Klipsch The Nines - Review & Measurements by Erin

[SlamTaz]

would this be a good buy at $750 usd?

just got this for $750 as well and i added a pair of klipsch threaded speaker stands that's on sale as well, i.e. from 350 to 200. For my total, i got the $99 T5 IEDs for free

This will be a great bedroom tv system speaker replacement to our dying klipsch 2.1 promedia speakers

 

[Drachen9d8]

Currently $750 with discount code (mclarenpodium) for the mclaren edition on their website. It seems like a good deal, but im still thinking why not get something like a kali mm-6 for $400 and then add a sub.

 

[beefkabob]

With the reasonable distortion, strong bass, in-app EQ, and bluetooth connectivity, this will be great in my garage. Better directivity would be nice, but I won't be listening critically. I have proper JBL monitors for that.

 

[Freighter]

Do these have the same hiss problem that the Fives have? The Fives have audible hiss, even from some distance. It's clearly audible when not playing any audio, and it's still slightly audible when playing music softly on a near-field setup.

 

[friedpickles]

ended up passing on this deal even though it was a crazy price. did not like the all-in-one factor and have read not so good things about the reliability

 

[beefkabob]

Mine arrive tomorrow. Depending on when they arrive, I may be able to give them a try. Otherwise next weekend.

 

[SlamTaz]

got mine since the 11/01 doing bedroom tv duties and by far this is the best $750 i've spent on audio equipment. it's almost half of what i spent on my desktop set-up of a pair of elac dbr62 + svs sb2000 + smsl c200 dac + smsl a300

 

[beefkabob]

Just got them set up in the garage in a far from optimal room and a far from optimal layout. I immediately put the treble down -3 before even listening. I think I'll up it to -2, which will be just right. The bass at -3 for speaker placement helped too. A few songs in, and these are a legit bargain for the sound quality at $750 a pair. The distortion is low, the volume is high, and the bass is deep.

They don't have the ridiculous sonic purity of the 705P and 805P. They're not quite as accomplished as the 708P in bass and volume, though noticeably stronger than the 705P. The sonic stage is a muddled blur, but that is likely more the fault of the room and speaker placement. I'm not going to use or test them as monitors.

And oh my god are they fucking ugly. I guess I have a McLaren to go alongside the BMW and Jaguar.

To be fair, these would be ugly speakers without the McLaren paint. With the McLaren paint? Oh dear.

 

[beefkabob]

I definitely need to figure out a better solution than these precarious perches. Gonna go to Home Depot and get more brackets to do something more proper.

 

[Ziltoe]

Do these have the same hiss problem that the Fives have? The Fives have audible hiss, even from some distance. It's clearly audible when not playing any audio, and it's still slightly audible when playing music softly on a near-field setup.

No idea what the hiss is on the Fives, IMHO no issue with the Nines. A bit when in idle [audible perhaps within 30cm ~ 12 inches distance in a "dead" room]. Once a signal arrives, it's gone.

The JBLs or Kali I have are even worse.

 

[Ziltoe]

Just got them set up in the garage in a far from optimal room and a far from optimal layout. I immediately put the treble down -3 before even listening. I think I'll up it to -2, which will be just right. The bass at -3 for speaker placement helped too. A few songs in, and these are a legit bargain for the sound quality at $750 a pair. The distortion is low, the volume is high, and the bass is deep.

They don't have the ridiculous sonic purity of the 705P and 805P. They're not quite as accomplished as the 708P in bass and volume, though noticeably stronger than the 705P. The sonic stage is a muddled blur, but that is likely more the fault of the room and speaker placement. I'm not going to use or test them as monitors.

And oh my god are they fucking ugly. I guess I have a McLaren to go alongside the BMW and Jaguar.

To be fair, these would be ugly speakers without the McLaren paint. With the McLaren paint? Oh dear.

Congrats for having made such a great purchase and nice that you are happy with 'em for your purpose. Since you did compare them with the 705 and/or 708 in general [somehow, and to me not conclusively], what makes you confident the Nines cannot cope with the latter, respectively what stops you trying the Nines as monitors? Or, how did the 705/708 perform in your garage?

 

[beefkabob]

Congrats for having made such a great purchase and nice that you are happy with 'em for your purpose. Since you did compare them with the 705 and/or 708 in general [somehow, and to me not conclusively], what makes you confident the Nines cannot cope with the latter, respectively what stops you trying the Nines as monitors? Or, how did the 705/708 perform in your garage?

I bought the 9s for the garage, not for monitors. I already have monitors. I'm sure the 9s would be fine. I'm not swapping them with the 708p, though. Not worth the effort. The biggest selling feature of the 9s, for me, is bluetooth, if that tells you anything.

I really should sell my 705p. They're just sitting on a shelf. :|

 

[Ziltoe]

Yes, why to try them whwn initially purchased for a differnt reason.

However, I was curious, since the 708p was mentioned here, how the Nines looks in comparison with the 708p -> Nines vs 708.
I’m not an expert [far away] in reading graphs and curves correctly, but aren’t they to somewhat close and comparable?
For those knowing better, grateful for an intetrpretation.

 

[beefkabob]

Yes, why to try them whwn initially purchased for a differnt reason.

However, I was curious, since the 708p was mentioned here, how the Nines looks in comparison with the 708p -> Nines vs 708.
I’m not an expert [far away] in reading graphs and curves correctly, but aren’t they to somewhat close and comparable?
For those knowing better, grateful for an intetrpretation.

Yes, close and comparable. The only real weakness of the 9s is that their horizontal dispersion isn't as good, and that's a significant issue for how things sound when not directly aimed at the ears. Still, most excellent speakers for 750 bucks.

 

[Ziltoe]

thanks beefkabob. What you consider a weakness isn’t an issue for me here at my listening situation. Can recall that Erin, in his review, said something similar, however, it doesn’t bother me.

Yep, definitely more than a good catch for 750USD.

Enjoy them and give us an update once you've got all the stuff from HomeDepot getting 'em in a better position.

 

[friedpickles]

got mine since the 11/01 doing bedroom tv duties and by far this is the best $750 i've spent on audio equipment. it's almost half of what i spent on my desktop set-up of a pair of elac dbr62 + svs sb2000 + smsl c200 dac + smsl a300

would you say the nines sound noticeably better than your desktop setup?

 

[SlamTaz]

would you say the nines sound noticeably better than your desktop setup?

i wouldn't say noticeably better and while i don't really claim to be technically proficient in verbally differentiating and testing these two, here's my 2cents. to my untrained/non-golden ears, i'd say they're different in the following ways:

with both systems connected to my pc, i toggle the output and at flat eq settings on the nines, the treble sounds a notch higher/clearer but not harsh. the bass is absolutely fine and beats the elac by itself but of course, w/ the svs sub, the combo can go much lower. i'd say the elac combo presents a wider sound stage though the over-all impact to my ears is that they're a bit warmer than the nines which, on the other hand, sounds fuller. im almost sure, the dac/amp on the elac combo contributes to how it performs and in my mind, both can probably be adjusted to sound similar though a tad nuanced

i like them both and they're used in differnt set-ups and im happy with both but the nines are considerably better bang for the buck @ usd750 only or about half what the elac combo cost me.

 

[beefkabob]

I have mounted the nines up high on shelves. Upped the treble to flat. Added the Klipsch 1400 sub. The nines auto cross over at 60hz. It's not adjustable. Seems to work, though I haven't measured it. Somewhere around 5/10 on the sub volume knob is just about right. The sub absolutely outclasses the speakers, which is pretty common with big subs. Takes a fuckton of speaker to match a 14"+ ported sub.

 

[friedpickles]

I have mounted the nines up high on shelves. Upped the treble to flat. Added the Klipsch 1400 sub. The nines auto cross over at 60hz. It's not adjustable. Seems to work, though I haven't measured it. Somewhere around 5/10 on the sub volume knob is just about right. The sub absolutely outclasses the speakers, which is pretty common with big subs. Takes a fuckton of speaker to match a 14"+ ported sub.

how do you like the klipsch 1400 sub?

 

[beefkabob]

how do you like the klipsch 1400 sub?

It sounds like a well-made sub. Plenty powerful. Goes all the way down. It's not quite a PB16, but it's in the ballpark.