perfecto

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $440.00 from ubid

Summary:
This is a great subwoofer, musical, fast, powerful and small! The controls are versatile. I have used it for about 5 years in a variety of rooms and settings and I love it. The LF-10 is known to develop a "rattling" problem when reproducing very low frequencies. I have heard that Klipsch fixes the problem under warranty. However, I took my LF-10 outside of the US. So when it developed the rattling problem, Klipsch US referred me to the local Klipsch representative who basically knew nothing about the LF series, would not honor the warranty, said that the speaker had to be replaced, and quoted a ridiculous price to repair it. With nothing to loose, I’ve decided to try to repair it myself and was successful. I am writing this review to report what I’ve done for those of you who have the rattling problem and don't have warranty. The fix is simple so any reasonably skilled technician can do it. It turns out that the rattling problem results from a loose speaker connector. The speaker coil wires are terminated in contacts mounted on a piece of bakelite. That bakelite was loose and rattled against the driver. I glued the bakelite to the body of the speaker and that removed the rattle. You can reach the connector by dismounting the amplifier in the back. After fixing the bakelite, I replaced the amplifier in place. Then I tightened the speaker screws which are terminated in metal washers. I also tightened those of the passive speakers and of the amplifier. Those screws go into the wood so they must be tightened with some restrain to avoid destroying the threads in the wood. After gluing the bakelite and tightening the screws my LF-10 plays again like new. So in sum solving the rattling problem may not require replacing the speaker. It is a simple fix that any reasonably skilled technician can do. Hope someone out there finds this helpful. The LF-10 is worth the effort.

Strengths:
Powerful, 500 Watt amp, Low freq. response.

Similar Products Used:
JBL-12 inch subwoofer.

Price Paid:  $439.00 from UBid

Summary:
This is more of a followup for my earliar review on LF-10 that I have just grown to love. #1. First of all, the problem of having to turn the level way up high to hear anything is not really a problem. I discovered, just like any other good equipment you have to break it in. Over last 3 months I have had to gradually keep lowering my level to now where it is at 1/3rd the level and just plays awesome. Initially the moulding around the SUB was too tight and that kept the drivers from moving freely. #2. If you can (your amp will have to allow it) feed both the LFE and the RCA inputs on this SUB. I have discovered that the movies play awesome if you have an LFE out on your receiver, which takes true advantage of the 5.1 DTS Dolby digital technology. Where the regular music doesnot output any signal on LFE and the RCA preamp output from your receiver should be fed to LF-10. Thats when you really start enjoying this SUB. #3. Be patient, and play around with placement. Placement is one thing that can make this sub really shine. Corner placements with the passive drivers at 45 degree to the walls really worked for me. Now the lows are absolutely non-directional. #4. Donot waste your money on Monster cable. Buy the cheaper Acoustic Research Sub Cable. I could not tell the difference so I even tested it with both using the sound meter and just as I suspected the difference is minimal (absolutely not worth the price difference). #5. Adjust the crossover properly. and by and by you will unconditionally fall in love with this SUB.

Strengths:
Its one thing that makes my music listening experience Good to Intoxicating. Nuf Said.

Weaknesses:
Neighbors will whine and complain.

Similar Products Used:
Listened to several but none came close.

Price Paid:  $429.00 from ubid

Summary:
I read some of the review here before I bough this sub. If the price truthly 1300 detail price, then most of us got a awesome deal. I like the design and small foot print of this sub. I don't like show it. There is some air coming out at the back on one of the switch, I wonder if that is function as design or that is a minor problem. Please email me if you don't have that problem, so I can contact the menufactor for instruction on how to repair it. So far I love this sub and hopefully it will last for a while.

Strengths:
Tight, Accurate and clear Bass. Small foot print.

Weaknesses:
I am not knowledge enought to find any week point of this sub.

Similar Products Used:
sun fire Carver

Price Paid:  $480.00 from ubid.com

Summary:
Deep,tight and accurate bass that goes down to 18 khz, plays true to music CDs and HT DVDs. So many people bragged about subwoofers of other brands, but when I listened to them, they were just artificial, boomy, loud, and overpowering. This is definitely the unit for audiophiles who wants accurate bass, but dont get me wrong, it can also shake the walls. You can get something similar or better but you probably have to pay 3-4 times the price. I think the LF-10s are being compared to the Sunfire (Carver) True Subwoofers, who claimed to revolutionized the subwoofer technology. They looked similar and comparable in specs.

I was quite concern about the reliability issues when I read about on this web site, but mine work Ok right out of the box so far.

I have a 200 per watts A/V amp, and I have to turn the sub's volume dial to 70% (2 o'clock) to get to the bass level I wanted. The sub can use some additional power.

It took a few weeks to break-in this sub based on playing period of two hours a day, there is a signifant difference in performance before and after, therefore be patient.

Strengths:
Tight & accurate bass. Great for HT, espcially music.

Weaknesses:
Power, break-in time, reliabilty issues (I read about them)

Similar Products Used:
Cerwin Vega, Mirage PBS400 and others

Price Paid:  $650.00 from Palm Audio

Summary:
First off I need to say I am a bonafide dyed in the wool BagEnd fanatic. There is not subwoofer one below $3K that bests the Infra 18 IMHO. That said, I am fairly blown away by this Klipsch overachiever. Until I heard this sub while I loved the Klipsch K-Horns, Hereseys, and Fortes I was less than impressed by many of their post Paul Klipsch designs, including Klipsch sub-woofers. This always made me scratch my head because I always thought that the Hereseys had the outright best bass ever for a bookshelf speaker. My friends Fortes seemed like the best of the Hereseys made better, more definition in highs, mids, and great bass that really didn't beg for any augmentation. So I was wondering why this company had not produced a state of the art sub when they obviously know more than most companies about bass, driver loading/coupling, and the like.

Well, they have that state-of-the-art sub I always believed they had in them with the LF-10. It's everything a sub should be. It's very visceral yet articulate. It really goes down low and makes bass you can feel. It can blend well due to the fact it is fast and has a phase switch for help when placement dictates. I only wished that Klipsch would not have discontinued the LF-10 and LF-12 subs. BTW, the LF-12's never went into production past those made for samples which some dealers got to demo and critique so the final production could be made with improvements per their suggestions.

My advice if you can buy either of these for a decent price, buy them. In the rare event you fail to totally fall in love with them I know you can sell them easily because so many folks who hear mine say it's the best bass they have heard and then are big-time miffed when I show them how the sub itself. I think they are usually thinking bass like this can not come from that small box. Hey I love it. y value rating is based on a price of $650. My overall rating is based on how well these compare to my BagEnd which is twice the price.

Strengths:
Powerful, articulate, reaches way down to the feel it more than hear it range, and is very compact

Weaknesses:
Needs spikes as a alternative to rubber feet, could be more sensitive as I usually like gain set at unity (12:00), yet this one need a bit more...not any big problem

Similar Products Used:
Innovative Audio Sub Table, Infinity RS-12, BagEnd Infra 18