Klipsch The Fives Powered Speaker System (Matte Black)

As soon as I unpacked The Five’s I was struck by their excellent build quality. The true walnut veneer is beautifully crafted and the whole design is retro cool with a modern twist. The general fit and finish, from the speaker cones to the metal controls are all first rate. The speaker units have that reassuringly dense feel given their modest size and tank like build. However don’t be fooled by their size, they sound absolutely fantastic. A real wide sound stage with great imaging, layered midrange and a solid low end. Vocals are sonorous and palpable, they’re a joy to listen to. The speakers are tuned for enjoyment over absolute accuracy, and I’m thankful Klipsch went this route. With 80 watts per channel they really sing when turned up loud. They like to go loud! I have them around 2.5m apart and 0.2m from the front wall. To get the best out of the bass you need to give them at least 0.5m gap from the wall otherwise the sound is far too boomy. To counter this I have bunged the rear ports at the expense of some low end but there’s still enough presence left for a good sound. When I’m in the mood I bring them forward and un-bung them to unleash the deeper bass. Primarily purchased for enhancing my movie nights, they deliver in spades. Full bodied sounds from action scenes and they provide a vast sound scape thanks to the distance between the 2 channels. Dialogue is loud and clear and they emulate a good centre channel. I usually say if the speakers are good at music they’ll be great for movies, so no surprises here. I went with the optical connection as I didn’t want these to be on with the TV all the time. HDMI with CEC is available if you do. When listening to music I use my phone to connect via Bluetooth 5 and the AptX HD codec which my phone and the speakers fully support. The connection is stable and the quality is great. The included remote is a good size, very light, tactile buttons and easy to operate. Long press the ‘SUB RESET’ button to turn on and off the DYNAMIC bass EQ. My only complaints are I wish the remote had bass adjustment levels +/- and my other gripe is the LED light on the Primary speaker is too bright for dark rooms when watching a movie. I cover the light to remedy this. All in all I was a little hesitant in purchasing The Five’s given the cost. They had to perform not just in sound quality, but they had to look and feel the part if I were to keep them. They did not disappoint, in fact they went above and beyond my expectations. A great purchase with no regrets with a seal of approval even from the Wife!

A great alternative to a Theatre system where you want to also have the added benefit of great connectivity to other devices, blue tooth, phono etc. Lovely looking (if purchased in the Walnut option) and sounding speakers that have the added benefit of being able to drive a subwoofer. The bass they provide is more than enough so I would suggest that an additional subwoofer for a small to medium sized room is not required (I purchased a Klipsch SW120 which had to be turned down to absolute minimum) to stop the wife getting dizzy because of the deep bass. She still hates the size of the thing, by the way. A lovely set of hifi equipment, that looks the part and sounds even better.

**UPDATE Aug 2021 Just wanted to add that I had ordered three pairs of these and amazingly TWO pairs had a bad tweeter. It doesn't change any of the review (one pair was an accurate tester to arrive at all my audio observations). It's not an Amazon issue since one affected pair was purchased elsewhere. As unlikely as this problem might be, I do recommend L/R channel testing your pair, preferably with a mono sound source or album (beach boys, Pet sounds, duh). One of those pair also had a bad Aux input, so check all of your inputs as well. If you were to be unlucky enough to have any flaws, simply test it thoroughly before the return window, then return and keep the faith with getting a new pair. Don't bother with contacting Klipsch, they're a bit of a nightmare. ---Original Review--- I've purchased a couple sets of these. I've even gone the refurbished route, which is fine and worth the savings. Though that might be unnecessary due to somewhat frequent sales on these of late. ($700 new). However, If refurbished (or new), you might look for tightly stretched screens with the linen and square (non warped) speaker box construction. Even then, it might be acceptable with minor imperfections. A fair amount of info on these speaker already, so I'll try to keep it abbreviated and specific: - You buy the FIVES and spend maybe a little more $$ vs its competitors for: Legit great sound (Klipsch tuning), Powered speakers and relatively SMALL footprint, Good looks - Great sound overall. Insane bass capabilities but not the tightest bass for speakers of this type. Still sounds good though when dialed in (Flat bass setting for music is preferred) - I like the sound signature. It's somewhat unique with an excellent phantom center channel. Some tone controls can further help dial in personal preferences, however. Top line observation is that the sound is a little "forward" in the mids, this being noticed on vocals the most. Although I think this tuning does indeed help with TV watching and dialogue, it compliments most music for sure. I use the Fives for 90% music and don't feel like it compromises anything there despite it competing with sound bars. - With the firmware update, you now get three bass cut options. Easily toggled via the remote. (edit: app with EQ settings is now available; I don't use this..) - Definitely update the firmware. You'll need formatted usb flash drive. - The newly installed bass cut option is the "flattest" option the Fives deliver. And is completely needed in certain conditions and/or for certain tastes. - The remote is an underrated feature of these. Ergonomic, simple, and USEFUL. Operates the bass cut options as mentioned and bass level/volume for a subwoofer (extremely useful with a sub) - Do you need a sub? No. If space, adding cost, and bass hunger are all a factor, then these already have you covered. - BUT a sub can do two things: boost the overall sound quality by freeing up the drivers, and allow for increased volume. This is a bonus and a luxury but still is a noticeable audiophile-centric improvement. - I've been testing these with TWO subs (8" jamo) and its even better. You'll just need a coaxial Y splitter. Works great. (This pairing outperforms a single 10" jamo sub IMO, for example). These are not high super quality subs but still provide improvement. - If you're using a desktop/computer setup for listening, you're able to use the USB connection. It's easy and great. And frees up your headphone jack. - BUT you have two other options to affect sound quality that aren't so obvious to most. This relates to the DAC in your system. The first option is to bypass the FIVES' DAC with your desktop's DAC. You do this by skipping the USB input and instead use the phono/line in RCA to 3.5mm jack into your computer's headphone jack. Depending on your system, you're likely to get a subtle to very noticeable sound upgrade. Zero reviews speak about this, but effect is real. The DAC bypass scenario is just a theory, but something changes. The idea being that your computer has a slightly better DAC than the FIVES (which is part of the FIVES' package that your paying for...) The second option is to go even further and skip your computer's DAC with some sort of outboard DAC. I'm using a Focusrite Clarett for example (the Clarett connected to the Mac via USB, the FIVES connected to the Clarett via headphone out into the FIVES RCA line in). - I'm also running a Fosi Q4 from my MacBook. This also adds TONE controls which is very welcome. - I'm also running a Helm Auto Bolt DAC from my Android phone - All of the above DAC options are different (and only being used one at a time) and I won't go into it, but they all add a VERY noticeable sound upgrade ($55, $100, $450) - If this sounds interesting to you, and you want a rec, then I STRONGLY recommend the Fosi Q4 (the Aiyima A-2 is identical and cheaper). All in all, it's by far the best option: the tone controls are what makes it S tier to any other affordable DAC - The Fives' DSP is killer and also part of what you're paying for with these versus say other powered speakers with lesser DSP or passive speakers and amp with no DSP. (DSP in this case mostly modulates the bass at low volumes making the music sound more full at lower volumes. A "Joe and Tell" review on YouTube mentions the high frequencies aren't modified by DSP which he suggests it might benefit from, but I have no problem with highs at lower volumes) - I don't believe the DSP works with the sub plugged in? - The Fives look good with and without the grills. I think the grills should come taught to maximize their good looks. They click on and off easily via magnets which is perfect bc they deserve to alternate. Slight, slight boost in clarity with the grills off. - All listening as described has been via some version of hard wired, line-in listening. Bluetooth, isn't being used but I'm still happy to have it built in. - If using as desktop/near field speakers, prop them up (the tweeter) to or slightly above ear level. The difference is huge. Shoot for the same in a room situation. - Using HDMI Arc for TV listening works well and is nice to control volume via TV remote. The speed at which the volume goes up or down via my TV remote is pretty slow vs the TV's default volume. Slightly annoying actually, but is fine. Plus you can still use the Fives' remote which toggles volume faster.

Suenan increíble estas bocinas sus funciones son de primera, desafortunadamente las regrese por un detalle con la actualización y el color de sonido de kliplsch en este modelo no iba acorde a lo que yo estaba buscando pero para bocinas para TV en lugar de Barra de sonido suenan espectaculares.

Works like a charm, would recommend.

Simple, works as advertised

muy sorprendido con el buen sonido que tienen, una gran opción si tienes poco espacio, se sienten de muy buena calidad y son muy fáciles de usar