Klipsch KG 4.5 Floorstanding Speakers Reviews

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Craig's List

Summary:
Super Clean; Sound, i.e., bass, mid's highs. Looks, i.e., mdf with oak veneer and black grill. Very heavy, considering size. The nicest set of listening speakers I've ever owned, except for the Klipsch La Scala's I used to own. Having moved to a smaller apartment, the 4.5's do now, what the La Scala's did before

Strengths:
Big Speaker sound with minimal watts pushing them, clear, concise and sweet

Weaknesses:
a bit heavy and hard to move

Similar Products Used:
La Scala's Older Pioneer HPM100's, Bose 601's

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
These speakers are not what Klipsch should be all about. I listened to them combined with a Marantz CD player and two ASV amps from Mr. Sebart (One Push pull EL34 and one SE 300B). Although it seems that the efficiency of the speaker should satisfy an underpowered SE amplifier, I think that the speaker is not well matched to low power tube amps. It might be that the bass driver is not an easy load when it gets to real deeps, but the sub-bass simply sead weak and boomy. The midbass was tight and especially in combination with 300B amp really fast and detailed. The low mids were not noticable (I guess there was nothing wrong with them - they were just not balanced with the highs or the bass), but the mid-highs were screamy and metallic. The absolute highs did not give a sense of air. They were not dull or anything, they were just too heavy. This is what happens when you offload the range from 1600Hz to 20000Hz onto 1 single tractrix horn that doesn''t even have a circullar cross-section... I''ve heard a square tractrix in a JBL (forgot what they were) and they sounded better still. Although I did not hear these speakers with a good solid state, I think they should preform better. Even with 95db/w/m efficiency, they need some watts to start playing and tubes don''t do it... Overall, i would choose a good and powerfull solid state amp to drive these speakers. I would put them in a large room and drive them loud. I would then add a powerfull sub and blast away with a star wars movie... I would not sit down with a 8 wat 300B amp, a glass of port in my hand and a nice oscar peterson trio to keep me company.

Strengths:
Power handling, looks, the name Klipsch, thightness in mid-bass.

Weaknesses:
Sub bass (probbably because of the amps), mids are unnatural, highs do not give "air".

Similar Products Used:
JBL something (forgot what)

Price Paid:  $700.00

Summary:
If you are into floorstander, this is a very good speaker for a start. High efficiency, great sounding and bass tight. Can be harsh with some solid state at times, once proper matching is achieve, is a hard to beat speaker.

Strengths:
Excellent horn loaded speaker. Very easy to drive. Sound is trueful and netrual. Great image and soundstage can be achieve with proper placing. Bass is certainly deep and tight. One of the best speaker I heard at this price range.

Weaknesses:
Heavy to move. Non really !!!

Summary:
I wanted to submit a follow-up review, because my original one doesn't tell the whole story I don't think. I was the fist person to post a review when I got these speakers back in 1997. In time I've had the chance to try a variety of different audio equipment. At the time of the review, I was pretty impressed with Klipsch stuff, and admitted my bias. I think I've had the chance to become a little more seasoned. For example, the Vandersteens I owned were way, way more detailed and transparent than the Klipsch speakers. But they lacked the dynamics and excitement I like. So it's a matter of personal taste. Anyway, down to the 4.5 specifically. I was impressed with the 3.5 so I went on the assumption that if a little is good, more is better. That was a mistake. I faily quickly came to realize that the 4.5's just did NOT work in my average sized room. They are just too big, too much speaker. So unless your room is the size of a small banquet hall, I'd suggest using caution before buying these because the huge horns and big bass will overwhelm most rooms in my opinion. How anyone can have the 5.5's in a normal home is beyond me. One 10 inch woofer will pound some good bass, muchless two. So it's a matter of taste. I still like the KG line, in fact I find myself longing for my old 3.5's again. They had a nice balance to me. The 4.5 and 5.5 would probably make great DJ speakers for weddings but unless you're a techno freak with no neighbors for 2 miles, I'd suggest something a little smaller. But as everyone says, listen for yourself. I wasn't happy with the sound at lower volumes and it overpowered the room at higher volumes. It's still a decently made speaker for the money. It just belongs in a movie theater or banquet hall. Just my 2 cents worth.

Strengths:
Efficency, dynamics, bass, BIG sound.

Weaknesses:
Too much speaker, will overpower most average size rooms

Similar Products Used:
KG 3.5, NHT 1.5, Vandersteen Model 2, PSB Image

Price Paid:  $400.00 from American

Summary:
These speakers perform superbly. They have great high frequency reproduction from a needle falling on the floor to wind chimes blowing in the wind. The midrange frequencies are impressively realistic, and the DEEP BASS everybody knows and loves is there to punch you in the chest hard! The MTX C series speakers are great. My buddy has a pair of DCM KX series speakers and compared to them, eventhough the DCM's handle a little better in the lower bass frequencies, the MTX's have more clarity and depth in the sound. These speakers can be turned up as loud as you can handle it. They sound great if you are listening to country, jazz, blues, rap, whatever you want to listen to. However, I found while I was listening to some hard rock music, that the woofers seemed to crackle a bit at about half volume. I don't have an equalizer to balance each frequency so I think that could be the problem. Other than the little bit of crackling, the MTX C series speakers are a great deal. You definately would enjoy them!

Strengths:
Very clear highs, mid and deep penatrable bass.

Weaknesses:
When turned up just about at half way listening to hard rock, the woofers seem to crackle.

Similar Products Used:
MTX C-12 series