✅ *GET IT HERE: **bit.ly/3gblAPH**, **amzn.to/33gYm7Q* ★ *QOTD: If you were to go with a soundbar, would you prefer passive or powered and why?* ★ *CLICK 🔝 “SHOW MORE” in the description for answers to many of your questions* ★ *RULES: Please be respectful. NO OUTSIDE LINKS, URLs, email addresses, etc.*
I think it would depend on how much I was spending. Self powered for a simple budget setup. Passive and/or separates for a larger, more expensive permanent solution.
I love the concept. A passive speaker is a lifetime investment. You can always replace an external amp...for whatever reason. If it fails...replace. If it becomes outdated.... replace. I am getting old and I am getting tired of throwaway tech. Simplicity and versitility win in my book.
Just stopping by to say Kristi is my hero. I’m sitting here and my husband is watching this video. She is saying everything I complain about, constantly. THE MUMBLING! I think men deduce from the action on the screen and women need to know the words that are being said 🤣. I said WHO IS THE WOMAN?? I need her to be my friend lol
Amanda! I love that you commented and what a great point! Like, that's cool that this entire building just exploded - but WHY? 😂 We need more female perspectives in this hobby and I hope to see you around here again soon. :)
@Kristi Wright What are your top 5 solutions for intelligibility? My Father-in-law usually has to use subtitles for the same mumbling you have mentioned, and I’d like to remedy this for him. Thank you!
My wife actually complains when there’s too much dialogue. ‘Less talk, more action’ she says. Haha. We have found that she generally agrees with Kristi’s product preferences though; clean classic lines, clear detailed sound with less bass, but better bass.
At this point in my life (kids, wife who hates clutter, time management) I would go with a powered soundbar. Just plugging it in and switching on the TV instead of the kids asking how to turn an entire system on is what I prefer at this point in my life. What stands out to me about this review is how far the technology has gone with improving soundbar sound quality.
For half the money I can visualize four Polk R100 speakers laid on their sides. Better voices? Better bass? I guess you could apply that setup to even four Lumina II speakers for the same money or any other quality monitor. Four Triangle Bro 2 speakers would be only $900. You could get a nice new receiver for money saved. Just speculating.
If I bought a soundbar I'd want it to be powered because convenience is such a big draw (get it, put it up, calibrate, go). If I had passive sound I'd much prefer to use tower or bookshelf speakers.
For those of us that want to tinker, upgrade, tweak settings, etc...we love the options that a passive sound bar gives. And as someone who is always cognicent of the budget, I definitely appreciate the longevity provided. My main concern personally is if the inability to change positions of left and right will limit against three discrete speakers. Thanks for this one and keep up the great work guys!
Hi Andrew and Kristi. I still maintain that you can achieve a true 3 dimensional soundstage from 2 stereo loudspeakers using cross-talk cancellation. When you have this, the clarity especially the human voice, is remarkable. Sound appears to come from all around the room especially the soundstage width where the sound appears to come from outside the walls. Sound images appear to originate about 20 feet from behind the speakers. It's a bit like using headphones except the sound is not in your head. The more speakers you have confuses the ear/brain mechanism. Even sound effects in movies take on a new clarity.
My surround sound journey culminated with an Onkyo RZ 920. Then I got a little boy. After about the tenth time I had to spend an hour trying to figure out what button he had pushed I pulled it out and bought a Cinema 600. In reality, the Atmos system was a twice a month novelty that I was always fiddling with even when there was nothing wrong. The sound bar may only be 80 percent, but I enjoy it 100 percent of the time
As a Klipsch dealer I have 2 major frustrations with this speaker... 1, Klipsch will make this in a custom width, but the speakers stay in the same middle clump. Meaning: the bar physically widens, but the speakers do NOT spread out. It's just an aesthetic widening (not functioning). 2, not hitting 80hz at this pricepoint when other companies have already long figured that out is inexcusable.
Perfect timing. I ordered one of these last month after looking at them for the last few years. Really satisfied and 100% agree with your thoughts. Thanks for the great content!
@@KristiWright I currently run the NAD T778 with full surround speakers. I wanted a passive soundbar to just "declutter" the front of the room. Also, I love the looks of the Klipsch Heritage products.
@@kevinhedspeth5762 did you think about pre-outing it with a 3 way split rca to use 3 amps to make it a giant center channel, I know that goes against your de-cluttering, just a thought
To be clear, when you take a speaker out of the box and listen without processing, thats the way the speaker sounds. When you run a sound correction program, your listening to the correction. The speakers dont open up, the processing is just doing its job
Instead of a sound bar I went with two klipsch 4” speakers sideways on a shelf just below the tv, the horn tweeter has great dispersion so the image placement isn’t really that noticeable, I toed in a bit the speakers to prevent standing waves on the shelf, and used rubber feet to isolate a bit. I plugged the rear ports and chained the stereo amplifier with a subwoofer. I’d like to add a 4” center channel as well, but actually the problem is the receiver just takes up too much space compared with a small stereo amp
I like passive as opposed to a powered soundbar. But that massive Klipsch is way to spendy for my budget, and I also have a problem with the "center" speaker layout. The horn tweeter should be in between the two small woofers. I believe that would greatly improve imagining/separation from the right-left speakers(mains if you will)...jmho.
The Woofers need to be close together to reduce a comb effect. Also one may be a Mid/Woofer and the other just a Woofer, and you want the Mid in the centre for vocals, so soundwise I think it's correct. Visually just keep the grill on.
If you are ever interested in anything these two review, listen to Kristi and her opinion, she cuts right to the chase. My last three purchases were due to her commentary, and she was spot on. Well, two, she did not add anything to the Cambridge CXN v2 network streamer, but she was spot on with the KLH Model 5 speakers and the XTZ A2-400 amp. We are rocking out at the house!
Powered bar for sure. I love my Klipsch RB20, it sounds great. But the draw for me was that it is hassle free. Plug it into the wall, plug it into the tv, done. No clutter and a great sound for my bedroom tv. If I’m going to invest in a Theater receiver I would rather have discreet speakers that I can place around the room for best results in my space
Great review. I would go with a powered bar because the main reason for me to get a bar would be to minimize gear. I actually didn’t know that passive bar was a thing till now!
The looks are simply great, but $2,700.00 for a 3.0 sound bar and in need of a sub and a receiver is a little too much to overcome, IMO. A pair of R51M with a R100SW is priced now at $496.00, add a Synergy C-200 for $150.00 for the center, or something similar, and you still have over $2,000.00 left in your pocket to choose a good receiver, other sources and take your s.o. out on multiple dates. Frankly, if I had to, this would be my choice. Thanks for another great review.
I am a Klipsch speaker lover and I never heard about the Heritage Soundbar. Matter of fact I am saving up some coin for the Forte IV’s. This soundbar make a lot of sense. I have seen people use three of the same speakers for their home theater setup. Why not… because traditional movie theaters where setup that way. This was a first for myself and probably most of your viewership. A BIG THANKS to you Andrew and Kristi for presenting us with a new option.
Look at the KLH Model 5 and a good solid powerful amplifier in the 200 wpc+ range, and these would give them a run for their money, if not walk all over the Klipsch. ;-)
@@michaelwright1602 unfortunately I am currently running my system with tubes, so I need speakers that are very sensitive. 200 watts is not an option with my amp. thanks for the suggestion
At that price point Klipsch is competing with products like Triad, Leon and James that will build to order for size(width) and finish. I like the idea of a all in one front speaker bar that is passive, but most people don’t want to deal with the receiver for a bedroom or den. And the ones of us that have the space for a receiver probably have space for three separate speakers and sub.
Always a treat to hear how both of you felt about your listening session for these bars. Realizing all along that: you have differing ear typology (genetics), abilities to hear a full spectrum, and may have individual sensitivity /or deficit at any part of frequency range... Thus, these differences could leave you feeling pleased or shorted. I'm trying to say you are BOTH right, for how your ears can function. BOTH opinions can be valid, and not at all denigrating to other's experience. You can't fight genetics/ preferences. God bless and keep you both. :)
I'm a little surprise you didn't mentioned the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage in the comparison since you said you prefer the tonality of that bar over the Ambeo in that review. The Beosound Stage bar has 3 channel like the Theater bar although it comes with DSP and virtualization out of the box instead of completely passive like the Theater and B&O products tend to have a high intelligibility as well with their clean & smooth signature sound and they tend to have a long term support for their products I think. I'm really interested to know your comparison between those 2 bars. p/s: I really enjoy the quality of your videos and especially the thoughtful presenting of how the products can be integrated to people's lifestyle, like an idea how is living with that product could be like, I think that was really cool and very thoughtful. I really appreciate all your efforts🙂
I think Klipsch has labeled this as a "theater bar" to try and differentiate it from your traditional modern "sound bar," which can easily be connected to any TV with ARC/eARC via HDMI. With that being said, I still prefer a wider front soundstage if I'm still going to be utilizing an AVR and a subwoofer within the system, so I'm not sold on this hybrid approach of having traditional wired speakers within the same footprint of a sound bar. But then again, I haven't yet heard any Goldenear speakers in person yet. Have you reached out to them yet? That would be a great comparison, both being passive sound bars. Thanks for the review as always, Andrew and Kristi!
I heard the GoldenEar Bars when they first came out many moons ago. They were good, though admittedly Dolby virtualization and whatnot inside of AVRs wasn't a thing back then so they never sounded as spacious as I believe they would today. They may be worth a new or second look.
Nice video, I always like hearing Kristie’s impressions. I think I would go passive bar if it was going on a living room so I could change receivers etc. as things change and for more input connections. I would go active in a bedroom. Loving the channel!
This is the first soundbar I have seen that actually looks good. When I saw it in ya'lls room I was very impressed how clean it looked. I think if I ever downsized I would seriously look at this or the Sony AT9.
I'm looking at that center tweeter and wishing it was more...centered. Did it ever seem like the soundstage was leaning to the left? I'm wondering if that might be an issue say, near-field in a smaller setup.
I said this elsewhere, but one of those woofers is probably mid/bass and the other is bass only. As such I think you want the Mid in the middle for vocals, moreso than the tweeter. I think when you move off centre on a couch however the dispersion pattern left to right may differ, one way sounding better than the other, but I'll guess for the centre sitter everything is fine.
@@nacarp2000 Is that speculation, or on paper is this a 3-way design? Seems a waste to have a bass-only driver when the bass drops off steeply below 95Hz.
Coming from a Klipsch dealer (me) this is a beautiful looking product, but with serious performance warts. I honestly see this as a dressed up Frankenstein of different Klipsch speaker lines: Namely woofers from massmarket Best Buy consumer grade junk, tweeters from entry level mid grade Klipsch stuff, and an expensive looking cabinet from Heritage stuff. Klipsch failed to commit to quality on this bar. - Doesn't even hit 80hz on the low end. Even with a sub, 80hz and above signal is directional, so that gap is going to be an important miss j less you have excellent sub placement and proper electronics to blend the sat/sub concept together. For this cost, 5 1/4" drivers with a little bigger cabinet for air volume and uprgraded tweeters to what's in the larger RF7III would make it a home run. - Ultimate soundbar would be one of the larger Jame Loudspeaker SPL 5/6/ or 8 models with beryllium drivers. We've used those under 120" projection screens and they HAMMER out sound with accuracy and big time dynamics, but those are wildly different pricepoints than these Klipsch pieces. Klipsch active soundbars are such trash they fired the product engineer that designed and green lit them. Best active bar we've found: Bose 800 + Wireless surround + 700 Sub. OUTSTANDING little system.
Wow, as someone who owns the Cinema 600 system I’m a little shocked that they fired the product engineer, but hey if the 600 is their only good powered one then I guess it’s warranted. (You learn something new everyday) And as a side note the Bose 900 system you mentioned with the surrounds 700 and Base Module 700, I agree with you in that it is one of the best active soundbar systems period. (If only I could afford it)
@IOWAudio Reviews Well, perhaps, but hideous looking. lol These products don't exist in a vaccum, right? So, a lot of factors go into which speaker is the "best" besides just ultimate sound quality. This soundbar, to me, definitely fits the category of "luxury surround sound" and not a full on cinematic experience or even "home theater" level.
Oh no….. my OCD is kicking in. Why isn’t the tweeter in the center of the center channel. I need symmetry!!!! Klipsch has the money to engineer it that way right???? Anyway great video guy’s you always make my Sunday morning start out right!!!
I don't know, though if you go off of the comments on our Magnat Cine Speaker review (which are an MTM design) some people claim MTM is stupid. I don't think so, but maybe Klipsch just did their thing knowing they can't "win". Regardless, I appreciate you joining us and watching!
So I have a 2 Klipsch 500m and 500c for my front stage roughy 2 feet apart. I damn near spit my coffee out when he said the soundbar sounded like my setup at 3 feet apart
QOTD: I would absolutely prefer passive soundbars, since upgradeability is a huge selling point for me. The only problem is that there isn't a big enough market for this kind of solutions, so in the end, why not go for a traditional speaker system? Specially since the price point is not that much of an advantage for passive soundbars. How would you compare the sound of this bar against the Samsung q950a in terms of frontal soundstage? Much love from Chile ❤️
I am 71 and my wife is usually watching something else in another room. I have a listening room for music. But I need a sound bar that is just the opposite of good. I need something to compress the dynamic range and that has a clear dialog so I can heat the actors. My TV does not have compression. Is there a sound bar or something simple that will do this and not sound too bad or maybe even good? When I can hear the voices, the music and gunshots, etc interfere with my wife's TV. Being retired value (cast vs performance) matters. I did have an eARC connection to the stereo, but moved the stereo to a listening room.
I bought a ZVOX soundbar from Amazon for my parents who are in their 70s because my father had asked for a solution for those reasons. He's been enjoying for nearly a year now and is using subtitles far less.
Damn that’s a nice sound bar. Personally, I prefer the traditional 5.1 speaker setup, but for people who are limited to the placement of a soundbar, I’d go for something like the Klipsch sound bar.
I currently have a Definitive Technology Mythos SSA-50 passive sound bar. I got it after moving from a house into an apartment and I couldn’t set up a whole 5.1 system. I love it. When set up correctly it’s pretty amazing how well it competes with my full system. It needs a subwoofer as well, but I’m happy with it. Too bad DefTech doesn’t make it anymore.
First of all, I agree with your missus on the clarity of this sound bar. My wife has the same problem with dialogs and this sound bar paired with a Denon avr-a110 solved it. Secondly, I would prefer a passive sound bar because i have an avr and i prefer less cable (fuss). Love this video, can't wait till you get your hands on a mc12000. :-)
feels like its missing stuff, like internal amps/dsp at minimum. Point of a soundbar is that its a lazy way of adding surround sound and cost effective step up over tv speakers.
There is no denying the ease of use when it comes to powered soundbars. I love them for this very reason, but the Theater Bar gives me pause for it has true discrete performance but in a space-saving design.
I have been looking at this product for a clean 5.2.2 set up. I don’t love the price. There is very little on this online in terms of reviews, thank you for doing it!
Perhaps not as many are "talking" about the Klipsch SoundBar, but-from what I have observed-Klipsch gets a TON of "press", in general. I've never owned Klipsch speakers, so...I won't judge, but there ARE other speaker brands out there besides Klipsch. My main speakers are Pioneer HPM 150s. Even though they are 40/+ years old, they still have original...everything(including woofers and surrounds).
Interesting product. Thank you for bringing this to attention. I'm surprised you didn't compare them to The Fives at all, considering similar size of drivers. I use The Fives in my living room as a fantastic lifestyle solution. I would love to see something like The Fives with an additional, outboard center channel box. I'm sure adding the additional speaker, amps to drive, and also the licensing for the processing formats would greatly expand the price/size, but it would be an interesting solution. I have also really started to enjoy Kristi's input on the reviews. She adds a refreshing, knowledgeable perspective that I enjoy considering. Cheers!
Thanks Andrew and Kristi for the great video! I got the Heritage Theater Bar for my living room a few months ago and have loved it - it truly sounds incredible and is shockingly able to emulate and even surpass the sound of much larger system when coupled with a good sub (I have a SVS PB-2000 Pro). I’m glad you made this video as I was a bit concerned before buying, wondering why almost no one had reviewed it or talked about it. I think it’s such a great solution for home theater purists who want a very high quality LCR to use with their AVR but have a room that aesthetically does not lend itself to separate speakers. In my case my traditional living room has a giant opening to the left of the TV that would mean any L speaker would be hanging in the middle of the room with the back not against a wall which makes a passive soundbar the best option. With the Denon AVR-3600H, Klipsch RP-500S surrounds and ceiling speakers, this is an incredible 5.1.2 system! Your video did bring up an interesting point to me however - the only downside I’ve ever felt about it is that I don’t get a ton of stereo separation between L vs R, but it’s not a huge deal because I have my good RP-500S surrounds and listen to music in the surround mode. But even in movies I don’t feel like the front stage is very wide at all. I did run a basic Audyssey calibration for levels but perhaps not enough room correction was applied. Do you know if Denon’s audyssey can do what you talked about with Dirac in terms of creating a wider soundstage?
Klipsch has done what I have been thinking about. High quality passive drivers for front channels in one unit. I am using Klipsch on my 3 front channels at about $1,200. with the RP line so I think I'm at least as good as that. I think you definitely need a sub especially for movies. Great review, thank you.
That's a tough one - you need the bar that costs $2,700, need a sub, and a receiver. Even if you go low-end, you'll pay $4,000. I would go with the Ambeo. I get the idea of newer formats but even Dolby TrueHD is good enough for just 99.9% of people. I think part of the appeal of soundbars is the simplicity and clean aesthetics (for the most part). For me, the Ambeo is the king as you don't need a sub but it's a bit bulky on the height side. It'd be nice to see a comparison of 2 channel (LR) speaker cinema vs a soundbar or a 3 channel (LRC) speaker setup. From a stereo perspective, I suspect the 2 channel would be better but I wonder how much you lose in cinema mode with all the surround channels. Do the 2-3 channels literally take over that the effect is marginal and the quality of sound matters more?
Powered soundbars with simulated surround is generally better for renters who do not want or need extra cabling and wall penetrations. However, this single chassis L/C/R three channel unit is hardly a burden in that regard for any nearby receiver. Full Disclosure: My 2009-era Yamaha YSP-3000BL is still rocking.
Do I want passive or powered if I get a sound bar? Well...I'd say the major want/need for a sound bar is to save space. Obviously that won't be true for everybody, but in general. So...the fact that a passive bar requires you to use an amp or receiver, which are usually pretty big, is pretty opposite of the usual need of a sound bar. Your particular setup, with an entertainment system under the TV allows enough space for almost any option, including a sound bar, or separate speakers, all in one options or multiple components. Your setup meets the need of any option, so my thought would be to get whatever sounds best and can be afforded since you can go with almost anything...but if you need a sound bar, because space is the primary concern, then I think eliminating the need of a amp/receiver would be best.
Ok i like the idea of this product. I like the fact that it has great dialogue intelligibility. But the lack of bass is a downer. Personally, if i were in the market for a new soundbar, i would look at a more inclusive unit. I have gone away from the soundbar lately, and have been enjoying 2 channel listening for movies in my upstairs room.
I get looking for a more inclusive solution. To date I've only really come across two, the AMBEO (which is almost AS BIG as the Klipsch) and the Beosound Stage which is nearly as expensive.
@@umrryan after years of chasing perfect surround sound, i was surprised to see how good 2 channel is. Especially when a disc has a dedicated 2.0 audio track, its fun to see how it compares.
@@andrewrobinsonreviews right on. Currently, my next points of order are the magnat transpulse 1500s and a better amp for the front 2 channels of my home theater powering my RF7 IIIs. Only feeding them 150 watts. Sounds great. I know it could be better.
Very interesting Andrew. Informative as always. There are surprisingly few large passive soundbars out there. This unit would have been my first pick as I too have a love for Klipsch Heritage speakers. For budgetary reasons I chose speakers from Elac. Two, in-ceiling, IC-D61-Ws and, for LCR, their massive, 60", MS-SB41L passive soundbar. These will be supported by an SB-1000 sub by SVS. The 5.1 set up will be pushed by a Yamaha RX V-6A. I will not be able to hear any of it until we move into our new home next month. Could you comment on how the specs of the Elac Bar compare to those of the Klipsch and share any other thoughts you might have on the system as a whole and how we might optimize it for best performance? (These will be supporting our NIB LG C2 83" that is also waiting on the move) Best,
Yes, absolutely. It’s fantastic. Klipsch assisted my professional AV installer in properly hooking it up. It’s super clear and absolutely gorgeous in my set up, not to mention wife approved. The money is in the design and ability to provide incredible audio fidelity in such an incredibly thin 4” deep speaker. It’s hooked up with 4 RP-8060s for 5.1.4 in a gorgeous setup! Highly recommended!!
I was all about powered bars and even owned an Ambeo. After selling it and getting an AVR with Dirac I'm looking at passive bar setups. With that said are you and Kristi going to review other passive bars like those from Elac, Monitor, and the other one from Klipsch, the RP440D?
Can the klipsch theater bar help me understand the dialog in the series "Ozark"? I have always watched that series with subtitles. By your recommendation, I bought the Klipsch 5's from Costco and they absolutely sucked. Maybe it was B stock or returns, I don't know. The grills had some wrinkles in them as well. After 15 or 20 minutes, I was reboxing them to go back. I do have 4 of the rb-61 ii Klipsch and associated center channel and a Klipsch sub (all of which make a great system). Keep up the good work. You did not mention the Sony HT A9 as they are just about $400-$500 more and I would be curious how those stack up against the Klipsch.
I'll tell you what does work with the sloppy unintelligible vocals on every TV show or news program we have watched, is the little Polk Signa bar at BestBuy or Amazon, it is a powered speaker and comes with a little Bluetooth sub for $149. It does use the HDMI ARC input on your TV, but as long as you have other inputs, everything still works like the sound bar is not there. The voicing is fantastic on this stupid thing, it really flushes all of the nonsense out and clears things up. It really projects the sound out into the room, in a good way. The sub is kind of jenky, I think room placement will cure some of that, might be worth a look for regular TV viewing. Impressed the heck out of me and did not break the bank.
Powered! The library TV just needs a bit of extra to the speakers and that is where it would go. The theater is so far above and beyond that no sound bar would replace it.
QOTD: Surely it has to be a powered sound bar. Unless you’re really tight on space, conventional left, centre, right speakers must be superior sounding over a compact bar butted to the wall?
I have old more than 11 years old Definitive SSA-50 passive sound bar, with two small Definitive bookshelf speakers as surround paired with Pioneer Elite SC receiver . I have not used these for 4 years, not sure if you use it or have opinions on it and also wonder how it stack up against current mid-high end sound bar solution? Thanks!
I've installed 2 AMBEO's now and Im pretty sure it's still the best at what a sound bar objectively is: a convenient, all in one solution. For having 43 speakers and weighing as much as a moped, I'd expect nothing less.lol This seems to me to be more of a cosmetic product. Extremely well built and capable, but form over function for sure.
Good morning, Texas!! Wow, that thing is a beast. I’m having a hard time seeing the point of this sound bar. If you treat it like a set of book shelf speakers it makes sense but if you want a sound bar experience and convenience I’d stay with a traditional sound bar. Can’t believe I just said that. Another paradigm shift. Plus, that price! Yikes.
Morning Sean! You make valid points (as usual) but there's a market for this beast. I almost bought it off of Klipsch because I enjoyed movies through it so much.
@@SeanVedell I wish the price was lower for sure. I think they'd sell a ton if it was in the 1500-1600 price range. But I will say that it's big and on the heavy side so shipping has got to cost a pretty penny.
@@KristiWright So I won’t be ordering one in Canada for that reason alone. I may have sounded like I wouldn’t like it. Far from it, I just think passive soundbars are a truly niche market and I’m not part of that group.
I spent just shy of $3,000 for my klipsch/denon receiver set up with atmos and I love it. But man that sound bar would have eliminated my big tower klipsch speakers it would have looked gorgeous on my media stand. Awesome review
@@andrewrobinsonreviews I went with the klipsch 610-f for my fronts, the Klipsch R-41M for my back channels as well as my height channels. And the klipsch R-52C for my center channel. All running on my denon s960h receiver. My only thing left to get is the klipsch subwoofer. For now I'm running a JBL 12" powdered sub.
@@KristiWright I watch every video I fully support you both on RU-vid and Instagram I probably tag Andrew to much 😂 what can I say I love the content.. I'm just a video,audio 40 year 🤓.
Great video again!!! I like that this is "future proof". Awesome option if you are short on room for traditional speakers. Great product. A little pricey though. In Canada with the exchange rate that will be $25,000 😁 Have a great week!!!
If I were to purchase a sound bar it would likely be for a guest room or secondary room set up and I would go with Active versus passive. I would also be looking in a more budget range of around 500.
While we both appreciate you recognizing Kristi's contributions and inclusion on this channel, I still do all the filming and editing. Thank you for watching!
Thanks for the review. I didn't even know this thing existed. I personally would go with a all in one sound bar, for simplicity reasons. I feel like if you want a sound bar, the fact of not needing a receiver or a bunch of wires would be appealing to that customer. I think there is a reason passive sound bars are a rare piece of equipment, if someone is interested in a passive bar they are probably more likely to go with separates. The aesthetics of a all in one solution is nice too, for that clean look. Also I like the new transitions!
That KLIPSCH Heritage Theater Bar looks like it would make on hell of great center channel also. As for your question? Passive sounds very attractive since you won’t have to deal with obsolete software in the “all-in-one” units.
What a coincidence as i only got to know about it last month and even put it in my Amazon wishlist, lol. My issue with it is the high price point, relative to active soundbars. Also, the low end is quite "shallow" at 95hz. Still, a great product esp. given the custom size options available.
I have a Phillips TV with DTS Play-Fi, can I turn on the TV to play a movie with the sound of Dolby Atmos or DTS X and DTS Play-Fi will it play will the effects of flying arrows? And how will it manage the speaker channels? I will reproduce through bluetooth speakers philips w6205
I tore out my 5.2 system and went with a 2 channel setup... But, for day to day TV watching/viewing, I went up to BestBuy and bought the little Polk Signa S2 sound bar/sub for $149. I also picked up their over priced Rocketfish universal sound bar TV mount to affix the sound bar to the underside of the Sony TV. I think even Kristi would like this bar, as the issue in my household is the same as Kristi's, hearing the lousy sounding unintelligible voicing. This is crystal clear for day to day usage, you know, stuff like the news and normal TV shows you may watch for the content vs explosions and gun shots. For the money, I honestly do not think you can beat this silly thing. As far as spending $2200 for a sound bar, nah, too pricey for my tastes. And then you have to add a subwoofer for say another $500 to $1000 to keep the proper sound profile, now we are at roughly $3000 give or take. Then you need an AVR... But, I know, there are folks out there that will go that route, I just don't see the value in it.
My only issue with this sound bar is a superficial one. I wish the center channel tweeter was centered between the woofers! You'd never know with the grill on, but I'd still know it was there, lol
“Heritage” denotes something special. Using one milling operation to cut the holes for the speakers is not special. However, and to your point, if one milling operation is all they wanted to do then put the tweeter in the middle across all three modules. Symmetry is a beautiful thing!
Very nice review, and a special thanks to Kristi on the callout about dialogue. That was very useful comment. I do wish your review had addressed soundbar vs separates more though. I presume the soundbar would come at a premium in terms of price for the space savings, but how much so?
@@user-gz6tx6yp3v There are many days where I wished we reviewed products like pizza ovens. Do you think people fight over which oven makes the best pizza? 😂
I have a Boston Acoustics P-400 paired with a Denon AVR-591, which I like, but I'm thinking about replacing with floor/center separates. Now seeing your review on this passive speaker, should I replace the receiver first and try some room correction to see how it improves, if any, the speaker performance? Great channel, keep up the great work!
I recently swapped out my surround setup in my main room for the Samsung Q950A. Its very impressive for a sound bar but struggles to pass through high bitrate movies on Disney Plus with the appletv. Never had an issue with my AVR. Also the dialog gets overwhelmed at times because of so many speakers jammed into one bar. I think something simpler like this is a great solution when you already have the AVR or Sub in house. Dont get me wrong the Samsung bar (made by Harmon Kardon i believe) is great, but i still miss my full surround setup. I looked at this but the price was just too much for my 2nd setup in the house.
I prefer passive. Powered soundbars are good at what they are designed for but they always seem to lack the versatility and punch I want when listening to music. Adding a receiver or other amp solves this problem for me.
Curious if you think configuring the center channel in an MTM format would have created any appreciable changes to the sound stage? Most center channels seem to maintain that configuration, but I've seen some people complain about imaging being too narrow with that configuration, too. So I'm curious if you had any thoughts on it.
Reviewing this video again and wondering what the heritage bar would sound like with the tweeters and woofers from the RP-400M II, a frequency range that went down to 40Hz and MTM design for the center speaker.
