Rating: Summary: Amazing speakers, except for a few setbacks. Review: First of all, these are the best speakers out on the market. I don't care what anyone else says about them, they kick a** and take names. They not only sound amazing, but they are relatively easy to set up, at least they were on my Mac. The one and only setback, was their lack of a good headphone jack. I really, really need one, but they seem to lack it. Not a big problem, but a minor thing that might have helped me like this set-up more. 4 1/2 stars overall.
Rating: Summary: Beware!!! Review: Folks, these are great sounding speakers. They truly are. But these speakers are ALL digital and play TRUE digital sound. Even though they may sound great, these speakers only play 2.1 sound unless you have a DIRECT digital connection. Not even your Audigy 2 can play with all five channels going on here. Even if they are plugged into the D-IN on your Audigy 2, they will only play 2.1 sound, and no more. If you have an nForce motherboard such as the ASUS deluxe edition, then these speakers are great because on that specific motherboard you can play true-to-life digital sound, including direct Dolby Digital. The decoding on the Audigy 2 soundcard is way different. These speakers are meant generally for consoles and can only be used to the fullest on computers containing an ASUS Deluxe nForce2 motherboard. To those users out there: You are VERY lucky people. For the rest of us with KT400s or etc., you should go and buy an all-analog system or a digital speaker system made specifically for the Audigy 2 if you want digital. These are not the option.
Rating: Summary: Good for games, not a substitute for real home theater. Review: Had the system for a week now. For a gaming system it sounds pretty good, but for music and DVD soundtracks it doesn't bowl me over. Can't say why, it just is not as impressive as I would expect. Lack of dynamic response and low frequency reproduction are to blame.One of the reasons could be the subwoofer. The sub will not play very low notes. Here is a test you can try on your system to confirm. Get a copy of the Beatles "Abbey Road" and put on the second track, "Something" by George Harrison. Listen to McCartney's bass 58 seconds into the song, he plays a low "e" on his bass which is 41.2Hz. This system doesn't not play the fundamental, just the overtone an octave up at 82.4Hz. Now, this lack of ultra-low frequency reproduction is not uncommon, but my JVC mini-system totally nails this song. Good bass reproduction is critical, and there is not enough in the Klipsch to be satisfying for music.
Rating: Summary: These work with all sound cards Review: Hey All, These speakers are truley amazing, I've never heard imaging this precise even on my 5,000 home theater system. Many people are saying that this system can only connect to a soundcard in a 2.1 configuration. I have found that not to be the case. You can select 5 channel mode, Dolby PLII Music and PLII movie modes for games and this system plays out of all 5 speakers. I dare anyone to find a system that looks and sounds this good for gaming, movies and music. Another winner from Klipsch.
Rating: Summary: I wouldn't do it again! Review: I bought these direct from Klipsch, which I always thought was a good name. Not any more! The control saucer was defective on arrival and now after $350 I have to wait for them to send me a fedex slip, ship it back, and wait for them to ship me another! I am not at all pleased, and I really do not think much of Klipsh at this point. For all I know I'll get the saucer and something else will turn out defective! This speaks volumes about quality control at Klipsch! I also went to their forum and read about other people's problems with this setup, and now I'm pretty bummed about having bought them. Word to the wise, DON'T DO IT!
Rating: Summary: Garbage Speakers Review: I don't personally have these but when purchasing my speakers, I listened to many different models before deciding on the Logitech Z-680s.
I saw the price tag on these and thought they must be good. So I turned them on, and what do I hear? sound no better than from a $20 boombox. Not the slightest hint of bass, and forget clarity. All you get is muffled sound. And it wan't just a broke set from being on display (though it sounded like one) since I listened to them at four different stores.
These speakers I would have to say are even worse than that Bose 2.1 system they are trying to get $200 for.
If you really want to buy a speaker system, buy anything from Logitech, best being the Z-680s. They have amazing bass output and are very clear and crisp sounding. Plus they are only $250-$300 where you buy it.
And look at the review by someone else, if an Aiwa sub is better sounding than this, its not saying too much for klipsch.
Like I said, don't buy them, buy the z680s and save money and get a much better system.
Rating: Summary: Great bang for the buck! Not enough words to describe these Review: I just bought these and have them hooked up to my Sound Blaster Audigy Sound card. I set it up to go to 5.1 channel, Digital Output only. Audio played from the speakers, but when I ran the Test, the one that goes "Front Left"... "Center"... "Front Right" ... "Rear Left" ... "Rear Right" ... I only heard it say "Front Left" and "Front Right", meaning that it didn't output correctly. I thought maybe the speakers were defective or my sound card wasn't setup right. I decided to run some other tests. I used Creative Playcenter to play some of the sample AC3 files, and they played beautifully! Played in 5.1 surround sound, I was immersed in sound. Close your eyes and you feel like you're really there. I played a DVD and it was awesome! Words aren't enough, great bang for the buck, awesome sound quality reproduction. Bass is phenomenal. I live on the 2nd floor of an apartment and I'm pretty sure my neighbor downstairs is going to get upset. Even playing 2 channel MP3s sounds great too. I noticed that it separates some of the frequencies. For example, all the bass to the subwoofer, of course, but also, the rear speakers seem to only play the highs, the center speaker plays the mids, and the front speakers seem to cover a much wider spectrum. This gives a nice illusion of surround sound. Even listening to 2 channel stereo sounds nice. I've read some of the complaints that the Audigy only plays 2.1, but this is not true. The Audigy is capable of playing 5.1 through these speakers, but it won't reflect that if you try using the Test that comes with the Surround Mixer. Make sure your DVD software is setup for SPDIF output, and any other audio app is set for SPDIF output.
Rating: Summary: Great bang for the buck! Not enough words to describe these Review: I just bought these and have them hooked up to my Sound Blaster Audigy Sound card. I set it up to go to 5.1 channel, Digital Output only. Audio played from the speakers, but when I ran the Test, the one that goes "Front Left"... "Center"... "Front Right" ... "Rear Left" ... "Rear Right" ... I only heard it say "Front Left" and "Front Right", meaning that it didn't output correctly. I thought maybe the speakers were defective or my sound card wasn't setup right. I decided to run some other tests. I used Creative Playcenter to play some of the sample AC3 files, and they played beautifully! Played in 5.1 surround sound, I was immersed in sound. Close your eyes and you feel like you're really there. I played a DVD and it was awesome! Words aren't enough, great bang for the buck, awesome sound quality reproduction. Bass is phenomenal. I live on the 2nd floor of an apartment and I'm pretty sure my neighbor downstairs is going to get upset. Even playing 2 channel MP3s sounds great too. I noticed that it separates some of the frequencies. For example, all the bass to the subwoofer, of course, but also, the rear speakers seem to only play the highs, the center speaker plays the mids, and the front speakers seem to cover a much wider spectrum. This gives a nice illusion of surround sound. Even listening to 2 channel stereo sounds nice. I've read some of the complaints that the Audigy only plays 2.1, but this is not true. The Audigy is capable of playing 5.1 through these speakers, but it won't reflect that if you try using the Test that comes with the Surround Mixer. Make sure your DVD software is setup for SPDIF output, and any other audio app is set for SPDIF output.
Rating: Summary: Meh Review: I somewhat regret getting these included with my new computer - probably should have opted for the logitech or full blown klipsch. I figured they were fairly expensive and should be comparable to others of the same price but I was wrong. These are probably great as computer speakers go but they are extremely weak and they don't like to advertise their power but I searched around and I think it is 100w. Runny 5 speakers and a sub off 100w is unacceptable. The sub is way too weak, I guess they expect you to buy a couple more of their stand alone subs, but I said the heck with that and plugged in an aiwa sub from my bookshelf system and finally got acceptable bass. It also doesn't have DTS capability but I don't think any others do either and it failed to impress me while playing Jurassic Park. Do yourself a favor and buy a complete set audio system from onkyo or something unless like me you are a college student and lack room in your car for moving. Like a previous reviewer said - this is no home theater
Rating: Summary: Pretty great Review: I'm not sure what the bad reviews are all about. I bought this for my sister and decided to try it out before I gave it to her. Right now they're setup in my living room and I don't want to give them up. I don't have home theatre because my room is too small for a "real" home theatre system, but this system was awesome. The reviews that say it won't play deep bass aren't accurate. Maybe they've imporved the system since those reviews, but I sat in my living room with a sound level meter and ran through some test tones. From 200Hz down to 30Hz the meter registered 70db absolutely flat down to 30Hz and the volume trailed off between 30Hz and 25Hz or so. It was amazing to see the meter reading unchanged through the crossover and remain steady even though my ears could no longer hear it. I watched a couple of movies this weekend and the system had my floor and couch vibrating exactly the way it should have. I used the system to play movies in Dolby Pro Logic II using the stereo analog inputs and Dolby Digital using the TOSLINK hookup. Both performed incredibly. It's like going from a mono TV with the speaker on one side to a stereo TV. The downside to this system is that I have wires strung all around my living room which I couldn't live with in perpetuity. In truth though, this is NOT home theatre system, that's just the way I chose to test it out. It's designed to be placed around you on the floor when you play games and be cleaned up when you're done.
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