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9.3 out of 10

Klipsch RB-81

First seen: 16 october 2006

Information found in: from 27 sources in 15 countries.

Best Price: 314.00 USD

  • User Score (9)
    9.1 9.1 from 9 reviewers
  • Expert Score (4)
    8.2 8.2 from 4 reviewers
  • Value for money (2)
    9.4 9.4 from 2 reviewers
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Pros & Cons

  • but the sound, crisp sound, true to the input, compact and attractive, well built
  • a lack of neutrality

Klipsch RB-81

The Klipsch RB-81 is an Ultra-high-performance floor standing bookshelf loudspeaker designed with high-end materials and cosmetic elegance that offers an exceptional combination of sound and style. It comes with Tractrix® Horn technology to eliminates acoustic interference from shelf installations, high-output Cerametallic woofers providing intense bass response with astonishing speed and accuracy, also Professional-grade titanium dome compression driver and it is available in either …

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Klipsch RB-81

The Klipsch RB-81 is an Ultra-high-performance floor standing bookshelf loudspeaker designed with high-end materials and cosmetic elegance that offers an exceptional combination of sound and style. It comes with Tractrix® Horn technology to eliminates acoustic interference from shelf installations, high-output Cerametallic woofers providing intense bass response with astonishing speed and accuracy, also Professional-grade titanium dome compression driver and it is available in either Cherry or Black Ash wood grain vinyl finish and comes with a knife-edge back and low-diffraction, magnetically attached grille.

Features

The Klipsch RB-81 is designed with Tractrix® Horns technology that includes improved throat geometry for a more genuine, lifelike sound combined with a professional-grade 1-inch titanium diaphragm compression driver a large ceramic motor structure to provide a unique combination of precision, clarity and effortless power. The Klipsch RB-81 is fitted with 8-inch high-output woofers for a solid bass foundation and greater control, output and power handling. These Cerametallic woofers with inverted copper dust caps exhibit a very high stiffness-to-mass ratio and superb damping characteristics. The RB-81’s front-firing port eliminates turbulence noise and makes installation into custom cabinetry a breeze. Increased baffle ribbing around the horn mouth dramatically improves acoustics across the sonic range. For signal purity and perfect driver integration, the crossover on the RB-81 features the finest components and Klipsch custom internal wiring. The Klipsch RB-81 has a response bandwidth of up to 46Hz-23000Hz, approximately 3dB and peak power handling of 150W RMS, nominal power of 600W RMS. It also comes with 97dB @ 2.83V / 1m sensitivity, 8 ohms compatible nominal impedance and high frequency crossover of 1800Hz. Apart from that, the RB-81 has an amplification type of 2-way passive and it uses the wired connectivity technology. The RB-81 measures at 23.5cm in width, 31.1cm in depth and 48.3cm in height and it weights in at 13.6kg.

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Reviews of Klipsch RB-81

  1. Klipsch RB-81 Speaker System

    Reviewer: Home Theater
    16 October 2006
    Overall 9
    9.2
    Value for money 10
    9.5
    Features 9
    9.0
    Performance 9
    9.4
     

    When I ran across the Klipsch RB-81—in the newly renovated Reference Series—I couldn't resist ordering a set. It's been years since I've reviewed a two-way design with a great big 8-inch woofer. The very concept brought on one of my increasingly frequent bouts of nostalgia. Read more

  2. Klipsch RB-81 Speaker

    Reviewer: AVguide
    30 December 2008

    The RB-81 is an extremely efficient speaker; its 97 dB sensitivity specification means that it can generate a big sound with low power receivers, but it’s hearty enough to accommodate 150Wpc amplifiers. Read more

  3. Reviewer: What Hi-Fi?
    12 October 2008
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    For people who like to party hard and fill their place with bass, these big boys are ready to to audition Read more

  4. Reviews: Klipsch RB-81: Review

    1 September 2009
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    Reference series speakers are a top of the line Klipsch product, so quality is expected. These loudspeakers are not for the budget conscious, but you may have cause to consider them if you are after long lasting quality for your home theater. Crisp sound quality, great performance across low, mid and high sound ranges means that there is real value in adding in a pair of these to your setup. Depending on your intentions, there may be better value for money in previous... Read more

  1. Reviewer: Review Centre
    25 April 2008
    Overall 10
    10
    Value for money 5
    5.0
    Sound quality 4
    4.0
     

    We are classical musicians who researched blogs and review sites like this, as well as looking at the specs of many speakers. I had experience with Klipsch hearing some older enormous ones in a friend's house, which were impressive. I purchased the little Promedia speakers for my computer---also impressive and I'm sad they aren't making them if I'm correct. Anyway, we got the speakers and are knocked out with them. The most significant reason is that they don't add what... Read more

  2. Good Bookshelves

    Reviewer: Rich Z, J&R
    4 May 2010
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    These speakers are some of the biggest bookshelves I've auditioned. They are a well built punchy speaker but, a little to laid back for my ears. The high end also lacks IMO clarity. They sound good and, for the price they are a deal. If you have never owned a home theater or are not a critical 2 channel listener these speakers will knock you out . Read more

  3. Reviewer: Spod, What Hi-Fi?
    19 June 2010

    Please note that these speakers ARE biwirable. When basic mistakes like that are made you do have to wonder if the reviewers even got the speakers out of box, or if they just took one look and dismissed them as vulgar american behemoths. Having managed to get a new pair for the bargain price of ???290, I'm loving them so far. Vocals are strong and realistic (shrill for the first couple of hours but that soon passed) and the bass is tuneful and controlled. Baffles me why... Read more

  4. Entertaining... but won't be to everyone's taste.

    Reviewer: Amazon
    11 July 2010
    Overall 8
    8.0
     

    This review is from: Klipsch Synergy RB81 - Bookshelf HiFi Speaker - Black (Electronics) First the basic facts. These speakers are biwirable, they are priced singly, as far as I can determine they're only partially magnetically shielded (opposing magnets but not capped) so keep away from old CRT TVs, and they take a long, long time to run in (well over 100 hours). And the price on Amazon varies massively so it can be worth waiting for a bargain. Straight out of the box... Read more

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