# 1st Take: Klipsch RP-160M



## Oleson M.D. (Feb 3, 2010)

These arrived a few days ago, and I have been running them 24/7 for a proper break in.

My reference CD's are "Matt Bianco, featuring Basia" (matt's mood), "Lee Ritenour" (Wes Bound), and "Gordon Goodwin's The Phat Pack".

In addition, a good amount of classical listening was done via a local FM channel.

Piano on these is simply superb! You can almost here the percussion of each hammer strike on the strings of the piano. Very lifelike. The entire register floats across the room without effort.

Violins come across with a depth and timbre that belie the small size of these speakers. Truly amazing.

Horns, both trumpets, trombones, and woodwinds are a treasure. The full impact of a big band is on tap here!

Female voices (very hard to reproduce) are genuine, with depth. The same for male voices.

The overall presentation here is slightly on the forward side...with a stunning playback of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. The cannons and the ringing of the bells must be heard! Close your eyes, and you think you are sitting orchestra center at the Tobin Concert Theater in San Antonio! 

These bookshelf speakers actually sat on top of my reference VMPS Tower II SE's during the break in and audition. The overall sound, bass, treble, soundstage, and impact, rivaled my reference towers.

The two things that most impress me about these, the deep bass extension/impact, and the lifelike quality of strings, piano, and horns.

These could easily serve as the L+C+R in a home theater setup. And they would serve well in any surround function as well.

Don't let the small size of the RP-160M's fool you, as they are big on sound.

Highly recommended!!!


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

I’ve read many reviews similar to yours here. It seems klipsch has really addressed the “harshness” that some have complained about over the years. The newer RP series is a real bargain that’s effective for HT and music both.


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## Oleson M.D. (Feb 3, 2010)

willis7469 said:


> I’ve read many reviews similar to yours here. It seems klipsch has really addressed the “harshness” that some have complained about over the years. The newer RP series is a real bargain that’s effective for HT and music both.


While I only listened to these with various types of stereo music, they would easily serve front line duty in a Home Theater setup.

On sale for $349/pair, with free 2 day shipping. A real bargain if you can snag a pair.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I snagged 4 of the RP160Ms, and 4 of the RP150Ms, and I am loving them for the am on t I paid. I picked up all of mine as open box from an authorized Dealer.

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## Mazza (Jun 27, 2010)

Great speaker.

"_The overall presentation here is slightly on the forward side..._" Just a tiny smidge too much energy up high but nothing terrible. 

Great directivity as expected from a waveguide loaded system.

Measured at 1 metre, 5ms gating at 2 volts...












Just be aware these are most certainly not 8ohms speakers, typo the day the labels were printed?... :huh:












Horizontal measurements, a bit too much energy above 2khz relative to what's below....












Same data just now in a Dr Geddes polar plot....












Vertical off axis response, try to keep your ear at tweeter level.....












The matching centre RP-250C is nice too, but definitely not off axis, like all centre channel speakers..... lddude:

*The folly of a horizontally arranged centre channel speaker*. 




:T


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I need to run REW on mine as mine do not have an elevated high frequency to my ears.

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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I am curr3ntly running mine as LCR, and they do a great job. I have mi e on 24" high stands.

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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I ran YPAO today, and now that I see your charts I know why it showed them as large speakers, and set the crossovers to 40hz with a sub.

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## Mazza (Jun 27, 2010)

Ellis, my measurements are gated to 5ms so what you see below about 200hz isn't reliable data. The room and where your speakers are located dominates down there anyways so that will be different for each.


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## Oleson M.D. (Feb 3, 2010)

I like these so much, just ordered a 2nd pair from Crutchfield. $379/pair is a great deal. With free shipping!

These will replace some lessor quality speakers in the Master BR. The 160M's are the best small speakers on the planet.

I have become a Klipsch convert.


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