Klipsch HD Theater 500

Klipsch was one of the pioneers of high sound pressure speakers capable of generating high volume levels with little electrical power. The basic concept of horn-loaded tweeters is reproduced here.

Design and build: it’s small!

The HD Theater 500 impressed us with how small it is, the satellites being especially compact. Made of ABS plastic they’re nice and discrete and avoid the clichéd rectangular look. It’s a little bit the opposite for the subwoofer, which is rather voluminous in spite of lowish output. While the gloss coating gives an impression of quality, the plastic on the subwoofer is a bit cheap looking.

The satellites come with wall fixture stands but you can also put them on a piece of furniture – make sure you consider how small they are when you come to chose your stand. The central speaker has a rubber pad that stops it sliding around without raising it up too much – you can get away with putting it in front of the TV.

Satellites: a tweeter with some oomph

The four satellites are all identical and the central speaker just incorporates a second woofer. For home cinema use, the speakers give great results, both for dialogue and effects. We were truly surprised to get such presence with such small speakers. The same goes for music, nice, full sound with plenty of mid-level.

We must say a little more on the tweeters, a real Klipsch added value. Picking up on the concept of its huge, very powerful systems, the tweeters are MicroTractrix, permitting “natural” amplifciation of sound. They speak for themselves, the treble truly pristine. Unfortunately, a well-known phenomenon with this type of construction comes into play when you push the volume too high: the high end becomes really aggressive and, if you’re attentive, there is some slight saturation.

Subwooofer: eight inches is small!

The subwoofer complements the rest very nicely. The speaker is relatively small and ensures the balance with the satellites.

Unfortunately, no miracles at this size and you won’t get any deep bass. The sound is nevertheless very clean. The bass you get has real punch and is as dry as you like, anything but muddy. The only thing is we’d have liked a bit more.

If you’re looking for a system for a small room, the HD Theater 500 is an excellent choice. Discrete and not taking up too much room, it gives an honorable showing and can serve as a first step into home cinema at a reasonable price. One piece of advice however, try it before you buy it. You’ll either love it or hate it.