I have tested an unholy plethora of speakers ranging from $200 a pair to $2500 a pair. I made it a hobby to check out different brands. I had purchased a pair of over $1,000/pr bookshelves that use Focal tioxid tweeters, and polykevlar woofer. Oh, the cabinet was beautiful, and they were *supposed to* be high end. Then I heard something that made my jaw drop. The $149 each Klipsch KSB 2.1. The dynamics, control and midbass totally blew the expensive units away. The expensive tweeter assemblies didn't have the dispersion or power that the Klipsch tractrix horn does. The Kevlar driver did not have the dynamics, attack or control of the 6.5" Klipsch woofer.
I was embarassed. I was running with the wrong crowd that dictated 1) Expensive and exotic is better 2) horns shout.
Let me be the first to admit that klipsch horns DO NOT shout. They blend SEAMLESSLY with the dynamic woofer. These speakers blend *Perfectly* with my Paradigm PW-2200 powered sub. In fact, the Klipsch has better impact and dispersion than the Paradigm active or reference 20's do.
I hear into 20khz very well, and I don't find these harsh at all. In fact, most dome designs sound soft, laid back and weak by compare. A/V material just hits you like a fist!
Don't EVEN get me started on the fact I bought these for LESS that UTTER JUNK like Bose 301's! They DESTROY Bose 301's!!! I may be biased because I bought them for use with a sub, but in that capacity they make me want to re-listen to even older recordings. Even something like "Styx" does more on Klipsch than any dynamic speaker I have heard under $2,500.
A FULL, unabashed,and objective 5 stars. They have NO weaknesses, and deliver the spectrum they are designed to with extreme authority and impact.
reference recodings auditioned:
Jennifer Warnes The Hunet [way down deep, and rock you gently]
Dave Weckyl master plan
Telarc space spectacular [various]
Celtic guitar [the klipsch does strings better than anything short of a planar!]

Wonderful, clear highs

Not much bass, but decent for its size

Great highs, clear and clean. Bass isn't much, but not surprising considering small size. Attractive speakers, compact, and great on voices. Got them for $67 each at UBID which is great for this quality speaker (keep in mind though UBIDs extremely expensive shipping, bad service and total unrealiability). Great for a second room.

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Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble I & IV, Modus Music 2, NHT SuperOne, Infinity Outrigger

Great bass for a small speaker

At this price, none.

These blow away my old and very large Sound Dynamics speakers. I'm using them as mains in a home theater system but they are very good in 2 channel stereo also. The wormanship is fantastic and they do have gold plated terminals. I paid $250 for the pair at JandR. I like the way the Klipsch horns produce a lot of treble but don't scream at you. The treble is very widely dispersed so you can hear it almost anywhere in the room. These are the best speakers I have ver owned. Iwa tempted to get the KSB 3.1's but I listen at fairly low levels most of the time and wasn't sure I could drive them hard enough to produce solid bass.

KSB 1.1 surrounds
KSB 2.1 mains
KSW-12 subwoofer
KSC-C1 center
Kenwood VR-309
Sony 35" TV

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Sound Dynamics with 10" woofer

Sound value for the money

Harsh upper-midrange

Some people don't agree with me, but I love my KG3.5's. Yes, they could use a little more punch in the low end, but sit them close to a corner and they fill the room with clear, natural sound.

I like them so much in fact, that when I recently went looking for a set of surround speakers for the rear channel, I decided to go with Klipsch again. In my search, I had decided that adding a pair of surrounds with dynamic tweeters would not provide comparable sonic characteristics to my front speakers - it is highly recommended that all 5 speakers be somewhat closely matched in voice & timbre.

I didn't like the design of the dual-horn models of surround speakers, since the room that they will be used in is a little too small. I eventually settled on the KSB2.1's, as they were not too large/expensive, but covered most of the bandwidth that I was looking for.

I'm not sure yet, but my initial reaction to these speakers is that the horns are a little bit more harsh in the mid/upper-midrange than I had expected. I say this after having played them as the mains on my new Sony STR-DB930 for a few hours now on various music sources.

I have yet to use them as surrounds in conjunction with the KG3.5's, so I am hoping that they won't be too bright/harsh at the closer listening proximity.

I got a pretty good deal on these @ $87/ea from uBid.com, so if they don't work out for their intended purpose I can always relegate them to the basement rec. room...

I give them a 5 for value, and a 4 overall (seems fair since I have yet to tweek them to my liking or use them for their intended purpose).

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Klipsch KG3.5

Highly efficient, clear and precise

Well, they aren't as small as the Ensemble satellites, but they're cheaper and sound a HELL of a lot better.

I was using some home-built speakers with a piezo tweeter and an additional supertweeter to get nice crisp highs, and Klipsch horns have the edge.. I originally was going to replace the old HUGE tower speakers with some nice, small Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble speakers, but the CSW sounded so flat. No low end. After contacting CSW, they recommended a powered sub, but wouldn't give me credit on the passive 8" subs that came w/ the satellites, so I went elsewhere. I ran across this board and read the praise of this sub, the KSCC1 center channel and the KSW2.1 satellites and I'm just amazed. Proof that God does exist. (And in Arkansas, nonetheless!)

The crispness and solid tones that came from the sub/sat combination literally made me weep. (what a putz I am). I have been searching for years for this sound, and now I could afford to spend a few bucks and get a really world-class system. The total package from www.jandr.com cost me less than $800 including UPS ground. (note: Cyberteria offered the sub for $100 less than J&R, but J&R matched it. They were already cheaper on the sats adn center).

I combined this with the Onkyo 575 DTS receiver and I can't imagine getting a better-sounding system, even for 2x the price. Great values all.

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Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble

I auditioned speakers from Klipsch, BostonAcoustics, Paradigm, and the basics you find in the giant superstores, and was blown away only by the Klipsch KSB 2.1's. (The 3.1's sounded identical to the 2.1's, but their bass extension was a little lower, however I was limited by a budget of under $350.00)Though I am not able to place them ideally in my small apartment, I feel they sound just as great as they did in the auditioning room at my local home theater/stereo shop.

Horns aren't for everyone, but I love them. And these rock. I find both their imaging and tonal balance excellent. And I also like the added sense of depth and spaciousness they give.

As far as construction and build quality, they're very well finished. My only complaint is that the grill isn't removeable (I like to take my toys apart and find out what makes them work).

Clarity, Sound, Aesthetic (looks)

Bass

Great Sounding speaker, has best imaging I have heard, considered buying some Paradigm atoms, something 'smaller', with my AR SW10, I do not need bass. These do need breaking in the Tractix Horn, should let run continous for st least 48 hours, with dynamic music, very pleased with them, they are touchy as to the speaker cable, great speaker, great value, great name. I recommend these to anyone who wants the bang for the buck. Good listening

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Pinnacle Mini Monitor Gold, Bose 501's

Picked these up through netmarket for $189 + shipping. Locally auditioned B&W 302's, Infinity RS 3's, and some NHT Super One's. These are all excellent speakers. I felt the KSb 2.1's were a perfect match for my modest 65 watt HK and Velodyne sub, because of their efficiency, presence, and I enjoy the accurate interpretation coming from the horns. True hobbyist's will invariably aspire towards perfection, fueled by jealousy, and limited only by the universal materials and physics our creator has chosen for us to abide by. Please don't let the commercial aspects of purchasing audio products diminish your natural, subconscious passion for music and sound. Rather, decide for yourself what makes you content - and then you will truly be able to hear the music as you want to hear it, not as others would have you.

Very good sounding speaker with crips highs and a smooth transition from woofer to tweeter. Efficient.

needs a sub for the really low bass, but not needed for casual listening.

I have had these speaker for a few years and i love them. I have them in my room with two 10 inch subs (I love my bass!) that I added on myself. They are great and very loud. They are also very compliant and really move a lot of air when you turn them up. They are one of the best bookshelf speakers I've heard (and I have heard quite a few.) I definitely recommend them.

Efficient!! Dynamic!! Plays loud on my low-powered receiver. Great highs and mids.

Grill covers are flimsy. Lack of deep bass, but that's not what these speakers are for. A litle bright as well.

These are by far the best speakers I've owned, and the first from a non-chain store. I'm running them with an Onkyo TX SV373 receiver. It only puts out 50 watts a channel, but I still can't turn these speakers up all the way without hurting my ears.

Aside from the bass, these speakers tower over the JBL S38's with 100 watts going to the jbl's. You can hear parts of the music that can't be detected on the lower end sony and pioneer's. The other reviews speak for themselves.

I got them at a great price from vanns.com through one of their ebay auctions. If I had a little more money, I probably would have gone with the 3.1's, but these will serve well as surrounds in a few years when I get enough money for a system. I will definitely go Klipsch all the way.

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Sony tower speakers, JBL bookshelves, pioneer