Ears and eyes-on with Klipsch’s new Reference Premiere speakers

By Caleb Denison January 6, 2015

Iconic American speaker maker Klipsch has unleashed an entirely new line of passive loudspeakers at CES 2015. Dubbed Reference Premiere, the new speakers were designed from the ground up to deliver everything Klipsch identifies itself with, including “low distortion, high efficiency, flat frequency response, broad dynamic range and controlled directivity,” according to the company.

Normally, we’d have to wait until the CES show floor opened to get our ears on these new speakers, but Digital Trends was fortunate enough to score a pair of the flagship floorstanding model in advance. Watch our first impressions video below for an up-close look, then continue to get details on the entire series.

The Reference Premiere series comprises three floorstanding speakers, two monitors (or bookshelf speakers) , three center channel options, and two dedicated surround sound speakers. All models are available in black woodgrain (ebony) or cherry wood polymer finishes.

All models sport Klipsch’s Titanium tweeters loaded into a newly designed 90 x 90-degree Tractrix horn enclosure which has been outfitted with a rubbery silicone finish that the company says eliminates horn resonances, resulting in a cleaner sound with better resolution and detail. Below the tweeters sit Kipsch’s iconic copper-toned cerametallic woofers, which, like the tweeters, are designed to be extremely sensitive.

The floorstanding speakers are made up of the RP-280F, RP-260F and RP-250F, featuring dual 8-inch, 6.5-inch and 5.25-inch woofers respectively. Prices for the floorstanders range from $800 to $1,350 per pair.

The two monitor models include the RP-160M and RP-150M, featuring 6.5-inch and 5.25-inch drivers, and priced at $500 and $600 respectively.

The three center channels in the series are the RP-450C, RP-440C and RP-250C, priced between $450 and $650, and the two surround speakers, the RP-250S and RP-240S, are priced at $325 and 450 each.

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