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Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors – Active Wireless Speaker with HDMI

“Don’t let their small size fool you…” is how Klipsch advertises the latest pair of active speaker systems that will expand the Klipsch Heritage Wireless Series, an active speaker system that leaves little to be desired, especially in terms of variety. From Bluetooth to phono preamp to HDMI, it offers everything a modern audio system needs to be able to deliver.


Klipsch The One II, Klipsch The Three II, or Klipsch The Three GVA, this is just a selection of active speaker systems offered by the U.S. company Klipsch as part of the Klipsch Heritage Wirless Series, which has been in the company’s lineup for quite some time, providing some very fine solutions. From the outset, the goal of the developers of this product line was to create the most compact, highly versatile solutions possible, which combine all the advantages of modern, highly integrated all-in-one systems with the legendary virtues of a proven loudspeaker specialist like Klipsch.

This is exactly what many users were looking for, and this product line, which is an essential part of Klipsch’s True You marketing campaign, has proven to be a huge success.

Given the success of the Klipsch Heritage Wireless Series at the CES 2020, it’s no surprise that Klipsch is introducing another solution in this lineup, the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors. As announced in Las Vegas, these are now available in retail stores.

Once again, the focus is not on a compact all-in-one, but actually on a pair of speakers in an equally compact form, so you’re basically dealing with classic bookshelf speaker systems.

This is an immense advantage, as it ensures one thing: a realistic stereo image and thus a credible representation of a sound stage with the corresponding width and, above all, depth. That said, the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors will be easy to place around your TV, and that’s exactly where they belong.

Because one of the outstanding features of the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors is that they feature not only a variety of interfaces for different audio sources, but most importantly, an HDMI input. The HDMI input features not only an ARC (Audio Return Channel), but also an eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), which allows for two-channel audio to be sent to the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors. It’s important to note that while the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors feature DSP-based signal processing for playback up to 24-bit, 192kHz, they are actually stereo only, so there is no Virtual Surround option.

This DSP is primarily used to make extensive sound adjustments such as EQ.

Apart from the HDMI connection, an optical S/PDIF interface, a USB port, an analogue input in the form of a pair of RCA sockets and a phono preamplifier are also available. As if that weren’t enough, Bluetooth is also included, whereby a module from the specialist Qualcomm is trusted here and thus not only aptX but even aptX HD and thus signals with up to 24 bits and 48 kHz are supported.

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  • Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors Active Wireless Speaker 10
  • Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors Active Wireless Speaker 09
  • Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors Active Wireless Speaker 08

The Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors don’t really lack anything when it comes to connectivity, they are much more of a “short” hi-fi chain, which also allows the control of a subwoofer via an appropriate output to make the playback in the lowest frequency range even more sovereign.

How could it be otherwise? Of course, the developers also used an almost classic driver configuration for this new active loudspeaker system. A 4.5-inch woofer with a fibre-reinforced composite diaphragm is used, as is a 2.5-cm titanium tweeter with Tractrix Horn. A bass reflex system with a hintgen effect is also a must.

These are driven by a Class D amplifier, which delivers a total of 160 Watts, whereby two times 60 Watts are available for the low/midrange drivers and two times 20 Watts for the tweeters. The loudspeaker system should cover a frequency range between 50 Hz and 25 kHz.

Clearly, the design of the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors is inspired by previous Klipsch Heritage Wireless Speaker Series solutions, so that it also borrows from legendary speakers in the company’s long, long history.

The new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors feature an MDF enclosure with a choice of walnut or matte black finishes.

The system measures 304.8 mm in height, 165.1 mm in width, and 234.9 mm in depth. This means that the speakers weigh 5.35 kg in the active version and a further 4.85 kg in the passive version.

The design of the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors is inspired by previous solutions from the Klipsch Heritage Wireless Speaker Series, so they also borrow from legendary speakers from the company’s long, long history. The new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors are offered in two finishes, Matte Black and Walnut.

The new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors will come with a matching infrared remote control. When connected to the TV via HDMI, the remote will support HDMI CEC, so only the TV’s remote control is needed to control the volume while watching TV.

The new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors active speaker systems are now available at retailers. The suggested retail price for this solution is €899.

Getting to the point

Given the success of the Klipsch Heritage Wireless Series, it’s no surprise that Klipsch is introducing another solution in the lineup, the new Klipsch The Fives Powered Monitors. Once again, we’re not talking about a compact all-in-one, but actually a pair of speakers in an equally compact form, so we’re basically dealing with classic bookshelf speaker systems. Thanks to the numerous interfaces, plus Bluetooth, a hi-fi chain reduced to the really essential is available here, a pair of active speakers that provides HDMI, S/PDIF, analogue input, phono preamplifier and Bluetooth.

Manufacturer:Klipsch
Distribution:Audio Tuning Vertriebs GmbH
Price:€ 899,-
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Michael Holzinger

Michael Holzinger, founder and editor-in-chief of HiFi BLOG and sempre-audio.at, has been working for years as a journalist in the fields of IT, photography, telecommunications and consumer electronics.

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