Thoroughly Impressed with The Fives - REVIEW

[fmalloy]

5 hours ago, Helder said:

Yes, they both work, I just cannot understand why voices are so muffled/low (even with "Bass Cut") compared with my TV built-in speakers, meaning I need to raise the volume to understand  voices but when music or effects start the overall volume is too high and need to decrease it again.

Something is wrong. If this is noticed with both speakers it must be the source material. What are the sound settings on your TV? Make sure it isn't set to "Dolby Digital 5.1" or some similar format. I suspect the TV is doing some kind of processing.

 

Have you tried some other input source besides the TV?

[Helder]

On 1/5/2021 at 5:37 PM, fmalloy said:

Something is wrong. If this is noticed with both speakers it must be the source material. What are the sound settings on your TV? Make sure it isn't set to "Dolby Digital 5.1" or some similar format. I suspect the TV is doing some kind of processing.

 

Have you tried some other input source besides the TV?

Once I select HDMI ARC as output on the TV, all sound effects become disabled so I there is nothing I can configure.

I have also tried Bluetooth from my iPhone and optical from a CD player, and still the voices seam a little muffled, I miss clarity/crispy sound.

Do you think there can be any speakers manufacturing issue?  

[fmalloy]

2 hours ago, Helder said:

Once I select HDMI ARC as output on the TV, all sound effects become disabled so I there is nothing I can configure.

I have also tried Bluetooth from my iPhone and optical from a CD player, and still the voices seam a little muffled, I miss clarity/crispy sound.

Do you think there can be any speakers manufacturing issue?  

If both speakers have the same issue it seems like it's not a manufacturing defect. Perhaps these just aren't the speakers for you.

[Helder]

2 hours ago, fmalloy said:

If both speakers have the same issue it seems like it's not a manufacturing defect. Perhaps these just aren't the speakers for you.

What do you mean by both speakers?

I just have one pair.

[fmalloy]

1 minute ago, Helder said:

What do you mean by both speakers?

I just have one pair.

One pair is two speakers, correct? Left and right? If both your left and right speakers exhibit muffled sounds it's unlikely both would have the same defect, so it must be that you just don't like the sound signature of the Fives.

[Helder]

1 minute ago, fmalloy said:

One pair is two speakers, correct? Left and right? If both your left and right speakers exhibit muffled sounds it's unlikely both would have the same defect, so it must be that you just don't like the sound signature of the Fives.

Understand, I could test the main speaker alone by disconnecting the slave, but not sure how could I test the slave alone.

[fmalloy]

Just now, Helder said:

Understand, I could test the main speaker alone by disconnecting the slave, but not sure how could I test the slave alone.

I'm not familiar with these speakers, so I didn't know there is a main and slave. Maybe turn your other speaker facing away (or facing down on a carpet) and put your ear close to the speaker you're testing at moderate listening volume to see if it sounds muffled, and do the same with the other to see if the muffled sound happens to both. 

 

Quite honestly, I can't see an $800 speaker from Klipsch having muffled vocals; they should be very clear. If you've tried multiple sources besides just the TV and listened to each speaker and they're both muffled, perhaps something's wrong with the main speaker electronics.

 

I would exchange them with another set, and if you still don't like them, return them.

[parlophone1]

Try playing with positioning of the Fives until you get more pleasing results from them.

Be careful that both speakers are at equal distance from the back wall and toed in equally. 

[CJ75]

Do you have the master speaker correctly set as "L" or "R" on the back? There is a switch for it.  I overlooked it when I first setup my speakers.

I hope you figure out this issue, I doubt the built in TV speakers could sound better than the Fives 

 

[Helder]

16 hours ago, fmalloy said:

One pair is two speakers, correct? Left and right? If both your left and right speakers exhibit muffled sounds it's unlikely both would have the same defect, so it must be that you just don't like the sound signature of the Fives.

I have tried that yesterday, could not perceive difference between left/right speakers.

Honestly, at this price and specially with the Klipsch tweeter/horn technology I was expecting a lot more in terms of voices, so I keep suspecting of something wrong with the internal amplifier.

[Helder]

16 hours ago, fmalloy said:

I'm not familiar with these speakers, so I didn't know there is a main and slave. Maybe turn your other speaker facing away (or facing down on a carpet) and put your ear close to the speaker you're testing at moderate listening volume to see if it sounds muffled, and do the same with the other to see if the muffled sound happens to both. 

 

Quite honestly, I can't see an $800 speaker from Klipsch having muffled vocals; they should be very clear. If you've tried multiple sources besides just the TV and listened to each speaker and they're both muffled, perhaps something's wrong with the main speaker electronics.

 

I would exchange them with another set, and if you still don't like them, return them.

Tested left/right yesterday, could not perceive difference.

Living in Portugal, not sure how easy will be to replace/return them, but I contacted global Klipsch support and waiting for an answer.

[fmalloy]

5 hours ago, Helder said:

Tested left/right yesterday, could not perceive difference.

Living in Portugal, not sure how easy will be to replace/return them, but I contacted global Klipsch support and waiting for an answer.

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.

[Kalam]

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. 

[fmalloy]

1 hour ago, Kalam said:

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.

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.

[Kalam]

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. 

[CJ75]

Just plug an RCA into "sub out", this will help more than Bass cut mode...

[Helder]

6 hours ago, Kalam said:

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. 

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. 

  

[Helder]

5 hours ago, CJ75 said:

Just plug an RCA into "sub out", this will help more than Bass cut mode...

Thanks for the tip, if fact it works even if the other cable end is not connected and the bass really disappears.

Anyway, cutting the bass does not really revolve the voices/highs issues.

[fmalloy]

6 hours ago, Kalam said:

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. 

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.

[Kalam]

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. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Kalam