Thoroughly Impressed with The Fives - REVIEW

[Quiet_Hollow]

On 4/3/2021 at 3:31 PM, Fidelio said:

The eq approach give me some hopes, but I wonder if the fives signature isn't quite all for me.

Want my opinion? Seeing as you're getting a subwoofer, stuffing the ports with a chunk of acoustic foam will also help clean up their mid-bass response. That's what I did to achieve the sound in the video below. Wait until the end to hear the difference without any of the tweaking:

 

 

[Fidelio]

11 hours ago, Quiet_Hollow said:

Want my opinion? Seeing as you're getting a subwoofer, stuffing the ports with a chunk of acoustic foam will also help clean up their mid-bass response. That's what I did to achieve the sound in the video below. Wait until the end to hear the difference without any of the tweaking:

 

That's cool, I just catch your video on youtube a couple of days ago! Thanks for the advice.

Wow, the difference is remarkable. Is there's any inconveniences using this foam? I assume it could be removed any time or the effect is permanent?t. It could be a less expensive solution until (if) they release the eq app.

By the way, I haven't watched Tenet yet. By what I heard on your video, looking forward to do it under this configuration.

 

 

[Quiet_Hollow]

13 hours ago, Fidelio said:

Is there's any inconveniences using this foam? I assume it could be removed any time or the effect is permanent?t.

Sourcing material can be a chore I guess. I just used a couple ~13cm wide pieces of low-height charcoal egg crate foam. Could be removed anytime.

[Fidelio]

On 4/6/2021 at 2:30 AM, Quiet_Hollow said:

Sourcing material can be a chore I guess

It could be in did, but I think I found the product you refer to. I will try it when the subw arrive.

Thanks!

 

[Helder]

Finally, after almost 1 year, Klipsch released an upgrade addressing the issue!

You will need to do the upgrade in 2 steps, via USB and then via a specific App.

Install the "Klipsch The Fives Updater" and follow the instructions over there.

After that "Klipsch Connect" should be the only App to use for future updates.

With the update, the App now has an EQ with Bass, Mid and Treble, I would prefer to have seen 5 bands instead but this is already good, the Vocal preset solves the voice issues when watching TV/Movies and with custom I can adjust for when listening to music.

I was losing hope and regretting the investment, but now sounds much better and starts to fit my expectations!

 

Well done Klipsch, just maybe too slow for current times.

 

[Kona5s]

On 3/14/2021 at 8:34 PM, dcisive said:

I'm about to embark on a entirely different approach. Having functioned as a recording engineer owning 2 studio's, and having been a musician for over 50 years I was also blessed with "perfect pitch" along with becoming very familiar with tonal natures of various instruments. For example I could tell you a Bosendorfer vs. a Steinway vs. a Yamaha piano in a recording. Also a Martin, vs. a Taylor, vs. a Gibson acoustic and so on. That said I am very critical of the output of a given speaker. My monitors (Adam 7's) were extremely accurate and didn't have a dip in any area of the spectrum so I knew what to mix accordingly.

 

The Five's I just got have some interesting characters. They are literally dependent upon the source for their quality overall. Most sources however will render a midrange that screams for a drop in the 500hz range to clean it up and make it more intelligible with definition. The low end is flat out amazing so no complaints in that department. The vocal range in particular really needs help in most cases with manipulation (eq) in the 250-800hz range overall to open it up. The higher end needs to also be opened up to allow for the fine detail in instruments and orchestral types of details. They are missing in most cases. 

 

I easily determined this by hooking up via bluetooth, my phone which has some music on it. I also have a EQ App on my phone. When played back I dropped the 500hz slider on the EQ about 3db  and oh baby the voices were then clear and defined without the mud/fluff/cloudy sound they typically have. Then I slowly upped the 6k and 8k range and voila' the highs reappeared in all their glory. The "air" and sparkle were once again revealed which were not there before the EQ. I then listened to a half dozen pieces of music (one of which was Simon And Garfunkel's Bookends album). in which I heard things I'd NEVER heard before even on high end systems. So the speakers can do it........but they have to have their DSP crossovers and overall output balance freed by a EQ App which I understand Klipsch is working on but may not be seen till later 2021.

 

I 'm not that patient. So I've ordered the Shiit brand out of California, their DAC unit and their 4 band EQ that I saw was very highly rated for just this purpose. I know I'll have to give up the HDMI way of doing things and use the Optical output of my Sony Bravia into the DAC then from there into the EQ and then onto the dual RCA input of the speakers and switch it on via the Klipsch remote each time I fire up my Sony Bravia. But I can easily live with that if the EQ brings me to the place it NEEDS to be with those Five's. They need equalization to be sure and I hope Klipsch realizes this and releases that EQ App. But in the mean time I'll be sure to report back when I get it in a few weeks to let you all know how it works. It either is the answer to the problem and reveals the truly amazing sound that is currently locked up in the Fives, OR it isn't the answer I'd hoped for. Let's hope for the latter to be the case. I'll let you know. DSP is a wonderful thing IF you use it fully

Hi mate, what's the name of the EQ app you're using on your phone. I use EqualizerFX Pro but could do with a few more EQ bands for adjustment. 

 

Here's my setup... 

 

 

 

 

 

I've had The Five's for a year now, connected to the TV via optical. No issues with dialogue clarity, they've been great for movies where I leave the dynamic bass on. Really rich and full sound. Would get a sub if I didn't live in a flat. 

 

With music I connect via phone and Bluetooth AptX HD. EQ the bass and treble via the phone and have have bass boost off. I'm Still on the original FW out of the box as am happy as is and am worried the new FW might spoil the sound signature. 

 

Is it possible to roll back FW? 

 

Happy new year all. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Kona5s

[Kona5s]

On 1/16/2021 at 5:54 PM, SET12 said:

 

Hi all,

Its been many years since I have posted anything on the Klipsch Forum I mostly reside over on the AudioKarma forum.

 

fmalloy was recently over on AK and asked if I had any issues regarding the Fives. And I said no BUT! I to wasn't real happy about the midrange I found it a bit dark just as the reviewer pointed out in Sound & Vision Magazine and once more I was not allowed to hear a pair before buying as the dealer said they are back ordered due to a parts shortage. So I bought them.

 

First thing I thought was if they only had a little more treble energy that might bring the mids more into focus. I looked around for EQ's that used HDMI and I wasn't having any real luck.

Then I stumbled into the miniDSP and that looked promising but it was expensive. I looked a little more and for $55 I found this guy! Called the Fosi Q-4 Its no bigger than the palm of your hand it has bass and treble with an optical or coax in with RCA out along with its volume control. I use my own 40 watt wall wart that has a 2 amp 5 volt out. It needs just 1 amp if I recall correctly. I mostly listen to music with occasionally with my wife gone I use the Fives for movies as she doesn't like anything much over a low volume. But every chance I get with her gone I am listening to music and how!

 

 

 

I didn't expect much from this little guy since it was so cheap but I wanted to see what influence just adding a bit of treble would do for the Fives as I could really hear some of the potential that I felt the Fives have.

 

Well I got the Fosi and hooked up via analog in, I cranked the Fosi volume up so I could just use the Fives remote I added the treble and I was astonished!

I thought this is a match made in heaven in other words it was really a synergistic combination. And Wow it was nice, it had some real nice body wasn't lean sounding. It had a very, very nice presentation of the sound-stage with really great layering and to top it off it was really wide as it easily filled my 16 foot wide wall from floor to ceiling. I have recently gotten Sirius Radio and installed the App on my Roku Ultra. Listening to SPA (New Age Music) I was shocked at what I could hear. Of course I am a Jazz Man at heart and got similar results from Sirius.

 

Next I ordered some Schiit products namely their nicely constructed EQ $150 and I ordered their $100 AC that many people raved about on U-Tube. The EQ sounded the most interesting to try as it had 5 zones of adjustment.

 

I got the Schiit products and gave them a listen!

 

I unfortunately didn't like what I heard. Namely their presentation was very forward or up front and my biggest complaint was the combination was just to lean for my tastes so a few days later I sent the pair back for a refund as they have a 15 day satisfaction guarantee. I really like the company and their attitude towards customers, I did receive my refund so I can whole heartily recommend the company.

 

I will say the Schiit EQ was very transparent more so than the Fosi but the Fosi is just so much more musical and that's a big part of the game for me.

 

So in the end get yourself a Fosi Q-4 and I don't think you'll regret it. I read some where that the Fosi Q-4 was using the famed NE5532 Dual OP Amp. This is the one that my Sony X77ES player used that I had for 20yrs and that player was 40lbs and $2000 new. It played a lot of very nice music for me.

 

Next topic I want to tackle Speaker Stands

 

Because that was another area of great improvement to be had for me. BTW my stands are Monoliths by Monoprice 28in tall which puts the tweeters ear level for me. BTW Pangea sells the same stand under their name for $400/pair when I got mine from Monoprice for just $59/each! They are sand filled as well. I have the Fives front 2ft from my back wall 77in apart in front of my 65in LG OLED I have it on a 16ft wall centered. The Fives throw out such a large sound field that I find its necessary to have no open corners and equal distance to the side walls otherwise one side can sound louder than the other. The fives sound field can envelope my entire 14ft x 16ft listening space if the acoustic ambiance is in the recording. This is clearly astonishing from the Fives IMO for their price the internal amplifiers express space like a great Transmitting Tube amp would example like a Cary Audio 211 Transmitting Tube Amplifier and those my friends last I saw are $10,000/pair.

 

IMO though not perfect, but close enough Klipsch Engineering hit a Home run with the Fives!

 

SET12

 

 

 

 

Check my post for speaker stands mate. 

 

Good shout on the fosi, may have to give it a try for my TV output. Does it work better than the new Equalizer software update? 

[Jakevike]

Currently running Amazon Music from an Echo Show to The Fives via 3mm cable. Should I have a DAC in between the Echo Show and The Fives or do The Fives (or Show) already have an acceptable one? Is this the optimum setup for music streaming?

[mApte]

I am writing this review after using the Klipsch the Fives for 2 months. I am no audiophile, but I have always craved for an excellent sound system, not just to listen to music streamed from Spotify , but also to watch movies, TV shows etc on popular streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime etc. Flat screen TV’s of the last few years have become thinner and thinner and their sound output / fidelity is severely compromised due to this. The sound is tinny and totally underwhelming.

 

My last 2 purchases were sound bars – initially a basic 2.1 channel one from LG and then an upgrade to a 4.1 channel surround sound-bar from Phillips. The Phillips sound bar was getting old and I was looking to upgrade. I researched the market for many sound bars. They were either too basic and I did not like the sound, or the better ones from the likes of Bose / Loewe etc were too expensive. Another problem was in how soundbars are constructed vis a vis discreet speakers, an aspect I shall discuss later.

 

In came the Klipsch the Fives, which were touted as ‘soundbar killers’ due to one important fact – they had an HDMI input which to my mind no other powered speakers had. Not only did they promise sound fidelity that matched / beat top end sound bars, they were competitively priced *and* took up much less space. So I took the plunge and bought them.

 

How has been my experience? In one word – excellent. They do live up to their tag line of being soundbar killers. There are a few important determinants on which I measured their performance:

 

-          Are they powerful? After all they are not very large

-          Are they capable of producing room filling / immersive sound? Remember they were replacing the Phillips 4.1 surround sound bar

-          How is the dialogue clarity? Being 2.0 stereo speakers, how will dialogue sound in the absence of a center channel

 

I was keen to run a head to head test in a real life use situation. For that I chose the following:

 

-          Bose 700 soundbar + Bose 700 bass module, which is one of the best sound bars in the market. It has a dedicated center speaker to boost dialogues

 

-          A scene from the TV show – Billions. One of the lead actors Paul Giamatti has a strange way of delivering his dialogues. He speaks in a throaty guttural low pitched voice which makes it (sometimes) difficult to understand what he is saying.

 

On comparing, I am happy to report that The Klipsch the Fives came through with flying colours!!

Firstly, I realized that I still could not decipher what Paul Giamatti was saying even on the Bose LOL. Then came the most important realization. *ALL* sound bars suffer from one major shortcoming – the lack of a SOUNDSTAGE. They key differential IMHO is the ability to keep discreet stereo speakers wide apart. In my case, the Klipsch have been kept about 7 feet apart. No soundbar on the planet has been made SO wide, it will look ridiculous right? And won’t fit into tight corners. The ability to keep the speakers wide apart and create an enveloping soundstage is, to my mind, the key advantage of any 2.0 speaker setup, not just the Klipsch. Soundbars throw the sound at you directly from where *they* are located and it feels as if all sound is coming from just one place. Sure, the addition of surround speakers will enhance the 360 degree nature of the sound, no doubt. But for that, you will be paying significantly more for a Bose, Sonos, JBL or even Klipsch’s own soundbar setup as compared to a 2.0 stereo speaker system. And the satellite speakers will need their own power source, therefore more wires, more clutter. Also note, the surround speakers (of soundbars) are usually paired with the main bar using Bluetooth, so due to sound compression used to direct sounds, they may not be as effective as wired setup. And BTW, the Fives recreated a phantom center channel quite effortlessly for dialogues.

 

If the aim is to de-clutter your room, save money and get a soundstage which is nearly equal to some of the top soundbars in the market, stereo speakers is the way to go.

Another important point. When listening to music, the Klipsch the Fives will eat any premium soundbar for breakfast! Again the stereo effect coming into play here.

 

So, net net, I am very happy with my purchase of the Klipsch. These are the first set of speakers I have owned from the venerable Klipsch brand and it has already got me started on exploring their passive reference premier range.

I would heartily recommend Klipsch the Fives for wide range of applications – for watching TV, listening to music etc. BTW, in order to get the maximum out of your Klipsch, upload the firmware (a not so easy process, but got it right after a few try’s), download the Klipsch app and use the graphic equalizer to boost the center frequencies for clearer dialogues.