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Klipsch ProMedia 4.1

Performance -  Sound Quality - Objective Test Results:

The Holy Grail of Sound Reproduction Perfect neutrality is the goal of every speaker manufacturer. Achieving this goal would mean that without the impact of any consumer-added equalization and DSP effects you would hear exactly what the musician or sound-designer intended you to hear. In some cases you may want to change it using an equalizer (preferably by subtracting rather than adding), but this should be up to you, the end user and not imposed upon you by the system design. This goal is something of a quest for the Holy Grail as no system perfectly reaches absolute neutrality, something that is more apparent on lower priced systems, but its none-the-less an important goal to strive for. Systems with more neutral/uncolored sound, that is more flat frequency response, are generally considered more pleasing to listen to. A system that colors audio in a certain way may sound a bit exciting at first, but typically the more you listen to it, the more likely you are to get irritated/annoyed by some aspect of the sound reproduction. This is especially true if you listen to a lot of music with the system.

While for some and perhaps even many people will shop only on the basis of the loudness and subwoofer exaggeration ability that the ProMedia 4.1 delivers, Klipsch has aimed to deliver a system that is not only very loud but also delivers very good quality at an affordable price.

As a 4.1 system the emphasis will be on its performance for gaming (particularly 3D audio) and DVD playback. That’s not to say musical ability is unimportant as not only is music inherently important to games and movies, music reproduction in it self will important, it’s just not the absolute focus of anyone choosing a 4.1 or 5.1 system over a 2.1 or 2.0 system.

As reference systems to help determine quality I used  Logitech’s Xtrusio DSR-100 ($180 4.1 system), Boston Acoustics’ BA4800 ($200 4.1 system), VideoLogic’s Sirocco Crossfire ($450 4.1 system) and Monsoon's MM2000 ($300 4.1 system).

If you have been following our coverage of the original Klipsch v.2-400 you will know that I have been fairly critical of the v2-400's midrange. These impressions changed over time to the point where I really came to dislike what I perceived as a midrange hole (where some midrange frequencies were perceived as being very subdued) that was delivered by the original v.2-400. The reason I want to make a point of emphasizing those past impressions is not to frustrate the many happy v.2-400 owners. Rather, it is to offer some context that might help to allay the fears of those of you with similar opinions when I say that the reworked crossover network, using an otherwise identical satellite design, has much to my surprise addressed the midrange flaw!

That is the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 midrange is consistently good and a real pleasure to listen to. With that out of the way let's get to the normal order of events.

Measured Frequency Response

As noted earlier, Klipsch indicates that the total system is rated to deliver 29Hz- 20kHz. No parameters (e.g. +/- 3 dB) are placed on the systems frequency response which means that as long as the system makes sound in that range the specs are "correct". No crossover point between the subwoofer and satellites is given but we checked with Klipsch and they indicate that the satellite crossover is 2-pole @ 120 Hz.

So what did we actually see? I am not quite ready to publish the raw chats yet as there is a lot of cutting, pasting and extrapolation going into interpretation of the results. However, I can indicate that the numbers are generated in various near field and far field tests using a high quality calibrated microphone, the ETF Acoustic software suite and the Spectra Lab 432 suite. Despite the use of these hardware / software suites these numbers are not intended to be taken as 100 percent accurate. They are simply a good estimate and an even better relative comparison to other systems tested in the same manner.

Satellites

The numbers I am going to give for the satellite tested were done on-axis with the tweeter. This means the test microphone is directly in line with the tweeters for the ProMedia 4.1. Most (but not all) of the testing is with placement is about 18-24 inches away and for the sake of these numbers the tests are also considered to be on-axis for the midrange. While it’s not unusual to be listening in off-axis positions, particularly when it comes to home theater systems, as a desktop based speaker system with appropriately angled stands (towards the ears) most listeners using the ProMedia 4.1 in pretty much an on-axis setup.

Our tests show a relatively smooth frequency response of approximately +/- 5.5 dB from 120 Hz right through to 20 kHz! The range outside of +3 dB appears to be approximately between 1.3 and 4.6 kHz with the peaks coming somewhere between 1.6 and 3.9 kHz. The +/ - 5.5 dB is in itself pretty good for a multimedia system but not without equals. In fact there are some systems on the market at different price ranges that deliver overall smoother frequency response (e.g. Polk AMR-150, VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire, Monsoon MM2000 and Boston Acoustic BA7500) than what you will get from the ProMedia 4.1.

What is particularly impressive on the ProMedia 4.1 is the midbass extension of the satellites right down to 120 Hz at -5 dB and 130 Hz at -3 dB, clearly greater midbass extension than any other 4.1 system I have tested with the exception of the Polk AMR-150 (review coming later this summer). Another way to look at this is that the ProMedia 4.1 is in the +/- 3dB range on the satellites from 130 Hz right through to about 1.3 kHz.  That covers the full average male and female vocals as well as much of the bass and soprano vocals range as well as the full range of several instruments.

Since we have not used any of these numbers before you can’t just reference the other reviews to see how it compares so I will give a quick summary of the Crossfire and MM2000 numbers. 

The Crossfire frequency response is notably smoother with performance from 198 Hz to 20 kHz +/ - 3 dB but some listeners will prefer the greater midbass extension of the ProMedia 4.1 despite it not being quite as smooth on the overall frequency response.  The Crossfire satellites appear to extend to about 180 Hz at the - 5 dB point. 

The MM2000 performance will be covered in more detail in its own review in the very near future but I will note here that it’s in the 240 Hz to 20 kHz +/- 4.5 dB range. As you see, midbass extension is also not as great as on the ProMedia 4.1.  However, what’s impressive about the MM2000 and the reason why I list it as smoother than the ProMedia 4.1 is that if we overlook a greater than +3 dB blip that occurs between 1.5 and 2.3 kHz (the peak of the blip is +4.5 dB between 1.7 and 1.9 kHz) then it is very smooth in the 250 Hz to 13 kHz range (+/- 3 dB) with large portions in a +/- 1 dB range. Again, that’s a range that picks up a lot of instruments and vocals and the lower end is filled in nicely by the strong subwoofer. The catch on the MM2000 it’s very finicky with respect to sat placement and also most suitable only for one or two listeners.

A couple of other examples I will throw out in the interim are the Xtrusio DSR-100 and BA4800. The Xtrusio DSR-100 is also in the +/- 5 dB range with good extension down to 190 Hz. There is a small peak of +5 dB in the 6.5 kHz range and a valley of about –5 dB in the 9 kHz range being the two extreme variations. Lower end extension is to about 190 Hz at -5 dB. The BA4800 was in the 250 Hz to 20 kHz +/- 5 dB range.

As you see there are some tradeoffs between all of these systems but all are good to great in terms of neutrality of the satellites. There is however lots more to how satellites sound than just frequency response and how it affects the different uses. I will cover some of that in the subjective impressions section a bit further into the review.

As I noted before, Klipsch in keeping with their home and professional speaker design has used a horn mounted design for the tweeter, something that allows for more controlled and focused high frequency radiation. Perhaps this is why I found the vertical off-axis performance slightly behind the Crossfire and 4100 satellites that don't have horn loaded tweeters. However, what you still get from the ProMedia is greater high frequency dispersion and hence less high frequency roll-off in vertical off-axis listening than you typically get from single driver based systems or even from systems like the Altec Lansing ATP5 that uses micro-drivers in the satellites. This allows the ProMedia 4.1 to deliver more consistent quality across multiple listening positions.

Crossover

Klipsch in direct correspondence indicates that the satellite crossover is 2-pole @ 120 Hz. Our testing indicates that the effective point where the satellites start dominate is in fact in that range. That’s very unusual and impressive in the multimedia speaker market and particularly in the multi-channel market.

Subwoofer

All of the numbers presented for subwoofer tests were done near-field and quasi-near field to eliminate room effects. I say quasi-near field as in some cases the microphone was placed at an angle a few inches away from the subwoofer in order to get a blended result of the driver and port frequency response.

If you have seen anything on the ProMedia line before you will know that the subwoofer is an area that people often rave about. Our new testing shows it’s unusual for a multimedia subwoofer in a couple of respects.

First, with the significant midbass extension of the satellites Klipsch was as noted above able to roll-off the sub at an earlier point (starting at 120 Hz). It’s at the -3 dB point from a 100 Hz reference point at about 130 Hz and about -10 dB at 155 Hz. This is the sharpest roll-off of any multimedia subwoofer I have tested, more in line with what you would expect to see from a hi-fi subwoofer. Comparatively, the Crossfire sub does not get to the -10 dB point until 190 Hz and the MM2000 at 231 Hz. This makes the ProMedia sub the least likely to have any localization effects.

Looking in the other direction the ProMedia 4.1 sub again shines getting right down to 30 Hz before rolling off more than 5 dB.  The Crossfire subwoofer is pretty much equally impressive in this respect reaching down to about 35 Hz at the same rolloff point.  Both of these subs standing out well beyond the other subs referenced in this review, and in fact any other multimedia subwoofer I have used, in this respect. The MM2000 sub also offers standout overall quality but compared to the ProMedia 4.1 or Crossfire sub it rolls off beyond 3 dB at about 45 Hz and beyond 5 dB literally just a couple Hz lower. The deep bass response of the ProMedia 4.1 really stands out as a positive in all media but particularly in DVD movies where deep LFE effects stand out more than on every other sub I have heard with the exception of the Crossfire.

Subwoofer Placement

Note that effective placement, particular in smaller rooms, can result in greater low end extension but room effects can also be detrimental. It’s important to emphasize that what you see in near-field tests is the optimum smoothness. Proper placement in the room in the case of a subwoofer is just as important as the quality of the subwoofer. Poor placement can result in boomy bass or even drop-outs in key frequencies and often times what you end up selecting is a compromise between the smoothest frequency response and the greatest bass extension.

I will note here that I have found it difficult to get the right subwoofer placement for neutral bass response in my room. Looking at the frequency response of the subwoofer and satellite it clearly should be achievable. While all the subs were tested quantitatively in the same location, different subs act in different ways and this hump is something that as noted above can altered to a large extent by final subwoofer positioning in your own room even without any equalization. It’s worth noting that I had just as much trouble with the MM2000 placement where as the Crossfire sub was for whatever reason easy to place for a neutral response. Something else noteworthy is that I found the Klipsch recommended level on the subwoofer (a white marker on the dial) to be somewhat beyond a neutral level. That’s certainly fine for games and even movies but for music you might want to try turning it down a bit for the most neutral sound.

What about this ProMedia 4.2 option?

Some people may be interested in combining 2 ProMedia 2.1 systems to make a 4.2 system as Klipsch has been promoting to "mega-bass" fans. We have not actually tested the 4.2 setup yet but I can point out that the dual side firing sub that comes with the 4.1 system is rated by Klipsch to 29 Hz where as the single driver 2.1 sub is rated by Klipsch to 31 Hz. That’s not such a big difference but our tests have shown the ProMedia 4.1 sub is getting down to 30 Hz at pretty neutral levels where the 2.1 sub is not. The 4.1 sub also has more exaggeration range but combining the two 2.1 subwoofers should increase the overall volume at a greater level than the dual side-firing drivers of the ProMedia 4.1 sub. So you may be trading some bass extension in return for potentially louder bass and greater flexibly for placement tweaking and perhaps greater bass volume and slightly better definition from the subwoofer. We will be talking a closer look at this in the future in order to give some actual hard numbers.