Click here to see more images of the Klipsch HD Theater 1000

Klipsch HD Theater 1000

Klipsch’s HD Theater 1000 compact speaker system proves that great sound doesn’t have to come in big packages. The HD theater 1000 features 5 compact satellite speakers paired with a 10 inch powered subwoofer. The subwoofer isn’t exactly huge by subwoofer standards at 15.75 inches tall, 11.5 inches wide, and 17.75 inches deep.

Each of the satellite speakers is identical and measures 8.6 inches tall, 4 inches wide, and 5.5 inches deep. The finish on the satellites is a high gloss black, somewhat reminiscent of a grand piano. The speakers do look nice and are relatively heavy (a good thing when it concerns speakers). The only gripe I had with the speakers’ finish was when placed on a smooth, finished surface, the speakers had a tendency to dance around a bit. Luckily Klipsch had already thought of this and included some adhesive feet than can be applied to the speakers to keep them at bay.

Each of the speakers has a standard threaded speaker mount for mounting to a wall or cabinet. Located just above the wall mount is a small port, which helps the little speakers produce just a bit more bass. Below the speaker mount are two spring-loaded speaker terminals. I would have liked to see at least some larger terminals if not some binding posts. The small size of the terminals made it difficult to connect all but the narrowest gauge speaker wire.

The subwoofer was pretty standard as far as subwoofer connections go. You do have your choice of either high level inputs using standard binding posts or low level inputs via RCA connections. Also located on the rear panel is the volume control, low pass filter, power switch, and phase switch. The phase switch was a nice option to have as this allows for more options in terms of placement of the subwoofer. If the bass sounds weak where you have it, simply flip the phase switch and this should correct the problem.

The subwoofer uses a 200 watt built-in amplifier which powers a 10 inch driver. The driver is made from a fiber-composite cone. The mid drivers also use a fiber-composite cone while the .75 inch tweeter is made from aluminum.

After connecting the speakers and getting the setup just right, I was immediately impressed with the sound quality. In fact, the bass was a bit overpowering at first and I found myself constantly turning the bass down both on the subwoofer and the receiver alike until I found just the right balance. Like setting up any subwoofer and pairing it to speakers, it took a little while to get the speakers to blend “seamlessly” to the subwoofer. After a little trial and error, I was able to get the bass to where I liked it.

When we played a test signal into the system starting at 20 Hz and going all the way up to 20 KHz we noticed very few weak, or soft spots. The system wasn’t able to reproduce a 20 Hz signal, but very few subwoofers can. We noticed the sound picked up right around 40 Hz (it’s rated down to 35 Hz) Again, very impressive for such a compact speaker system.

The HD Theater 1000 seemed to be equally comfortable playing all kinds of music. Rock, pop, country, jazz, classical all seemed to come alive. Watching movies was also a pleasure with the HD Theater 1000. Since each of the satellite speakers is identical the system had no trouble keeping the sound accurate as it passed through each speaker.

Summary

Klipsch’s HD Theater is designed to complement your new flat panel TV, and it does it nicely. With sound that defies its size, the HD Theater is a perfect solution for a not-too-visible home audio surround sound system.
 

Click here to see more images of the Klipsch HD Theater 1000.