Klipsch The Fives Powered Bookshelf Speakers (Matte Black)

So I spent an exorbitant amount of time reading through the reviews on these (I always do)... and every single time I read more extensively, I realize that most if not all reviewers have ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE what they're talking about.WHO AM I TO SAY THIS?Well, nobody really... but one badge that I do wear is that I worked for BOTH of the two premiere surround sound companies on the planet. That means I was surrounded (pun intended) all day long by not only the most expensive gear from literally every single sound company on the planet, but also the very few people who were lucky enough to be born with the ability to hear the complete sound spectrum.SCIENTIFIC FACT: There are only about 14 people on the planet who have this ability.SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US regarding these Klipsch speakers?I'm glad you asked, even if you didn't ask, I'm glad you're now wondering.THESE SPEAKERS ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!I've been using them for one day now and I have pushed movies, TV shows, and a HUGE and VARIED array of musical genres through them, and they handle ALL of them effortlessly and reproduce them damn near perfectly across the board.From Classic Rock to Grunge to Metal... from Drum & Bass to Dance to Downtempo to Deep Thumping Progressive House... from Jazz to Blues, from Ska to Reggae... I even jammed some Gyuto Monk Chanting and Polka through them and THEY PERFORMED and THEY PERFORMED STELLARLY! I was SHOCKED!Remember, these are classified as bookshelf speakers, however they certainly perform way beyond any other "bookshelf" speaker that I've heard.They're LOUD, too, and they maintain clarity all the way through the entire range of sounds in all of the musical genres that I pushed through them in the 15' deep x 25' wide room that I have them in.As I sat listening to them, eyes closed, relaxed back, mind cleared, I thought to myself just how tragic it is that online reviews aren't mandated by a reviewer first having some kind of advanced degree and some SERIOUS critical thinking skills. Because these speakers ABSOLUTELY DO point out who does and does not know WTF they are talking about.It's obvious that most, if not all, of the negative "know-it-all" reviewers are just angry people who spent $10k on their systems only to have a $799.00 pair of bookshelf speakers come so dang close to the performance they have with those systems.Imagine how mad and embarrassed someone who spent $5M on a Bugatti basting full-force down the road would be if a Nissan GTR came barreling up to it with ease—THAT IS THESE KLIPSCH SPEAKERS.They are a bit bass-heavy at times, but that's OK because here's the FACT (again this comes from having worked for both those companies)...ALL SOUND IS DIGITALLY SPLIT ANYHOW. THERE IS ALMOST NOBODY SETTING UP 5 OR 7 MICS TO RECORD EACH INSTRUMENT AND/OR SOUND STAGE.This FACT right here is what separates the very few TRUE audiophiles which exist from those who are clearly just interwebs haters who are sitting around angry in puddles of their own filth, pissed off that the proverbial girl they make fun of turns out to be the most beautiful model on the planet... we've all heard those stories. THIS IS THE PRIME ANALOGY REPRESENTING THAT!1: If your audio source is quality, you're spot-on and need nothing else to parse the sound. This became apparent as I ran a myriad of movies from the 80s up to now, through them.2: I would recommend getting a subwoofer REGARDLESS to separate the bass from mids & highs. It's just common sense, but you most certainly do NOT need it.3: I found the best thing for me was to turn my OLED sound settings on my TV to use not only the internal speaker to catch more highs, but also OBVIOUSLY the Klipsch speakers, at the same time. It was a minimal change, however it ABSOLUTELY DID set off those super-highs from the back bouncing off the wall and thus it did dynamically change the entire sound spectrum.It's even better that it's just so simple to connect any audio source to them so dang easily & effortlessly without tons of other equipment.I hooked up my old Klipsch subwoofer to it and YES< do buy an alternate sub... I will report when the new one I ordered arrives and I can run the same tests again.Look, bottom-line, THESE ARE UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING! SUPER-EASY to set up, they offer so many different options for sound sources,, they look AMAZING, they are built SOLID...I love these things, and all things considered & comparatively speaking, they're easily the BEST audio purchase I've made, EVER.I haven'ty even received my stands for them yet, they're sitting on the boxes (protective box & product box) they were delivered in on the sides of my TV set-up and they still sound THAT FRIGGING AMAZING.If you don't have tons of cash but want to have sound which makes you feel like you did spend a ton... BUY THESE!Then laugh at all the fools who are crapping all over these in the reviews.Seriously, they need to get outside & let go of their OCD anger.NOTE: I'll update this when my new subwoofer comes in this weekend. I'll attack photos too.

This is the best bookshelf speaker I have heard under $1K. Sound is big and it rival my B&W floor standing speaker. The Bass can fill pretty large room and have spare. No need for Sub, I was fooled into thiking my Sub woofer was on, and then I realize, I did not even hook the sub at all. I thought there is no way, the fives sound as "big" as my floor standing speaker with Sub.The bass is thuderous, not in a bloated way, but its a quality type bass, like a well tune sub. Now the fives will sound very boomy if your room is small and you place it next to the wall. And since I bought it for my small room, I have to block the back port. I have tried several type of material for blocking and find that the soft foam (egg crate foam) works really well. I have tried roll up towel, Socks, Paper towel, Soft tissue etc. Here the tip. You can actually set the bass level according to your preference.Cut foam into a wedge so it fits exactly. I cut several sizes to set different bass level.1) Fully block with foam - the bass is pretty tight, all boom gone, even if I stick my head to the corner of my room, the boom is gone. The bass is now on par with my my B&W speaker and also a little more bass than Audio Monitor 5. The bass quality on the fives is still better even with the foam. Now there is a bass cancel switch on the remote but it kills too much bass IMO. The foam block still allows some air to pass and it does not affect the low end.- just remove the "double bass" reflecting from the wall.2) Foam with 1 pinky finger hole, the bass is slightly stronger, there is a slight boom. It still sound like a sub is running but very well control.3) Foam with 2 finger hole - the boom is back. Still reduce but way better.Now I am only refering to small room and the fives is next to the wall. If I "free" my fives to a bigger space, high ceiling etc. There is no need for the foam. I think this is where the fives should really be. The sound is grand..For the top end, the clarity and smoothness is superb. I would describe this as a very romantic sound with slightly forward vocal focus. Its like playing a trumpet in a underground subway rather than a control treated studio (well I am using anology, the difference of course is not that great but u get the idea). Since I love Jazz to death, the vocal, bass, clarity, soundstage combo is just grand. yes, it sound grand. It will not sound like a computer speaker, it sound like a floor standing speaker with a well tune subs. As the top end is sibilance free, I tend to turn up the volume more.The Dyanamic EQ work very well, this tech has been around and some will call it night mode. The bass will increase as the volume goes softer. I do appreciate the increase in bass WITHOUT the increase in treble (most night mode speakers do that) and then it sounded very V shape and even at low volume, all I hear is tizzy and bass, the vocal get recessed, I am glad the fives does not do that. Some had pointed it out the treble should also increase when bass increase to balance things out. Well.. I hope they will provide e an app for EQ in the future. But then, I can always adjust the EQ on my phone. For now, the treble is just right. Its warm, smooth and has superb clarity. Pls dun confuse clarity means brighter treble. the fives is not bright at all, yet the clarity is as good as a brighter monitor like the AE5+.the 3 sec hold button on the sub button cancel a big chunk of bass. Once the bass is cancel, it will sound like a Audio Engine 5. Not a bad thing but I luv bass. Some people say this is a more accurate sound. Well, even if you cancel the bass, this monitor is still not accurate enough for studio mixes. Its a high quality "fun" speaker. It may not be accurate, but its very musical... I have alot of fun with it.Connection is great, one of the main reason I bought the fives is the HDMI input for TV (remenber to set your TV output to PCM. Also note that connecting with a Chrome cast direct to HDMI will not work = no sound. I also connect the Echo dot with the line in and it can now play Amazon HD music and stream radio station. For a higher quality, the echo link can connect digital to the fives (well u will need $199 for the echo link).Due to its small size and pretty light weight - I tend to take the fives all over the place. I can take it to my friend place or office and its like bringing my floor standing speaker with the sub on my back pack. That is real fun...Alright - for those who does not want the big bass and not play with foam, the 2nd best will be Edifier s3000 pro and Swan M300 in terms of power speaker with big bass. They all have similar bass power but IMO I think the fives is still way ahead (just love that big warm romatic sound of the fives). Now the S3000 pro does have DSP built in with several mode including the dynamic mode (which now has increase bass with increase treble) and the Swan M300 is an old school style with knobs control to turn the bass/treble up and down. Do bear in mind, reducing the bass to solve the boom is not solving it, its getting rid of the bass. U will still need the foam to maintain the bass on the front but reduce the bass reflect from the wall. Either that or get a front port. Problem solved.Summary - For those who wants a small package with big sound. THIS is it. It fits on your desk, sound like a floor standing speaker and does it without amplifer. It also has the option to stream hi res lossless ($30 for chromcast) and connect usb to your laptop as it has a DAC on board. If you looking for "flat" sound, this is not an accurate monitor for your mixes. Closest you can get is to turn off the sub (3sec hold button on remote) and even that its not close to neutral (whatever neutral means to u when recording/mixing). But heck its of alot of fun. I can have it on my kitchen in the morning and bedroom at night. It super portable, its only 1 plug - that the power plug.update: 3/26/21.I am so impress with the fives that I bought the REL T5i Subwoofer. I bought the T5i for to control the bass boom in a small room. I am surprise that the fives goes up another level.1）When connecting to the subs, the bass from 75hz and below is cutoff. This cutoff broght alot of clarity to the treble.2) With the REL Subsoofer, the bass now has alot more texture and its really fast. The REL blended so well with the fives that I cant really tell that the bass is coming from the sub. Bass is dead center.3) All the bass boom is gone - Even in the back of the wall or corner of the room, the bass is very even and well control.4) Bass punch hard and fast. very well define and bass notes can be heard with great clarity.Overall, the addition of the subs makes the fives sound 3x more expensive than it really was. I dare say, it will rival a B&W 705 S2 and in fact the bass punch above the B&W as the REL added more depth, and bass more define. Some reviewer say that adding any subs will still be better than no subs. This is wrong. Adding a cheap subs will make the fives sound worse. The bass is loose, muddy and not define. I would rather not have it at all. If you are looking for a sub to pair with the fives, the REL T5i is the best. Do not get the REL Tzero mk 3, I have that too and its not strong enough to pair with the fives. Also get a subs that is seal for music. A ported subs will not be as tight and fast as a seal subs.