Kalam
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Posts posted by Kalam
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I'm quite disappointed with the update, and difficult for me to understand why they release updates that have not been thoroughly tested. My problems:
-Volume knob became unusable as you need to spin it like a flywheel to get any noticeable difference to the sound level
-The eq is basic with only 3 bands to adjust. The problem with the Fives muffled sound has been extensively discussed in these forums, and solution is in the pic below, hello anyone at Klipsch! The same cannot be achieved with three bands only
-I've been considering of investing in a sub to clean the midrange response, but I'm now reluctant to do that given the mentioned subwoofer problems mentioned in this thread.
The only improvement with the app was the "vocal" mode for TV usage, but it just beefs up the midrange, making it more audible, but sound is still a bit like "behind the pillow", not clean.
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19 hours ago, dcisive said:
Yes that is the only drawback. But if one wants uncompromised sound, at this time, the ONLY way around it is to get a DAC unit and from there run a EQ via the RCA's as described in my previous post and then into the "LINE" input of the Fives. There's NO other way at this time. I gave up my HDMI as I simply could NOT put up with that sound quality given. Until Klipsch engineer's get off their duff and create that DSP EQ app that will allow us to adjust the frequency characteristics of it's output for ALL inputs going into it including the HDMI we're hosed. I simply could NOT wait. I was told it was going to happen this year 2021, but what if it doesn't? In the mean time I get to completely enjoy all these speakers can deliver. Sure it's a pain to fire up the TV with it's remote, then hit the Phono input on the Five's remote and go from there. A price to pay for perfection I'm sorry to say. Sure wish Klipsch was reading these posts and move this EQ along for the Fives.............they NEED it that's for sure
What I don't get is all the reviews shouting how the Fives are a perfect soundbar replacement for which they are not in my opinion without EQying. Is it groupthink among the reviewers, or do they all have a setup that they can place the speakers absolutely perfectly, and do not test the speakers located so that they would normally be placed in homes? Funnily enough my first issue with the speakers was way too much bass, but with the EQ adjustments suggested by you, even the normal amplified bass mode does not sound too bad. As rear ported speakers they are heavily also influenced by placement, hence EQ should be a standard. Anyhow, I have hard time believing that the behind the pillow sounding mids would be all due to placement.
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On 3/24/2021 at 2:10 PM, FredTheFrench said:
I agree with you @dcisive. I tried yesterday your configuration and i confirm, the sound is really better. I can hear a lot of details that i didn't hear before. No more veiled mids.
Thanks a lot for your advices.
I share with you my configuration music app.@dcisive, could you tell me if it's the better way or if you have many suggestions to improve the sound of my fives ?
Glad to see there's been new discussion on the thread since my last visit. I did roughly the same adjustments as fred above, suggested by dcisive and boy does it make a change! The pillow effect is totally gone, and the sound is so much better! It's actually perfect now, there is clarity in midrange and highs are more airy.
I can only do this when streaming from my phone, so it does not help the TV use. I'm not willing to compromise the HDMI use which was the main reason I went for these speakers.
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On 1/17/2021 at 9:29 PM, Helder said:
I thought about an EQ as well, but the main reason I went for the Fives was precisely to avoid any extra devices and have a clean easy to use setup (w/ the HMDI ARC I don't even need to worry about turning them on/off).
The same way Klipsch already released a firmware upgrade to cut the bass, I believe they could release another one to "open" the tribble.
I have contacted their customer support end of year, still waiting for an answer/solution.
On 1/18/2021 at 2:47 AM, SET12 said:Yeah, I can see that not being able to use the HDMI ARC could be a real let down for people as yourself. Especially if you wanted to use just one remote.
I looked for an EQ that could use an HDMI ARC but no such luck! And then there would be the cost and then dealing with sound quality like I did with Schiit DAC and EQ.
I like the idea of the mini DSP its is very versatile and will a lot of room for adjustments. But I can't testify of its sound quality. And its about $200. The Fosi was $55 and is excellent.
I had LG's $1300 sound bar about a year or so ago the one that didn't analyze the room as the latest model does, but I don't know if I could live with its sound as it sound even leaner than my LG TV which does have a room analyzer but unfortunately only works for the internal speaker.
My wife doesn't like elevated TV or Movie volumes so the TV sound is just fine for her. My LG has the option of running both Internal Speaker and Optical out at the same time but of course I have to use the Fives remote and there is a lag between the two.
I have found that the Fives seem to have an audio detection that turns them on if audio is present but that doesn't take the place of a nice HMDI ARC.
I was nearly going to pull the trigger on Sennheiser AMBEO sound bar but that's $2500 weighs 40lbs it does go to 30hz and it sounds just great but then I read of the Klipsch Fives its got to do a better job with music and reviewers thought it killed most sound bars so I was hooked. But I wasn't able to listen to the Fives before purchasing but still I had some confidence in them. With my EQ most sound bars won't even come close IMO.
I do like having the variable EQ of the Fosi, occasionally I'll add the Fives boost as well when working around my Apt. The Fosi I keep fixed as I have found no real reason to touch its levels once set
Stands are a must have IMO and are a great help.
If you hear from Klipsch Customer Support please post it.
SET12
I tend to think exactly as Helder here. If Klipsch released a Bass cut mode, why not release a mode which further increases the highs and mids a bit (keeping the bass cut in place!), while they are developing the app. I got hooked to the Fives with the idea of having not to buy any other equipment, pre-amps, amps, receivers and getting them turned on by just powering the TV. I can only place them max 25cm away from the back wall which is not helping the bass issue. THey are now located on the TV stand on at the same level as the TV. Have been thinking of buying small stands for them so that I could lift them up may be by 20cm. Don't know if this could help the bass to be less boomy and the highs to be clearer.
Anyhow SET, thanks for telling about the EQ possibility with Fosi.
Kalam
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22 hours ago, Helder said:
I am soo much aligned with you Kalam, in a way it is a relief, I was starting to think it was just me being too picky 🙂
Regarding the bass, in fact placement is key. I first installed them on my TV cabinet shelves and had to use the Bass Cut all the time. Bought wall mounts, attached them to the sides of the cabinet and now I can used them with the default Bass EQ, which I actually enjoy.
As for the voices/highs I am still not happy, for this price I was expecting better. And again I agree with you, this issue is more noticeable on low volumes.
Good to hear that you got the bass sorted out. I'm reasonably happy with the bass cut mode, need to do some experimenting with placement/room furnishing to get rid of the slight boom in the listening place. I'm the same, I'm still a bit disappointed by the voice and highs presentation.
21 hours ago, fmalloy said:I think you're probably correct about 1 - the bass you get is strongly dependent on speaker placement; closer to a wall increases the bass, closer to a corner increases it even more. And the port needs a certain distance to function correctly without being boomy. And looks like you found that your room has bass "nodes" where it peaks. Normally audiophiles correct this with some kind of room treatment or speaker/listening chair placement. Have you tried toeing the speakers in a bit?
For 2 - I guess you can't turn off the TV's speech enhancement? I don't think my Samsung Q70 has any such speech processing. You say that it doesn't occur with music, right? How is speech from a source other than the TV? Does your TV have any EQ functionality? Sometimes it's buried in the Sound settings or some such.
Still, I'm surprised that this speaker that is targeted for TVs cannot provide clear speech.
I've tried some small stands and toeing the speakers as well a bit, but can't tell any difference. Anyways the bass is not a big thing. It's a bit boomy on the sofa, but if I move around in the room having the Fives play background music, it's actually quite good.
While the HDMI arc is connected I cannot change any of the roughly 20 sound adjustments I Have in the TV. except the volume of course. Hence my suspicion that TVs enhancement does not influence the sound for the Fives but the input to the speakers is the unadjusted broadcast. I'm not sure if the speech clarity is the right word here, it's more the volume level of speech compared to other sound in the TV broadcast.
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12 hours ago, fmalloy said:
This is puzzling. I have used multiple kinds of stereo speakers connected to an amplifier and play the TV thorough them, and speech/vocals always are clear. Speech sits right in the middle of midrange frequencies, which a quality speaker should handle easily. I'm currently using Klipsch Heresy speakers connected to an NAD amp, and the TV sounds fantastic, including speech.
If the bass is too heavy, it should not drown out speech. As a matter of fact, speech alone should not have any bass at all, unless the speaker is Barry White or James Earl Jones. Sounds to me these speakers have artificially pumped up bass.
Klipsch seems to be marketing the Fives for this very purpose - "Immensely improve your TV's sound with The Fives" so it's extra strange.
If this system can't reproduce speech with clarity, I wouldn't say the sound quality is superb.
I did some further tests and plugged the rear ports of the Fives. This seems to open up the sound a bit, and of course considerably decreases the bass, by too much actually. Not something I would do for long term use as I have no clue how that would impact the cooling of the speakers. I have three separate issues, which I think may or may not impact each other:
1. Bass even in Bass cut mode is a bit too much. This I say is due to placing of the speakers and the room itself. I can only place the speaker about 20cm from the wall, which seems to be not enough for rear-ported speaker. Also the sofa where I listen to is on the opposite wall. If I listen in the middle of the room, there is no boom in the bass, it's tight and fast. Listening on the sofa creates a slight boom.
2. Speech volume level/clarity is inferior to my TV. This I think is due to the TV's speech enhancement function, as in normal music this is not an issue. I tend to listen TV in low volume which makes this a bit of an issue, but depends hugely on the TV program and its recording. As a soundbar replacement such function in my opinion should be available for the Fives via the app. I hope time takes care of this issue
3. Highs are slightly muffled. This I have not found to be "curable" by the placing, may be its just the "colour" of the sound with these speakers. There is a slight difference to all my other references, which are not necessarily hifi standard. Again, EQ availability should be a default from my point of view.
Number 2 and 3 I believe should be fixable by the app, if Klipsch chooses to do so. Number 1 is not something I would so much blame on the speakers. There is a lot of great qualities to the sound, like stereo image, how they fill the room etc. And from my PoV there is a potential for superb sound. It may be the case for someone already who can place the speakers well, and always listens TV on reasonably high volumes for the speech not to be an issue.
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4 hours ago, fmalloy said:
I think if you have tried sources other than the TV (laptop, smartphone, etc.) and you still hear muffled vocals, either there is a problem with your unit, or you just don't like the Fives' sound.
I have the same problem as Helder, and I do not believe it's either hardware issue, nor me not liking the Fives sound. The speech clarity is better when I use my TVs own speakers over the Fives. Overall the sound quality of the Fives is superb, but they feel a bit muffled on the highs, even with Bass cut mode when playing music.
Many TVs like mine have speech enhancement feature, which I assume is bypassed with HDMI arc connection. May be this makes the difference. I'm hoping that the app would eventually have such feature in addition to EQ. Even with Bass cut mode, the sonic balance is a bit bass heavy, making the sound not so clear, especially on low volume levels.
One option to overcome this might be to connect a subwoofer, which would allow to control the bass levels.
Klipsch The Fives forgets EQ setting when powered down?
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
Yes, that seems to be the case. Mine work similarly, that everytime I turn off the TV, I have to fiddle with the app when putting the TV on again. Otherwise it starts from "default". Extremely annoying..