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

Product Information

Since I have to score the speaker as designed, it gets my worst rating of "stay away." If you have ability to EQ, and you better do if you are hanging around this forum, then you have a good offering. Who doesn’t enjoy good music quality to enjoy whether throughout the day or just for a bit of time? 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 . . .

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

Getting the RP-600Ms to serve up their full menu of pleasures required positioning them with care. The speakers' off-axis response delivered a sweet spot at least two people wide, and generated satisfying instrumental tone everywhere in my room. At 10' from the front wall in Sphere's room, the RP-600Ms' tonal character leaned toward lean, but so what? They made a mile-deep soundstage. In my room, moving them 3' from the front wall reduced soundstage depth by at least 50%, but the bass and lower midrange were fuller—more to my liking. I also discovered that each inch I moved them farther from or closer to the front wall changed their tonal balance. With the Klipsches only 66" apart and 75" from my ears, their front baffles precisely 29" from the wall behind them, and no toe-in, the weight and timbre of Alexander Melnikov's piano as he performed Book 2 of Debussy's Préludes (24-bit/96kHz FLAC, Harmonia Mundi/Qobuz) was just right for me. 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… The woofers used with the RP-600M are Cerametallic woofers that measure six and a half inches. They are stiff and rigid, being an excellent material of choice considering low distortion as a requirement. 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 makes use of the pillar-controlled directivity in the design of the tweeter. Why does this matter?

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

There are speakers in the market that play even bigger, revealing more detail, but non this good for their price. As the tweeter has some directivity, you will need to do the setup carefully. Every speaker needs to be placed at a distance from the rear wall and angled in the same way. 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.The Klipsch RP-600M overall, is a nice speaker. The bass output is amazing for the size that it measures. The sound quality that comes out through these speakers is effortless, which sounds like live music in a concert. 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? 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.

Klipsch RP-600M Loudspeaker | Hi-Fi News Klipsch RP-600M Loudspeaker | Hi-Fi News

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 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.

Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M loudspeaker

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.

Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M loudspeaker Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M loudspeaker

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room. 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. 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. 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.

Klipsch RP-600M Loudspeaker

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. The Klipsch RP-600M speaker has gained major popularity among audiophiles. Just one look at the shining copper woofer will make you understand why. The aesthetic continues throughout the trim and covers all of the fasteners. 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. Normally I don't suggest letting automated room EQ fix the speaker but in this case, I would let it beat it into shape. 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.