Very loud for a bookshelf speaker;high quality material(drivers & cabnet);removable floating grills;enormous rear port(about same size on my 12" Pioneer Sub);great tight bass for a 8" 52hz woofer

could be more powerful(25-50 watts more);Klipsch logo could be larger on grill;no Klipsch logo on cabnet behind grill

All I can say is "WOW" I just got these yesterday & the more I tweaked the settings on my Onkyo TX-DS595 the better the SB-3 started to sound.
I prefer the no-grill look, so I can see those awesome HORNS & that little 8" woofer rock. I wish it had a Klipsch logo on the front of the cabnet & maybe a little more powerfull. My Onkyo TX-DS595 would stess my 100w 15" kenwood towers & the tiny Klipsch seem to handle the 75w per channel better. Although I'll never still be able to crank the volume to max in some cases, but I'm VERY pleased in the performance considering I only paid $335 for $450 list price speakers.
These should be even more impressive after I get my shelves built to sit these on at head level(standing). Right now they are only 12" off the floor, hehe.
Next on my list is the Klipsch SC-1 Center Speaker!

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Kenwood 3 way 15"

Price-can be had on net for 140/ea

none for reasonable size rooms.less than --20 x 20 x 10 high

The SB3s have been in service for about 6 mos. These are an excellent cost/reward product. The horn design is a bit bright. For me this is a plus, not a liability, but you might want to experiment with placement a bit.Im frakly baffled when the issue of "over brightness" is raised about Klipsch speakers. As long as the highs are reasonable accurate, why not have the potential. You can always cut back. Thats what the receivers tone controls are for. Now that most of us use digital sources the horn appears to have some of the benefits of electrostatic design plus some half decent bass. They are very efficient (94 db) so be careful to pair them with a matched center. Used with a Yamaha rvx995, they produce very loud clear sound in a 17 x 20 x 12 high room at the 9 O clock position.I listen to mostly accustic jazz and frankly love the clarity, playing mainly with the subwoofer off.For ht they are excellent paired with a half decent sub (I have klipsch 12).I auditioned these against B & W 602s,similar Bostons, and JBL 38s. The forementioned, especially the JBL sounded restrained in comparison.I realize it comes down to a matter of taste. However, you can tone these down to get the warmer sound of a B & W or a Boston type. Why not have the benefit of both for a lot less. Remember, there are better speakers, but my 5 star heavily counts the fact that we are talking about a 140.00 speaker here.

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jbl, yamaha

Crystal Clear, efficient, airy and light.

None

Well, folks I just bought these babies. I was looking for a speaker to take to college, thus I was concerned with size and sound quality. I already own a pair of Energies 4.5 pro series, which are excellent speakers. So I was in the market for a book-shelf that would kick some "tuhis".
I have these babies hooked up to a Yamaha VX80 110watt a channel. What can I say 94dbs of effieciency fill my medium size room with crystal clear, punchy sound.

Power; clarity; great high end; deep, tight bass; attractive

None that I can find

I got the SB-3 to replace the Yamaha speakers I was using with my system since those speakers were part of a mini system and should not have been connected to my reciever in the first place. I needed something small, but can pack a punch. I found it in Klpisch. The SB-3's are extremely powerful and have a great, warm sound to them. Bass is incredible, and the highs are crystal clear thanks to the Tratix horn. People who say they are too bright are too lazy to adjust their EQ's. These speaker are excellent for home theater on a budget and for music as well. My hardcore and punk discs have never sounded so good. And DVD's seem to come alive more than before. The seperation is excellent. I do suggest that you match the SB-3's with a Synergy Series center, like the SC-1 and matching surrounds to get the full effect of these speakers. They even look classy with the floating grill and enclousure. Overall, these are excellent speakers for the price. Get a pair!

My system:
Pioneer VSX-409D Reciever
Klipsch SB-3 Fronts
Klipsch SC-1 Center
Klipsch Quintet Surrounds (couldn't drop another $300 on the SS-1's)
No Sub as or yet, but I plan to get the KSW-12 in the near future to round out my system.

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Yamaha, Polk RT55

Size, price, and most important sound quality. Slightly bright, which I prefer, and surprisingly good bass for it's size.

Could use banana plugs...

After listening to several other brands, hands down winners. And cheaper to boot. Purchased these speakers to use as mains for HT on a budget. Perfect. Sound quality is open, natural, and the bass is clean, powerful, and goes lower than expected. They lose little horizontal dispersion if you must lay them on their sides (I had no choice...). They handle the dynamic range of a good DVD soundtrack, and my CD's sound better than ever. Recently matched them up with the SC-1 center for HT. Now I know what DVD is supposed to sound like! Would recommend for HT systems on a budget, or with space limitations. For music, I preferred the Reference version of this speaker, but couldn't afford the extra cost.

Note: These speakers deserve a good quality amp and cables, you want be disappointed.

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None.

Oh my GOD the sparkling highs, will take as much power as my reciever can throw at them (STR-925) 100 X 5, VERY efficient and loud, love the horn design Klipsch!

havent found any yet, kinda big for bookshelfs, gonna have to upgrade my subwoofer so it can be heard with out being drowned out by these SB-3's

These are a knockout bookshelf speaker, i love the look and sound of the SB-3's, dare i say better than the RS2000.6 (infinity RS-5)s. 450 is not a bad buy for these speakers, more durable than the RB5 with the aluminum 8in cone.

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Infinity Reference 2000.6
Yamaha YST-100
JBL control

power and dynamics, PRICE, EFFICIENCY, VALUE!

break in time

These speakers are GREAT! I am a college student and I needed some bookshelf speakers that I could take around easily without having to sacrifice sound. I also needed to get the most for my money since I had very little, but I did audition more expensive speakers to compare.

These speakers stood their ground against more expensive towers, and against other bookshelf models (couldn't afford the reference models though!) was head and shoulders above any that I could get for around the same price. I was looking for POWER, DYNAMICS, and ACCURACY, since I listen to everything, from classical, to electronic, to rock, to operas, to movies. Well, they sound great, but it's unfortunate that I live next to the RA! He doesn't like his "wall shaking" (exact words!) and these speakers aren't even next to a wall!

couple notes: pair them up with a sub and you'll be in heaven for all your techno/house and movie fx needs. Get the reference series if u can afford it, and break them in...they take about 60-100 hours to loosen up and resonate with the bass.

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bose, jbl, klipsch, sony, KLF, Acoustic Research, Advent (all within 200-1000 dollar range)

Very good for both music and HT. Highs are superior in this price range.

Cabinet finish and build only fair. Bass sounds a bit muffled.

This speaker is superior at 400.00 to many others that I have owned that cost hundreds more. The highs are incredibly detailed, clear, and can be feed a lot of power without noticible distortion. I was really impressed when listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon when the Clocks all Chimed...amazing.

I have the speakers paired with a Boston Acoustics PV-600 subwoofer and together it produces true high end sound at under a thousand dollars. Without a sub the bass is only adequate and sounds a bit muffled. Otherwise at this price it is an exceptional buy. Blows the doors of the Bose 501 speakers I last owned which were almost $600.00/pair.

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None

Amazing sound for its size, great bass, exceptional value and quality for its price.

Too big for bookshelf, not biwirable.

I had to write a follow up to my previous review. I had these speakers hooked up as rear surrounds in my home theatre system. I thought I was hearing the best they had to offer. Boy was I wrong. I recently sold them to my ex-girlfriend as a replacement for the hideous over the counter three ways that had been literally beat to s*** by her nephews and nieces. We hooked em up to her old 70 Watt JVC amp and let fly. My God, what a revelation. These things sounded so much better here than they had on my Onkyo 787. I was stunned. It blew my mind.

Set up was a breeze, sweetspot right where it should be. She was so impressed by the sound difference, she began to cry!!! I'm not kidding. It was nothing short of an epiphany. They sounded a little bright and harsh with the Onkyo 787 but with 2 channel stereo WOW. You CAN'T go wrong with these speakers particularly if you love full range bass.

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Junk speakers.

build, size, looks

port is cheap and loose fitting, highs, bass

i didnt buy the sb-3's but i did go and listen to them and they sounded like they were in a plastic enclosure. i couldnt believe it. ive read so much about klipsch and how they are so great. the highs werent there and the bass was not that great. shocked. they were set up next to a pair of bostons and the bostons had a 7 inch mid and i think a silk tweet, they were $400 and sounded warm, tight, and silllkkeeeeee ssmmmooooootttthhh, very nice boston. but i want to recommend wharfedales diamond 8.2's. they have a 6.5 yellow kevlar cone with rubber surrounds, a 1 inch silk tweet with ferro fluid cooling and about a 2 inch FRONT FIRING PORT :^) and they sound very, very nice. the highs are silky smooth, mids are smooth and warm, and the lows are tight and accurate before dropping off at 45hz! though i hear nice bass well below their cut off. the 8.2's look very nice, very mature like and build quality is top notch except for the nice looking grills that are fragle.
at a price off 299 a pair at amazon.com the diamonds beat even the $600 pair of b&w's and klipsch's $600 references maybe even the $800 references even though i havent heard the $800 ones, but i did hear the $600 ones which sound just a slight better than the sb-3's!! get the diamonds, forget klipsch and b&w theyre harsh and twice the price. and if you get them at amazon you can always return them no questions asked. im going to get a second pair of diamonds for my rears as soon as i get some dinero!! chow

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wharfedale diamond 8.2's