Klipsch RP-600M Reference Premiere Bookshelf Speakers - Pair (Ebony)

Product Information

This speaker offers the famous Klipsch sound quality. It is a highly efficient and highly sensitive loudspeaker. Design, Features, And Build The titanium dome tweeters feature LTS (Linear Travel Suspension) for a precise, low-distortion sound. The new vented tweeter housing further reduces distortion by reducing standing waves that can cause unintended pressure and dome movement. Put together, this tech gives you super-precise sound with enhanced detail. World famous for their horn-loaded treble units, the RP-600M II features an improved design. The new 90-degree Tractrix horn surround is larger than before, giving a wider spread of sound but with the same clarity and intensity as ever. Using a phase plug and moulded silicon face, high frequency sound is smoothly imaged, precisely to the listener – making even the most subtle details easy to decipher. Horn loading accomplishes two things. First, a horn's restricted throat mechanically loads the dome (or cone). This restrictive loading creates a region of high pressure that a horn whose flare is of a certain length and rate of expansion can effectively convert to a large, pulsing wavefront at normal atmospheric pressure. This elegant form of tuned acoustic impedance matching not only makes a horn speaker more sensitive to voltage, it reduces the amount of diaphragm excursion required to produce a given sound-pressure level (SPL), thereby linearizing the system and reducing distortion. Within their designated passbands, horns can be incredibly linear and low-distortion—especially at very low and very high SPLs, where conventional direct-radiating speakers compress and distort. As part of their Reference Premiere range, the RP-600M II speakers are finished in scratch resistant, premium grade ebony vinyl. Combined with the satin painted baffle and the eye-catching copper woofers, they stand out from the crowd. For a more discrete look, simply push on the magnetically attached speaker grilles.

Klipsch RP-600M II (Ebony) | Bookshelf Speakers - Richer Sounds Klipsch RP-600M II (Ebony) | Bookshelf Speakers - Richer Sounds

Klipsch makes use of the pillar-controlled directivity in the design of the tweeter. Why does this matter? Paul W. Klipsch founds Klipsch and Associates, and patents his design for the famous Klipschorn corner loudspeaker. This original design, along with Peter Walker's original Quad electrostatic loudspeaker (1957), marked the beginnings of high-fidelity home audio as we know it today. The illustrious Quad ESL was discontinued in 1985. At the Klipsch factory in Hope, Arkansas, the legendary Klipschorn is still being manufactured, 73 years after its launch. The RP-600M's sensitivity is specified as an extraordinarily high 96dB/W/m, its frequency response as 45Hz–25kHz, ±3dB. The quality of the Klipsch RP-600M build is excellent considering the price it is offered at. Features concerning the technology

Naked, the WE555 diaphragm looks a lot like a metal-dome tweeter, and almost exactly like the drivers in some of today's best and most expensive headphones. I mention this because, without a horn, these aluminum domes become "dome tweeters" that convert less than 1% of the energy supplied them into acoustic output. With a horn attached, the WE555 converts more than 20% (footnote 2). For a bookshelf speaker, the Klipsch RP-600M is a medium to prominent size speaker. The speaker measures 16” in height, 12” in-depth, and 8 inches in width. Hence, although they might fit nicely on a substantial-sized bookcase, they will most probably be kept on a set of speaker stands. Redesigned from the ground up, Klipsch's all-new Reference Premiere series leverages over 70 years of loudspeaker history. We audition the largest of its bookshelf trio... Footnote 1: Mix Staff, " 1925: Chester Rice & Edward Kellogg, General Electric Co. Modern Dynamic Loudspeaker." Mix, September 1, 2007. Because the world is so full of standmount speakers, it’s easy for interesting new ones to get lost in the crowd. This is down to the fact that most are merely variations on the two-way, ported box theme. So it’s nice when models like this come along that stand out from the budget speaker norm. Yes, it has a tweeter and a mid/bass driver plus a reflex port – but that’s where the similarity stops, at least to almost everything at or near its price. In design terms it’s something of a walk on the wild side, but what else would you expect from US horn loudspeaker legend Klipsch?

Klipsch RP-600M Speaker Review - Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum Klipsch RP-600M Speaker Review - Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

Out of the box, the Klipsch RP-600M throws out the rule book, thinking that if you just sold boosted lows and highs and leaving mids behind is a good idea. It is not. Objective and subjective testing shows this to be a horrible choice ranking the speaker as one of the worst I have tested. Dial in some simple EQ though and the speaker transforms into a beauty. The "horn" is actually not a horn but a waveguide that is doing its job to provide uniform off-axis response allowing one to EQ the mid-range dip. The RP-600M efficiency is rated at 96db, which is pretty high. One can easily drive them with a lesser-powered amp or a receiver and even then have the room around you filled with huge sound. Performance The RP-600M has a speedy and bouncy sound, with an animated nature and a general lust for life. This is a hugely attractive facet to its personality, because its enthusiastic and jolly nature means that you end up excusing its shortcomings. These are centred around a somewhat uncouth treble and gloopy-sounding upper bass. As for its lower bass, well there isn’t much to speak of… This tech is patented by the company Klipsch, and you may find this technology in other speakers. There are many layers of metal over the cone that led it to be stiff. This is great as it avoids breakup. The mix-up of materials leads to the driver’s regular breakup point to the point that is pretty far from the frequency that it works in.

Klipsch RP-600M Loudspeaker

This way, you will get to experience a wide and tall soundstage like the one that we could experience. Another observation is that the speakers performed exceptionally well when placed at a distance of at least 18 inches from the rear wall. It is typical when it comes to bookshelf speakers when placed over a stand. The stereo imaging with these speakers is not as amazing as a few other speakers in the market. You get a more diffuse sound quality with the Klipsch RP-600M. However, it is more alive in a dynamic fashion.

RP-600M Bookshelf Speakers | Klipsch RP-600M Bookshelf Speakers | Klipsch

Some sounds will reach your ear from the speakers directly, and those frequencies that reached you have actually bounced off walls and then reached you. The sonic character of the sound gets affected when it bounces off surfaces. It also causes a delay in the sound. Suppose you listen to sounds from speakers outside without any walls, over a 10’ tall stand this wouldn’t be very important, as sound cannot bounce off anything. But when we consider a regular room with walls, sound bounces off surfaces.

I had a slight preference for the sound of the RP-600Ms with their magnetically attached grilles in place, but my review observations were made without grilles. Suppose you have an equipment cabinet situated in between both your speakers; you can set it up so that the speakers are situated a little ahead of the cabinet. It is a great setup for obtaining excellent results from these speakers. A spectacularly high efficiency rating of 94.5dB makes it possible to use these speakers with just about any amp or mini system. The ultra-high efficiency rating means an amp with a power output of just 10 watts should be enough to power these speakers to high levels. This makes them the ideal match for valve amps or even good quality but lower powered mini systems. Who doesn’t enjoy good music quality to enjoy whether throughout the day or just for a bit of time?

Klipsch RP-600M | Hi-Fi Choice Klipsch RP-600M | Hi-Fi Choice

Titanium dome tweeters have been out of fashion for a while now. Yet the Klipsch’s 25mm unit is aided and abetted by Tractrix horn loading, and proves a game changer. It’s a Klipsch trademark and here it confers greater sensitivity upon the tweeter and helps sound propagate out into the room better. At 1.5kHz it crosses over to the mid/bass unit, which looks very colourful with its 165mm spun copper Cerametallic cone. This is claimed to be stiffer and less prone to break up than conventional cones. If you've ever dipped your toe into some form of high-performance motor sport, you know: The best race-car engines spin torque and exhale horsepower—with intoxicating ease. They're engineered to be responsive. Depress the clutch, toe the throttle, and watch the tachometer instantly pin itself. Engage the clutch—your chest contracts and your head gets light. Then later . . . Many speakers in the market can match the price range, but there are not many speakers that can match the deep bass that this speaker produces. These speakers tend to offer an atmosphere like a live performance.

Klipsch RP-600M

The diaphragm made of Titanium metal is housed in such a way that it forces it to have a piston-like motion. Klipsch had first begun this in the more expensive speakers that they sold known as Linear Travel Suspension. There can be some hardness in the upper midrange level that can be bothersome to some people with vocals. It depends on the amplifier. If you go ahead with warmer sources and amplifiers, the issue will not come up, and you will think they are unbelievable. Pros and Cons Pros I found the RP-600M easy enough to position, although you don't want it too close to a boundary wall, for it needs at least 50cm of breathing space for optimum bass performance. A slight toe-in helped sharpen-up the stereo imaging too. Otherwise it's equally unfussy about the partnering amplifier. I used a beefy Cambridge Audio Edge W but discovered it was just as happy on the end of Icon Audio's Stereo 40 valve amp [ HFN May '19]. In both cases, a Chord Hugo 2 DAC [ HFN Aug '18] was employed as my main source.