It’s not everyday that I get to open a box with $7000 Floor Standing Speakers in it, let alone listen to them so when the Klipsch RF-7 II turned up I had to get them unpacked and setup ready to be run in.
I’ll start off saying that photo’s do not do the RF-7 II’s justice, the finish on the cherry veneer is just perfection and this is coming from a person that has to have ALL my home audio in black. Weighing in at just under 40 kg’s each they feel and look quite sturdy and standing next to them I felt quite short, however being so big and bulky they stand out but still have a very classy look about them.
Once they were fully unpacked and setup we left them for about a week playing random playlists just to get some run-in time on the RF-7 II’s with the occasional song played at a moderately higher volume just to appreciate them a touch while we waited to get at lease 40 hours of run in time on them.
Now that the Klipsch RF-7 II’s have had a reasonable run-in period it was now time for Ashley and myself to choose some songs and have a good listen to them!
Ashley’s choice of songs were Taylor by Jack Johnson & The Rhythm Divine by Yello and I chose Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling & Cursum Perficio by Enya just so I stray from my norm of picking Rock & Underground Dubstep.
Now for the important part, listening to some music!
So how did they sound?
Ashley: The first song Ashley listened to was Crystallize by Lindsay Stirling, first off he played that at low to medium volume and at that level the violins just absolutely amazing and maintains the realism is just like having the violin playing in the room with you. When the bass hit he could not believe there was no subwoofer, tremendous bass presence and considering this room is not bass heavy Ashley said he could only imagine what these would be like in a fully carpeted room.
The second song Ashley listened to was Cursum Perficio by Enya, Enya was a CD used as a demonstration disc during the 80’s in both car and home audio and after hearing it today he can still understand why. Tremendous vocals, very sultry sound and very easy to be lost in this song. These speakers get his thumbs up as this track can be very unforgiving on the wrong set of speakers, overall again the attention to detail, very well balanced making the whole experience enjoyably.
The third song was The Rhythm Divine by Yello. Obviously Yello meets Shirley Bassey is a interesting combination and at the time it was pretty much what most people thought. This combination can bring out the best or even the worst of a set of speakers as the finese of Yello’s track backed up with Shirley Bassey’s screaming voice is a very hard combination to match with a set of speakers. These speakers have stood up to the challenge and provided a very clean sound combined with a nice solid bass.
The last song Ashley listened to was Taylor by Jack Johnson, first word wow. Not that I’m a big fan of this guy not that Ashley had heard of him but that aside, a great guitar, vocal & drums set combination in this song. Based on sound alone a nice very clean guitar strumming to the point that you can hear the fingers brushing against the strings. And a nice gentile drums and bass, Ashley felt the track was well balanced and at all volumes the fruit was still all there.
These speakers are the first time in 30 years that Ashley has considered changing speakers in his house! Take in account that when he brought his $13,000 speakers he has at home the RF-7 II’s were not in production and I can also vouch for how his home speakers sound and again the RF-7 II’s would give them a good run for their money’s worth!
Lance: Ok, the first song I listened to was Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling and the first thing I noticed was how crisp and natural the violin was, the bass was dominate enough that you would swear there was a subwoofer playing but not so dominating that it drowns out the rest of the music. So far they sound amazing, onto the next song…
The second song I listened to was Cursum Perficio by Enya and my first thought was that the vocals were so clean, very nice broad mid range with all the synthesized music going on and it still didn’t break up when pushed. I am quite amazed at how well the woofers keep up with playing sub-bass and mid-bass up to the 1200hz crossover point and especially Enya’s music since there is a lot going on.
The third song was The Rhythm Divine by Yello and again I was surprised with all the tingles and details these speakers produced and I was slightly taken away by the depth of the bass in this track because I have heard it on other Floorstanders and they all seemed to lack that low end that the RF-7 II’s are capable of. This song is also very vocal orientated and I have not heard the vocals in our Home Audio Lounge like this before, just breathtaking!
The last song I listened to was Taylor by Jack Johnson and before I go on keep note that I hate this song with a passion, so much that it was torture to listen to it. However I am willing to endure this for the greater good! First thing that stood out was how you could hear how the strings were strummed, not the sound from the guitar after they are strummed but the actual strumming itself which is very impressive to myself being a musician. The next thing I noticed were the drums cymbals were like they were in the same room being very natural sounding but not overly exaggerated.
What can I say about the Klipsch RF-7 II’s? Well they are truly breathtaking! They sound great down low on the volume and maintain all the way to volumes most people would never push their speakers too, the high, mid & low frequencies are just perfectly balanced and they play all types of music how they should sound. If you ever get a chance to listen to these speakers by all means do so as you will not regret it & I now feel kind of disappointed with my speakers at home which I shouldn’t because they are amazing, just not RF-7 II amazing!
One last look…
Lance ‘Captain Z’ Wilson