Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M II Bookshelf Speaker Pair with All-New Larger 90° x 90° Hybrid Tractrix Horn, 6.5” Cerametallic Woofers for Dynamic Home Theater Sound in Walnut

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Musicians are easily identified within the RP-600M II’s wide soundstage. Depth is also portrayed well, despite me using the Klipsch closer to the wall (40cm) than usual to fill out the sound a little. The quid pro quo of that is usually a reduction in perceived depth. Not so here. Even more impressive given that rear port, which is inevitably interacting with the wall.

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to read our article about the top quality Amplification system for your Klipsch RP-600M speaker system. If you own a Klipsch RP-600M, I hope you will find this guide helpful in finding and purchasing an amplifier. Semyon Bychkov’s newly released Mahler 1 with the Czech Philharmonic is a superb recording coupled to one of the best readings I’ve heard. The M2si and RP-600M II laid it all out in front of me in a huge soundstage. The music was expansive, explosive, stirring; goosebumps abounded. As with the best systems, analysis fell by the wayside as the music gripped me. The Marantz PM7000N is equipped with HEOS Built-in technology (Play Spotify, Pandora, and Tidal using AirPlay 2, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth) and produces high-quality sound with 60 watts per channel. With the Marantz PM7000N, you get great sound quality at an excellent value. The treble is definitely brighter and those who are sensitive to a more aggressive top end might not agree with my assessment. The imaging is far superior to the older model and that contributed to my enjoyment of the loudspeakers in a significant way.

Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M II Review: Sound quality

In the song “Annabelle” I loved how the guitar and horn solos were precisely placed on both sides of the soundstage. Macy’s vocal was nicely focused in the center and sounded very natural. The 600M II made the performance come alive, with nice depth and height, providing a holographic performance I’ve only heard from speakers costing twice as much, like the Polk Legend L200 and the Buchardt S400. Paul W. Klipsch founds Klipsch and Associates, and patents his design for the famous Klipschorn corner loudspeaker. This original design, along with Peter Walker's original Quad electrostatic loudspeaker (1957), marked the beginnings of high-fidelity home audio as we know it today. The illustrious Quad ESL was discontinued in 1985. At the Klipsch factory in Hope, Arkansas, the legendary Klipschorn is still being manufactured, 73 years after its launch. Also doesn't work for that X% that even Olive and Toole admit makes subjective testing a requirement even if the measurements alone are good. Today, it is more likely that one will listen to music on a computer or smartphone than on a turntable, but choosing speakers to meet one’s taste remains a compelling reason for upgrading to an NAD amplifier. The amplifier is based on the original NAD 3020 idea and works well with the Klipsch RP-600M. The NAD Electronics D 3020 V2 also offers a phono input for vinyl playing and a 24/192 DAC with eight channels blended to 2 for enhanced resolution. The NAD D 3020 V2 has 30 watts per channel of power, and according to NAD, this 30W amplifier can provide 100W amplifier performance. And accordingly, when we powered the Klipsch Speaker, the sound was amazing. So, this classic NAD D 3020 amp is enough to drive the RP-600M speakers to loud volumes.

The vented tweeter housing reduces standing waves that create unwanted harmonics, resulting in enhanced detail and clarity in high frequency reproduction. The On-axis Frequency Response (0°) is the universal starting point and in many situations it is a fair representation of the first sound to arrive at a listener’s ears. One of the more neutral Klipsch speakers I’ve listened to and the data shows reasonable linearity. However, there is a treble boost starting around 8kHz. From my perspective, the downside was that it wasn’t the most transparent sounding speaker compared to other loudspeakers in the Klipsch range and it left a bit to be desired when it came to detail and top end airiness.The sensitivity is 86dB @ 2.83v/1m, despite Klipsch rating this speaker at 94.5dB (using in-room, half-space conditions). The exclusive Linear Travel Suspension minimizes distortion for enhanced, detailed performance. LTS tweeters are a hallmark of previous Reference lines, making it a core component of some of the best speakers in the world.

Also like the 600M, the new model has dual input terminals for Bi-wiring or Bi-amping, but the 600M II uses exposed wire jumpers instead of metal straps like the first model. I actually like the original design better, as it looked cleaner, but the new 5-way binding posts are easier to access, so that’s a plus. 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).The final result is a speaker rated at 94.5 dB @2.83v/1m efficiency which is 2 dB lower than the original model; Klipsch have a reputation for being somewhat liberal with their specs in this regard and the measurements from both loudspeakers have suggested that the real world sensitivity is certainly 2-3 dB less. The nominal impedance is 8 ohms and RMS is 100 watts/channel with a 400 watt peak and the frequency response is rated at 44Hz – 25kHz. The purpose of this test is to illustrate how much (if at all) the output changes as a speaker’s components temperature increases (i.e., voice coils, crossover components) instantaneously.