Price Paid:  $350.00

Summary:
Well, I am not sure what was wrong with the gentleman's pair in the previous review. Perhaps he should have waited a little longer and allowed the speaker to properly break in. Most speakers have a break in period. If he would have hung in there, his patience most surely would have been rewarded. As for comparing them to the RB-75... that is a little like comparing a Mini Cooper with a Mini Cooper S. FYI: the binding posts as well as the woofer are the same on both speakers. The RB-75 has the larger 1 3/4 inch tweeter from the RF-7 which had to be attenuated as not to over power the single woofer. Most people find the RB-75 a little harsh, myself included. The RB-81 has a 1 inch tweeter which meshes much better with the single bass driver, no attenuation required. Both speakers have the molded plastic baffle. For 1100 dollars less (MSRP) I can live with the vinyl finish ;) A more fair comparison would be the B&W 602 S3.

I can not find too much with these speakers to fault. The specifications of these speakers alone beg for a listen. What can you say about a speaker that can be run to a decent volume with a 2.5 watt tube amp and can still handle horizontal stereo biamplifiaction with a pair of Rotel RB-03's (where each channel on one amplifier handles a tweeter or woofer)? The latter configuration clamps the loudspeaker by the balls and amplifier clipping is simply not a problem... ever. The midrange is accurate and the horn loaded tweeters are as good as anything I have heard. The resolution of these speakers can be eerily good with the right source material. But therein lies the rub. These speakers are so sensitive and capable of resolving such a fine level of musical detail that a bad recording will sound like the bad recording it is. There is no sugar coating here which is as it should be. They are very unforgiving of poorly recorded source material, period. What you put in is what comes out. They make my well engineered vinyl recordings really sing. However my cheapo Sony CD deck can sound a little harsh. They can also sound a little forward, meaning that they put you front and center in that smokey jazz club unlike many a more laid back speaker where you feel pushed a few rows back. Bass output, thanks to the 8 inch woofer is adequate (to say the least) for my listening area.

The speakers need to be set up properly due to the horn loaded tweeters. This took some time and the speaker has a definite sweet spot. When you sit in front of the speakers after proper set up they will reward you with very realistic sound staging. The speakers will still sound good out of their sweet spot but that remarkable sense of realism is diminished.

I would recommend these to any audio enthusiast.

Strengths:
Incredibly sensitive: 2 watts of tube creaminess will produce a usable volume.
Capable of resolving fine musical details with superb stereo imaging.
Bass is very well articulated right up to the roll off.
Look sexy with the speaker grille off.
Threaded inserts for stand mounting are a nice touch.
Unforgiving of poorly recorded source material.

Weaknesses:
The boxiness reduces the WAF factor.
Unforgiving of poorly recorded source material.

Similar Products Used:
Energy RVS
B&W 302
JBL LX 2
A&R 3 way brutes from the 80's
Energy Pro Series
Monitor Audio Gold 9
Kef

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
if this represents the top-of-the-line in their 'bookshelf' speaker line, Klipsch should be ashamed of themselves. Once you get past the glitz of the copper-laid woofer, the rest of the components are very cheaply built. The Tractix horn is plastic, the cabinet is vinyl-clad, and the wire-posts are anything but quality.

After listening to them for a few days, I didn't think they were even as good as the far less expensive Axiom's I'm using in another room.. My neighbor has the RB-75's (now discontinued) so when he invited me to bring these over for a comarative listen with assorted music, I grabbed the opportunity. His RB-75's sounded soooo much better than these RB-81's , so that was the clincher - they are going back to Crutchfield.

I can't believe all of the praise I read about these here!!!

Strengths:
Nothing that I could see orhear!

Weaknesses:
Poor build quality.
Way overpriced considering what it delivers.
The new Tractix horn doesn't have nearly the presence of the older version.

Similar Products Used:
Axiom M2's

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Price Paid:  $400.00

Summary:
I have listened to a wide variety of material on them ranging from rock and jazz to house trance music. My conclusion is that these would fall into the category of mid-range “audiophile” without any apologies. The bass is solid, the mid-range uncolored, and the high end bright and clear. The soundfield is almost photographic, which may be a turn-off to those who prefer a more diffuse sound. There is a tremendous sense of “air” around instruments and voices. I am now hearing the scraping of bows, breaths being taken and music stands being knocked about in recordings with which I am familiar (and had not noticed before). This is due to the extended high frequency response and wide dispersion pattern of the horn driver. While this is extremely appealing to me, I feel I should warn you that this accuracy also results in hearing all the defects in recordings as well. Source material that you might have thought was perfectly fine may be revealed as having bad things you never noticed before. While I can’t fault the loudspeaker for this, it is something of which to be aware. This Speakers will Sound Excellent after 200 hrs of break in. The cabinets are solidly constructed and very well braced to eliminate any unwanted resonance from them

Strengths:
They offer excellent quality sound with a pretty good price tag.
They are very comparable to many other speakers in the $1,000 price range.
Real good for almost all kind of music

Weaknesses:
Do to lack of bass response I can't use my paradigm sub
Rear Bi Amp Conectors looks cheap

Similar Products Used:
Dalis, B&W,JBL, Infinity

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Price Paid:  $400.00 from J&R

Summary:
Very detailed and musical sound reproduction. Amazing bass for the its size.
Highs Sound natural, Voices Sound perfect, Bass sound the way should be deep and detailed. After 200 hrs of break in for some people 50 hrs is enough but not for me. When you set this speakers on your stereo for the first time they sound good, but not excellent just wait after the break in and the sound will be better close enough to excellent .

Strengths:
The inside construction. real good Drivers (woofer & Tweeters)

Weaknesses:
The metals Bi Amp Conectors.
Do to the bass sound I can't use the subwoofers when I'm listen music

Similar Products Used:
JBL., Dalis, Bose, Paradigms

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Audiotronic

Summary:
This little speaker, or should I say large bookshelf speaker, has outstanding sound. Very similar to the RB35. Although bright out of the box a few days of heavy break in and these speakers expose their full potential. I am still amazed by how they sound. Very detailed and flat. They have integrated seamlessly with my RW-12d and RC-62 to produce and incredible home theater set up.

I've heard that Klipsch tends to sound best through a tube amp...but then again what doesn't sound good through one. My Denon 3805 provides ample clean power to these puppies.

I'd recommend the RB-81 to anyone. I auditioned many other speakers and found that the RB81 had the best sound out of all in its class.

Strengths:
- Very detailed and accurate
- Plays loud with little power
- Flat response
- Very nice looking wood grain vinyl

Weaknesses:
- Binding posts and jumpers nickel plated steel