Yes, they have been reviewed to death, but as one of the reigning 2.1 PC speaker solutions, always wondered how they sound and measured in my room, so I recently acquired a used pair.
Speakers were measured in my room, which is a typical HDB, roughly ~2m x ~3m, study room. Satellites were away from wall, so no boundary gain. Desktop setting, with satellites ~70cm away from my listening position, and the sub ~1m away. These babies can go pretty loud in such a small space, so I only tested them at a Windows volume of 25% and the speaker volume control at ~50%.
First are the nearfield (2-3cm from drivers) measurements, with the mid driver in teal and tweeter in brown. Not linear, but doesn't seem too terrible either. Sub level is set to 0% for the moment.
Distortion levels look pretty good in nearfield too (mid driver first graph, tweeter second).
The unsmoothed frequency response of the speakers at listening position (LP). Sub still at 0%, but we can already see the sharp cliff at 40Hz. Satellites are pointing 'straight forward', not toed-in.
Next up is the difference in the bass level settings, with the subwoofer knob at 0%, ~50% and 100%. Overlaying multiple graphs will be overly messy, so we also use psychoacoustic smoothing to simplify the view. The jump from 0-50 is pretty substantial, but seems there's a limiter from 50-100. We can also see that the response is pretty linear from 200 - 3kHz, then drops after.
Measured distortion with the satellites + sub (@100%) also seems acceptable with a roughly 30 - 40dB gap.
Finally, I compared the Klipsch with my current setup comprising of the JBL A130 and a Klipsch SW-350, an 8 inch subwoofer. The A130 is a good representative of 'hifi' speakers,and the harman preference curve as well as that of a generally flat measuring speaker (in anechoic conditions). We can see the much steeper descent of the response compared to the Promedia. And sonically, like what the graphs show, the promedia (in green) does sound a lot more forward / brighter / in your face as well.
At the other end of the frequency spectrum, we can see the extended low end response of an 8 inch 'home theatre' sub compared to a 6.5 inch PC solution. Though I need to mention that the SW-350 has been eq-ed to provide a stronger 20-30Hz response. Trying to do the same on the promedia will be hard because of the inherent steep drop at 40Hz.
The Promedia 2.1 has stuck around since the Creative Megaworks days and survived till now (although I heard that the sound may not be the same in the newer, current revisions). The Klipsch pedigree probably ensured that it doesn't have any weird audio deficiencies, though the measured response does show a brighter / forward signature (with a rolled off top after 3kHz). Probably a good fit for dialogue in movies, and gives a good impression of clarity in music. The steep elbow at 40Hz does remind one that it's still positioned as a budget offering to its bigger brothers in home theatre / hifi.
Speakers were measured in my room, which is a typical HDB, roughly ~2m x ~3m, study room. Satellites were away from wall, so no boundary gain. Desktop setting, with satellites ~70cm away from my listening position, and the sub ~1m away. These babies can go pretty loud in such a small space, so I only tested them at a Windows volume of 25% and the speaker volume control at ~50%.
First are the nearfield (2-3cm from drivers) measurements, with the mid driver in teal and tweeter in brown. Not linear, but doesn't seem too terrible either. Sub level is set to 0% for the moment.
Distortion levels look pretty good in nearfield too (mid driver first graph, tweeter second).
The unsmoothed frequency response of the speakers at listening position (LP). Sub still at 0%, but we can already see the sharp cliff at 40Hz. Satellites are pointing 'straight forward', not toed-in.
Next up is the difference in the bass level settings, with the subwoofer knob at 0%, ~50% and 100%. Overlaying multiple graphs will be overly messy, so we also use psychoacoustic smoothing to simplify the view. The jump from 0-50 is pretty substantial, but seems there's a limiter from 50-100. We can also see that the response is pretty linear from 200 - 3kHz, then drops after.
Measured distortion with the satellites + sub (@100%) also seems acceptable with a roughly 30 - 40dB gap.
Finally, I compared the Klipsch with my current setup comprising of the JBL A130 and a Klipsch SW-350, an 8 inch subwoofer. The A130 is a good representative of 'hifi' speakers,
At the other end of the frequency spectrum, we can see the extended low end response of an 8 inch 'home theatre' sub compared to a 6.5 inch PC solution. Though I need to mention that the SW-350 has been eq-ed to provide a stronger 20-30Hz response. Trying to do the same on the promedia will be hard because of the inherent steep drop at 40Hz.
The Promedia 2.1 has stuck around since the Creative Megaworks days and survived till now (although I heard that the sound may not be the same in the newer, current revisions). The Klipsch pedigree probably ensured that it doesn't have any weird audio deficiencies, though the measured response does show a brighter / forward signature (with a rolled off top after 3kHz). Probably a good fit for dialogue in movies, and gives a good impression of clarity in music. The steep elbow at 40Hz does remind one that it's still positioned as a budget offering to its bigger brothers in home theatre / hifi.
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