I don't know enough about pricing mechanics to really comment directly on this. What I would say is that HD Wireless took a whole lot more R&D for our engineering team than the passive Reference Premiere lineup. Plus, amplificatioDirector of Technology and Innovationn is expensive which is why you don't see it built into a lot of speakers.
Anyway, Matt Spitznagle, newly promoted Director of Technology and Innovation, answered a question about these speakers' amplification on Facebook that I think would be interesting to y'all:
"Each amp channel is limited to 25W per driver. The power supply in the 440WF and 440WC is 125W. The 140WM has a 50W power supply. The 110WSW amp can output 200W. The biggest reason you don’t see amps in speakers is amps are expensive and can be difficult to implement, especially when they are quiet enough for Klipsch speakers. Acoustically, this is a superior solution because it allowed us to use a DSP crossover. It also means each speaker doesn’t have to share a power supply like it would with a receiver. 2 WF’s, 1 WC, and 2WM’s have 460W of power supply available. Most mid-grade receivers may rate themselves at 100W/channel but most can’t come close to that with all channels driven."
Hey Alex, I had a few questions/comments regarding the HD Wireless system I hope you will pass along.
I just got my hub in today, and my pair of 140-wm's come in tomorrow. I am going to copy and paste this from my on-going AVS post (found HERE).
ISSUES:
HDMI Pass-Through does not work. The TV does not receive video signal when box is off, even if the option turned on in the settings.
Delayed Start Time. The initiation lights (volume indicator lighting) bears no relation to actual start time. It seems to take around 40 seconds right now for the control center to start before video is sent. You know its ready because all the lights on the front turn off real quick. During this startup, I found if you click different HDMI inputs to quickly, it could lead to video cut outs every 5 seconds. It only occurs when there is sound played.
No direct audio pass-thru option. Hopefully it won't do this when off and the aforementioned pass-through feature is fixed, but my TVs audio was really messed up by the audio sent from the CC. Its volume adjusted everywhere. I found the solution to be adjusting the Surround Sound setting on the TV to OFF and turning off auto volume on the TV. It may not seem like a big issue, but I know there are some times when just the TV audio is needed, and this really is concerning. I tried all the available sound modes to no avail.
Clicking "Adjust Speaker Settings" will cause TV speakers to play static (loudly) if they are still on.
Menu options to adjust the CC lighting does not show up, along with the speaker option. Again, my speakers don't come in until tomorrow, but at least the CC lighting should be there.
Feature Enhancements:
BlueTooth Audio Laid Over a video input. Sometimes having a different audio input overlaying a video input would be nice. For instance, I like to use my TV as a monitor. My audio still comes from a different (BlueTooth) source, so I would like for audio input AND my computers video. Menu Transparency. The current menu structure looks like an early 2000s system. Aside from the visual pixelated text, adjusting settings like Lip Sync Delay is difficult when 2/3rds of the (middle of the) screen is solid black from the menu.