Klipsch Soundbars

[USER876]

I am looking for a soundbar for a second media room in the house.  I've read multiple review on the BAR40 and Bar48 that indicate they have underwhelming performance.  I see the new cinema 400 and 600 bars, that look just like the bar 40 and 48.  Are these really better performing bars or just repackaged into a different model line?  No reviews yet that I can find on the Cinema series bars.  Thanks.

[ThomasD.]

@USER876  Slightly different situation here.  Need a wife approved & quality sounding low profile HT solution with minimal visual speaker impact.  As my 2 channel speakers already take up too much room in another area and we don't spend a lot of time in front of the big screen, hoping this new version of Klipsch Sound bars will be a viable option.  As you've already discovered, no reviews since they don't seem to be available as of yet.  Love my Klipsch in general but after returning the Heritage Theater Bar due to lack luster performance (IMO) and hearing just about as much negative as positive regarding the Bar 40/48, I am also interested in their new rendition.  Still very much disappointed that none of their SB's except the Heritage Theater Bar are available in any finish other than black.  Same with Subs.

[USER876]

15 hours ago, ThomasD. said:

@USER876  Slightly different situation here.  Need a wife approved & quality sounding low profile HT solution with minimal visual speaker impact.  As my 2 channel speakers already take up too much room in another area and we don't spend a lot of time in front of the big screen, hoping this new version of Klipsch Sound bars will be a viable option.  As you've already discovered, no reviews since they don't seem to be available as of yet.  Love my Klipsch in general but after returning the Heritage Theater Bar due to lack luster performance (IMO) and hearing just about as much negative as positive regarding the Bar 40/48, I am also interested in their new rendition.  Still very much disappointed that none of their SB's except the Heritage Theater Bar are available in any finish other than black.  Same with Subs.

 

Thanks for the response.  I am afraid the new cinema bars are just repackaged bar40/48.  Look exactly the same, even the sub dimensions are the same.  I guess I will wait for some reviews.

[Bossfan]

I have the Bar 40. We downsized in the past year and and our living area is much smaller. My sound system is built around a pair of Forte 2s which still sound amazing but our main living  space was really too small to keep the Fortes setup there. Fortunately the new house has a walk out basement we finished and the Fortes are set up down there sounding amazing. I found a lot of sound bars in the $300 price range that really sounded great watching TV/movies but were lacking when listening to music compared to what I was used to. The Bar 40 was best to me listening to music. Not my Fortes but still very detailed and plenty loud enough. Sound for TV/movies is very detailed and dialogue is very clear in normal mode. It has a surround mode that definitely makes the sound bigger and if sound effects are overwhelming the dialogue you can boost the dialogue to even things out. It does lack some of the more enhanced Dolby features but I really don’t miss those. The Klipsxh sounbars are by far the best looking out there. I have gotten plenty of compliments about my Bar 40.

[ThomasD.]

@Bossfan   That's a positive review of the Bar 40's.  Glad to hear it.  I do agree that  Klipsch Bars are some of the best looking out there, that's one of the reasons that I haven't given up on them.  And welcome to the forum.

[Bossfan]

I saw those same reviews you mentioned so I was a little leery. I found one on display at a Best Buy a bit of of drive from my house but I wanted to hear the Bar 40. The salesperson tried steering toward other sound bars that had more enhanced Dolby options and base he said “would feel like the walls would come down”. While I like some rumble when I’m watching TV/movies I tend not to like it as much with music. I prefer a more detailed and balanced sound. We listened to the different models in the price range and as I said several sounded really good with a movie on. Maybe a couple of other sound bars had bit wider sound stage and a couple of others really a lot of rumble. Like I said when we switched to music the Bar 40 sounded best. It was a Pink Floyd song playing and it really sounded good. You could.really hear everything going on in the song and base wasn’t lacking.The salesman was impressed how the music sounded but still tried to steer to something with more features. So maybe Klipsch sound bars are a little behind in features (which seemed to be the biggest knock on them in reviews) as far as I’m concerned they make up for that with a very detailed sound and excellent design and build quality. 

[ThomasD.]

Since I already bit the $$$ bullet once with the Heritage Theater Bar @ over $2K, thought I'd check reviews on a couple of higher end active units.  The Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar rates fairly well for a 1 piece solution.  Reviews seem quite favorable.  No chance of ever hearing it in person without purchasing it though.

[paulgyro]

I picked up the Cinema 600 last week. I've got to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Great for movies AND music with the classic Klipsch sound and solid 10" subwoofer. I believe the best subwoofer in any sound bar yet.  The surround settings really helps bring it alive in my view. A quality YouTube review here:

 

[KevinB]

The Cinema 600 Sound Bar Thread has a lot of helpful information and a good place to ask questions about that product.

You can find additional information about some of the Cinema 600 features here.