Two-Channel Speakers Klipsch Palladium P-39F Floor-standing Speakers
| Klipsch Palladium P-39F Floor-standing Speakers |
| Written by John E. Johnson, Jr. |
| Sunday, 24 August 2008 17:00 |
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Klipsch P-39F Speakers On the Bench At 50 Hz, THD+N was 2.7%. I measured this at 1 foot from the center woofer.  At 1 kHz, measured from the midrange driver, distortion was a very low 0.4%.  And, at 10 kHz, measured from the tweeter, 0.5%.  Room response, measured at 2 meters, is shown below. The bump between 60 Hz and 80 Hz is a room effect. The response is flat between 600 Hz and 20 kHz. The response below 600 Hz is a little lower than the response above 600 Hz (the crossover frequency between the midrange driver and woofers is 500 Hz). I suspect this is due to the more focused transmission of the sound from the horn-loaded midrange driver and tweeter, as compared to the conventional woofer cone drivers, and that I tested the speakers quite a way in from any walls. The tri-wiring capability would really come in handy here by simply driving the midrange and tweeter together, and a second power amplifier for the woofers. Then the low frequencies could be raised to be in line with the rest of the room response.  The impedance dips down to 3 Ohms between 100 and 400 Hz, but then stays beetween 8 Ohms and 16 Ohms from 900 Hz to 20 kHz. The electrical phase stays between ± 600 throughout the audible region. In general, I would say the P-39F would be a relatively easy load to drive, even for small wattage tube amplifiers. The 100 Hz - 400 Hz region that has low impedance corresponds to a phase within -400 to +450.  I interviewed Claytor from Klipsch about the P-39F. Click on his photo below to download a video of the interview.
Conclusions About the Klipsch P-39F Speakers The new Klipsch Palladium P-39F speakers are impressive. It takes very little power to drive them, they sound neutral, and a strong point is their remarkable ability for pinpoint instrument and voice localization across the soundstage. Comments (13)
50Hz 2.7% THD N
written by Josuah , August 26, 2008 Is 50Hz 2.7% THD N actually good? It doesn't seem particularly good to me, but I'm basing that on electronics ratings.
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written by JEJ , August 26, 2008 It's not too bad actually. Even the JL Audio f113 had 1.6% THD N at 50 Hz, and it is a very good dedicated subwoofer. Distortion in the low frequencies is always much higher than the distortion at midrange and tweeter frequencies. Fortunately, in the deep bass, our ears can put up with a lot of distortion. 10% is the number most often mentioned as the upper limit of "acceptable" bass distortion.
thanks for the review
written by Rick , August 27, 2008 Thank you for the review. I found your choice of CDs very interesting.
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written by Jay , August 27, 2008 He said the room effect is 60 - 80 hertz, he tested at 50 hertz, so I would say much of the distortion is from the room.
I have heard P39F's also
written by J Malotky , August 27, 2008 I also have been very impressed with these speakers. A close friend of mine took delivery of his brand spanking new P39F’s about a month ago. I have heard details on these speakers that I never heard on any other speakers. The midrange is stunning. Very detailed and precise. What surprised me was the bass also was very detailed and precise and matches the midrange very nice. For an example way outside what was reviewed here one item we listened to was Metalica’s black album. I have this music memorized. I could clearly hear how they overdubbed a lower bass note at the initial attack of a phrase while clearly hearing the upper bass strings being plucked. As for the drums, each hit was clear and precise. Detail I never heard before on any speaker. The overall sound is very balanced and flat. The P39 does not sound like any other Klipsch speaker they have ever made. Comparing these to Klipschorns or Cornwalls would not be fair in my opinion. This is a brand new sound for Klipsch. I bet the brass and engineering departments at Klipsch are very proud of this product. In my opinion, Klipsch hit this one out of the park. This product will be the new standard everyone will try to meet. If you get a chance, give them a listen. The experience is a real treat. I just wish I had $20K to spend.
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written by JEJ , August 27, 2008 For speaker testing, I like to use CDs that have guitar or other stringed instruments, something with powerful bass, and of course, something with the human voice. We receive lots of new CDs all the time, so I usually select something from the new music that has arrived. I also listen to some familiar CDs, but I like to have something fresh and new as well.
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written by JEJ , August 28, 2008 This was the first big set of horn-loaded speakers I have tested. The most amazing thing about them was the pinpoint instrument localization across the stage. Surely, the focused sound from the horns had something to do with it. I wish I had some small single-ended Class A triode tube amps on hand at the time of the review to use with them, but no such luck. The Lamm ML2.1 18 watt monoblocks would have been perfect.
distortion at 100dB
written by Arg , September 10, 2008 I like the way you tested distortion at 99-100dB. Was that just because the speaker sensitivity is 99dB? I hope not. I like to see speakers tested at high SPL. There is no point in testing the Klipsch at 100dB and an 85dB speaker at 85dB. In reality we are going to listen to them both at the same SPL, so they should be tested at the same SPL. That raises the question of what SPL to standardise for measurement. Personally I would like to see all speakers tested at a level that produces 105dB at 2 metres (the distance being a proxy standard listening distance). This is the peak level adopted for cinemas, and for THX certification, and for mastering the audio for commercial DVD, so it makes sense for consumers to know what the product delivers at that level, especially in terms of distortion and dynamic compression at a range of frequencies. And, I bet, doing so would sort the men from the boys! Some speakers would not even be able to deliver a result at, say, 50Hz.
Klipsch RF 83's worth a listen
written by K Elliott , September 21, 2008 I have owned a pair of RF 83's for about a year now and love them. They have many of the same qualities as their much more expensive brethren reviewed above. Very detailed yet smooth highs, powerful quick bass and very liquid midrange. Very easy to drive; the headphone jack on my preamp could drive them reasonably well. Since they must be located near the rear walls in my room to make domestic life liveable the bass was rather boomy - no problem, just blocked one of the three rear firing ports with foam on each speaker - worked like a champ; cleaned the bass right up. These speakers sound great with tubes!
Klipsch RF 62
written by Eugene Penn, St.Petersburg, Russia , September 30, 2008 Have them since last January. Sounds perfect to me after long and painfully choosing the right one speakers.
Klipsch RF-7
written by Rob , October 14, 2008 To me one off the best especcially with my Denon A11xva. Superb. Il like the reviews of the new speakers P-39F. Nice!
RF-82
written by Richard , December 24, 2008 I have a klipsch RF-82 matched system, except for the subwoofer, which I upgraded to the rt-12d. All I can say Klipsch has me as a customer for life. These speakers should last me at least 10-20 years, if not more, and I will definitely be getting another Klipsch system to replace them.
Klipsch are awesome
written by Gregory Miller , January 26, 2009 I own to pair of klipsch speakers one pair is the RF35 and the other pair is synergy F3. I have a rotel receiver and a rotel 200 watt power amp monster cables with 24 karat gold bananas and man they sound superb. Klipsch fan for life. I might have to tell the kids they cant go to college because daddy needs a pair of palladiums now lol Write comment
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