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Klipsch The Three Review (Powered Speaker)

beagleman

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You guys all have to remember the target audience. People who don't care about sound and don't even know equipment reviews exist. But it is way over priced for what you get. Klipsch went full Bose quite a few years ago. This was a conscious business decision made by management to do what Bose was doing at the time. So they have moved into making everything. Lots of lifestyle products. Now Bose doesn't make as much and Klipsch makes it all. When they decided to do this I figured it would be bad. It hasn't turned out as bad as I thought it would. Most of their products are ok to good. Some is pure crap. At the time I thought it would all turn to crap. This is another story where I was on the fringe of the Klipsch circle and knew it was coming years ago. I wanted them to really start making relatively flat high quality speakers for the masses. I guess they wanted PC speakers, ear buds and other very modern junk, well, junk at that time. It was a money making decision on their part to stay in business. Oh well......


I am not certain about this. They could have made it sound pretty much any way they wanted. (Not defending it, but just feel it was all intentional) But they chose and spent money to get big full bass sound from a fairly small box.

I think the audience is more based on wanting a simple box, that can play fairly loud and have some real bass impact. Having just listened to quite a few blue tooth speakers, literally NONE sounded like what we in here would call a "Good neutral stereo system".

But bear with me, I think that what we see as neutral and clean sounding, with smallish bookshelf speakers, tends to sound, not all that loud, and lacking in any real bass.

I totally get and agree this is not "HiFi" at all, but many of those bluetooth speakers I listened to, made me want to crank them up and they were VERY ENJOYABLE to listen to how much strong bass I could hear from a box I could easily carry.

The bass is a positive thing, if you are wanting to have some fun, play it outside or just get some bass impact.
 

uwotm8

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see the U-shaped on-axis response and that is all you needed here
They just tried to copy a nice Pro-grade U-shape. Decent try according to Klipsch size:)
 

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beagleman

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Note: Incorrect reference axis used (upper treble not as recessed)

Preference Rating
SCORE: 3.0
SCORE w/ sub: 4.7

Frequency response: +/- 23.3dB 80Hz-20kHz

I’m on a houseboat on Lake Powell right now, so internet is spotty; will update with graphs when I can.


Or about +/- 4db from 40 Hz -10,000 Hz Not sure which is more accurate, but.....to me, incredible bass for its size, and above 10khz, not sure how important that part is...
 

hardisj

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So please, please don't make your priorities mine. We are different people with different goals here. I want to gather enough data to net out what a product is about and we are there.

I don't. Trust me. You have your goals and I have mine. This just seems more of a "quantity over quality" case and when you posted the bolded, it seems to back that up.

Taking a step back from any contention you may feel I have for you (and vice versa), I ask you to understand that the number one goal should first and foremost be accurate data. Not data for the sake of data. Certainty not in the instance of knowing that it is inaccurate. Thus, my initial reply addressing my concern here.

I use the NFS as much as you do at this point. I know how much time is required to complete a measurement. So, yea, I get, Amir. Still, posting erroneous data - regardless of how crappy a speaker is - is a disservice to the good you've otherwise done. I'm frankly surprised you would post the data knowing it is incorrect. But I'm more surprised you would be so defensive over doing it when I bring it up. A 3 hour spin (or less) to provide accurate data is all it would take. If it is the same, great. But at least it will be accurate. Send it to me, I'll do it for you (putting my money where my mouth is). And, again, if it is the same we can say "great, Amir was right". But, that's not the point. It is simply about providing data we know is accurate.




Going down the rabbit hole...

You can't loose sight of what you are doing and blindly generate a bunch of graphs and data when it doesn't matter. This is a clock radio replacement. It is put in any and all placements including very often in bookshelves and such. The spin data is not made to predict or quantify the effects of such a device. Heck, in stereo it has a mono woofer and dual tweeters comb filtering with each other. Spin data is not predicting that.

This seems like an odd statement to make. That you would make the comment about blindly posting data, then post the admittedly erroneous data and then brush it off by saying "it doesn't matter because the NFS doesn't even tell us anything useful for this speaker" (paraphrasing). It makes one logically ask what the point of posting data for it at all if it doesn't even matter.



Look, I don't want this to be a chest puffing thing. I feel like that's where this is headed. That is not my goal. I don't care if you're right or if I'm wrong. I am trying to appeal to your scientific side and seeing big bolded letters that essentially say "the data is wrong" in the OP with no desire to correct it was a big surprise to me. No matter how trivial the speaker may be. Bottom line. I won't waste anymore of your time or mine with this matter. We will simply agree to disagree here. Obviously you aren't going to change your mind and there is no way I will, either. I look forward to your next test. Peace.
 
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Thomas_A

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The IKEA Eneby 30 runs circles around the Klipsch at $89. Even for decoration, IMO. For real stereo, just add another one.
 
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B4ICU

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This could be said of virtually any speaker tested that didn't live up to the expectations of some. Testing a second unit every time the first unit doesn't perform as well as some might expect would double the workload and cost. It makes sense with unexpected results such as with the original Kali IN-8 but certainly not in every case.

Most sites that go for a unit test, no matter if that is a speaker (Audio) or a byke the manufacturer is providing a unit, pre tested. Allways, if a supplied unit is faulty, it is fixed or replaced and retested.
This is not a game. A respected manufacturer's name is on the line. Why let a faulty unit be the representative of such a test, that is published wide?
Not to say, that the manufacturer's do not release faulty units as a method or policy. It must be an unfortunate mistake.
As a reader and a consumer, I have no interest in a faulty unit test results. Not to say, that the time and effort put in testing such a unit, is a waist.
A fair offer, to check a non faulty unit, is the minimum to do, to be fair. Not to say, that Amir did not mentioned who sent it to him month ago...
I suspect it wasn't Klipsch!
 

MZKM

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I have not. We keep talking about them but I have not zoomed in on what to buy and test.
Maybe don’t want to tie up this thread, but I don’t care to see measurements of the uber expensive soundbar stuff, I want to see the $100-$300 stuff that the majority of people are buying, particularly Vizio as that is the #1 seller in the US, heck I’m listening to a 5.1 36” Vizio setup in my houseboat as I’m typing this, it’s not half bad:
https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-SB3651-F6-Theater-Sound-System/dp/B07CDG12DL/
 
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welsh

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Are there any good sounding boomboxes out there ? Is there still a big market for such products ? I used to love my radio cassette boombox as a teenager. My teenager is content with phone and airpods. I have this little practice guitar amp, boombox sized, the Yamaha THR https://images.app.goo.gl/xWsnJ4zMHQJ5JmKE6
it doubles a music system for when working out, or eating outside, etc. I play music from a notebook via the USB port (it doesn't accept my phone, I can't figure out why). It sounds really nice and can go quite loud, I can't find fault with it for that kind of use. The internal DAC must be decent. They have new models with bluetooth capability, that aren't cheap, but if you were a guitar player, you would get an additional very capable guitar amp for about the same price as the Klipsch.
I have a Positive Grid Spark Guitar amplifier, which is half the money of this Bluetooth speaker. And a lot more fun. Added drum ‘n’ bass, related to your playing input. Ability to identify chords from imported music.
 

welsh

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Given the bad review here and the mention of Amazon availability' I decided to see how it fared in customer reviews there (screenshot below).


Not sure what this says about people's judgment but there you have it... 83% give it five stars. I think Spkrdctr is on to something about the target audience for Klipsch. It's aimed at people who remember the company and buy because it's 'a good name'. I guess they couldn't take their K-horns to the retirement community, so Klipsch went into the 'lifestyle appliance' business. Unfortunately all that is left of most of the big names of the 'classic audio' era is the name- Klipsch, AR, Fisher, Marantz.

Another good example is Marshall, who also has gone into this category of product. Now fewer people are taking up real musical instruments because they require time and effort to learn. Guitar Center has filed bankruptcy as a result, which means fewer potential customers for Marshall, Fender etc, so into Lifestyle Land go brands like Klipsch, Fisher and a dozen others in an attempt to stay in business.
A very large number of guitar learners give up early. I blame first-position B Major.
 
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amirm

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Maybe don’t want to tie up this thread, but I don’t care to see measurements of the uber expensive soundbar stuff, I want to see the $100-$300 stuff that the majority of people are buying, particularly Vizio as that is the #1 seller in the US, heck I’m listening to a 5.1 36” Vizio setup in my houseboat as I’m typing this, it’s not half bad:
https://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-SB3651-F6-Theater-Sound-System/dp/B07CDG12DL/
It would be hard to impossible to test one with a sub. Does that unit work without its sub? And if so, is there one without it to save money?
 

MZKM

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It would be hard to impossible to test one with a sub. Does that unit work without its sub? And if so, is there one without it to save money?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BBPNQHH/

Not the same main unit I’m listening to, and it’s a stereo unit not 3ch, not sure if that’s better or worse for you. It accepts 3.5mm.
 
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Zedly

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Actually I wonder about that, since the last time I saw something measuring real good from them is the promedia mk II PC 2.1 system... others mostly just meh

The RP-8000F measures well (see the Audioholics review and measurements). I have the predecessor model, the RP-280F, and it also measures basically flat (ignoring room issues).
Klipsch RP-280F - In-Room.png
 

Sancus

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Spkrdctr

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It's a 'nice tone' for non audio hobbyists who like a little thump and sparkle. Nowt wrong with that really, in the 60's they all bought Dansette record players in the UK...

Yes, and some people still listen to outdated vinyl records and think they sound fantastic. Going backwards in technology is the audiophile way. Next they will want to bring back cassette tapes! I just shake my head.
 

AndreaT

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I believe there is a heavy price to pay when you listen to tonally messed-up speakers (and bad electronics). It would be so nice to design a randomized prospective trial with two arms: one with music lover listening to a Genelec speaker 2-channel stereo set, the other with people listening to Klipsch/Bose or other poor performing set. I bet that after 500 hours of cumulative listening cholesterol and triglycerides, blood glucose, average arterial blood pressure, bone density and coronary angiography would show the perils to limbs and life of a poor choice. Maybe even Alzheimer’s and Depression screening tools would show a very large difference between the groups…
 

Francis Vaughan

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For a box like this, I'm not sure I wouldn't take a very different design approach than the audiophile one. So I'll give Klipsch a bit of a pass on the FR.

I would be very inclined to incorporate a loudness curve into the system. These speakers will be used for background music a lot of the time, or for Podcasts, lots of times when the listening volume is lower than you would consider for listening as you prime task. Some form of loudness equalisation would make the product much more useful.
In the most trivial design, you just bake a curve that seems to work well into the design. In a more ideal case you might dynamically adjust the curve depending upon the volume setting - but that can't take into account listening distances - although it might still be tweaked to find a happy medium for most uses.

Given the device is probably going to spend its life positioned on desktops, shelves, kitchen benches, windowsills, etc, predicting the final FR is going to be a bit messy. Design will need to again tweak things until it generally works well in the intended use.

I would still never buy one, but I would not dismiss the design as incompetent either. "Nice tone" in the desired use case is probably as good a recommendation as one could hope for. It is exactly what the buyer wants.

It still seems overpriced for the build quality, but that is what you get when a company is trading on its brand. For the money it could be a lot better built and perform better, but the design goals and results are not unreasonable.
 

Helicopter

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For a box like this, I'm not sure I wouldn't take a very different design approach than the audiophile one. So I'll give Klipsch a bit of a pass on the FR.

I would be very inclined to incorporate a loudness curve into the system. These speakers will be used for background music a lot of the time, or for Podcasts, lots of times when the listening volume is lower than you would consider for listening as you prime task. Some form of loudness equalisation would make the product much more useful.
In the most trivial design, you just bake a curve that seems to work well into the design. In a more ideal case you might dynamically adjust the curve depending upon the volume setting - but that can't take into account listening distances - although it might still be tweaked to find a happy medium for most uses.

Given the device is probably going to spend its life positioned on desktops, shelves, kitchen benches, windowsills, etc, predicting the final FR is going to be a bit messy. Design will need to again tweak things until it generally works well in the intended use.

I would still never buy one, but I would not dismiss the design as incompetent either. "Nice tone" in the desired use case is probably as good a recommendation as one could hope for. It is exactly what the buyer wants.

It still seems overpriced for the build quality, but that is what you get when a company is trading on its brand. For the money it could be a lot better built and perform better, but the design goals and results are not unreasonable.
Agree. My biggest disapointment was the cheap feel of the controls. I was a bit shocked by the smiling FR, but I get the loudness thing and agree there is a good chance that drove intentional design choices. I mean, they have an anechoic chamber.

Simple solution: just get Fives if you are serious.
 

Francis Vaughan

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The FR is not exactly a million miles from the 80 phon equal loudness curve. Especially if we assume that the Klippel got lost above 8kHz.
Indeed it is sufficiently close that I can't help think it is pretty clear it is intentional.

Lindos1.svg
 

Katji

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Oh sure, of course there's a market for it. Klipsch knows this and therefore made the thing in the first place. But, on the other hand I find it weird for an established audio brand to create something that performs poorly and prioritizes looks. It can only hurt them in the long run. What if this would become a best seller? Now all of a sudden, people only get exposed to the brand via this ****** speaker. It just doesn't make sense to me.
It would make sense if you were familiar with the market research report they did.
 
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