Klipsch KSB 3.1 Floorstanding Speakers

Klipsch KSB 3.1 Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 55  
[Nov 26, 2016]
Chris Christie
Audio Enthusiast

These speakers are very efficient but never distort, even driven with a 100 watt Marantz amp made when 100 watts was 100 watts and pushed to 1 O'clock on the big power knob. The bass is punchy and tight but deep, not sloppy and weak like Bose, you will feel these when turned up. The mids and highs are both good, again better than pretty much anything Bose makes, but they of course lack a little of the openness and sparkle compared to my Klipsch Cornwalls which now sell for 4,000 a pair.
These speakers are good for music, but amazing for home theatre. I use them for surrounds now but have also used them as mains.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 03, 2016]
Super Dave Osbourne
Audio Enthusiast

Picked these up for a US Jackson and they are flawless in value. Bringing the highs out very well, a 8" to augment the clear horn in it. Not sure if the port helps the lows be a bit more tight and less booming, but it works. I couple these with ADS 570's stacked as the base of a 'tower' configuration and the balance of natural of the ADS and the crisp clarity of the Klipsch make for a nice balance. I paid a Jackson for these, so I'm happy as a dog in heat.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 27, 2002]
Sean Carter
AudioPhile

Strength:

Build quality, bass, highs, accuracy, dynamic range.

Weakness:

None as of Yet

This speaker is great sounding. The highs are clear, great dynamic range. It is very accurate. The 8" woofer delivers a great amount of bass. This speaker is the older version of the SB-3's but is better sounding.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, other Klipsch, Wharfedale

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 24, 2002]
odor007
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

I like the plastic cover--most speakers have the soft outer material covering the actual speakers, which can tear easily, but these are hard and cannot be damaged. Good sound, clear highs, natural bass. The sound is spacious and sounds very live--better for blues and rock recordings.

Weakness:

None--great sound, good price

The main point I have to make about these speakers is that they really vary soundwise based on the reveiver/cd player you have. I''''m a high school student, and my set up is a Harman/Kardon AVR 110 receiver, an FL 8370 5-disc CD changer, and two Bose 201 speakers. The Klipsch speakers are my dads, and he has a Yamaha receiver and a Phillips CD changer. I think my set up has much better sound, is much brighter, and sounds more wide, and spacious, even though my speakers were about $200 less than his and may be worse. I will admit that the Klipsch do sound more live than mine, which is great for blues or rock. As far as use for a home theatre, these provide high-quality front or rear sound, but you could probably do better for the price. Personally, I don''''t use my set up or my fathers for movies or television, just music, and even though his speakers may be better, his set up doesn''''t bring out their full potential. I actually did a test and used my cd player, his Yamaha receiver, and my Bose speakers, and the sound was deep, muffled, and watery. I hooked up my Harman/Kardon again, just to compare, and the sound just opened up--clear highs, natural and tight bass, and very spacious. So my point is that these will be incredible for the money if you have a good stereo set up, but if your $400 speakers sound crappy now and you want to upgrade, don''''t expect these to just blow you away--it may be the other components in your set up. But for bookshelf speakers under $500, these are as good as it gets.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 201, 1960''''s RCA''''s, Phillips speakers, etc.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Mar 11, 2002]
rafe11
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great sound for the size. Value integrates well with the system I am in the process of putting together

Weakness:

None I can find

Ordered from Acoustic Sound Design, great company to deal with and saved a nice amount of money. The sound is good for the size and the money would highly suggest someone try the Synergy series for anyone on a budget building a H/T system www.acousticsounddesign.com

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 01, 2000]
Jason G
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Crisp Highs and Exceptional Bass. We refined speaker for the money, makes you wonder why some individuals pride themselves on cost and not sound quality. I particularly like the metal grills as armor to my cats fabric piercing claws.

Weakness:

Silly plugs covering bannana plug inlet, what a pain in the a**! Explain later.

I had done some extensive listening to many different makes of speakers before I had purcased my Klipsh 3.1's. After listening to all of these speakers I had narrowed the playing field down to the Klipsh and the Boston Acoustic CR9. I wanted something that would rock for use in a Home Theater setup and would pick up every tiny detail, but also reproduce music with the best. I feel that both of these speakers were far better than adequate for the task. Now it came down to value, it would have cost me 2x as much to own the BA's. So now I find myself writing a review for the Klipsch, not the BA's.

After owning them now for a few months they really start to grow on you and sound exceptional for all walks of musical interest. This is considering they are currently being run on an aged substandard technics reciever. I cannot wait to hook them up to a audiophile grade reciever with some decent speaker cable. It is hard to beleive that they will sound any better than they already do.

As for the silly little plugs, it seems this is a mandatory for our european bretheren. Silly english people might mistake this for a electrical inlet. That may be a bit harmful to a set of speakers.

Overall and exceptional value and an incredible listening experience. I would recomend them highly against the competition. As for the people whom don't like a horn loaded tweeter, I would say they should have their ears checked.

Similar Products Used:

Advent Legacy, Boston CR9's, NHT SuperOne's

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 11, 2000]
Bob Schuster
Audiophile

Strength:

Price and great sound

Weakness:

This would be a great rear speaker for a hign end system, but not for mains !!!!

Got these from u bid for $210 for the pair, what a steal. For the money you can't go wrong.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, monitor, thiel

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 11, 2000]
Philip Souza
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Clear uncolored sound. Good imaging/depth/seperation.
Genuine klipsch drivers. Tight bass. Light listener fatigue.
Good veneer job. Modern looking front baffle design.
Relatively inexpensive at $238.

Weakness:

Cheap looking crossover. Front baffle (speaker wall) is on
the thin side. Need to turn bass knob on my receiver to 75
percent to get desired bass. Internal speaker wires are about the same thickness as K-mart kite string.

I immediately enjoyed the Klipsch KSB 3.1's
clear sound. Although I also had to immediately crank up the bass control for my Denon to get a rich enough sound.
And I don't like my tunes with booming heavily colored bass.
By the way I did open them up to see what makes them
tick. I was impressed to see the woofer was a genuine
Klipsch piece. Not a cheap, generic, made in bimsalabim
item. The magnet is heavy for a speaker this size. It looks
like it was hewn (cut} from another larger billet of magnet
material. The Tractrix horn loaded tweeter is pretty light-
weight looking from behind but we all know that size doesn't
matter...right? The crossover looks anemic, about half the
size of a Kit Kat bar. I'm sure it'll fry before the drivers
do. But the Kmart kite string speaker wires will probably go
first. Nothing like the bulletproof construction of the
original K-horns, La Scala, Heresy, etc. All in all though
the driver quality carries the 3.1's to a very respectable
level. I find them perfect for my bedroom setup. Not harsh
sounding like some of the more recent Klipsch tower style speakers. Very coherent and good at seperating the individual performers. A solid buy at $238. A killer buy under $200.


Similar Products Used:

ESS, INFINITY, KLIPSCH LA SCALA

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jan 28, 2000]
J. Kuile
Casual Listener

Strength:

Great sound from a speaker this size.

Weakness:

N/A

I recently purchased the Bose 301IV and was very disappointed with the quality and sound. A friend suggested Klipsch so I gave them a listen and I can say returning the Bose and spending a little more $$ for the KSB 3.1 was well worth it. These speakers are amazing. Great bass for a bookshelf speaker with tremendous clarity very well built.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301IV

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 04, 2001]
xoo keeper

Strength:

many

Weakness:

none

excellent.......listen to rap, country, rock ,everything........

Similar Products Used:

jbl, ar,

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 55  

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