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Topic: KLISPCH HORN
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 05-18-2014 02:08 PM
The issue is that Klipsch isn't flat out of the box. Obviously this depends slightly upon the model, but they have frequencies that are WAY louder than others. Typically I find their "bass" is overbearing in the 80-160Hz range, totally lacking lower than that and too prominent above it. Some people confuse this to be a good thing and call it "warm sound" or go off spouting how wonderful Klipsch "bass" is.
On the other end of the spectrum, good luck getting any resemblance of an X curve out of the box. There are always overbearing frequencies within the 2k-10k slope, that again some people confuse that shrillness with "clarity".
Then of course there are all the frequencies in the middle that is usually a total disaster...and often the 800Hz-1.6K frequencies have a peak. For those non-sound guys, those frequencies around 1K if boosted is like sticking a knife in your ears when a female actress raises her voice. The sibilance in a female voice on a response like I'm about to show you below can make you blink.
Below is my favorite picture of a Klipsch room originally installed by a prominent service company that is still in business and doing well, not some fly-by-night company that is out of business. The room acoustics were fine, no baffle wall, but very much a typical cinema build with a shallow depth behind the screen to duct liner wall. This pic was taken after the EQ was flattened. Sorry I don't know what model of Klipsch speakers were being used, but it was a small room.
For you D2 people, that's 5db spacing selected. Yes you read that right.
I see this everywhere there is Klipsch and I've never heard a Klipsch system actually sound truly good to my ears. It's always "cheap bass" (80-160Hz) with "in-your-face shrill treble" (5-8K) and frequently a "honkiness" in the lower midrange, of which this was the first Klipsch room that didn't have the honky lower midrange that usually comes with the Klipsch name (frequencies between 200-500Hz).
Regardless this typical frequency response is precisely why Klipsch speakers don't need much power. The volume in the auditorium is actually being adjusted based upon those 6-10k frequencies. If played very loud, it just flat out hurts and will leave people's ears ringing or cause headaches.
There will be people who will say "you just need to EQ them". Well that's the problem. With Klipsch, there isn't even ENOUGH boost/cut to flatten the response, nevermind the other problems that are being created by maxing the available EQ.
To get "decent" sound from Klipsch, it really needs a parametric EQ. This isn't something that should be attacked via a graphic EQ. How many people actually use parametric though? (That sure as shit isn't happening with Atmos installs, since those are auto-EQ'd.)
You Klipsch fanboys can have 'em...every last one of them. I'm sticking with QSC because THOSE GUYS know how to make a damn speaker that are amazingly flat out-of-the-box. QSC speakers, particularly the SC-444 and SB-15121 are nothing short of AMAZING!!!
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