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Winter 2008 The Perfect Vision
Review
Klipsch Quintet SL system will get
your heart racing. I started my
evaluation with the first chapter of
the Hitchcock-inspired thriller
Flightplan on DVD. Dominated by
dialog, the beginning of the movie is
quiet and somber—until it’s inter-
rupted by the sudden, loud rumble
of a passing subway car. Apart from
being startling, the sound was so
realistic that I practically jumped out
of my seat.
That opening scene also proved to
be an excellent demonstration of the
close tonal match between the front
and rear speakers—consistent sound
from speaker to speaker is essential
for a realistic surround experience. A
lone bird squawking in the left rear of
the room sounded so real that I
swore it was that pesky crow that
wakes me up every morning. And
the sound of a flock of birds flying
from front to back was utterly
convincing and matched exactly
what was happening on-screen.
Dialog—especially Jodie Foster’s
distinctive voice—remained clear
and intelligible as long as I didn’t
move too far to one side or the
other. As is common with horizontal
center speakers that use a woofer-
tweeter-woofer configuration, the
sound tends to get dull as you move
off center.
As much as I liked the overall
Quintet SL system, the real star of
show was the Synergy Sub-12,
which must be purchased separately
for $500. At 18 x 15 x 20 inches, it’s not
one of those cutesy little subs that are
all the rage these days, but if you’re
considering this system, I beg you to
find room for it. The Sub-12 is one of
the few budget subs that can rattle
my walls. The terrifying bridge attack
scene from Mission: Impossible III
had me jumping out of my seat with
every exploding missile.
Settling in to listen to music, certain
traits of the Quintet SL system
became evident. On Jacintha’s Here’s
to Ben: A Tribute to Ben Webster, a
great sounding stereo SACD on the
Groove Note label, the singer’s voice
sounded somewhat closed in as she
sang “Danny Boy” without any
instrumental accompaniment. I
found that toeing the speakers in
toward the listening position helped
open up the sound. Although they
lack the high-frequency smoothness
of higher priced speakers, the
Quintet SL speakers were evenly
balanced in the midrange.
Another great sounding SACD is,
SuperBass 2 from Telarc, a multi-
channel disc featuring three
bassists—Ray Brown, John Clayton,
and Christian McBride—in the front
channels and an audience behind.
Being direct radiating speakers, as
opposed to the more diffuse sound-
ing dipoles used in many surround
systems, the Quintet SL’s rear
speakers had trouble spreading the
crowd ambience around me in a
convincing way.
On the other hand, the Quintets
excelled with Roxy Music’s Avalon, a
multichannel SACD recording from
Virgin Records with vocals and
discrete instruments—like Phil
Manzanera’s guitar on “Take a
Chance”—emanating from the
surround speakers.
BOttOM LINe If you’ve spent a lot of
money on a new flat-panel TV and
you’re spouse is giving you the evil
eye, you’d do well to add the Klipsch
Quintet SL speaker system. Throw in
the company’s Synergy Sub-12 and
you have a dynamic, high value
system that I would heartily recom-
mend to anyone who wants a good
home theater sound system but is
tight on space or funds. TPV
Klipsch Quintet SL Home Theater Speakers
Transparency and Focus
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Imaging and Soundstaging
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Tonal Balance
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Dynamics
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Value
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b Poor Good Excellent c
Ratings
(compared with sub-$2k speaker systems)
• Bold dynamic sound
• Superb bass
• Excellent tonal match between
speakers
• Sounds closed in
with some music
• Surround speakers could be
more enveloping
The Last Word
Specifications
Main and Center Channel Speakers
• Driver complement: two 3.5" graphite-
injected woofer cones, one 0.75" aluminum
tweeter mated to Tractrix horn
• Frequency Response: 80 Hz–23 kHz
• Sensitivity: 93 dB
• Impedance: 8 ohms
• Dimensions: 20.5" x 5.5" x 5.6"
• Weight: 6.6 lb
Surround Speaker
• Driver complement: one 3.5" graphite-
injected woofer cone, one 0.75" aluminum
tweeter mated to Tractrix horn
• Frequency Response: 120 Hz–23 kHz
• Sensitivity: 91 dB
• Impedance: 8 ohms
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 5" x 6.3"
• Weight: 3.5 lb
Synergy Sub-12 Subwoofer
• Driver complement: 12" woofer
• Integrated amplier power: 300 watts
• Dimensions: 18" x 15" x 19.875"
• Weight: 40 lb
• Price: $500
System Price: $1450 with sub
Manufacturer Info
1-800-544-7724
klipsch.com
For single use only. For multiple reprints contact Wright’s Reprints at 877-652-5295.