Great for HT voice

Can't get great mid-range, but I'm working on it.

I'll let others speak for the performance -- I'll talk about price.

I purchased the pair on sale at Best Buy for $30. However, with a $5 rebate per speaker, the price for the pair drops to just $20! Best Buy makes the rebate process simple by providing an additional rebate receipt stapled to the rebate slip.

I'm using them as my mains, as I'm just starting to build my HT. They will eventually become my rear surrounds. Someone once told me that the best low-budget entry into HT is KLH speakers and Sherwood amps. So far, the theory's working.

Cheap price, decent sound for what you pay for.

Needs to be crossed over around 150Hz, due to small bass driver. Spring clip connectors, Cap for a crossover!

The guy that said these speakers suck is expecting too much from a speaker at this price. Let us be real for a minute here. The KLH 911B is by far not the last word in loudspeaker contruction or performance, but nonetheless not a bad little speaker. In that the speaker only reaches down to 80Hz, of course you are not going to get that deep bass you hunger for, but the fact that KLH went with a sealed design means that the mid-bass that you do hear is tight and well controlled. When I speak of tight and well controlled bass, I mean that this little speaker does not sound boomy to make up for the fact that is has such a limited frequency response. By no means is this speaker up to par with some of the other speakers I have owned, but then most of them did not cost me 30 bucks. So in keeping with the idea that you would most likely not hook your 30 dollars speakers to a 700 dollar receiver, I grabbed some 12 guage Monster XP and broke out my old Pioneer receiver. A tiny 15 watter, but a serviceable unit. I fed them a test tone of 100Hz for about 2 hours before I begain listening to them. The first up at bat was Sting's "Fields of Gold". My first thoughts were that the sound was a step above Bose. I listened to Billy Joel's greatest hits for a while and imaging was fair and the soundstage was servicable. All in all, a speaker more suited for surrounds in HT, but if cash is tight, check out the KLH911B's and a small powered sub for a decent little bedroom or garage system.

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Bose speakers, Paradigm, Boston Acoustics, PSB, Energy, B&W, POLK, JPW, anything that makes sound...

Excellent quality and sound for the price. Good highs and decent lows. I use them as bookshelf speakers with my 14 year old JVC receiver with the loudness control on and a slight boost with the equilizer; with this setting the bass sounds very good for the size of the woofer. The highs and midrange are clear.

None. Much better than I first expected

Well worth the money for anyone who wants to build a good system on a budget. Nothing can come close the the quality for the price.

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Infinity RS2000 bookshelf. These speakers sound nearly as good.

Clarity, Not Bad highs

What do you expect for this price , really?

I actually tested these against $400 Solid Speakers and these sounded better which made me very happy. how they manage to put out cheap speakers that manage to actually deliver pretty good sound is beyond me. No, they aren't great, but I would only use them for surround speakers anyways. They were giving out pretty good bass for the size and I was cranking them pretty good. They can easily handle the recommended 100 watts no problem. I'd prefer the have 4 Wharfedale monitor 128 speakers or even better the 138 speakers but I don't have that kind of money to upgrade yet. Those are some nice sounding speakers for the money.

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Solid outdoor/indoor speakers worth $400 pair

Inexpensive, small, good sound

No bass or lower midrange

The short answer: these speakers combined with a KLH powered sub make an excellent surround system (for pro-logic surround, at least). I am very pleased with this purchase.

I ordered three pairs (six speakers) from BestBuy.com at $40/pair, around Xmas 2000, when they were on sale. It turned out that the web price was actually $30/pair, and because of a BB error, they provided free shipping as well. So, I got 6 speakers (3 pairs) for $100, which was a pleasant surprise. (And I got the sub from Buy.com for $100, which is their regular price, I think.) So $200 got me a complete surround speaker setup. Having now had them for a bit, I'd think at $40/pair for the surrounds and $120 for the sub (retail price) would also have been an acceptable price.

As I said, for home-theater, this is a great system. I've got a mid-range Onkyo pro-logic receiver, 27" TV, entry level Toshiba DVD player, a non-ideal apartment living room, with the speakers mounted in a best-I-can-do arrangement. And it's great. As an in-expensive, entry into home-theater, I don't think I could have done better. On that front, all is sweetness and light.


Things are not so perfect when it comes to normal music listening. Though speakers are spec'd for 80Hz at the low-end, in practice, they lack lower mid-range, which I guesstimate as 80 Hz - 2 KHz. I have them mounted nearly flush against the walls (about an 1/8" gap to allow air flow). And I have a KLH sub (the 10" / 120W self-powered model). Even with the sub's cross-over set to 150Hz, the system as a whole is missing lower midrange. So, for general rock/pop music, these are so-so speakers. I'm a casual listener, and will get used to it. And for music without much in the lower-mids, it's not very noticeable.

If you want a cheap start at home-theater, I don't know a better way to go. You won't confuse their performance with that of mid- to high-end speakers, but your wallet will be much fatter and happier, and if you catch these on sale, you will definitely get more than you pay for.

(note: for ratings, I understood 5-stars to be Best-of-Class of bookshelf speakers, regardless of price. Compared to other speakers in this price range, they get a 5-star Overall as well)

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various speakers over the years

Excellent value, no doubt about it. They sound good. I am using them for computer speakers most of the time and surround speakers every now and then. My main complaint is their supposed magnetic shieldeding. They need to be at least 6 inches away from my screen or they will interfere with the picture. This is not the case with higher quality speakers. Oh well, still a good buy.

Accurate sound for the price. Easily improved with minor tweaks.

Clinical sound.

$44 for the pair at Best Buy. These sounded great at the store, but at home the clinical sound with muffled midrange was apparent. Stuffing the enclosure with poly fill greatly improved an already acceptable sound. You lose the bass coming out of the rear port, but bass and midrange from the front is greatly improved, though the bass is still weak. I also damped the woofer basket and xover components with poster putty, which gave minor if any improvements in the sound.

Without the tweaks, these are really good for the price. With $2 worth of poly fill they are great.

Well-defined, clear sound.

None

I have a home studio and am used to listening to studio reference monitors (Alesis Point 7; Tannoy PBM6.5; Tannoy PBM5II) that have a flat sound across the entire frequency spectrum (e.g., minimumal coloration in the sound). I also recently bought a number of different speakers to test out against the studio monitors. I bought the Radio Shack LXP5s, some JBLs with 6.5" woofers and a high end pair of speakers from Mission -- the 722s I think -- and the KLHs. I kept the KLHs and returned the others. The high end detail and the quality of the midrange of the KLHs beat out all of the other consumer speakers except the Missions. And frankly, the sound quality difference between the Missions and the KLHs did not justify the $300 difference in price. Of all of them, the KLHs sounded closest to my Alesis and Tannoy studio monitors -- a good flat signal across the entire frequency spectrum. The Alesis and Tannoys are definitely better, but for the price these KLH speakers are fantastic and are the only consumer-level speakers I tried that can compare favorably to the studio monitors.

low-price, small size, and strong bass.

unimaginative styling; sound lacks detail

My system includes a yamaha rx-595 receiver, magnavox cdb 471 cd player, and monster cables. I feel that these speakers really liven up my downtown Christchurch apartment, while at the same time keeping it moody with deep bass from my Bach collection. I hope that eveybody will at least try out these audio-masterpieces before dismissing them soley based on their low price. I purchased this heavenly duo at the local audio shop, "Diedre's". When I came home with them, I was blown-away by the mystique and beauty of my speakers, they lifted me out of my depression, with their interpretations of Weird Al Yankovic, my favorite lyrical composer. By far the best aspect is their musicality and organic sound, maybe not what audiophiles go for, but what musiclovers like. Speaker cables are next!!!!!

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i bought a pair of these from Fry's electronic's store not only because of the cheap price($60/pair) but because i already own several other klh speakers, including their 350 watts dual 12" tower speaker(which i believe is one of the best speakers out in the market, not even considering its price,$200/pair.)the klh name might not be well known because competitors know that klh's speakers are extremely afordable, well designed, tremondous power, crisp detail, and agonizing bass!! the 911B go well with my 2 tower klh speakers. i'd pay hundreds more for them if i had too, but hey, i didn't!!!!