very accurate. Great, crisp highs. Very decent bass.

Not a 6.5" woofer. It is definitely a 5.25" woofer. Klipsch needs better QC. Two of my speakers were missing one screw each.

Awesome speaker! Quite a bit of bass for such a small speaker. Paired with a subwoofer, these things sound great! My only gripe is that, although they are advertised as a 6.5" woofer, these are most definitely NOT. They are exactly 5.25" from one edge of the surround to the other. Not by any farthest stretch of my imagination can I get to come close to measuring 6.5 inches. If you measure from one screw to the screw across on the opposite side, you get a little over 6 inches. The speaker by all other measurements is a true 5.25" woofer. That said though, they sound really good!

Good looking, detailed and accurate.

Does not go low. Sub takes care of that.

The Klipsch RB-3 speakers are very detailed and accurate down to approximately 50hz. I use them for my home theater rears (RB-5II fronts) and they are what I have been looking for in movie reproduction. What surprised me was how musical they are. I listen to jazz mainly but also classical and rock and these really impressed. I sold my Tannoy's R2s and R1s and replaced with the Klipsch. The Tannoy's are warm and musical but did not thoroughly please for home theater. Highly recommended at this price point. They sound much more expensive than they sell for and they cherry wood veneer is solid, heavy and beautiful.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy, Magnepan, JBL

Detailed, crisp, highs. Clear and Revealing. Tight warm sounding bass. Don't need to elaborate muchg here, but I found these to be better sounding than the Paradigm Studio 80's on source material without deep bass. (male/female vocals) More lively than the laid back Paradigms or most speakers for that matter. Some may call this coloration, but if it is, then it is coloration that my ears prefer. This is characteristic of the "in your face" Klipsch tradition of placing you in the front row center of the sound stage.

On some source material, I find them a tad bright when sitting in my listening position which is 4 feet away. I have no other placement options as my room is quite small. However, when I sit near the back of my room which is about 8 feet away, the brightess is gone. No deep bass (but what bookshelf does?.. Okay maybe Dynaudio 1.1.... or so I've heard....)

I love these bookshelfs. Probably the best 6.5" I'ved heard. If you prefer the sound of Klipsch, then you will probably like these speakers. Must be paired with a sub for the full range of sound. By themselves, the bass is still tight and punchy, but will not go below 50 hz with much authority. Various positioning and toe in options will affect the sound so experiment wih it to see what is best for your room. Amount of toe in should be relative to your distance from the speakers. I give them a 5 for value because I have heard no better for he price. And I give them a 4 for overal because I don't believe they are perfect. In that regard, I can't think of a single speaker that I have heard that deserves a 5in my book. And I've heard a few.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Reference, Paradigm Studio series, Monitor Audio, B and W 600 series. (Am not mentioning products in different price class.)

Great sound, compact package, monster cable internal wiring, bi-wire capable.

Price, missing some low end (RS5s surely make up for this)

I purchased these speakers over the SB3s. The SB3's had more bass, but couldn't compete in the mid / hi ranges. I have a small office (10x10) and they sound excellent. I'm using a Yamaha YT500 HTS and wasn't happy when playing music (DVD's are great). I tried the SB1 (smallest bookshelf from Klipsch) and while they were nice, they were missing too much so I just gave up and decided to go for the reference speakers. I'm very happy, and now I can hear what I've been missing all along.

Similar Products Used:

SB3