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Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/394
Klipsch ProMedia v.2 - 400
by Jason Clark on October 15, 1999 6:03 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Introduction
Well, it's October, 1999 and we now have Klipsch speakers on our desktops. These new speakers are named ProMedia v.2 - 400. It is obvious in the design and presentation of these speakers that nothing has changed at Klipsch. The build quality, and sound quality are nothing short of outstanding. This is the first PC computer speaker system that has been given THX® certification.
THX®
THX® has been in existence now for 15 years. Some of you will ask, "What
does THX® stand for?" It actually
came from the first feature film by George Lucas, THX 1138. What is it?
Well, to put it very simply, it is a
set of quality control parameters and specifications that set the standard
for quality sound and video reproduction. It
first started in 1980 when George Lucas began the process of defining some
standards for movie
theatres, so that the movie fanatics could truly enjoy a movie in its purest form. As this standard
was adopted, Lucas had seen the need for the same set of standards in the
home environment. So in 1986,
Lucas began the process of establishing Home THX®. 1990 marked the year
when Home THX® was
introduced. Today, there are over 1600 certified movie theatres and over
250 Home THX® products in
existence. 1999 is yet another landmark year for George Lucas and his
"Empire". July 16th, 1999
LucasFilm announced the THX® Multimedia Program. The concept remains the
same - define a
specification that envelopes the multimedia environment.
I don't know how many times I have heard people blabbing on about THX®,
such things as "THX® is a 7
speaker system". The truth is what we have just talked about and what you
can find on
http://www.thx.com. So now, LucasFilm has developed this new standard for
multimedia. Who was the
first out the gate with the cool THX® logo pasted to is face? Klipsch. The
ProMedia's are the first THX®
Certified PC speaker system, which is another landmark in the PC speaker
evolution.
Specifications
Total system frequency response: | 29-20,000 Hz |
Maximum acoustic output: | 110dB SPL at listening position |
Amplifier headroom: | 4 x 60 watts, Satellites 1 x 160 watts, Subwoofer |
Satellite impedance: | 4 ohms minimum |
Satellite Speakers
Sealed elliptical enclosure two-way system with 0.75" polymer dome tweeter mated to MicroTractrix Horn. Midbass driver is 3" long throw design with advanced fiber-composite cone and urethane surround for high output.
Subwoofer Enclosure
Bass-reflex MDF enclosure with front port and dual side-firing active 6.5" drivers (long throw design). Flared tuned port for enhanced bass coupling and deepest system tuning. Sixth-order design allows for high output, low distortion bass while minimizing excursion.
Amplifier
BASH® (Bridged Amplifier/ Switching Hybrid) design with high efficiency/ high output power. Discrete MOSFET power section for high current, maximum dynamic headroom.
Dimensions
Satellite (including bracket): 8.5" H x 4.2" W x 5.67" D
Subwoofer: 9.25 H x 10.25 W x 13 D
Net Weight
System: 28.2 lbs. (12.8 kg)
Satellites (each): 2.1 lbs. ( .95 kg)
Satellites w/ volume control: 3.31 lbs. (1.49 kg)
Subwoofer: 17.5 lbs. (7.95 kg)
Sound Quality
If there was ever a company that, throughout audio history, have helped
define "Sound Quality", it is
Klipsch. The ProMedia speakers are a shining example of high-end computer
audio. The speakers
reproduce sound in the most clear and accurate manner I have heard to date
from PC speakers.
When a set of speakers come out and rival $1000+ sets of home audio
equipment, people stop and listen.
As usual, when testing speakers, I used a Creative SoundBlaster Live. I
played probably over 200-300
songs over the past week and just can't turn these things off. I also
watched some DVD movies and the
speakers sound fantastic, only lacking a decoder and an extra speaker to
experience 5.1 AC-3
sound. Gaming sounds nothing less than immersive. Playing games like Need For
Speed: High Stakes,
listening to the roar of your opponent coming up behind you, just adds
that extra level of realism. With the
sheer power of these speakers, the sounds in certain games, especially
those in the low frequency range,
are just outstanding. One of the things I noticed in all of the PC speakers I have heard
is the subwoofer. Although
some of them have sounded great, they still lack that punch that you can
feel throughout the room and
through your body cavity.
The ProMedias pack an amazing amount of power (400Watts RMS total). Now I'm sure we have all heard someone bragging that their JVC system puts out 200Watts and it's so damn loud, blah blah blah. 400 Watts RMS (root mean squared) - think about that. That is one heck of a lot of power for speakers that sit beside your monitor!. I still sit back and think about the days of having a set of 10 Watt LabTec speakers sitting on my desktop thinking, wow sound on the PC. Look at how far we have come in such a short amount of time. The PC speaker evolution has been an extremely rapid journey from tiny sounding speakers that produced no bass whatsoever to today, having 4-60 Watt speakers in your room with a 160 watt sub. Getting back to the 400 Watts these speakers put out. This is not 400 watts of distortion. As I have said, it's the most clear and accurate sound that I have heard ever in a computer speaker system. To provide the 400 Watts of power, Klipsch uses a BASH (Bridged Amplifier Switching Hybrid) design. BASH essentially modulates the amplifiers' power supply to supply a few more watts than the signal. The amplifier is located inside the massive subwoofer enclosure.
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Functionality
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Conclusion
Who is the king of the 4.1 speaker hill? Obviously, Klispch. No one has
this kind of power and sound quality
in 4.1 speakers for the PC, and at $249 US to boot. As I am sitting here writing this, I am
listening to music and thinking, why
couldn't we have had this a few years ago? If you have ever seen one of
those charts with cromagnon
man on one end walking on all fours and then someone looking more like you
or I on the other upright,
that is how I think of the PC speaker revolution. At one end you have two
speakers that total no more than
15 Watts and then a set of Promedias on the other, totalling 400 Watts of
crisp, clean, knock-your-socks-off
sound.
For their outstanding sound quality and power, the Klipsch ProMedia v.2 - 400 speakers are awarded the AnandTech Gold medal. |