Klipsch The Fives Powered Loudspeaker Review & Comments

Hdmi ARC is a killer feature. About time added to powered stereo HIFI speakers. Nice review
 
They seems to be active speakers rather than simply powered.

Manufactures tend to claim the other way around. Odd.
 
With the grills on, these look pretty decent in a typical Klipsch way (but wow the black version looks not, very, good). HDMI input is bonus.

But for the price I'd probably take the Edifier S3000 over these. With their matching stands added in, they are £130 cheaper still.
 
With the grills on, these look pretty decent in a typical Klipsch way (but wow the black version looks not, very, good). HDMI input is bonus.

But for the price I'd probably take the Edifier S3000 over these. With their matching stands added in, they are £130 cheaper still.

Yes, they’re definitely best viewed with the grills on.

The pebble dashed baffle looks utilitarian, to be polite.
 
A closer look reveals even more ugly.

It looks as though they’ve chosen tarmac lumps for the front baffle...

Even if they were the most stunning sounding speakers at the price, I think spending £800+ should get you a finish something better than Matt black painted woodchip :eek:

A69828E6-4347-45D1-B3BB-25415A26B002.jpeg
 
Hdmi ARC is a killer feature. About time added to powered stereo HIFI speakers. Nice review

Yeah this is the key feature I look for when looking at active speakers.

I'm still generally struggling on finding something at a reasonable price, with HDMI ARC and AirPlay...
 
Amazon had this for £547.18 last month, obviously out of stock. Ordered walnut version, mine are arriving soon.

Walnut looks good.
 
Last edited:
Yeah this is the key feature I look for when looking at active speakers.

I'm still generally struggling on finding something at a reasonable price, with HDMI ARC and AirPlay...
Yet this was the only part of the speaker not tested...
 
I love these, absolute SoundBar killer with the HDMI ARC option, and it comes with a complete cable set too.

Bundled with a nice (Look and Sound) record deck they become an ultimate millenial / loft apartment / lifestyle hifi system with minimal clutter and fuss.
 
Sorry but they look as though they have been designed by Amstrad.

I love these, absolute SoundBar killer with the HDMI ARC option, and it comes with a complete cable set too.

Bundled with a nice (Look and Sound) record deck they become an ultimate millenial / loft apartment / lifestyle hifi system with minimal clutter and fuss.

Perhaps.

It’s a serious pity they are so repulsive looking.

Spending £800 plus really shouldn’t result in having it look like you spent 50p at a local 70s tip.
 
Last edited:
I'll be honest, i prefer the Walnut to Black, but they are geninely not as bad as the photos make them look.

I'll see if I can get a photo of the black in use from a customer/friend.
 
Unfortunately, they are ARC HDMI with CEC, not eARC.

But then, you wouldnt really need eARC in an stereo pair, if the CEC is good from your screen, because the only two other real benefits are larger bandwidth for audio, resulting in a great number of audio channels being carried, up to 32 iirc. Great for Atmos and Special Effects, less needed on a stereo with optional sub output.
 
ARC HDMI with CEC - that'll work well then :cool: Worst standard ever.
 
LOL, was it ever a standard!

We had a project where the customer was on holiday, Sky Boxes updated, which reset the CEC to on, signal passed through the martix and owner came back to find all 6 TV's on showing the Sky Promo Channel! Works well when you don't want it to!!
 
Well, earc seems to be leaa prone to lip sync issues and so on...
 
I really don't know, unless it is the perceived cost of the HDMI Branding etc.

We love 'the fives' and have sold several pairs now, we think they are an amazing combo especially when a turntable is added.
 
I really don't know, unless it is the perceived cost of the HDMI Branding etc.

We love 'the fives' and have sold several pairs now, we think they are an amazing combo especially when a turntable is added.
And these are a little smaller then the edifier s2000mkiii. I even would think the edifiere S3000pro is the upper quality at a lower price then the klipsch.. but these are even bigger.
As I want to use these with the 55"philips oled 855 and not for music.. I keep thinking about a soundbar like the samsung HW Q800T.. As the edifiers come with only optical connection and I read that after turning the speakers down,.. it will loose soundsettings every time.
But most reason of my search is to get the sound higher up at screen level.. And a soundbar stays below the screen and sound will be form below. But I don't like wide spekaers higher up next to the screen !! So it's a difficult quest.
 
Actually, the term "soundbar killer" is a little exaggeration. The Fives does not have any features to correct the sound and the TV is unable to provide these features to be used by the external speakers(HDMI).
A sound bar will work much better, in example due to the support of surround, dolby, dialog enhancement and etc. Say, the Smaug's voice in the Hobbit sounds much better on soundbar then on the Fives.
However, the Fives has an input switcher which allows to use it with several sources. I use it with Yamaha network streamer and TV and sometimes I use both.

And of course the Fives outruns any soundbar when we're listenting to music. It is quite loud and have deep bass. I firstly thougth to add a subwoofer to the Fives but I've found that it is quite enough for me to have just the Fives.
 
Its good marketing! lol.

And as mentioned, the beauty of The Five's is their adaptability for music as well.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom