08 Sep
Blog

Klipsch T5 II ANC Review: Stylish Buds Now Quieter, Smarter

Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earbuds.

Klipsch T5 II ANC test: super-stylish buds are now quieter and smarter

RRP $ 299.00

"Smarts, great sound and a stylish design have put the T5 II ANC on our wish list."

advantages

  • Chic design and materials

  • Smart and helpful features

  • good sound

  • Excellent controls

  • Wireless charging

disadvantage

  • Mediocre ANC

  • Bad battery life

  • Inconsistent call quality

Klipsch's T5 true wireless earbuds have been our favorites since their introduction in 2019. The $ 199 T5 II from 2020 added transparency mode and better water resistance. Now, in 2021, the iconic American speaker brand is back with a new T5 – the T5 II ANC for $ 299 – the company's first set of active noise cancellation (ANC) earbuds. But instead of just adding ANC to the existing design, Klipsch went all out by incorporating advanced software-driven features like head gestures for control, the ability to automatically block loud noises, and some algorithmic magic that the company claims does Sound can greatly improve quality.

These improvements have to be more than just gimmicks: At $ 299, the T5 II ANC is in direct competition with four of the best true wireless earbuds on the market, namely the Sony WF-1000XM4 for $ 280, the Master & Dynamic MW08 for $ 299, the Bose QuietComfort earbuds for $ 279, and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 for $ 300.

Can Klipsch prevail? Let's take a look.

What's in the box?

Scope of delivery Klipsch T5 II ANC.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Klipsch's boxes are as stylish as their earplugs, but in this case – with a lot of glued and coated cardboard and a large piece of protective foam inside – it's not exactly a good thing when it comes to disposal. Inside you will find the earbuds, their charging case, silicone earbuds in six sizes, a braided USB-C to USB-C charging cable, a USB-C to USB-A adapter and some paper documentation including a quick start manual .

draft

Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earbuds.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

The T5 II ANC is in a dead heat with the Master & Dynamic MW08 for the nicest earbuds you can buy.

The original T5, with its hinged charging case made of brushed metal, offered comparisons with the iconic Zippo lighter – and that is clearly a formula for success. The T5 II ANC takes the same classic shape and adds a touch of luxury with three highly polished metal options: gunmetal, silver and copper. The earbuds and cases are color matched, and the combination puts the T5 II ANC with the Master & Dynamic MW08 in a dead heat for the nicest earbuds you can buy.

The case is compact but heavy: at just over a tenth of a pound, it could do serious damage if you hurled it, but you're more likely to damage the case itself by simply dropping it. Still, that weight and nicely contoured corners make the case a joy to hold in your hand.

Klipsch is also selling a McLaren edition of the T5 II ANC for $ 50 more. It comes with its own wireless charging mat and the charging case is made of significantly lighter materials, but in every other way the two versions are identical.

Despite the metal cladding, the rubberized bottom of the charging case offers a firm stand when placed on a surface and at the same time enables wireless charging – another first for Klipsch. The lid of the case is easy to open and close (although this takes some practice with one Zippo-style hand) and the earbuds are very easy to insert and remove. The magnets of the charging socket are quite weak, but not a problem given the tightness of the lid when closed.

A row of three tiny LEDs peek through the seam between the lid and the case to inform you of the case's battery and charging status, while individual color-coded LEDs on the earbuds perform the same function. When buying the McLaren edition, be aware that the case's LEDs are much harder to see if you don't look at them closely.

The only downside to this beautifully polished metal case is that it is both a fingerprint and a scratch magnet. Trying to take smudge-free photos of our test unit made of gunmetal turned out to be difficult, and tiny scratches appeared in the first few hours after plugging in and using it.

The earbuds use physical buttons I much prefer to touch, and their location in the center of the earbuds oval body means you'll have to try really hard to accidentally press one. Unfortunately, Klipsch was unable to maintain the T5 II's excellent IP67 water and dust protection. The T5 II ANC still have an IPX4 rating, which is good enough to protect them from heavy sweat or rain, but you should definitely be careful when cleaning – avoid running water. To be fair, most true wireless earbuds don't offer much better protection at this price point.

Comfort, controls and connections

Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earbuds.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

With the oval earplugs from Klipsch in six sizes, you should have a good chance of a good fit. I found the pre-installed medium tips pleasant, but not particularly secure. Switching to the big ones helped a lot, and they also improved the bass response (this is why it is worth trying every size of earbuds – there may be many comfortable sizes, but the goal is to get the best possible seal and at the same time To maintain your comfort).

Go from immersive music to fully conscious conversations with one click. More true wireless earbuds should have this feature.

Many true wireless earbuds now come with a leak test built into the mobile app, but this is one of the few technical tricks Klipsch left out, so use your best judgment. The earbuds stayed tight during a trip to the gym, but I'm not that into high-impact activities like running. They may not be able to withstand strong bumps, as well as models with earhooks or stabilizer fins.

When properly seated, I found the T5 II ANC very comfortable, but I can see that some people don't like it. The small stem that connects the main body of the earphone to the earplug is shaped like a tube, with a surprisingly sharp edge at its tip where it meets the body. When you twist the earbuds to secure them in place, this edge may come into contact with the inner part of the clamshell. If it stays there it can hurt. For me, of course, the earphones are in a comfortable position.

Head gestures work well; I had no problem getting all three of them to respond to my head movements.

The controls are excellent. A single multi-function button on each earbud gives you precise control over every function imaginable, including volume, playback, ANC, calling and access to voice assistants. Aside from the tactile click, there is also a tiny audio chirp to confirm that you pressed the button correctly. In the Klipsch app, you can control what the left button does for single, double, and triple presses, but the right button always follows the factory defaults. The app has an impressive array of settings to play with, but it tends to be a bit delayed as it routinely polls the earbuds for their status, which can take a second or two.

But this is where things get interesting. Using software from Bragi – one of the first companies to develop and sell true wireless earbuds – the T5 II ANC can respond to head gestures like nodding and shaking and performing up to three functions: answer a call, reject a call, and jump to the next lane. They work fine; I had no problem getting all three of them to respond to my head movements. How useful they are depends on how often you find both hands busy when a call comes in. They're also handy when a Spotify playlist is trying to ruin your groove with an awkward track.

Oddly enough, the head shake to skip feature only works within the first 10 seconds of a song and may not work if the earbuds are used with computers.

Bragi software also introduces "sidekicks" – a series of intelligent, automated activities. At the moment there are only two sidekicks: turn on ANC automatically when playing music (and switch to transparency mode when you pause) and automatically turn on transparency mode when you are on the phone. These can be toggled on or off from within the app, but I recommend leaving both on. Since Klipsch did not provide the T5 II ANC with any in-ear sensors, your music tracks are not automatically paused when you remove an earphone. But the automatic ANC / Transparency sidekick is probably better anyway. There's no need to remove an earbud to hear what's going on, as it takes you from fully immersive music to fully conscious conversation with one click. More true wireless earbuds should have this feature.

They add shine to vocal performances and instruments like trumpets while avoiding harshness and sibilance.

You can use each earbud individually if you want, and the app lets you decide if you want the left earbud to take over the commands of the right earbud when used alone.

The T5 II ANC pairs and connects quickly. They're missing Google's fast pair option, but since most of us only have to pair once, I think that's fine. Bluetooth range is good, around 25 to 30 feet indoors and about twice as much as outdoors. As long as you keep these distances, the connection remains very stable. Klipsch leaves me saying I want bluetooth multipoint to connect two devices at the same time, but since Jabra seems to be the only company doing this, it's hard to beat the T5s for that.

Sound quality

Close up of a man wearing Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earbuds.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Klipsch proudly states that the T5 II ANC are the first true wireless earbuds with integrated Dirac HD sound. According to the marketing materials, it is "a state-of-the-art digital audio performance enhancement technology," which is designed to optimize the sound signature of the earbuds, resulting in improved staging, clarity, vocal sharpness and bass fidelity.

The reality is very different. Turning on Dirac HD definitely changes the T5's sound signature, but I don't see it as an improvement. It actually narrows the soundstage and causes really nasty compression on parts of the midrange so it sounds like some of the music is being pushed through a cardboard tube. Yes, the vocals become more pronounced, almost as if the singers are at the top of a triangle pointing towards you, while the rest of the instrumentation sits further back.

Rather than beating your eardrum with bass, Klipsch's sound signature takes a far more neutral approach.

But here's the good news: Not only can you just disable Dirac HD if you're like me, but you can also use it to hear the factory tuning of the T5, which in my opinion doesn't need any additional digital signal processing help at all.

As with previous generations of the T5, Klipsch delivers impressive clarity across the entire frequency range, but is particularly lively in the upper mids and highs. This adds shine to vocal performances and instruments like trumpets while avoiding harshness and sibilance. There's a ton of bass response too, but instead of beating your eardrums relentlessly, Klipsch's sound signature takes a far more neutral approach that keeps that low-end boom from coloring tracks it should never convey.

Depending on your taste, this balance can come across a bit brighter, especially if you are used to headphones with stronger bass emphasis. But if that's the case, the app offers an adjustable six-band EQ with multiple presets and custom options, giving you plenty of leeway to tweak the frequencies to your liking.

I tested the T5 against our current king of music quality, the M&D MW08, and was pleasantly surprised. I still prefer the wider soundstage and warmer tonality of the MW08, but the T5 offers an undeniable energy that makes it really enjoyable. Up and down the volume control there is no trace of distortion.

There is a small caveat, however. If you like it loud, the T5 can disappoint. I usually find that I cannot exceed 75% of the volume on an earbud without serious discomfort. But I was able to push the Klipsch to its maximum setting without flinching. On the plus side, this should save you from the worst of the effects of noise-induced hearing loss. However, there are times when these earbuds just don't get as loud as you'd like.

Noise cancellation and transparency

Klipsch T5 II ANC charging with a wireless charger.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

This is the company's first attempt at ANC, and Klipsch gets it right most of the time. An adjustable slider in the app lets you choose how much noise you want to block. When set to the maximum, the earbuds attenuate both low and high frequency sounds well, but as with almost all ANC systems, it is the low frequency rejection that you notice the most. However, you need to keep your expectations modest. For better or for worse, the T5 II ANC does an excellent job of passive noise isolation. This means that if you don't use ANC or transparency, very little external noise will get into your ear. So when you activate ANC, you won't fully experience that magical moment of instant silence. It's more subtle than that.

The big aha moment happens when you step into transparency mode. Like ANC, you can control how much sound to let in, and when set to the max, the earbuds actually amplify the outside world a bit. The first time I did it, I was surprised to hear the crunch of my shoes on gravel – I didn't even know I was making that sound while walking.

When amplifying outside noises, there is a risk that loud noises will become significantly – perhaps even dangerously – louder. But Klipsch has a solution: Noise Shield monitors these noises in transparency mode and when it detects particularly loud noises (like the Harley that raced past me on the street), it temporarily switches to ANC. There doesn't seem to be a way to turn this off in the app, but it's so effective that I would be inclined to leave it on anyway.

Switching between modes is quick and easy – just click on the left earbud. On the other hand, Klipsch didn't give us the option to skip the in-between-transparency-off mode so we can go straight from ANC to transparency. I was told this was by design because the Auto ANC / Transparency sidekick does essentially the same thing, but I'm not sold. Often times I am not listening to music and want to quickly switch between transparency and ANC. Hopefully Klipsch will take this feedback and consider giving users the option to customize this feature.

Call quality

Man wearing Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earbuds.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Despite the packing of six microphones, the T5 II ANC is only suitable for phone calls to a limited extent. Your callers can hear you even if there is significant background noise such as traffic noise. But despite all these microphones, your voice will still sound a little thin. It lacks some of the resonances that make a human voice sound full and natural.

You can manually switch to transparency mode during a call or use the Bragi sidekick to do it automatically. Either way, you will have no problem hearing yourself clearly during a call.

Battery life

Klipsch claims the T5 II ANC gets five hours per charge in the earbuds and an additional 15 hours in the charging case when you use ANC. This increases to seven or 21 hours if you turn off ANC (and transparency mode). As far as I can tell, these numbers are overly optimistic. After just four hours of listening with the ANC on and at 50% volume, the earbuds were completely empty.

What's unfortunate is that while the non-ANC numbers are good (a total of 28 hours is more than enough for a full day of use), the ANC numbers are behind most high-end earbuds with the exception of the Bose QuietComfort. Earbuds are left behind.

Our opinion

Through the use of software, Klipsch's T5 II ANC expands the possibilities of using a set of true wireless earbuds with some really smart features like head gestures, sidekicks and noise shield. Add in Klipsch's signature sound quality and wireless charging and you have a worthy successor to previous T5 models. But their high price, mediocre noise cancellation, lackluster call quality, and short ANC battery life keep them from receiving our highest rating.

Is there a better alternative?

It is stylistically T5 II ANC are in a class of their own – they look as good as they sound. And we've never seen the kind of intelligence Klipsch built into other buds. However, since they can't quite keep up with their closest competitors in areas like ANC, call quality, and battery life, there may be better options:

The $ 280 Sony WF-1000XM4 have better ANC and battery life, and some will prefer their sound, especially given the LDAC codec support on Android devices (the T5 only offers SBC and AAC).

The $ 299 Bose QuietComfort earbuds have the best ANC and transparency you can get, but they're pretty bulky – the buds and their charging case are huge compared to the T5 – and their battery life is the shortest of any similarly priced models.

Master & Dynamics $ 299 MW08 have great battery life, great controls, and warmer, richer sound, but lack wireless charging. If that's what you want, you'll have to spend $ 50 more on the MW08 Sport.

How long will they last?

In terms of build quality, the T5 II should hold up really well as long as you keep an eye on the IPX4 rating and don't expose it to too much water. Battery life is more of a problem. As batteries age, they lose capacity, and since the T5 appears to give up after four hours with the ANC on, this could shrink to three or even two hours after two years of use. On the other hand, Klipsch offers an excellent two year warranty on these earphones. So, if you find that the battery life has dropped significantly during this time, you may be able to get a replacement kit.

Should you buy it?

Yes sir. While Klipsch is expensive, Klipsch put some pretty awesome features on the T5 II ANC that, when combined with its great sound quality and overall design, make it a good, if not perfect, alternative to the best true wireless earbuds you can buy.

Editor's recommendations



09 Mar
Blog

Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Review: Never Mind AirPods

klipsch t5 ii real wireless earbuds rating ry 3

Klipsch's T5 II wireless earbuds

"Klipsch's rocking demeanor turns into a killer set of buds."

  • Great fit

  • Inconspicuous design

  • Great sound quality

  • Solid battery life

  • Fun charging case

  • No wireless charging

  • No active noise cancellation

  • The call quality is not particularly good

Klipsch's T5 II wireless earbuds are stylish, compact, and sound great. But is that enough to set them above all other wireless earbuds?

If you're considering the Apple AirPods or just looking for an alternative, be sure to check out Klipsch's $ 200 T5-II wireless earbuds. They're the second generation of an already great set of earbuds, and while they (like the AirPods) don't have built-in noise cancellation, they have almost everything else. And unlike the AirPods, they are compact and comfortable to wear.

What's in the box?

Riley Young / Digital Trends

While the Klipsch T5 II comes with a printed manual, you can also access all the information in the manual via its app. The earbuds come with a nice selection of silicone earbuds – some oval and some round – which are vital for the comfort of the earbuds as well as their sound quality. With wireless earbuds, the comfort of fit is everything, and the T5 II excels in this area.

You will also find a braided fabric USB-C to USB-C charging cable and a USB-A to USB-C adapter.

The T5 II's charging case is … well, great – it feels and looks like a Zippo lighter. It's metallic and chunky and quite heavy, so it feels pretty nice in your hands. It also has a magnetic lid that feels very secure when it clicks into place. Given the weight, I didn't feel like pocketing the suitcase, but then again, I generally rarely pocket suitcases.

The case has a charging capacity of approx. 24 hours. Add this to the eight hours of playtime you get from the earbuds and that makes a total of 32 hours – which is very good in terms of the earbuds' battery life.

Comfort

Riley Young / Digital Trends

The earbuds themselves, as mentioned earlier, are very comfortable for a number of reasons. First, they're very light – about five grams each. The tube tip is also very slim, and because the tips are made of silicone, they fit snugly in the ear and provide an excellent seal. Due to their flat profile, the T5 II are more inconspicuous than other earbuds. You could easily wear these all day and forget you even have them.

Model selection

There are two other models in the T5 II line. The T5 II Sport offers additional fins and more water resistance. The T5 II McLaren Edition is similar to the Sport model, but offers some improvements in terms of design and aesthetics, as well as an included wireless charging pad.

External control

Riley Young / Digital Trends

There is a fingertip-sized button on the outside of each T5 II bud, and each button has different functions. Functions such as volume, playback, pause, answering calls, ending calls, skipping tracks, etc. are controlled via these buttons. However, it can be difficult to remember which page (and how often) to click for each function. There are guides in the app and manual to walk the user through all of the options, but it can be a bit confusing.

Now, I'm not blaming Klipsch for the complexity – it's difficult to do well controlling a wireless earbud, and we can't think of anyone doing that particularly well. Until you remember them all, be sure to keep this app or guide handy.

Noise suppression / transparency mode

Riley Young / Digital Trends

As mentioned above, these earbuds don't have built-in active noise cancellation. But because the silicone tips fit so well in your ear, much of the outside noise is cut down nicely. Once you start playing music you will not hear much of what is around you. If you want to hear more of your surroundings, you can also activate the transparency mode and move it up or down in the app to get as much or as little outside noise as you want. This is an extremely important feature that too few earbuds offer.

Call quality

These earbuds aren't specifically designed for call quality, but they get the job done. Klipsch's Buds do a good job of removing outside noise, but the sound of the voice itself felt very compressed – to the point that it sounds like an old-school landline phone.

Sound quality

Riley Young / Digital Trends

At first, I didn't get the sound quality I expected, especially because I'm familiar with the original T5. However, this happens when you don't have the right fit in the ear and although I thought I had a good seal, I realized it wasn't after swapping out the installed earbuds for something larger.

As soon as I did, everything opened up. The bass is very powerful, the midrange is very clear and the highs are articulate but never sizzling. Basically, it sounds like a Klipsch speaker. It's a lot of fun to hear with a kind of rock vibe.

There's an EQ built into the app, but I didn't like any of the options, so I set it to "Flat". Strangely, the sound signature is anything but flat. These earbuds sound for what they are, so you don't have to play too much with the EQ to get what you want. The default sound is powerful and engaging, with just enough texture and detail to be as interesting as it is fun.

I've listened to different genres of music and they all sounded great – the sound wasn't pigeonholed to make one genre sound better than another. And that's a big bonus because, for their price, they compete with a wide variety of true wireless earbuds. When it comes to sound quality, these are the absolute best up there.

Our opinion

I don't like much about the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless earbuds. Sure, call quality isn't great, and at times the controls feel a little unwieldy, but they do everything a set of high quality wireless earbuds have to do and they do everything very well. If you're willing to spend some cash on AirPods, I would definitely check out the Klipsch T5 II and see if they literally and figuratively fit better.

Is there a better alternative?

For their price, the Klipsch T5 II are a top choice. For about $ 30 more, the Jabra Elite 85t also offers great sound quality, wireless charging, a comfortable fit, and active noise cancellation. For a little less money, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro offers a similarly compact and inconspicuous fit, but it doesn't sound nearly as good.

How long will they last

The Klipsch T5 II are solidly built and last as long as their batteries.

warranty

Klipsch offers a two-year guarantee on the T5 II True Wireless earphones. Further information can be found on the Klipsch warranty page.

Should you buy it?

Yes, the Klipsch T5 II True Wireless earbuds sound great, fit well, and work like a charm.

Editor's recommendations




04 Jan
Blog

Klipsch Cinema 600 Soundbar Review: Big, Bold Stereo Sound

Klipsch Cinema 600 soundbar

Klipsch Cinema 600 soundbar

"The powerful and precise Cinema 600 is a soundbar for everyone who likes it loud."

  • High quality materials and surfaces

  • Easy to set up and use

  • Effective dialogue modes

  • Powerful and precise sound

  • Subwoofer not challenged

  • Mediocre virtual surround mode

The soundbar market is huge, with models ranging from tiny TV speakers to monstrous, multi-device home theater replacements, priced anywhere from $ 100 to over $ 1,000. Somewhere in the middle you should be able to find a system that offers powerful, room-filling sound, easy setup and use, and a price that doesn't make you rethink your life choices. That void falls into the $ 500 Klipsch Cinema 600, a 3.1 soundbar system with one of the largest subwoofers we've seen.

Does the Cinema 600 satisfy? Let's try it out.

What's in the box?

Klipsch Cinema 600 soundbarSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

The Cinema 600's L-shaped box is an unwieldy animal you might want to recruit a friend for – the courier who delivered our test model nearly injured himself with a dolly while negotiating our front stairs. Inside you will find the soundbar, the subwoofer, two power cables, an HDMI cable, wall brackets with a template, a remote control with batteries and the operating instructions. A lot of styrofoam is used to protect the components, but the rest can likely be roadside recycled if you don't keep them.

The company designed its soundbars to attract your eyes just as they do your ears.

design

Klipsch Cinema 600 soundbarSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

Klipsch is obsessed with making its speaker technology visible to everyone. The distinctive copper drivers are so diverse that many people never bother installing the included black fabric grilles that come with Klipsch products. So it's no wonder the company designed its soundbars to attract your eyes as well as your ears.

Black stained wooden end caps, accents made of brushed metal and a black fabric grill exude a restrained, high-quality atmosphere. The exposed tweeters at the ends, framed by Klipsch's signature Tractrix horns, may be more polarizing. Personally, I don't want visual distractions that take my eye off the screen while watching TV, so I prefer subtle sound bars. These silver plastic horns are hard to ignore if they catch even the slightest trace of room light. It makes the Cinema 600's design harder to sell for me, but I think Klipsch fans won't mind at all.

At 45 inches wide, the soundbar is in the long side category, but it's height that could be an issue. With a size of almost five centimeters, there is a possibility that part of the screen is covered on TVs with very short stands or feet. Measure your setup carefully, unless you plan on wall mounting the pole (which is easy thanks to the hardware included).

The control buttons for power supply, source and volume are located at the top right in the bar under a small display on which the status of the individual functions is shown. It's convenient to have them, but the play / pause and mute buttons feel like obvious omissions.

The wireless subwoofer is, I'll just say it: freaking enormous. It stands over 18 inches tall and is over a foot wide on each side. You probably shouldn't put objects on it or use it as a stool, but it's nice to know you could – it's ultra-solid, with the same furniture-grade black wood as the soundbar, with an uninterrupted frame on five sides.

Klipsch recommends placing it near the front of the viewing area – on a wall or in a corner – for a stronger bass effect. However, due to its size, this may not be possible in every situation.

Setup and connections

Klipsch Cinema 600 soundbar connectionsSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

Setting up the Cinema 600 is a breeze. Connect the soundbar to your TV using the HDMI cable provided or your own optical or analog cable, then plug the soundbar and subwoofer into the appropriate sockets. That's it, you're done. Note, however, that in the manual, the soundbar must be connected first and then the subwoofer. This makes the pairing sequence between the two components much smoother.

The included remote control is well designed and impressively lit so that it can be easily viewed in a darkened room.

Using the bar's HDMI ARC connection will allow your TV to control volume and mute. However, like many sound bars, some audio formats that require HDMI ARC are not supported (such as Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Atmos). It also lacks an HDMI input to use as a passthrough. So if your TV has limited HDMI ports, you can use an optical cable instead. You'll lose volume and mute, but don't worry, there is a workaround – the soundbar can be set to respond to your TV or cable box remote control.

In addition to the optical and HDMI connections, you get an analog socket and Bluetooth for wireless streaming from a smartphone. Each input can be selected using the buttons above or the remote control. This means that you have up to four sound sources easily accessible.

The connection ports are located in a very small cavity. So if you want to run cables to each cable, you may have to play around with the order so they don't bump into each other.

The Cinema 600 also has a USB port behind the right end cap, which is mainly used for firmware updates, but can also be used to play audio files from a USB stick or hard drive. I haven't tested this feature.

user friendliness

Klipsch Cinema 600 Soundbar remote controlSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

The included remote control is well designed and impressively lit so that it can be easily viewed in a darkened room. A motion sensor will light up as soon as you record it. Deeper functions such as bass level, surround mode, dialogue enhancement and night mode are easily accessible via special buttons.

Whether it's Hollywood blockbusters or the latest original TV series from HBO or Netflix, the sound is punchy, precise and energetic.

It's completely intuitive, but I'm not crazy about the bar with LED dots on the front of the soundbar as an indicator of what's happening. As a volume indicator it works perfectly, but once you switch to surround or dialog mode you need the manual to interpret point sequences. It's like morse code. Klipsch should consider shipping the Cinema 600 with a display-equipped remote control, as Vizio does with its mid-tier and flagship soundbars. The last thing you want to do while watching a movie is digging up a manual.

Sound quality

The Cinema 600 is a 3.1-channel system, ie you get three loudspeakers (left and right front channel and a center channel) and the subwoofer. This is a near-perfect setup for people who simply want a lot better sound than their televisions can produce. It gives you excellent stereo separation while providing crystal clear dialogue through the center channel.

Whether it's Hollywood blockbusters or the latest original TV series from HBO or Netflix, the sound is punchy, precise and energetic. And wow, this system gets loud when you want it – without a hint of distortion. After all, 600 watts is a lot of power.

The four dialogue modes successfully improve speech intelligibility, which I rely on for dialogue-intensive shows like The Crown.

Overall, it's an extremely fun TV sound system. But there are two areas that I found less than great.

First, you'd think that with a subwoofer this big, low-end bass rumble would go off the charts. But even when the bass level is at its maximum, low frequency effects are seriously attenuated. Some of this can be traced back to where I placed the subwoofer – in the middle of my viewing wall, not in a corner. But I don't think that should make that much difference. Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot of bass, but it feels like it is produced by less than half the size of the unit that comes with the Cinema 600.

Second, you can activate a virtual surround mode which theoretically expands the sound beams coming from the bar to achieve the equivalent of a full 5.1 surround system. Using this mode definitely increases the width of the soundstage, but at the same time it breaks the high frequencies and pulls back the midrange. The effect actually smooths the sound instead of making it more immersive.

If you want a true 5.1 system, you don't have to choose between great 3.1 and mediocre virtualized surround sound. The Cinema 600 can be expanded with Klipsch's wireless Surround 3 speakers ($ 250 per pair), or you can purchase them together as a bundle in early 2021.

The music in the Cinema 600 is also very dynamic (this surround mode should also be avoided here). Modern, studio-produced tracks like The Weeknds Blinding Lights or Beck's Uneventful Days sound particularly good, while older material is not quite as lively, but is still fun.

Our opinion

Klipsch delivers a lively and loud 3.1 home theater soundbar in the Cinema 600, which has good connections and a well-designed remote control.

Is there a better alternative?

There's no shortage of excellent soundbar options for the same $ 500 price as the Cinema 600. The LG SN7Y is a 3.1.2 system that delivers Dolby Atmos decently from a single bar, and the HT-G700 from Sony is possibly the best at Klipsch and LG when it comes to virtualized surround sound. Any of these sound bars will likely prove more satisfactory than the Cinema 600 from a multi-channel perspective. However, if you're looking for a clean, powerful sound, Klipsch is hard to beat.

How long it will take?

Klipsch is known for high quality equipment and the Cinema 600 is a well built system that should last for many years. Klipsch grants a one-year guarantee on the electronics and a three-year guarantee on the housing and woofer components.

Should you buy it?

Yes. While the Cinema 600 isn't as impressive as some soundbars, its performance and precision make it deserve a spot on your shortlist.

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09 Jul
Blog

Klipsch The Fives Review: The Soundbar Killer

klipsch the fives review active speaker 6

"The Fives prove that the left and right channels beat most sound bars and look great at the same time."

  • Powerful, balanced, real stereo sound

  • Excellent multimedia audio experience

  • Stellar Phantom Center Canal

  • Beautiful design

  • Multiple connection options

  • May not fit in every home theater setup

The soundbar was designed as a simple plug-and-play solution to provide good audio quality in a simple device that didn't ask you to do a degree in audio design at the local community college. Since then, sound bars have dominated home theater audio and displaced loudspeakers in most households.

But Klipsch disagrees that the sound bar is the best and only option here. It is believed that a soundbar cannot deliver high quality stereo sound because it is limited by a single speaker in the middle. Instead of doing what was popular, Klipsch decided to create The Fives, a $ 799 response to the soundbar craze.

Are you clapping back successfully? Let's go into that.

Jaron Schneider | Digital trends

Stylish and attractive

Sound bars have a consistent problem. They are not the most attractive devices. With rare exceptions like the Bose Soundbar 700, they are generally huge blocks of black plastic. Even in the case of the Bose, which looks pretty good, soundbars rarely work alongside the living room decor. Black is not the dominant color in my particular home setup and can conflict with the white and wood accents in my living room.

Jaron Schneider | Digital trends

Although you can get The Fives in black, I was delighted to see that walnut is also a color option. It's just that my media stand has a walnut veneer and The Fives looks great on it. They fit in so well that they go into my media setup unless you try to notice the speakers.

Overall, the Fives kill it with their aesthetics.

For most active bookshelf style speakers, the device with all controls and cable inputs must be a specific speaker, either the left or the right speaker (in my experience, it is usually the right speaker). While I've set it up with the main speaker as the right speaker, the fives have a switch on the back of the main speaker that allows you to switch between left and right. Where the main controls and cables lead is entirely up to you and your setup.

Jaron Schneider | Digital trends

There are two dials on top of the main speaker, one for tactile volume control (if you wish) and the other for switching connection options. None of these dials are required because all of these functions can be accessed via the infrared remote control. Still, it's nice to have them as an option and they feel good. They have a wide design, a serrated handle and a slightly notched feel, which makes them remarkably satisfactory.

Overall, the Fives kill it with their aesthetics. In my opinion, they look better than any soundbar I've come across.

The five: Connected

The Fives offer easy connectivity to your TV as they are the first stereo bookshelf speakers to offer HDMI ARC compatibility. Setting up is as easy as connecting a soundbar.

Jaron Schneider | Digital trends

In addition to HDMI ARC, The Fives also support optics, Bluetooth, phono, USB and aux via a mini jack. There is also an output socket for an optional subwoofer. Thanks to the numerous options, you can connect your audio-specific device like a turntable. Switching between these devices is very easy using the above-mentioned setting wheel or the remote control.

It is clear that Klipsch is an audio company that is used to catering to the needs of music fans and that the connection options will definitely come through.

Two are better than one

Sound bars do a decent job with stereo sound, but even if they have the left and right surround speakers that come with some devices, your primary audio will come from a middle-weighted source. Single soundbar solutions like the Bose Soundbar 700 and Sonos Arc do their best to deceive your ears that there is a large gap between the soundbar drivers if this is not the case. However, digital tricks can only go so far.

Jaron Schneider | Digital trends

Klipsch intends to use The Fives as a soundbar alternative for people who enjoy the simple plug-and-play nature of soundbars but crave better stereo sound. Because The Fives divides their left and right channels into physically separate speakers, you have complete freedom to distribute The Fives to the sides of your TV, regardless of their size, and enjoy the benefits of this true separation.

Where sound bars try to restore sound from the left and right, The Fives have to recreate the sound of a center. This "phantom center channel" is reproduced extremely well in my tests. I was on both sides of my 65-inch Sony TV and felt covered in sound. Even though there is no actual center channel, my ears believe that they are listening to audio directly from me, like from the center of my TV.

The Fives do something that only a few sound bars can successfully achieve – they deliver fantastic home theater sound.

The result is an audio experience that delivers great studio sound without loss. The Fives offer fantastic home theater sound, engaging and impressive video game audio and great music. If you use your home entertainment center as a real multimedia hub, The Fives can meet this demand.

Avengers: Endgame felt like a theater experience when the rumble of Thanos' army crashed into the Avengers, leaving me almost breathless with the clarity and depth of the bass.

Playing The Last of Us: Part II was a comprehensive experience. Every step, every whistle, every dog ​​bark and every infected click radiated from a certain direction on the screen and allowed me to get lost in the gameplay.

The survival of Jimmy Eat World, the dark necessities of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Lady Gaga's stupid love were all beautifully reproduced. I will go into the details in the next section on how best to set up The Fives. However, once you select them, you will be rewarded with an exceptionally balanced sound.

The Fives really showed their skills with the volume. At the lower volumes, the sound output between the channels was much less pronounced and possibly somewhat cloudy. When I used them at these low volumes, the Fives felt like driving a Lamborghini at the speed limit in a school zone. Sure, it can go slowly, but that's not really the point.

The Fives also want to be pushed and driven to top speed. Turn up the fives a little and you will be blessed with the best they can offer. Not only do they get loud (although yes, they get incredibly loud), they become a better listening experience as the volume increases.

Balance the bass

Since The Fives are a speaker pair, their placement is important. Most people don't leave much space between a wall and a media console to save space in the room or to hide cables. In most cases, the fives will not shine to the fullest.

These are ported speakers, which means that the lion's share of the bass comes from behind and is reflected by the wall. A certain distance is required to bring the low frequencies into phase (time alignment) with the mids and highs. To maximize their effectiveness, you should give these speakers about a foot and a half to work. When pressed closer, the perceived strength of the bass will overwhelm the mids, making it sound like these mids are below average.

When you have this kind of space, you can pump The Fives bass to the max and get serious power out of them. It won't be the mere rumble factor of a dedicated submarine, but it will effectively round off music and cinema.

If you don't have enough space, you can still enjoy high quality bass. You must use Klipsch's Bass Boost feature, which is enabled by default on The Fives. Bass Boost is a function that increases the performance of the bass. Between switching on and off, I strongly recommend leaving it switched on.

Since the bass was set to maximum, but the bass boost was switched off, the fives did not give me enough power in the depths to satisfy me (regardless of their placement distance). But if this option is activated, the speakers only need to have a bass volume of 50% in order to produce a very even, balanced audio at closer distances.

If you crave deeper bass and don't have enough room to give The Fives space to breathe, you can attach an optional sub. The fives recognize when a sub has been connected and automatically send all lows to the sub, with the entire performance of these main drivers dedicated to the mids.

Decorate your ears with excellent sound quality

I tested this with the Klipsch R-100SW subwoofer, a mid-priced 10-inch subwoofer, and the result literally rocked the foundation of my house with rumbling, chest-rattling basses while being blasted with one of the most beautifully balanced sounds I could think of can imagine. Music was a powerful beneficiary that the sub was added to this arrangement. It should be noted that if you choose a sub with The Fives, it needs to be wired.

The difference between using and not using a submarine is obvious, but I'm happy with the performance of The Fives. At least they match a single soundbar solution and in many cases exceed it.

At the start and until later this year, there is no way to optimize The Fives with app support. According to Klipsch, an app is in the works and should be available before the end of 2020.

No Dolby decoding required

The Fives do not support Dolby decoding. So if you're like me and channel all your content through something like the Roku Ultra, you'll need to go into the Roku's audio settings and switch it to PCM instead of the default. If you don't, content sent in Dolby Digital or Dolby Atmos will not deliver audio. Netflix & # 39; Dark and Avengers: Endgame, which is streamed over Vudu, are two examples of this.

You might think at first that this is a disadvantage of The Fives, but au contraire it is not. A Dolby Atmos soundbar with real drivers is nice, but not yet a standard, and we don't hold it against a specific sound system if it doesn't support it. By default, Dolby Digital does not need this signal because it does not require separation of the audio channel information. The fives do not have to decode the subwoofer, the center, the surrounds or the like. You get two-channel digital audio playback with full bandwidth via PCM. This is all The Fives need to decorate your ears with excellent sound quality.

Jaron Schneider | Digital trends

Our opinion

The Fives are the dream of an audiophile in a soundbar killer. Not only will you outperform a single soundbar solution, you will also give soundbar systems with multiple speakers a chance. If you're interested in the quality of your home theater sound, the price of $ 799 is fair. The fives kill in every situation.

Is there a better alternative?

If you are looking for real left and right monitors that can be easily combined with your TV setup via HDMI ARC and without an A / V receiver, The Fives are currently your only option. They are the first and only speaker set to fill this role.

If you're open to soundbars, both the Sonos Arc and Bose Soundbar 700 are good choices. The Sonos Arc is the only sound bar in this price range that supports Dolby Atmos. All three are like The Fives in that they don't come with the included submarine, but still offer excellent sound quality.

How long will they last?

All active Klipsch speakers come with a one-year warranty, but you should expect them to last much longer. Klipsch is a respected brand and The Fives should offer you sound quality for at least a decade, if not more.

Should you buy them

Yes. They are an absolute home run and you will want them.

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