KlipschReference Series RB-81 II Bookshelf Speaker (Black)

I have wanted these speakers since getting my first pair of KB-15's, an earlier model made for Best Buy (5.25" LF/1" Al dome driven horn HF) and bargain priced at $130/pr shipped. I was amazed at their sound and sensitivity (efficiency). I A-B-ed them with mythen previous favorites - a pair of NHT SuperOne 2.1's bought new 12/14. Their great sensitivity over the NHT's almost sealed their fate - the small Klipsch speakers were moved to my hobby room, where they have been seriously enjoyed. My NHT's remained in my office, an 11' x 12' room where they are driven by an Onkyo 50 Wpc stereo receiver (TX-8020) and CDP (C-7030). I was pleased with the controlled bass and decent treble of the NHT's - but the midrange appeared lacking - I thought that the RB-81ii, with it's 8" LF driver and 1" Ti horn HF driver might be the answer. They seemed to have evaporated last winter.I checked Amazon for Prime stock of the speakers aperiodically - including a few weeks back, when I found them for $249/ea - a great price for the top of the line bookshelf speaker in their 'Reference' line - so I ordered a pair. I felt guilty - and cancelled the order the next day. Last Saturday, I checked - they were still available - I ordered another pair. I was determined to get them this time and they arrived Tuesday - in a word wow! They are large and heavy, which I was prepared for, having moved the bookcase's next shelf up allowing 22" vertical clearance. They are fed by #14 stranded zip cord, with the HF/LF jumpers in place. The front firing port allows placement of the 12.5" deep speaker in a 12" deep shelf, canted inward.. The coverage is wide - my ears are centered two feet in front of the plane the speakers are in and equidistant from the speakers (~5 ft). The stereo effect is consistent almost to the back wall (8 ft) and covers a cone three feet wide at my seated central position to six ft wide in front of the back wall. The LF is there, while the HF are great - and the MF is now present! It also takes a lot less to drive these speakers - my half-power HD < .03% can be appreciated (<.08% @ 50 WPC). I may have found my ideal speakers! If you think you might like them - don't wait too long - order your's. Oh, if they get any better after break-in... I'll be shocked. Besides being bi-wire capable, they have a nice grill cover that is held in place by magnets. The instruction manual is multilingual and pretty sparse. They come individually well-packed, too. My s/n's were ~100 apart... they looked identical - perfect - and 'factory fresh' - quite decent quality.

THESE 2 WAY SPEAKERS ARE NOTHING BUT OUSTANDING. THESE Klipsch RB-81 REFERANCE SPEAKERS ARE ON THE DISCOUTINUED LIST, BUILT LIKE A TANK, & THE SOUND IS SO CLEAR EVAN AT THIS PRICE POINT. THE SOUND STANGE IS EXPANSIVE WHEN YOU DRIVE THEM A LITTLE / LIKE A RACE HORSE. THE HIGHS ARE CLEAR & CRISP WHILE THE BASS IS TIGHT WITHOUT BOOMING OR EXHIBITING ANY FLABY DISTORTION. ( EXAMPLE ) GET A PHIL COLLINS CD & PLAY IN THE AIR TONIGHT & YOU WILL FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AT A LIVE CONCERT. TRUE, THE MIDS ARE A LITTLE THIN BUT WHAT DO EXPECT FROM A 2 WAY DESIGN. THESE SPEAKERS ARE IN MY BASEMENT BY THE BAR & EASILY FILL THE ENTIRE ROOM. UPSTAIRS FOR CRITICAL LISTENING I HAVE A SET OF 4 WAY, TOWER, STUDIO MONITOR SPEAKERS WITH A COST OF OVER $ 24,000.00 VERSUS THE Klipsch RB-81 BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS DOWNSTAIRS AT A COST OF LESS THAN $ 400.00 IT'S A NO BRAINER. THESE RB * 81 SPEAKERS ARE THE REAL DEAL SO YOU BETTER GRAB THEM WHILE YOU CAN BEFORE THEY ARE GONE.

Possibly biased because I like Klipsch speakers. All I can say is that the quality of the enclosure is matched by unexpected performance rivaling far larger speaker systems. Clarity of highs, authoritative bass, and very competitive price to performance. These are currently being used as studio monitors instead of powered speakers, but have the power to fill a large room (24x30) with full, rich sound.

Been 6 yrs now, these speakers come the closest to Klipsch Heritage as any mfgr can get. Mine are mated with Cornwall IIs and are a perfect match filling in sounds from the other side of the room. All you need at that point is a sub and a 110 watt receiver and BOOM! No matter what you play, magic. RB81s don't punch the bass out, but when adjusted with a good eq, will punch without distortion. Klipsch is still the best speaker made, sounds fantastic and I'm sold.

I bought these Klipsch RB-81 Refence II speakers to replace a pair of vintage Klipsch KG 2.5 speakers. My initial impression after hooking them up was that they were very "tinny" sounding and had too much high end compared to my old speakers. After a couple of weeks of letting them get burned in with various types and levels of music, I still thought that they had too much high end. I had to make some pretty drastic corrections to my EQ to tone down the higher frequencies. Now that I finally have EQ set properly, I can honestly say that these speakers deliver a rich, full sound and pack a serious punch. I attribute the initial tinny sound to 1) using my old EQ settings (for different speakers) and expecting these speakers to be exactly the same. They are not. 2) The horns on these speakers are incredibly efficient and thus provide great output without the need for much EQ boost. Overall, I'm very pleased with these speakers and they look great too (especially with the grilles removed).