Klipsch , 8in driver cones, what kind of material?

HiFiCanada

HiFiCanada

Caregiver
The Klipsch RF-82's , 8in drivers, the copper metalic looking cones, I am curious to know what material the diaphrams are made of, I have read that JBL and other speaker manufactures still likes to use the paper cones , for a more natural sound.
What is the pro's and con's of using these copper like diaphrams for their drivers.
The other queston I have is if in the future, to replace those with high end 8in paper coned drivers, if that would be any advantage. I find the klipsch RF-82's and RF-83's sound harsh, but what I do like about them is the enclosers are fairly high quality.

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Klipsch indeed states the woofer to be made of 'Cerametallic' material. Info from a random review;
"This cone is made of an anodized aluminum that makes it tough but does not detract from its beauty. The anodizing process converts its inner and outer surface to ceramic."

Plenty of reading material to be found on subjective paper / metal / poly cone differences;
http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=36892
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/full...l-cones-subjective-sound-characteristics.html

Good objective info will also be available, but I can't find it at the moment.

Getting back at the OP;
I wouldn't replace the woofers, rather sell them or swap the speakers for a pair that you like better. If you don't like the sound, you don't like the speakers imo. ;)
 
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HiFiCanada said:
The other queston I have is if in the future, to replace those with high end 8in paper coned drivers, if that would be any advantage.
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You may find using a different driver in that enclosure could actually make your speakers sound worse. Klipsch doesnt publish the specs of individual drivers, so blindly replacing whats there is really rolling the dice.

I find the klipsch RF-82's and RF-83's sound harsh, but what I do like about them is the enclosers are fairly high quality.
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These speakers are very amp dependent, producing a sound that correlates with the amp. Ive found my RB-35s to sound best with my NAD C350. When I had them hooked to my Adcom gear, people would run for cover when a guitar solo got going lol.
 
I remember when I first got them, both the RF-82's and RF-83's, at that time I had only the Harmon Kardon PM665, I dragged out my JBL,L7's and put the RF-83's in it's place, it was not long before I put the JBL, L7's speakers back again. I was surprised that even my wife hated the harsh Klipsch sound.
After joining this forum, it was tubes, Klipsch likes tubes, and your right Bob, so far at least I bi-wired the LF and HF seperate, the horns on those RF-83's excel on tubes, but thats as far as I got, did not make any changes to the LF part yet.
Thanks for the links above, I'll read them later.
Got one queston, on the low frequency secton, would a Dynaco MKIII tube amp work well?
 
Since youve tried different amps, Im going to go ahead and say that tmad40blue is correct in that you probably dont like the Klipsch sound. Im one of the rarities that I dont find myself loving the Klipsch sound, nor hating it. When I had my Fortes, I found them to be particularly harsh on guitar solos and some vocals. FWIW, I had all of the Bob Crites goodies....crossovers, mids, tweets, and damped horns. While the upgrades smoothed them out good, they still made my ears ring on a regular basis. They were good speakers, and lots of people enjoy them, but after 2 years of owning them, I decided they werent right for me and sold them.
 
Those look like nice drivers. I certainly wouldn't change them. You may not like the horn loaded high end of Klipsch. Personally, I like the dynamic Klipsch sound particularly at low listening levels; however, I also have Maggies, JBLs, Polks, and Kefs to mix it up a bit. My Klipsch KG4s are quite smooth with the Crites Titanium Diaphragms. The RF series are good speakers, but are not a laid back like sound that my Polk M10s produce.
 
bhunter said:
Those look like nice drivers. I certainly wouldn't change them. You may not like the horn loaded high end of Klipsch. Personally, I like the dynamic Klipsch sound particularly at low listening levels; however, I also have Maggies, JBLs, Polks, and Kefs to mix it up a bit. My Klipsch KG4s are quite smooth with the Crites Titanium Diaphragms. The RF series are good speakers, but are not a laid back like sound that my Polk M10s produce.
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The Drivers are heavy duty, thats for sure, I am also mixing the sound up a bit, assisting the JBL's main speakers more in the mid's , and the horns bi-wired with a small tube amp works great, they excel now. The 8in drivers are driven by a big industrial 350 Watt Inter-M, 10.5 power amp, and no problems that way, the drivers take the power easlly, just did not like the sound.
My Rf-83's are the first generation , but I read now that the advertisments say , new and improved , reinforced encloser.
But you correct in saying, I just don't like the Klipsch sound, it's not a classical music speaker.
Next year I may start a new thread on the RF-83's , including the crossover, damping and reinforcing.
Like mention above, Klipsch does not give out any info on the speaker or crossover performance
 
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