very interesting question. i have to give the nod to the Forte III because the RF 7 III are so massive- 49" high and nearly 100 lbs and a pair of them are delivered on a pallette. taking delivery is more of a commitment than an investment!
Now what I kind of wonder is, at $1799 each, what alternative to RF-7 III should one consider in a horn-loaded vein? I don't know commercially, though the OP could scroll through Denovo Home Theater Monitors with comments about some of the models at Multi-Way - diyAudio Meanwhile, a bit of a shocker: a NEW Klispchorn! With "Premium Input and Wire Management System"!!!! $7,499 EACH The iconic Klipschorn is the original, three-way, fully horn-loaded loudspeaker that laid the foundation for the Klipsch brand. In its latest rendition, this historic speaker boasts an all-new neodymium tweeter, premium wire management system, and fully-enclosed design for flexible placement. Features: Fully Horn-Loaded Three-Way Loudspeaker All-New Neodymium Tweeter All-New Enclosed Low Frequency Horn Design Premium Input and Wire Management System Book-Matched Wood Veneer Designed and Engineered in the USA ["enclosed" means they need to ge NEAR a corner, not rightly in it, i.e. the website picture shows it in a corner where one wall is a bookcase]
The majority of most modern day tower speakers, including and, as specially Klipsch, are primarily designed and marketed to the HT audience. As such the RF7 series has always been forward and bright. If you want detail, I will grant you, they have detail. Sound on You tube video's are of such poor quality that, while I might listen to the commentary, I pay no attention to sound quality comparison's. It is a complete waste of time and should not be relied on for any audio related evaluations. If you like plenty of brightness and slam, these are your baby's. You want to get the most out of your "Metal" music, then these are for you too! A nice, "modest" tube amplifier, will take a bit of the sting out and mellow them considerably. I don't measure the efficiency of loud speakers, but Klipsch speaker's have always been very efficient. I have a pair of their legacy La Scalla's and they are even more efficient than the Altec Lansing A7's. The photo below is from 2014. These should only be used with tube amplification. I think their other vintage options for home stereo use, like the Forte's, Cornwall's and Heresy's would be better option's to consider, before buying their other legacy products, like the La Scalla's, Belle Klipsch or the large K-horns. Most of their legacy products will benefit from some modifications such as horn's crossover's and sometimes driver's. My main pair of A7's sound excellent for stereo, but they are not stock and are not as bright as the legacy Klipsch models. If anyone is considering the RF7's for stereo, I would seriously recommend listening to them for a long period of time first. They will sound detailed and dynamic, but listening fatigue tends to set in rapidly, after extended listening secession's. I have a pair of their modern day towers. They are the flagship from their Icon series, WF-35's, now discontinued, which people liked, because they were not as bright as many other tower's. I still found them bright. I was using them for the rear channels for both HT and stereo. They have since been replaced by Boston Acoustic M-350's.
Klipsch has been heavily marketing their towers for HT for years now and they've captured a huge market share. Their new heritage models aren't easy to find in a Dealer's showroom. The new Forte and Heresy are starting to gain some traction in the 2 channel arena. Also, I think high efficiency speakers have been a tiny presence in 2 channel, everybody wants big amps with lots of power. It's in recent years that direct marketing start ups like Zu and Tekton have have made a lot of headway with them.
The old commercial K-horns were not corner loaded, the sound was redirected out two vertical openings which ran down the left and right cabinet fronts.
Of all the Heritage line that i've heard, the Chorus IIs deliver the most bang for the buck and footprint. (And yes, i've heard stock LaScalas & K-Horns.)
My local dealer in NH has four Klipsch Heritage speakers in various demo rooms. Heresy III, Forte III, La Scala and Cornwall. The La Scala has a retro set up. Hooked up to a Luxman CL 38U-SE (Looks like a vintage Marantz) Luxman MQ-88 tube amp and a Luxman TT. Killer sound.
I just took delivery of a new pair of Walnut Heresy III’s for a music only system. Thrilled with them so far, and awaiting delivery of a PrimaLuna integrated this week.
One has to hear the latest mk III versions of these speakers to really understand what Klispch brings to the table. The crossovers and drivers are perfectly respectable and as good or better than those found in any other mass-production alternative. One doesn't need to immediately throw Crites parts at them. They can require some careful gear matching, but they're very competitive at their respective price points. I don't know of any other new-production speakers that can manage the "live sound" effect so well at their prices. The JBL Synthesis monitors can surely do it but they cost more pound for pound and require stands. Acoustic Sounds sells many of the major British brands in addition to Vandys, yet Cornwalls and Heresys are a couple of their best sellers. As for their inflated sensitivity ratings, I don't see why that really matters when they can still reach ear-damaging volumes on a handful of watts.
I have no way of knowing what the actual sensitivity is. I doubt if I much care either. My A7's are rated at 103 dB. Just a little factoid, both Klipsch legacy speakers and Altec Lansing speakers and I'm speaking of those that were manufactured back in the day, their sensitivity ratings were measured at a distance of 4' and not the 3' distance that speaker's are measured today. Now, while the Altec's are rated at 103 dB sensitivity, and in a rock concert situation, they are. But, in a home stereo situation, with passive crossovers, the energy that is going to the HF has been antenuated at the crossover, so that the HF is a more close match to the base bin. So the overall actual efficiency is actually a bit lower that 103 dB. However, they are pretty damn efficient and it takes one heck of a speaker to compete with them efficiency wise. The vintage La Scala's are rated at 104 dB, as measured at a distance of 4' and let me tell you, they are even more efficient than the A7's. All it takes is a tiny little bit of power to filling a room with some significant sound. You put as much as 50-Watts into a La Scala, you can't be in the room with one. If you did choose to do so, you would risking permanent hearing damage. Let's say that the A7's are actually at 100 dB efficiency in the real world. I have efficient tower speakers that are around 90 dB efficient, and the A7's appear to play twice as loud as the 90 dB efficient tower's. So maybe the A7's are't even 100 dB efficient, but maybe the 90 dB efficient tower speaker's are actually less than 90 dB efficient? It may all be relative. I do have the Klipsch Icon modern tower's and they are rated at 97 dB. I don't know their actual efficiency, but I do suspect that it is less than that, from actual listing. I don't know if the La Scala's are actually 104 dB efficient, but I can tell you that they are clearly more efficient than the A7's are. What the modern RF7's series III are, I don't know, but I do agree with Helom. They are efficient enough to send you running form the room with only 20-40 Watts of power.
I run a pair of Heresys - they are "serious 2 channel" speakers. You need some room around them, sit them up a bit (I have mine on some cinder blocks) and power them with vintage or tube amps. They can be "edgy" if you play poorly mastered cds, but they really sound great with well cared for vinyl. Very efficient, 50 watts and you can blow your windows out...
I've had my Heresy's thirty years. I'm giving them to my son because he wants them and will probably acquire another pair of II's. A quick comment on crossovers. There have been a lot of improvements over the years. My office AR-4x's are on their fourth set. The current ones are from the late Carl Richard. A Toronto engineer (former Snell) has one that is better but takes more power. I may give them a try.
Methods of rating speaker efficiency vary all over the place, so it's difficult to compare one with another. Different distances from speaker to mic. Anechoic chamber vs. real room. Single speaker vs. pair. Just a few variables that must be taken into consideration.
I personally don't care for passive radiator designs. More than twice the $, but if you like that look, consider the Volti Audio Rival. If I had to start over and had the budget, they would be on my short list.
It wouldn't be my first choice either. I don't have two good corners for needed reflection but this is a new fully enclosed design and should be less fussy with placement. I'm also not going to drop 16K on a set of speakers the size of a refrigerator but I think it does meet the criteria of "serious". .
I'm very curious to hear your impressions of the Klipsch if you hear them. I'm in a similar boat atm. I'm using a SE 10w with 88db speakers and wondering how much would change with easier to drive speakers. I get plenty of volume, but the control and coherency seems to fall apart at high volumes or on dynamic passages.
Sound for the dollar I'll take the horns over the Harbeths. The problem with Klipsch is usually the types of stores selling them sell horrible equipment and garbage in garbage out - so the speaker gets blamed by people who think all amps sound the same. In British Columbia, Canada Klipsch is sold at a drug store called London Drugs - 16 speakers packed into a room the size of a den with 20 receivers connected to a switch box. OR in a London Drugs with the same crappy equipment and a room 1/3 the size of a Gym with 30 foot ceilings. Klipsch exhibit some horn shout but then they bring some positives to the table. HE speakers are almost always more lively sounding. I don't get that from Harbeth or other LE speakers. They have other qualities though.
