our the smaller RB-3 here but in my mind the RB-3 offers excellent value. Mid-range and high freq response is absolutely excellent. Like the RB-5 they can be Bi-Wired. Both have very clean sound. Klipsch advertises the fact that they use Z-series Monster Cable wiring internally in their new Reference line including teh RB-3 (ala the new RB-5 II) but it's hard to tell if it makes a real difference. The copper colored woofer looks very cool. Who wants a grill?

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Quintet