Price Paid:  $50.00 from S&S

Summary:
These are incredible bookshelf speakers. I have them set up in my HT in the back and on the sides. I can't believe what comes out of them. Since I have them set up in a small space they are just a few feet from my ear and the spectrum of sound that comes out is really magnificent. I've been lusting for Klipsch speakers for a long time and these exceded my expectations.

I got four of them used for $200.00 and they were one of the best investments I've ever made. Of course not everyone is going to get them for that price but I would pay the going price and still have no qualms. I expect now that they are out of production that they may be available for less...that's if someone will let go of them or you have a dealer that wants to move them.

I was concerned about the 75w rating since I have a Denon AVR4306 (130w). However, I wrote to Denon and was told not to worry. They are not going to take as much acting as surrounds and can handle all my needs in this regard.

Strengths:
Great sound, nice appearance and good construction.

Weaknesses:
75w rating

Similar Products Used:
Bose, KEF, and Polk

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Price Paid:  $600.00 from East Hamilton radio

Summary:
This is an update from my previous review down below...

I have the speakers on taller stands now (22" instead of 18's), they are still wired with 10 Guage speaker wire (Monster Cable) to my 2006 Marantz SR7500 THX reciever, but there are some changes. I have them paired with a Klipsch RC15 center channel, and Klipsch RW10 self-powered sub. I was trying to build the RB25 system, but I'm having trouble finding the RS25 surrounds anywhere, as they are now a previous generation system.

Anyways, I have found that using a digital coaxial cable (Monster) from my DVD player to the receiver made a HUGE difference over running analogue. This is especially evident when watching movies with a DTS or DTS ES soundtrack. Though I have the receiver set up so that the crossover is 80Hz (perfect fliter range for between these and the sub), I have told it that I have no rear speakers, so some of the info is being sent to the front (the downmix is different).

Settings and connections aside, the speakers have now had more than enough time to break in, and I find that any harshness or shrillness they might have had when brand new, is now gone, and all I am hearing is pure clarity. These speakers seem to really love being matched to a Marantz power supply, and because of it being high current, and 105 watts RMS/ch, it drives them no problem. I can't even drive the speakers or amp into distortion, and I wouldn't want or need to anyways, as the attenuator goes down from -70 to 0, and then back up to +18...I only ever go down as low as -15, and things are STUPID loud then.

I was satisfied with the bass extension of these speakers when I had them in an 8x10 ft room, but now they are in a 12x24 ft room with hardwood floors, so they begin to fall short in terms of the bass in a bigger room. They do however, still have more clarity than I could ask for at the price paid, and when combined with my sub, they have to make little-2-no effort to play loud.

I think that there is a reason why not only the RB25, but the whole Refference Mk III series is the best selling klipsch line ever...

Strengths:
SPL if you want that, SQ when you want that too (both at high volumes and at low ones), clarity, large open presence/soundstage

Weaknesses:
Bit pricey compared to speakers in the same price/size class, bit weak on bass in larger rooms

Similar Products Used:
Mission, Polk, Paradigm (cheap junk with no muscle), Mirage, PSB, Monitor Audio

Price Paid:  $600.00 from East Hamilton Radio

Summary:
Well, I only just bought these speakers the other day from EHR (one of my christmas presents to myself), and I bought them with the black finish. The speakers look both classy, and modern at the same time once you unbox them, and I really like the fact that magnets were used to hold the grilles on, and that the grilles have a web pattern to block potential projectiles...lol.

I know that they say they want a max input of 75watts RMS, but when I demoed a pair of these at the shop, they were being driven by a NAD integrated amp that was feeding them 150watts RMS, and they handled it effortlessly. I currently have them connected to the 2006 Marantz AV 7500 HT reciever that I just bought last week as well, using 10 guage monster cable speaker wires, and have them sitting on 18" tall quest LM300 stands. Though I would have preffered to have them sitting higher than that, the Tactrix horns make the speakers sound like they are at ear level anyways. I must say that I find pairing Klipsch speakers with Marantz kit very rewarding. With 105watts RMS of high current power feeding the speakers, I am getting tons of SPL if I want it out of these little cabinets, but the main thing is I am getting outstanding SQ out of them. I've tried nearly every cd in the house I could find on these speakers, and almost everything sounds great. The only things that don't, are poorly produced albums, or OVER-produced albums that have inflated volumes on certain sounds and songs. I gotta say though, that these speakers forte is Jazz. Diana Krall, Dave Grusin, Lee Ritnour, Doc Powell, Carol Welsman, Dave Koz...all sound outstanding. These speakers sound like they have a huge presence in the room. The soundstage is very big, and a lot of sounds are rather quite in-your-face, but in a smooth and subtle manner. Horns, strings, drums, female voices especially...all sound like the recording was done right in my room. I am liking these speakers the more I listen to them, and can't wait to hear what they sound like when they've had their proper break-in time. Funny thing is, these speakers sounded great with stuff like the Tragically hip, Dave Mathews, and Lenny Kravitz when I demo'd them at EHR, and there they had them sitting on a shelf with other speakers (Paradigm, Monitor Audio). They sound even better in my house, and on speaker stands, placed about 8" off the wall (port is in the front, so they don't sound overblown close to the wall). Yeah the Paradigms sounded nice too, but only in a sweet spot, whereas the RB25's sounded good everywhere in the room. Not only that, but these speakers go loud and proud, and distortion is non-exsistant.

Matched with good kit, good cables, and good music, these speakers do it all, albeit low end response (and they do in fact go quite deep for their cabinet and driver sizes). They do everything that Klipsch speakers should...Sheer dynamics if you want, lots of finese and detail at lower volumes that other speakers in this class can't match.

Are the RB25's for you? It's hard to tell. Coupled with a powered sub and the receiver or amp driving them set for smaller speakers, I'm sure they will shine even better than they do full range like I'm running mine at the moment. If you like speakers that sound very open, and don't mask anything (including imperfections in a recording), then these are the speakers for you.

I can't wait to get the other speakers from the refference 25 series to match these with now for a full 7.1 HT...

Strengths:
Dynamics, non-exsistant distortion, detail, imaging/huge soundstage, sound twice as big as they physically are, bi-amp capable, classy design and good fit and finish, interal wiring by monster cable.

Weaknesses:
Don't play much bass below 50Hz, but that's what the sub is for anyways right? Also a bit on the pricey side ($685 cdn with taxes).

Similar Products Used:
Mission, Older Klipsch products, Bowers & Wilkens, KEF, Wharfdale, Paradigm (booring, and what everyone else has got).

Price Paid:  $360.00 from Good Guys

Summary:
Used as a two-speaker center channel for a custom built front-firing seven-channel acoustic matrix. I needed a speaker that wouldn't buzz when played loudly and one that had great high frequencies to aid in my massive bass response of the remaining six channels.

Strengths:
Solid construction, clean highs.

Weaknesses:
Low power handling capability.

Similar Products Used:
Custom seven-channel front-firing matrix (all analog).
Harman-Kardon HT3475 stereo receiver for center channel only.
B&K Components, Ltd. AV6125 for six channels.
Cerwin-Vega AT-15 x2 speakers.
Cerwin-Vega AT-12 x4 speakers.
JVC XL-Z451 CD player.
JVC TD-V611 three-head dual capstan tape deck.
Custom digital pink-noise generator for calibration.
Extech 407735 digital sound level meter for calibration.
Fluke 199 oscilloscope and Tektronix DMM916 multimeter for calibration.

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Canal St, NYC

Summary:
I sort of got these by accident. I was looking to swap out my Polk RT35i's (main/fronts) with a set of Klipsch SB-2's to blend better with my Klipsch SC-1 center, which I like very much. Plus, I wanted something a bit more sonically detailed than the typical laid-back smoothness of the Polks. In terms of sensitivity, I had to boost the Polks as much as +4dB to keep up with the SC-1 in my HT setup. The SB-2's are rated at ~94dB sensitivity, as opposed to the ~89dB of the Polks.

I went into an electronics store that carries Klipsch, but they had sold out of the SB-2's. I liistened to the RB-25's they had and liked them quite a bit, but since I'm not as familiar with the model numbers of the Klipsch Reference series, I thought I was getting the 125-watt model (which I later realized is the RB-35). To my initial dismay, I realized that what I thought I got at a great price ($300.00...$50 less than what Best Buy is selling the SB-2's for!), was a 75-watt rated speaker for pretty-much going price. At first, I was a bit scared to use them with my 85-watt Denon AVR-1802. But the again, Klipsch's are pretty well adept at handling high volumes well, and I figured if I ever got near 85-watts of output, I'd probably do more damage to my hearing (and possibly some other internal organs) than to these speakers.

So I tried them out.....and they are definite keepers. First and foremost, if you are used to speakers with a laid-back sonic flavor like the Polks, these will initially seem very bright and forward. Part if it is that you're not used to it, and another part is that they are brand new and have to be broken in a bit, which, incidentally, doesn't take very long. Remember, all speakers sound a bit stiff when they are played 'cold', as the voice-coil needs to heat up a bit. Once you've placed them correctly (in the usual equilateral(-ish) triangle from you, and pointed in a bit, you'll suddenly realize what many positive reviewers mean when they say 'imaging' and 'sweet spot'. I had to keep checking to see if my center speaker was on because the center/mono musical signals were so precise, yet the remaining stereo soundfield stayed nice and wide. It's really startling, but it makes total sense and blances extremely well. Most of all, undoubtedly due in large part to the horn tweeter, there is a great amount of detail in these speakers. As some have said, these speakers will bring out the best details of your music, but will also bring out the worst if they are there. On Jazz recordings such as Sarah Vaughan's 'No Count Sarah', the light brushing of the snare drum is so clear that it's almost distracting, and it takes a few minutes to realize that it's not a futzy distortion or damaged cable. Likewise with Oscar Peterson's obsessive growling during his piano solos. This same detail, however, really adds to the overall enjoyment of the music, as you can really feel the acoustic qualities of the instruments. With classical, the recording ambiences become pleasingly apparent, as well as the transients on everything from piano low notes to cello bow-strokes. As for more popular music, these accentuated transients help add real punch while keeping things from crowding up. All music was listened to in stereo only, with my subwoofer only slightly added when I felt it was necessary. Bass punch is good, but real depth and sub-bass will only come from a subwoofer...par the course for speakers this size. Despite the forwardness of the RB-25's, the frequency response is actually quite flat, which lends itself to music very nicely. Suddenly, I really enjoy listening to my CD's again, something I haven't done in a few years. I guess it's all the new sounds I'm hearing.

As for Home theater, it's all good. These bookshelf units blend nicely with the sc-1, timbre-wise...again much more so than the Polks I was using. Detail, baby! With the sword swipes in 'Gladiator', I kept checking to see if I was bleeding. These speakers are great if you're really into movie sound design, as I am (I'm an editor and sound designer for films by trade).

So I'm not in the least worried about using these 75W speakers with an 85W amp. These speakers are so efficient and clear that you don't have to turn up as loud as with other comparable units. I still think I got a great product for the money I paid, plus the quad-post bi-wiring capability lets you really expand the sonic capabilities of the Reference series (I leave mine bi-wired). It's very comforting to know that you don't have to keep turning up the volume just to hear things. I can't afford to invest in thousands-of-dollars worth of audiophile equipment, but with a well-made receiver and these speakers, you'll at least know what the 'big boys' are talking about, and have change leftover.

Strengths:
Precision, imaging, and detail, great efficiency, front-ported so you can place it closer to a back wall than rear-ported deigns. so they are a bit more aprtment-friendly. Grilles attach/detach easily with tiny magnets, rather than the oh-so-breakable plastic plugs of the Synergy series. Better looking with grilles off than the 'check-out-the-DJ-speakers-I-just-built' look of the Synergy series. Bi-wireable. Brings out the best of recordings.

Weaknesses:
A bit large for it's power handling, but that probably adds to it's overall punch. Copper-colored woofer not my favorite. Brings out the worst in your recordings.

Similar Products Used:
My system:
Denon AVR-1802
Denon DVD-1600
Klipsch SC-1 Center
Klipsch RB-25 Mains
Polk M-3 surrounds (soon to be replaced with Klipsch's)
Samsung TXM3297HF HDTV
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