Emotiva T-2's versus Klipsch RF-7 III's ?

[StevenT]

Hello All
I think that the RF 7s may be on the way out as I have seen them discounted recently by several retailers. Probably will be replaced by a new model. My experience with Klipsch speakers is a mixed bag, some have been too harsh and bright for me and some have been wonderful- often time the same models. Maybe something to due with the upstream equipment.

In any case, I am enjoying my T2s for 3 months now. They are powered with Emotiva PT-100 pre amp and A-300 power amp. I have also used all of my other equipment, some current amps and several vintage amps on the T2s. Overall I am very impressed with the T2s, especially the bass response. I am an old timer, 64 years old and I listen to music with just 2 channels. I do not use a sub for music, I just want the bass response from the two speakers. My only adverse comment on the T2s is when playing rock music at moderate to loud volume levels. To my ears, the ribbon tweeter is too bright, I have to use my equalizer (yes I have used equalizers with all my systems over my long audio life) and drop 2dbs in frequency response from 4k on up. I have also used an old timers trick of placing sheets of porous paper over the tweeters to attenuate the tweeters. The grille covers on the T2s allow one to slide such paper between the frame and the cloth very easily. I used cut up coffee paper filters for this task. All other forms of music, classical, jazz, folk, vocals, etc does not require any attenuation for my ears. Understand that my ears were trained with speaker response from the late 60s and early 70s. In any case imo, the T2s are the best tower type speakers I have heard at just about any price under 5k. I also have several pairs of vintage speakers, some original and some rebuild, to listen to some of my music. Any comments on the tweeters form anyone else?

[novisnick]

Apr 20, 2018 19:39:02 GMT -5 StevenT said:

Hello All
I think that the RF 7s may be on the way out as I have seen them discounted recently by several retailers. Probably will be replaced by a new model. My experience with Klipsch speakers is a mixed bag, some have been too harsh and bright for me and some have been wonderful- often time the same models. Maybe something to due with the upstream equipment.

In any case, I am enjoying my T2s for 3 months now. They are powered with Emotiva PT-100 pre amp and A-300 power amp. I have also used all of my other equipment, some current amps and several vintage amps on the T2s. Overall I am very impressed with the T2s, especially the bass response. I am an old timer, 64 years old and I listen to music with just 2 channels. I do not use a sub for music, I just want the bass response from the two speakers. My only adverse comment on the T2s is when playing rock music at moderate to loud volume levels. To my ears, the ribbon tweeter is too bright, I have to use my equalizer (yes I have used equalizers with all my systems over my long audio life) and drop 2dbs in frequency response from 4k on up. I have also used an old timers trick of placing sheets of porous paper over the tweeters to attenuate the tweeters. The grille covers on the T2s allow one to slide such paper between the frame and the cloth very easily. I used cut up coffee paper filters for this task. All other forms of music, classical, jazz, folk, vocals, etc does not require any attenuation for my ears. Understand that my ears were trained with speaker response from the late 60s and early 70s. In any case imo, the T2s are the best tower type speakers I have heard at just about any price under 5k. I also have several pairs of vintage speakers, some original and some rebuild, to listen to some of my music. Any comments on the tweeters form anyone else?

Good evening, thanks for coming by and telling us about your T2’s, always lov hearing opinions from other music lovers. I have never heard any speaker from Emoiva BUT I have listened to my Paradigm Studio 100’s for a good amout of time. Their tweeters were accused of beings rather bright but over time they have mellowed to a very appealing sound, about a year of break in to sound just right.
This may happen with the ribytweeters of the T series speakers but I have nothing to base this opinion on but other speakers I’ve owned. Please keep us updated! We’d love to have you as a member of this old foggies very friendly forum. 😋

[LCSeminole]

Apr 20, 2018 19:39:02 GMT -5 StevenT said:

Hello All
I think that the RF 7s may be on the way out as I have seen them discounted recently by several retailers. Probably will be replaced by a new model. My experience with Klipsch speakers is a mixed bag, some have been too harsh and bright for me and some have been wonderful- often time the same models. Maybe something to due with the upstream equipment.

In any case, I am enjoying my T2s for 3 months now. They are powered with Emotiva PT-100 pre amp and A-300 power amp. I have also used all of my other equipment, some current amps and several vintage amps on the T2s. Overall I am very impressed with the T2s, especially the bass response. I am an old timer, 64 years old and I listen to music with just 2 channels. I do not use a sub for music, I just want the bass response from the two speakers. My only adverse comment on the T2s is when playing rock music at moderate to loud volume levels. To my ears, the ribbon tweeter is too bright, I have to use my equalizer (yes I have used equalizers with all my systems over my long audio life) and drop 2dbs in frequency response from 4k on up. I have also used an old timers trick of placing sheets of porous paper over the tweeters to attenuate the tweeters. The grille covers on the T2s allow one to slide such paper between the frame and the cloth very easily. I used cut up coffee paper filters for this task. All other forms of music, classical, jazz, folk, vocals, etc does not require any attenuation for my ears. Understand that my ears were trained with speaker response from the late 60s and early 70s. In any case imo, the T2s are the best tower type speakers I have heard at just about any price under 5k. I also have several pairs of vintage speakers, some original and some rebuild, to listen to some of my music. Any comments on the tweeters form anyone else?

Always interesting to hear someone’s take on how a particular speaker sounds especially when comparing to another speaker. I’ve heard both of the speakers named and this is the first time I’ve heard the T2’s ribon tweeter is too bright with any genre of music. I would’ve expected to hear this with RF-7Ii’s, though in my experience you’re either a fan of the Klipsch sound or you’re not and I am. The RF7-7iii’ were recently released in the past 6 to 8 months so this speaker is by no means on its way out. Personally I prefer the RF-7Ii/IIII to the T2 because of the horn sound and they sound fuller bass-wise to me probably because of the woofer size and cabinet enclosure.

[DavidR]

I've found Klipsch to be nice at low to moderate volume BUT with volume the horns become too harsh. Also, never found their bass output to go very low.

[LCSeminole]

Apr 21, 2018 9:03:49 GMT -5 DavidR said:

I've found Klipsch to be nice at low to moderate volume BUT with volume the horns become too harsh. Also, never found their bass output to go very low.

I'm going to guess you've not heard the older Legend series KLF-10/20/30's, or these aforementioned RF-7II or RF-7III. I don't have much experience with what many avid Klipsch fans love, their classic Heritage line, so I can't speaker with much authority on them. I hear you on the "Harsh" word, which is why you're either a fan of the horn or you're not. They made an attempt with the latest RF-7III to tame that somewhat in the horn with dampening material and I personally believe it helped a bit, but probably not anywhere near enough for the non-Klipsch horn fan.

[DavidR]

Apr 21, 2018 9:26:46 GMT -5 LCSeminole said:

Apr 21, 2018 9:03:49 GMT -5 DavidR said:

I've found Klipsch to be nice at low to moderate volume BUT with volume the horns become too harsh. Also, never found their bass output to go very low.

I'm going to guess you've not heard the older Legend series KLF-10/20/30's, or these aforementioned RF-7II or RF-7III. I don't have much experience with what many avid Klisch love, their classic Heritage line, so I can't speaker with much authority on them. I hear you on the "Harsh" word, which is why you're either a fan of the horn or you're not. They made an attempt with the latest RF-7III to tame that somewhat in the horn with dampening material and I personally believe it helped a bit, but probably not anywhere near enough for the non-Klipsch horn fan.

I have heard the RF-7II in a store. Most experience with original Heresy, Cornwalls and Forte. Yes, I find horns harsh and ribbons shrill. I am an AR fan and restorer.
BTW, Voxx owns the AR name and Klipsch as well. Not a good thing for either.

The first set of speakers I bought for my son were original Heresy. I found them very accurate at low to moderate volume. The bass they had was very good, just not very deep. Couldn't stand them at volume. That led to a pair of Polk RT12C (IIRC). These were also good at low to mod volume but totally fell apart with volume. My son is quite happy with his TSW610 - a good AR speaker but not a TOTL.

[pallpoul]

I bought a pair of RF-7 III's in Cherry, and set them up, finally. They were delivered, well packed, on a crate, like all Heritage speakers do, from Hope Arkansas, and they do look really beautiful in person.

I have them powered by a Primaluna Dialogue HP ( EL-34's octet, 72 wpc), being fed by my PT-100, and playing an Emotiva CDP, and Spotify, via my PC USB--> PT-100--> Amplifier.

I have to say, they do not sound harsh at all, they do offer a more lively sound, more dynamic and much more entertaining then my T-2's, which I love, however TO MY EARS, the RF-7 III's sounded much better then my T-2's.

They are more expensive for sure, but I do really enjoy their sound.

The sound is clear and sweet (maybe the tubes factor ?), at low and high levels, the details (all the details) are there, and they are not fatiguing at all. Very responsive, great soundstage, and imaging, and btw great looking.

As a side note, I have always loved the Klipsch Heritage series sound, and own most of their speakers, well except for the KHorns. So really enjoying these RF-7 III's did not come as a surprise to me.

The T-2's are a really good set of speakers for the price, and very versatile for HT or a 2 Ch setup use, but I, Personally, preferred the RF-7 III's sound by far, and will be keeping them and selling my T-2's.
My 2 cents.

[RichGuy]

Good to hear you like your new RF-7 III's, they are very nice speakers.

So many people give Klipsch a bad rep as being harsh but the truth is that Klipsch are just very revealing and MUST be well matched to the other components and well adjusted. Klipsch speakers have the ability to be overly bright or harsh when not set up well, they also have the ability to sound amazingly accurate, natural and beautifully musical when they are well setup.

Klipsch are more revealing than most other speakers I've heard and they can reveal both the bad and the good so they are very critical to how they are set up. If the setup is bright or harsh yes Klipsch have the ability to be very bright or harsh.

As for comments on bass, the Klipsch Reference line are very hard hitting, quick punch and low bass speakers that have exceptional bass especially when given some good power but the Klipsch Heritage line are not really low or hard punch speakers.

[StevenT]

Interesting comments. Before I bought my T2s, I considered the RF-7s and the Forte III. Nice speakers but in the final analysis, my ears tell me that the Klipsch horn approach has tube amp written all over them. When I was just starting in home audio hifi, the solid state revolution was gathering steam. It really changed speaker design at that time, including power handling capacity. As I stated before, my experience with Klipsch speakers is a mixed bag, some were wonderful and some too harsh for my ears. If I ever get back into tube amps and pre amps, I would likely buy Klipsch. I remember the first and second editions of the Fortes and they were a beautifully constructed speaker, just loved that big passive woofer in the back. Very efficient speakers and sounded excellent at high volume levels with tube amps. I find myself using my vintage speakers more often especially listening to rock produced and recorded when stereo sound systems were just two channel set ups. I am always on the lookout for speakers old and new and enjoy and appreciate reading all your comments. Thanks- glad to see that you younger folks are into quality audio!!!

[pallpoul]

Apr 21, 2018 14:45:38 GMT -5 StevenT said:

Interesting comments. Before I bought my T2s, I considered the RF-7s and the Forte III. Nice speakers but in the final analysis, my ears tell me that the Klipsch horn approach has tube amp written all over them. When I was just starting in home audio hifi, the solid state revolution was gathering steam. It really changed speaker design at that time, including power handling capacity. As I stated before, my experience with Klipsch speakers is a mixed bag, some were wonderful and some too harsh for my ears. If I ever get back into tube amps and pre amps, I would likely buy Klipsch. I remember the first and second editions of the Fortes and they were a beautifully constructed speaker, just loved that big passive woofer in the back. Very efficient speakers and sounded excellent at high volume levels with tube amps. I find myself using my vintage speakers more often especially listening to rock produced and recorded when stereo sound systems were just two channel set ups. I am always on the lookout for speakers old and new and enjoy and appreciate reading all your comments. Thanks- glad to see that you younger folks are into quality audio!!!

I did try the new Emotiva DR-2 amplifier with the RF-7 III's, but ended up enjoying more the RF-7 III's sound with the integrated tube amplifier I mentioned earlier.

[jcz06]

Apr 21, 2018 9:26:46 GMT -5 LCSeminole said:

Apr 21, 2018 9:03:49 GMT -5 DavidR said:

I've found Klipsch to be nice at low to moderate volume BUT with volume the horns become too harsh. Also, never found their bass output to go very low.

I'm going to guess you've not heard the older Legend series KLF-10/20/30's, or these aforementioned RF-7II or RF-7III. I don't have much experience with what many avid Klisch love, their classic Heritage line, so I can't speaker with much authority on them. I hear you on the "Harsh" word, which is why you're either a fan of the horn or you're not. They made an attempt with the latest RF-7III to tame that somewhat in the horn with dampening material and I personally believe it helped a bit, but probably not anywhere near enough for the non-Klipsch horn fan.

I have a pair of 10s I am getting ready to sell along with some other stuff.   If I could find the right set, I would scoop up another set of 30s(owned 2 sets)....    

[cwmcobra]

I had 20s in my previous HT and loved them. Never heard the 30s, but can imagine they are even more ear candy. I'm a big fan of the Heritage models (see my signature) but have put my new HT on hold for awhile, so I have to make do with my office system. The office system runs the HDMI output from the laptop to the DC-1, then on to a BASX A-100 that I use as a headphone amp for my Sennheiser 6XX cans. The point of this is that I also run an RCA out from the A-100 into a Parasound HCA-1000A amp driving a pair of Cerwin-Vegas and then on to my Cajun Gal tube amp driving a pair of Heresy 1 speakers (stacked on top of the CVs). The reason I mention this is that this is a great combination. The bass of the Cerwin-Vegas compensates for that weakness in the Heresys and the midrange and treble of the Heresys compensate for that weakness in the CVs. Long story short, in a relatively near-field configuration, I don't feel that I'm missing a whole lot until I can put the LaScalas in to use.

Cheers!

Chuck

[LCSeminole]

Apr 21, 2018 16:51:02 GMT -5 jcz06 said:

Apr 21, 2018 9:26:46 GMT -5 LCSeminole said:

I'm going to guess you've not heard the older Legend series KLF-10/20/30's, or these aforementioned RF-7II or RF-7III. I don't have much experience with what many avid Klisch love, their classic Heritage line, so I can't speaker with much authority on them. I hear you on the "Harsh" word, which is why you're either a fan of the horn or you're not. They made an attempt with the latest RF-7III to tame that somewhat in the horn with dampening material and I personally believe it helped a bit, but probably not anywhere near enough for the non-Klipsch horn fan.

I have a pair of 10s I am getting ready to sell along with some other stuff.   If I could find the right set, I would scoop up another set of 30s(owned 2 sets)....    

I too would love to get my hands on a set of KLF-30's, just hasn't been my luck to find a set just yet.