Customer Reviews

Klipsch HD 500 Compact 5.1 Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have owned this 5.1 speaker system for 2 weeks. I have them connected to a Denon AVR-790 receiver. I am thrilled with the results - even though I have an unconventional setup. The living room and kitchen are conected as one 10 x 20 foot room - with a cathedral ceiling. Yikes!

This is my first surround sound system, and suffice to say, I was overwhelmed with the many 5.1 choices between the HTIB (Home theater in a box) and all the individual receivers with separate speaker systems. However, I'm not a newbie to great sound. I could join the AARP if I wanted to!
Anyways, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased the Klipsch 500 after many months of research online and hearing them at my local electronics warehouse store. The store gave me an offer I couldn't refuse.

My requirements were that I needed smaller speakers for the decor and the lack of space. The Klipsch 500 fit the bill. Moreover, the 8 inch powered subwoofer is more than enough ooomph for TV, music, and movies. A nice thunder!

My center speaker rests on the TV stand in front of the LCD TV on the Klipsch supplied rubber mat to hold it in place. It's inconspicuous and does the job of keeping the center speaker stationary. I purchased a couple of inexpensive speaker stands for the 2 front speakers.
I mounted the 2 rear speakers "in the "kitchen" on the opposite wall that the TV is on. I appreciate that the satellite speakers all come with plastic adjustable wall mounts that you can position toward your ears. I needed the mounts to position the rears horizontally at 8 feet above the floor pointing toward the chairs. I ran my rear speaker wires under the floor in the crawl space to hide them. That helps!

The only negative comment I have on the Klipsch 500 is the plastic spring-clip connectors on the back of the speakers. It does seem cheap - and not in a good way. I took off a star on my rating for the features because of that. But they do hold my 18 guage wire just fine. Conversely, I bought and used banana plugs to connect the other end of the speakers to my Denon receiver. That is a more secure connection. Nevertheless it's the sound I was after and the connections just needed to connect. All of them do.

I used the easy-to-use Audyssey auto-setup that came with my Denon receiver to balance the sound and voila! Instant home theater! Okay, so it took a little longer than an instant, but the results are just amazing.

Consequently, after 2 weeks of listening to the sweet sounds of 5.1 I would not hesitate to recommend the Klipsch 500 to anyone who wants crisp, clear, and big sound! I love em! I really love them!

I purchased these Klipsch HD 500s as a package deal with a Yamaha RX-V567BL receiver for my parents. I had tested them out along with some other comparable speakers at a local home audio store. They sounded awesome in the store, but sound even more amazing now that I have them setup and dialed in for their living room. They have amazing clarity and definition, yet still have a very full sound to them. Would highly recommend them to anyone looking for surround sound speakers under $1000. They come with wall mount speaker brackets, but I opted to install them on some generic Atlantic speaker stands I picked up. They are pretty easy to install for those that are comfortable with audio equipment. My best recommendation for those looking for a surround sound package is to go to a store and listen to the different options. Just because speakers are expensive doesn't make them good. And just because someone tells you they are awesome speakers, doesn't mean you should take their word for it. There is always some subjectivity in audio equipment. What one person thinks sounds good, another person may hate. I recommend, though, that you take a listen to these as a great option for your surround sound system.

Pros - Bought these speakers from TigerDirect in Jan 2010 bundled with Onkyo TX-SR507 7.2 Channel surround. I was initially disappointed looking at the size of the 4 speakers, but when I tuned the reciever and increased base loudness, it was awesome. These speakers give out quite a clear definition for their size. The center speaker is extremely crisp and clear. The Onkyo works well with it....I can hear across frequencies and all musical instruments pop out real clear (Using the Plz Logix II on the Onkyo). Movies are just awesome and my PS3 games sound just amazing!! I believe that it is a good system for a medium sized room (Mine is about 20 X 20). I am not an audiophile, but I think that I can compare the setup to a decent BOSE system. The sub is just awesome. I had accidently put it too loud the first day, and a ceiling lamp from the kitchen crashed to the floor (I am sure that the glass fixture was on the edge, but it hadnt moved for 2 years!) I have hardwood floors, so the subwoofer effect is even better than on carpet.

Cons - The speaker fixtures were cheap and would not allow the speakers to turn beyond a specific angle. I had to angle the speakers for the setup in my room, but the base allows only about 45 degrees swivel. The plastic connectors at the back are cheap looking and dont fit 12 gage wires too well.

Overall - Great speakers for a good mid-budget HT system. Its essential to pair them up to a good reciever and use good gage wires for the best performance.

Excellent set of speakers. I previously had a mix of Bose and Polk speakers. I have a medium sized living room and these perfectly matched Klipsch speakers just simply sound a whole lot better. The crispness of the speakers bring out detail I had never heard before. The speakers are small and blend in well with my entertainment center. I would definitely buy these speakers again.

Klipsch put together a really crisp system. The sound is excellent and the speakers are a good size for medium sized rooms. The sub has good bass. My only critique is that at high volume the sub is slightly undersized and can be overpowered by the other speakers. Highly recommend this system.

I've spent almost the entire year shopping for receivers & speakers to replace my Logitech Z-5500 (a nice, affordable package, THX certified even, but very limited inputs and no Dolby TrueHD decoding). I'd get close to deciding on a receiver, but then could never decide on a which speakers to match it with. I also didn't like the idea of having to fork out over $1,000 to get a decent system together. Then one day Amazon offered these in a combo with the Yamaha RX-V567. It was an offer too good to refuse, so I took the plunge. No regrets whatsoever. A major improvement over the Logitech system. Although small and unobtrusive, these speakers are DENSE and they produce an amazingly clean, crisp, robust sound. The subwoofer can pump out enough bass to rattle your foundation, or you can dial it down for a little rumble without sounding dull and woofer-y. My only complaint: no speaker wire came with the speakers or receiver, so I had to buy my own. Be sure to get the best wire you can find -- the connectors on the back of the speakers can be a little cramped and difficult to work with. I suppose it would also be nice to have the option of purchasing two more speakers to complete the 7.1 setup, which the Yamaha can do.

This is the fastest delivery i have ever had with Amazon without using the prime shipping. In 2 days, it was delivered to me just before Christmas and i was so happy. Unfortunately, the subwoofer cable was delivered separately so i had to wait for after Christmas to hook them up.
I am not a tech guru but just who loves to hear smooth sound coming out from the small speakers. Excellent home theater surround sound system hooked up to an old Sony STR 695 receiver and a 46 inch Sony bravia flat LCD TV. What a great sound, just like in the movie theaters! Now I am addicted to it. However, when it comes to listening to music, sound is not as smooth as i expected it to be. It still needed an extra graphic equalizer to create a better smooth low noise sound. Nevertheless, i still ranked it high due to its awesome quality of sound.

I got this speaker system to complement a 46 inch LED LCD TV in my smallish front living room. I have a DirecTV HD DVR satellite receiver and a Samsung Blue Ray player that I have connected to the Denon AVR-791 receiver - all HMDI 1.4 connections, and use the single HMDI output to connect to the TV set. I am using a Denon AVR-791 receiver to connect it all together and to drive the Klipsch HD 500 compact 5.1 home theater speaker system for the audio portion of my set-up. All of the HMDI handshakes work with no problems, and the whole set up was very easy to install/set up. Got the whole thing going within an hour, and that includes stringing the speaker wire, cutting and trimming the wire and installing the speakers. The sounds the Denon set produce through the Klipsch HD 500 speakers are outstanding. Good separation for the individual channels. The Klipsch HD 500 speaker set is a mini set and the subwoofer is not large - an 8 inch powered subwoofer - so the sounds the system produces are not house rattling. But... in the room that I have them set up in, this system fits the bill in an excellent manner. Dialog is crisp and clear, there is quite sufficient bass to support movie sound tracks, and the surround sound stage is quite good. (The room is about 20 by 14 feet...). I have a setup in my basement that uses an older Denon AVR-3300 and a much larger Klipsch speaker system, which I liked well enough to invest in another Denon receiver and Klipsch speaker pairing. The Klipsch HD 500 speakers are incredibly small to produce the sound stage that they do - they work especially well on dialog; rendering crisp and clear dialog even when over quite distinct sound effects that many movies utilize. The bass produced by the speaker set is adequate, but not overly strong; I sometimes long for the more substantial bass that is produced with a larger subwoofer (my basement system uses a 12 inch subwoofer, and rattles the walls!). But for the size room that I am using this system for, I am quite pleased with the results. The one thing that I found less thrilling however, is the connectors on the speakers... they are less substantial than I would expect from a company as well regarded as Klipsch - spring loaded clips are substandard when compared with the quality the rest of the speaker system provides. Hence my reduction of a star. Still... the sound stage this speaker set produces, combined with the very small size of the speakers themselves and the nice overall look of the speakers all result in a speaker system that I can recommend without reservations for small to mid-sized rooms intended for home theater setups.

bought these with a yamaha 465 reciever from worst buy. the first set had 1 speaker that was messed up, it would send my reciever into protection mode when the volume was kranked up. i took that set bake to worst buy and exchanged it. no problems now. it was totally worth it as the sound for movies is perfect.

the room i put them is is 15x18 mounted all of the speakers on the wall with the adjustable mounts that come with it. the black matches my lg tv perfect and will probably match most tvs out there. you will need to buy speaker wire and a sub woofer cable (please don't buy monster cable it's to expensive and lower quality than what you can find for the same if not cheaper do some research on wire and cables) also some sort of screws to mount the sattelite speakers (if thats what you want to do) i went and got drywall anchors from lowes.
The satelite speakers are small enough to blend in but not so small that you don't notice them. the sub woofer is mate black and quite a bit larger you will ned to leave some space somwhere fo it but it doesnt look bad sitting next to a tv stand. the sub has rubber feet in it that are about an inch and a half tall and the woofer cone is exposed on the under side so it would probably be bad to locate it on long or deep carpet.

the sound is very balanced, not to bright or to warm. it is also very clear just as good or better than the bose systems they sell at worst buy for twice as much. with the blue ray hd sound you hear everything in the movie(one of our friends came over and in a rainy scene she asked if it had started raining outside). this stuff handle as loud of sound as i can handle; my girlfriend actually came home while i was watching transformers and told me it was loud in the driveway. it also plays music very well but the sub woofer has a little trouble keeping up with some of the metal i listen to when its kranked ( you can still hear all the guitar parts clearer than most other sound systems though.

i would recomend spending a little extra time and money buying this over most htib sistems as you can usually get these speakers and an excelent reciever in a package for under 800 bucks. there are higher quality speakers out there but these are as good as it gets for the price.

I'm a self described average audio user. Love my movies, and music. But hey, I do have a budget. Plus, I tend to move a lot. So I really like the compact quality of this set. I had been using an Aiwa bookshelf surround system which actually decoded dolby. But now that I have a blu-ray player and better tv and receiver, this was the last piece I needed. I have this paired with a Sony str-dh810 receiver in a 12x15 room.
Setup was easy, and like most comments about the spring clips, Yes, it would've been nice if they were posts. However, I had no problem installing my wiring in them using the recommended 16-gauge. Better than the one page, multi-language directions included is to check out the video clip by Klipsch on their site which actually is the only place I found the recommended wire gauge.
The set has a great gloss finish and excellent weight. My fronts sit on a console so I recommend putting the little rubber feet on them so they don't vibrate around. Mounts are nice too, though if you want a full swivel go for a universal. Subwoofer is very nice and has great 'auto' setting for power conservation.
After setup and calibration from my receiver I tried out a few bass hammering movie scenes. (I.e Inception, Transformers, Tron-legacy, Star Wars I-pod race, Star Wars II-asteroid chase, star wars III-opening battle scene.)Sound is FANTASTIC! and sub practically rumbled me out of my easy chair.
Music is well balanced, not crushing, but crisp and real. If you want exaggerated tones, then adjust it on your receiver, but I found lows, mids, and highs had no distortion.
I really don't care for comments criticizing this set and then the person recommends some speaker set 3 times as much. Of course there are better speakers (no doy!). The real value here is getting a great set for a great bargain. These outperform the high priced, well touted bose compact system too.
So overall:Great set, and snagging it for under 3 bills was even better.