Customer Reviews

Klipsch CS-500 2.1 Home Theater System with DVD Player

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The sound from this system and easy connectivity were a big plus. 2.1 sound was good, solid base and good spoken word sound for movies/TV.

Unfortunately, the DVD player starting conking out and wouldn't play DVD's without skipping or pixelation after about 90 days. Trying to get an exchange through Klipsch or Amazon. The discs that were problematic on this unit played fine on another DVD player.

I've learned a lesson that it might be better to buy big, heavy items like this through a local store that might be easier in terms of exchange, especially when it quickly became defective.

UPDATE 4/12/09 - although amazon was a pain, Klipsch handled the situation very well, offering an exchange and even upgrading to the next model up.

 

I am happy with the sound quality. However, my first one stopped playing DVDs after a week. I returned it and my 2nd one stopped playing them after 1 year. Also, sometimes it would "lock-up" I would have to unplug and re-plug it from power to get it it to work again.

 

Klipsch is a recognized high quality name in home theater audio equipment, so I was very excited to receive this package. While, yes, you are not getting a blu-ray player with this system, you could expect to actually spend that $1000 retail price if you decided to purchase a system equal to this with a blu-ray player. As a secondary bedroom or even primary sound system, I found the quality to be superb for the price.

For a sub-$300 2.1 system this little guy really did well competing with our larger more expensive 5.1 Yamaha system. While the Yamaha will beat this system just because 5.1 will always sound better than 2.1, the sound from the speakers were crisper, clearer, and the subwoofer could nearly rattle the walls using it at full power. You still got the feeling of surround sound from this system.

For those who are not technologically inclined, this was not difficult at all to set up. I have had no problems with the DVD player thus far, and Klipsch has noted that they have fixed problems with a previous model.

If you're budget is under $300 and this is a second system for a smaller room or bedroom, I say go for it. If you have more to spend and this is going to be your main theater or living room sound system, I would look for a 5.1 or 7.1 system that you can hook a stand alone blu-ray player into.

The theater system itself works and is great! The only downfall for this system is the remote control that it comes with. It's kind of frustrating since you will need to punch in the buttons several times to get it to function when you want to change a channel. But, other than this factor, it is a great sound system for our house. Very pleased with the clear and superior sound it outputs.

I wanted a second HD system in my home for the master bedroom.
I chose Klipsch's affordable CS500 All-In-One Audio/DVD Unit paired with Panasonic's G15 Plasma TV and I have no regrets. The system delivers excellent audio & video. Plenty of midrange/woofer sound offered at reasonable cost and can be setup without over-crowding a bedroom with 5 or more speakers and without needing higher cost separate A/V, DVD units stacked on a rack.
Another 2.1 option to consider is Klipsch's CS700 system for larger bedroom area or studio apartment.
I would not recommend a 2.1 system for a larger Family room or multiple room area.

I read the positive and negative Amazon reviews. Because of the posted company replies that they addressed the DVD quality issue, I decided to go ahead and buy the CS-500.

Mistake! I must have received one of the older units because the player immediately began experiencing pixelation, skipping and freezing issues. As other reviewers have said, these DVDs play fine on other equipment so it is the CS-500, not the discs. Very disappointing, particularly after the company said it had addressed the problem!

I really like the sound and looks so I figure I will keep it as an amp / tuner and speakers. I hooked up an old DVD player so that I am able to play CDs and DVDs. (It is a lot of hassle to do a return and you may end up with the same issue with a replacement.)

My advice is to look at the CS-500 as a good audio only product. The sound is very good and what you expect from Klipsch. Do not buy it as a DVD player.

Several years ago we purchased the Bose 3-2-1 DVD/Sound System for just under $1,000. We loved the size, loved the sound and it played DVDs very well too. Don't get me wrong Bose makes an excellent product, but it is pricey.

Now, some (5) years later, we were in the market for an additional sound system, for a smaller room (approx 12 x 15) so we tried out the Klipsch CS-500, 2.1 system. It is discounted to just under $300.00. We were totally surprised by the quality of the system for such a great price.

We are both technically challenged, and we were able to set this system up, using the easy to understand guide in no time. Within 20 minutes we had the system up and running, and sounding great. We've only had this system a week so far, but have not had any problems, like a few of the other reviewers noted. We find this to be the perfect companion for our 40" flat screen. The sound is great, and the dvd player works fine.

If you are in the market for a great, yet inexpensive sound system, give this one a try. Recommended for smaller rooms like ours. Is it as good as our $1,000 Bose system? The answer is NO, but it is a nice system for a terrific price. RECOMMENDED

For the price this is a great little system. It is not going to shake the walls but you do get a nice crisp sound that enhances your movie experience. What really got me excited is I can plug my MP3 into the aux and listen to music that was a surprise as I did not realize the system would allow me to do that. Also the sub woofer does a good job with the base (much better than my yamaha in a box system that was triple the price). The front speakers were average but again for the size and price they lived up to expectations and would be easy to mount to a wall. The DVD compared to my normal Blue Ray worked just fine but I only played one movie still the picture was very crisp. Finally on the positive end hooking this up was a breezed, took no more than 10 minutes to take from the box to listening to my tv.

The negative was no HDMI out put and I had trouble with my remote. My remote control worked fine but to turn off the system I had to hit the disk button (despite no disk in the system) than the power button. 3 people tried to figure out to turn the system off and the previous mentioned solution was the only one that worked.

I needed to update my home theater sound and was tired of my old speakers shorting out and wires getting undone. When I found this deal, I was skeptical. But since I didn't need the dvd player, I thought it would be great.

Was I ever right! I plugged in an optical cable to my PS3 blu-ray player and another to my Dish, and I have never had such crisp and clear sound! I even play my iPod and get incredible room filling sound.

If you don't need a dvd player, you are getting some incredible speakers in this deal. I don't see anyone complaining about the sound in the reviews, except to compare it to a 5.1 speaker system. The sound rocks!

I could never have afforded Klipsch speakers before, nor could I have afforded this much sound for under $200.

Just watched Toy Story 3 on blu-ray and the opening scene with the train and explosions was amazing!

Let's put it this way. I don't miss my old speaker system, and I'm looking forward to more movies and the bowl season thanks to Amazon and Klipsch!

In reference to the title of my review, there is a problem with my new audio system; the disc drive doesn't read dvds very well, if at all. It played Pavement's "Slow Century" dvd, and it played Neil Young's "Rust Never Sleeps" dvd, but then things started to detiorate. I tried to watch Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" dvd, and I could hear it kind of groaning, like it was all gummed up with pavement, rust and Earnest Borgnine. It began to skip and pixilate. Then it just froze up completely, like the scorpions and red ants had paralyzed it. It wouldn't even turn off, not with the remote nor the power button on the unit itself. I finally just unplugged it. When I plugged it back in, it became responsive again to the remote and the buttons on the component. It still plays audio cds, but it won't play dvds. The speakers sound great in my modest-sized living room, but the fact that main component/dvd player is like some kind of incorrigible, I.E.P. case that can't read, cops an attitude, and eventually shuts down when you try to redirect it, dissapoints me especially since I've had it less than a month. I'm not sure what I'm going to about it yet. I'm hoping the Klipsch representative will respond to this post.