Klipsch The Three Review (Powered Speaker)

[More Dynamics Please]

@amirm and @hardisj, good to see you communicating on Klippel operation here. As the only two individuals I'm aware of who are using a Klippel to measure speakers and share results with the audio community the more the two of you share Klippel operation experience with each other the more we all benefit.

 

[mohragk]

Well or put it this way, some cute and pretty notebook and some similarly slim gaming laptops at similar cost but different performance..

For anyone buying audio products absolute sound quality is only required to the level where they felt satisfied and then remaining factors like brand, YouTube reviews, look, ease of use to their case kick in. So as long as it doesn’t sound very broken at short demo sections I believe there’s the market for all those retro look/other stuffs they packaged in. Not that I agree that’s a correct product for me (it’s not, I don’t even ever own a klipsch product since the s4i I bought to upgrade my iPhone buds back like 8 years ago).
Us audiophiles will rank sound quality above all so this will be ignored by us but the market says it’s a money making product so someone will produce them

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.

 

[YSC]

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.

somehow I feel bad about the same, but I do think that's where the mass market is, but doesn't hurt the really high end hifi stuffs or studio stuffs, much like 99% of sales are toyota, VW and other sedans on cars but ferrari and lambo still survives

 

[srsxmi]

Apple still makes the HomePod

correction, "sells", they are discontinued.

 

[mohragk]

somehow I feel bad about the same, but I do think that's where the mass market is, but doesn't hurt the really high end hifi stuffs or studio stuffs, much like 99% of sales are toyota, VW and other sedans on cars but ferrari and lambo still survives

The thing is, Klipsch is perfectly capable of producing a decent sounding speaker that ALSO looks like this. It seems just plain stupid and ignorant to then not do that.

 

[vert]

It seems that OTG support is very hit-and-miss. Have you checked that your phone supports it?

Well, the strange thing is that it works flawlessly with two other, stand-alone DACs that I have, as did my previous phone. All I get is a sort of low volume digital sounding static sound. I mostly use the USB Audio Player PRO app for playback which has specific drivers which work otherwise with any device. The USB AP FAQs list Yamaha THR as supported. Maybe I should contact them. Or maybe it's just one of those "hit-or-miss" cases.

 

[YSC]

The thing is, Klipsch is perfectly capable of producing a decent sounding speaker that ALSO looks like this. It seems just plain stupid and ignorant to then not do that.

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

 

[Balle Clorin]

Nice loudness shape responsen which is exactly what peoplele and want for low level listening in the kitchen.
Nevermind the what Asr think of the sound or measurement,this what sells, I see no sign of Klipsch going out of business .

 

[MrDogg]

It's a shame these test so poorly because they look great!

 

[martijn86]

established audio brand

As a Klipsch owner I'd say they've transitioned into a lifestyle brand that benefits greatly from their familiar name and the fact that their classics fit perfectly in the current trend of mid-century modern interiors.

 

[beaRA]

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

Did you look at Erin's measurements of Klipsch The Fives? Those did very well in "Bass cut" mode although still a little bright. With EQ, the spin is comparable to Genelec/Neumann monitors.

 

[PuX]

I bet this is typical performance for a soundbar.

it's a product for people that just don't care about sound.

 

[DSJR]

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...

 

[AudioSceptic]

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...

"Nice tone": I wonder when people stopped saying that, or do they still say that?
Edit: added last bit.

 

[PatentLawyer]

Agree with a lot of these comments. The customer of this product probably doesn't care about objectively good (i.e., neutral/transparent/accurate etc.) sound.

That said, from the measurements seen, even Klipsch's higher end products (ostensibly geared toward audiophiles) seem to designed with goals in mind that aren't necessarily neutrality, transparency, etc.

 

[B4ICU]

Listening test comments:
As the sample of this item was not provided by Klipsch for test, it may have a problem, that only the tested unit has.
If, so, it should be fixed or the unit replaced, rather than been judged or criticized.
For the rest of the listening, it is obvious that Klipsch didn't aimed to a flat Fr. It has a contour of typical mild loudness. The bass and highs are slightly
amplified. That is natural, (as EQ ) to compensate over fletcher and munson curve at those levels. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[DSJR]

"Nice tone": I wonder when people stopped saying that, or do they still say that?
Edit: added last bit.

Now in me mid 60's, I distinctly remember my parents' generation saying that and I reckon it's just as valid now as it was then Turn up the bass to get some thump and add a bit of sibilance sparkle and off you go...

 

[amirm]

In that case, I think this calls for a rescan or simply taking the data down. It doesn’t seem right to publish data when it is admittedly incorrect. Even if it is of benefit to the speaker. Your detractors eat this kind of stuff up. The last thing I’d want to give them is more fuel. Keep in mind, I’m “on your side”. Just providing some perspective from the other side.

That's is why I do what I do, and my detractors do what they do! 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.

The entire performance of this box was summed in the on-axis response when I made the distortion measurement which I made front and center in my review:

You see the U-shaped on-axis response and that is all you needed here. I almost did not run the NFS realizing that would be the net outcome and it was. On-axis response by far the first filter to apply to performance of a loudspeaker. If a device fails that, directivity is not going to save it. And for sure not what this box produces on that front.

Still, for kicks and grins, I ran an NFS scan which showed proper response to 8 kHz and above it correlated excellently with the above graph so you could visually fix it up. No way, no how I am tying up a $100,0000 system again to test this speaker to arrive at exactly the same conclusion we already have. No one would care about the new data other than those "detractors" who could go and buy their own sample and measure. My job is done and have been spending my time with NFS measuring something else.

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.

 

[AudioSceptic]

Now in me mid 60's, I distinctly remember my parents' generation saying that and I reckon it's just as valid now as it was then Turn up the bass to get some thump and add a bit of sibilance sparkle and off you go...

Same here (I'm 70). A "nice warm tone" was much preferred to a "tinny" one.

 

[More Dynamics Please]

Listening test comments:
As the sample of this item was not provided by Klipsch for test, it may have a problem, that only the tested unit has.
If, so, it should be fixed or the unit replaced, rather than been judged or criticized. ...

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.