KEF or Klipsch?

To Doug Schneider,

I am an avid reader of SoundStage! Hi-Fi. Your thoughts on a couple of speakers would be appreciated. For some years now I have been a fan of Klipsch speakers; previously, B&W was my preferred choice until one fateful day when I listened to some RF-82 IIs. They sounded clean, transparent, and robust. I felt immersed in the music. It is time for an upgrade and I am thinking of buying Klipsch RF-7 IIs or KEF R500s. I read your glowing review of the latter. How do think they would compare to the Klipsch speakers? The RF-7 IIs are quite large. I am getting quite a deal on the RF-7 IIs at $2600/pair, including tax, and $1949/pair for the R500s, excluding tax.

Cheers,
Paul Davidson

I’d like to tell you something about Klipsch’s speakers, but I can’t -- the company has never sent us a pair to review. KEF, on the other hand, has sent us quite a few speakers, including, obviously, the R500, which I personally reviewed. As a result, I can confidently state that the R500 is outstanding and one of the best loudspeaker values around. I don't think you could go wrong buying the R500s, particularly for that price. . . . Doug Schneider