Video: Klipsch The Fives/Sevens/Nines II powered speakers

When I was a kid, I got a "hi-fi in a box" system. You know, the kind with detachable speakers you could spread out for stereo sound. Wasn't the best sounding system out there, but it was the one that helped me really start loving to listen to music. And today, I'd like to show you what to me represents the evolution of my all-in-one system, the Klipsch Fives, Sevens, and Nines II. These are capable of playing high-res streaming music, and they have wired connections for analog and digital sources, including an HDMI eARC input for your TV. And thanks to Klipsch's partnership with Onkyo, these new powered speakers have a couple of nice tricks up their sleeves.

The Fives, Sevens, and Nines come in the handsome walnut veneer you see here, plus ebony and a new red oak veneer. Klipsch has improved the baffle from the earlier models, using a one-piece front that offers improved rigidity and, in my opinion, a sleeker look if you're the type who prefers grilles off. All three speakers feature the legendary Klipsch Tractrix horn tweeter which delivers pinpoint upper-frequency detail with a generous listening sweet spot. Like other Klipsch speakers you may have heard before, this horn is a big part of the Klipsch sound, creating a kind of forward overall presentation that's distinctive and satisfying. I've heard it said that Klipsch speakers are harsh in the treble region due to this horn, but I've never found that to be the case.

The Fives get a 5-1/4-inch cerametallic woofer, while the Sevens use a 6-1/2-inch woofer, and the Nines use a burly 8-inch woofer. As you go up the line, the cabinets get bigger, and the speakers can play deeper as you'd expect them to. Thei Fives play all the way down to a respectable 55 hertz, while the Sevens can reach all the way down to 39 hertz. And the Nines can dig all the way down to 31 hertz, which is nice and deep. In fact, depending on what room they're in, you might find yourself not really wanting a sub at all in your system.

On the top of the main speaker is the familiar control dial we saw in the original Fives, Sevens, and Nines, which along with the multi-function button, lets you change sources, volume, etc. It works great and works a lot like it did in the original series. I found myself using the backlit remote more often, and you can also control things with the Klipsch Connect app. It's nice to have three control options.

Around back of the main speaker, you'll find your physical connections, which vary a little bit by model. All three speakers give you 8K HDMI in and out, including that eARC output for connecting to your TV. There are two analog inputs, including one for a turntable. There's a USB input for a flash drive with digital music, an optical input for a digital source like a CD player, an Ethernet input if you want to wire it to your home network, and a subwoofer preamp output. You'll also see the wired input that connects the two speakers. When you step up to The Nines, you also get balanced XLR/quarter-inch left and right stereo combo inputs for connecting to a high-end preamp or other balanced equipment.

Okay, so far these seem a lot like other stereo powered speakers you might be considering, but there's a few things about these new Klipsch models that might perk up your ears a little. The first thing, and it's what made me take a trip down memory lane earlier, with The Sevens and The Nines, you have a choice of connecting the main and secondary speakers with the included cable, or letting them pair wirelessly. With a wired connection, all three speakers can play high-res music up to 24-bit/96kHz. All three speakers work with the Connect protocol from high-res services like TIDAL and Qobuz, plus Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, and good old Bluetooth. The Fives use an XLR wired connection between them, but The Sevens and Nines use a connection cable that looks a little like an Ethernet cable, a slight change from the original series, and different from The Fives. This wired connection is how I'd recommend connecting them, especially if you enjoy high-res streaming. But what if you don't want yet another cable in your life? The Sevens and The Nines come pre-paired wirelessly by default. So all you have to do is plug them in for power, spread them out, and you're good to go. This will knock the stream quality down from high-res to CD quality, which is still really good, and perhaps worth the trade-off depending upon your setup. I like this feature while I borrowed these, because it makes moving them around very simple.

The second thing that sets The Fives, Sevens, and Nines apart is that they give you Dolby Atmos decoding and virtual height channels. So even when you have just two speakers powering your TV sound, these will do their best to simulate overhead sound effects through Onkyo's processing, some psychoacoustics, and quite possibly mild witchcraft. Does it work as well as wired overhead speakers? No. But I'd say it works a lot like a sound bar simulating overhead effects. And in practice, it kind of opens up the sound stage from normal stereo.

The third thing that sets these apart, not found in The Fives, but once you step up to The Sevens or The Nines, is Dirac Live room correction. A standard Dirac license is included, and so is the calibration mic, which plugs into a minijack input on the back of the main speaker. Follow the instructions in the Klipsch Connect app, and you can tune these speakers for the room that they're in with ease.

I brought a pair of The Sevens II home to try out. And I'm a big Klipsch fan. I've got loads of copper woofers staring back at me while I watch movies, so I know I'm a little biased, but these speakers really are incredible. Setup was easy through the Klipsch Connect app, and I had them up and running in no time. And the sound was as I had hoped: punchy and detailed, with a nice, deep backbone. The crunchy bass in Tool's "Sober" sounded well-defined and positively gritty. The fingerpicked interplay between Doc and Richard Watson during their version of "House of the Rising Sun." was delightful to hear, and Diana Krall's vocals on "Temptation" were pristine and airy. Everything else I threw at them, from hard rock to hip-hop, sounded good, too. The bass you get with these in particular is really top-notch. Whether it's layered like Massive Attack or Tool, or snappy and quick, like someone playing standup bass on a jazz record.

Now, The Sevens are hardly what I'd call portable, but I did move them out to my backyard at one point and used them with my projector over Bluetooth. And that's when the true wireless connection option came in handy, because I wanted to spread them out like 20 feet apart and not trip over the connecting wire in the dark. Maybe that's not a common way to use these, but you could. So, they're really great, but not perfect. They run Bluetooth 5.4, but all you get are SBC and AAC codecs. no higher-res aptX variants. The Ethernet-style connecting cable for The Sevens and Nines has a little physical play at the connection point, and the cable's very stiff, and you need to purchase an add-on to the standard Dirac Live license if you want to use the room correction with a subwoofer. But overall, what you get with the Klipsch Fives, Sevens, and Nines Mark II is an all-in-one hi-fi system that can keep up with a system of separates with all the connections you're likely to need to connect your source gear. And if you just stream all your music, you don't need anything else. With the HDMI eARC connection, Dolby Atmos virtualization, and Dirac Live room correction, they're well worth a look. Thanks for watching today. If you have any questions, just get in touch with us here at Crutchfield.