everything

should coast twice as much

oh good loawd!
are you still reading this; can't you tell this is the speaker you need -yeah i could tell you 50 phile terms-but just go listen, and bring about $900 (don't forget about the kimber)


hurry before they wise up and raise the cost.
i'm not kidding.
they really should.

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8k B&w's

clarity, capable of high wolume without distortion, beautiful treble sound.

still trying to find a matching ampli. bass is still weak an noy significant.

this is my second message here. i am having difficulty in choosing a good enough ampli, or pre+power, to awake the bass sound capacity at low ,or quarter level at least, volume. i am gettig used to the speakers. my cd is a cheap marantz 57 100$ and ampli denon pma 350 50 watts only.
in istanbul we dont have chance to get 1000s of variety at favorable prices. names like nad, denon, marants, yamaha, pioneer, adcom, rotel, cambridge etc are available.
i woul;d spent about 1000$ for pre+power.

reading so much raving about klipsch urged me to buy rf3 after short initial listening. but I now also noticed most people use them as a part of HT. not my concern.

what amplis i need that i can use to creata much deeper and real bass. i listen to rock, classic and jazz.

you can also email me



akudu@superonline.com

Similar Products Used:

none

Great sound

Poor build quality

I'm not going to go on and on about the sound. I agree with most of the posts here that these sound wonderful. However, I do want to comment about the build quality of the RF-3's I recieved.

When I got my RF-3's home I listened to them most of the evening and was thrilled with the sound. The next day I moved to my apartment, about two hours away and unpacked them again. I noticed that one of the dust hole covers wasn't glued perfectly. It was sealed but the edge stuck out somewhat. It wasn't flush in a couple places. I figured since it wouldn't make a difference, it wasn't worth packing them up into a tiny car and dealing with the manager at ovation in castleton, who is an A-hole, an hour and a half away.

When I put the feet on, one of them would only tighten part way because the threads on the speaker were filled with glue. I'm on carpeting so, again, it's hardly worthing messing with. Reciently, I've also noticed that the front baffles aren't flush with the rest of the cabnet.

I'm still happy I got them, but I'm starting to have issues with Klipsch. They have quite a few pollicies that I don't agree with. They allow the Ovation in Castleton, IN to provide very poor customer service, lie, and gennerally be @ss holes. They has recieved complaints from several people on their forums and they don't respond to emails.

For the money they should be providing much better build quality. Take a look at their sub reviews and you'll find all kinds of nightmares about fuses and customer service.

98db sensitivity works great with SET amp
clean, defined sound, very versatile speaker

HEAVY!!!!!
fake wood cabinets

I recently purchased, through a combination of internet research, innocence and good luck, a an under $2,000 audio system that I truly love: it consists of:

Decware Zen Triode SE84C tube amp ($499)
Ah! Tjoeb99 CD player with tube output stage ($470)
Handmade Decware silver interconnects ($ 79)
Klipsch RF-3 98db sensitivity speakers ($539)
Kimber 4pr speaker cable ($ 39)
gold plated banana plugs ($ 16)

total price: ($1,642)

These speakers work great with the low powered Zen triode amp. I have seen reviews on the net that say the highs are "too bright". To the extent I understand what that means, it definitely is not the case when driven by a quality tube amp like the Zen Triode. I have also seen reviews of "flea powered" set amps (including the zen) which say there is not enough bass or enough "slam" in the system. Again, the Klipsch solves that potential problem. I have not experienced "clipping" problems even when playing music very loud, and there is tons of bass coming out of the RF-3's

In short, I feel that the Klipsch RF-3s at 98 db sensitivity and the Zen amp are a perfect match, and with each available for around $500 or so, very affordable. Its hard to think of a better $1100 amp-speaker combination.

I listen mostly to "indie" guitar rock (Built to Spill, Galaxie 500, Pavement, Guided by Voices, the Fall, Flaming lips), electronic music (the Notwist, Hafler trio), acoustic solo acts (nick drake, mountain goats, john prine)
and some jazz saxophone (stan getz, john coltrane). The zen amp - Klipsch RF3 combo delivers clear, crisp, tranparent, joyfull sound across these different types. I can't think of a better less than $1,000 speaker to use with a small SET amp.

Finally, though I complained about the fake wood cabinets in the weakness section, the speakers look great resting on a hardwood floor with the grilles off and the copper cones shining. For value, its definitely a 5; overall probably 4.75. Since they won't let us give fractions I will have to go with 5 and 5 below.

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none really, my previous speakers were small rsl mini monitors.

Klipsch's new Reference Series seems to be a dramatic improvement over previous models in the same price range. The RF-3's strong points are a remarkably wide and open soundstage and great detail in the mid range and top end. Bass is strong but not overpowering. Klipsch has retained the high efficiency and "front row" sound that have always been their hallmarks, but has eliminated most of the nasal, even borderline shrill qualities that crept into the sound produced by earlier Klipsch horn loaded tweeters. When compared to the new Klipsch Synergy Series, the Reference Series stands out as offering far better sound at a modest increase in cost. This may be the first under-$1000 Klipsch speaker that classical music listeners might like. I give it 5 stars because the soundstage matches that of speakers costing two to three times as much.

Emersive Sound Stage. Mids and Highs are reproduced quite well. Very loud but dosn't loose its handle on the music even at neighbor anoyance levels.

Would like nicer cabinets for such impressive sound.

I auditioned these speakers in my house, and pitted them against Infinity's RS5's. Let me just say this. Absolutly NO competition. The Klipsch's Reference speakers highs were much more crisp with absolutly zero simblence in high pitched female vocals. The Mid range was full and emersive. The detail is so strong, you can pick out the different instruments with ease. For home theater use, a Sub would be beneficial but, thats with almost any speaker so one cant complain. When I switched to Infinity's RS5's on my B channel there was a dramatic drop in volume in the room. The Klipsch belt out tremendous volume with the same power from your amp. For people looking at purchasing a pair of fron channels in the 500-700 dollar price range per pair. This is the way to go. For Value this speaker gets a 5 for overall performance, you can do better but not for under $2,000 for a pair of highend speakers

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Infinity RS5's

Mids and top end

lack of bass

I recommend these speakers thoroughly, but I ended up getting the RP3's because I feel these are lacking some of that deep and low bass. For a great price call Rich at Uncle Stereo-- he's selling them for $569+SH
5 for value
4 for overall because I love my RP3's (I feel they're not as harsh in the top end too...)

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RP3

Clarity, Imaging, Bass; lack of "Horns" coloration

None that my two ears are able to detect
A bit dull looking if you do not remove the grilles (my wife does not allow me to remove the grilles).

I have bought my RF3 after numerous audio tests in various shops; my short list went down to the Reference RF3 and RP5. I use them as front speakers, have a RC3 for center speaker)

I chosed finally the RF3 not wanting to pay the difference to the RP5 (with integrated amplified Subwoofers)

I have listened to them for the last month, and the quality of the sound they deliver still amazes me. In comparaison they made my old Infifinity RS sound dull and muddy, and it looks like I have removed the dust to all my CD's

I have recently bought a Klipsch KSW12 and had to bring it back (my wife did not want an additional piece of furniture on the floor of our living room), in adddition I was unable to demonstrate to her that the Subwoofer was making any major difference to the sound produced by the RF3-either we both have bad ears, or the Sub was not working, or the RF3 produce good enough bass-I know the sub was working I tested it in the shop and with the test tone, our ears are as good as average people have, so my conclusion is that the RF3 deliver enough bass for our liking in music listening.

I am still pissed off, that I had to bring it back (as I will surely miss some effects in DVD DD and DTS), however on the other hand, I have saved some money which I will happily spend on Reference RS3 back speakers, to complete my HT system.

Thank you Klipsch, a 5 * vote well deserved.

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Infinity, Accoustic Energy, Accoustic research, Proson, JAMO, JBL

highs, live soundstage, deep bass

Went into a tweeter store to get a subwoofer for my cambridge ensemble 2's which sounded good but could use more bass. Took home a ksw15 which added bass but something still missing when listening to music. Took back the ksw15 to maybe try another sub, that's when a clerk suggested that with better speakers I would not need the sub. What a great idea! I checked out mirage and boston accoustics which were good but for a little more money the klipsch rf3's just made music come alive. Brought them home and they sounded even better than at the store. I have them matched to a yamaha rv1105 receiver which took a little while to dial in but now my setup brings pure pleasure, I have played everything rock, jazz, latin, r&b, rap,techno, classical and everything just sounds like a live concert. John Coltrane, Ben Webster, and Marvin Gaye just sound awesome. The only thing that could sound better is maybe a system composed of seperates with megawatts that costs megabucks. At the store I thought $800 was alot for a pair of speakers but after listening to them for a few weeks it's the best $800 bucks I ever spent. One piece of advice though if you live in an apartment building you might want to check the cambridge ensemble 2's instead because the klipsch can go pretty loud and I guarantee will get you evicted within a short amount of time. I myself have purchased a home and will be moving next month. My landlord and neighbors couldn't be happier.

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cambridge soundworks, technics, infinity, mirage, boston accoustics

Musical and very efficient--a great combination !

Compared to the original performance it,of course,has
weaknesses,however,I would rather have this $800 "imperfect"
speaker than a lot of $5000 "imperfect" speakers because of
what it will do.

I have actually owned these speakers for four
months now and not "distorting the mix" with some bogus
showroom review.I hope that doesn't come across mean
spirited but I'm sure everyone knows what I mean!
What I've noticed most of all in the
reviews is that a lot of regular music lovers are hooking
the RF3'S to their A/V recievers and loving it.I'm not
surprised,they are well made,great sounding speakers.
What is a bit surprising to me is very
little input here from tube amp lovers.A quality tube amp
will produce mind-boggling results with this speaker and
at a modest price.I say it is well worth your time to
take your amp down to the showroom and find out.I'm biamping
a pair the sound is MUSIC.Once you get over the idea you
couldn't have spent enough to get it the whole thing will
sound EVEN BETTER!Hope this helps---DAVE

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Fried,Alon