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Early Reflections Directivity Index (EPDI): is defined as the difference between the listening window curve and the early reflections curve. In small rooms, early reflections figure prominently in what is measured and heard in the room so this curve may provide insights into potential sound quality. The room response must be averaged to recognize trends in the summation of direct and reflected signals at the microphone. The resulting curves must not be taken as a 1:1 representation of what is heard as loudness at different frequencies. The room response gives a picture of the steady state SPL, where sound generation and sound dissipation in the room have reached their equilibrium." -Linkwitz Switching up to Musical Fidelity’s M2si proved to be the sweet-spot pairing though. A little more body, notes more rounded out than through the Marantz. And a fabulously wide and deep soundstage. As a long-term Klipsch owner, the sudden interest in the Klipsch Heritage Series Loudspeakers on the part of the press has been interesting to observe from the outside as someone who wasn’t part of the press club. Spend any amount of time on the Klipsch forum and you will have a better understanding of what I’m talking about.
The new 600M sounds far more linear than any Klipsch speaker we have tested. I could still hear a mild rise in the bass around 40-50Hz, though I doubt many listeners will mind because it gives a fuller sound down low, and in some smaller to medium spaces may negate the need for a subwoofer. This being a rear-ported speaker, placement is key. Obviously you can boost the bass even further by parking the speaker closer to your front wall, or lessen the bass by pulling it out into your room; nevertheless, there is a rise in the speaker’s lower octaves that helps the bass to sound deeper not to mention just down right larger than you may expect a bookshelf like this to sound. But even with this slight boost in the lower octaves the resulting bass was more articulate than expected, possessing terrific speed and detail that blended well with the designer's sprinkling of manipulated weight. A signature feature on the Reference Premiere series, Cerametallic™ woofers are exceptionally rigid and lightweight for minimal distortion and maximum efficiency. New aluminum shorting rings reduce distortion as well as increased power handling and the new motor structure improve transit response with more control with greater speed and accuracy.The binding posts have been updated with the plastic plate of the earlier version removed and the connectors are now mounted through the cabinet material itself which helps preserve the stiffness of the box.
On the rear panel of each speaker is a port featuring more Tractrix geometry, designed for the most efficient, fastest air transfer from the cabinet, according to Klipsch. Below this is a “new and improved” input panel featuring two sets of aluminium binding posts to enable bi-wiring or bi-amping; I settled for a single run of Chord Shawline, connecting the speakers to my Naim NAIT CX3 and vintage Leak TL12 Plus tube amps – although not at the same time, of course! The mid bass performance of the RP-600M II was rather different as well; bass notes had greater definition, impact, and there was a lot more detail this time around. There was a definite upside to the RP-600M; a lot of performance for an affordable price, solid build quality, and it was rather easy to drive. Bookshelf or stand-mounted loudspeakers can’t be lumped into the same category when it comes to bass response and that is certainly true in regard to the RP-600M II. I knew from my experience with the RP-600M that while they were not bass shy, there isn’t as much impact in the low end as you might expect.At first glance –at least from the front –I doubt many would notice a difference between the original 600M and the 600M v2. The speaker is still a two-way, rear ported design featuring a one inch, vented titanium tweeter mated to a six and a half inch midrange driver. However, with version two, the tweeter sits inside a new, larger silicon Tractrix horn waveguide for greater dispersion. The cerametallic woofers also got an upgrade in the form of larger diameter voice coils and aluminum shorting rings, which (according to Klipsch) give the speaker better linearity throughout the bass, decreasing distortion while upping power handling resulting in improved speed and accuracy. These changes, along with the rear-facing tractrix port give the new 600M a reported frequency response of 44Hz to 25kHz which is unchanged from the previous model. The new 600M has an in room sensitivity of 94.5dB, which is a DECREASE compared to the original’s reported sensitivity of 96, though impedance is unchanged at 8 Ohms, meaning that like its predecessor, the new 600M isn’t going to be difficult to drive. 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. 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). Still a lot of other factors for me but I must admit that while I still treasure objective measurements and use them a lot, the more equipment(speakers and DSP wise) I have tested and played with the more I find subjective experince taking the drivers seat - once a basic baseline is met in objective data.
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