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Mark Muschett puts Klipsch's ProMedia 2.1 to the test |
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Mark Muschett - Last updated April 20, 2001
Introduction In the summer of 1999, Klipsch, L.L.C., a leading manufacturer of loudspeakers for professional and home entertainment applications, announced that they had joined with Compaq Computer, to introduce the first THX® Certified speaker system for multimedia applications in the form of the ProMedia V.2-400. The speakers were a smash hit before anyone ever-laid ears on them. This was due to the allure of THX, even though it's the much less stringent multimedia speaker version of the certification, and an even now unmatched 400 watts RMS. If the specifications were not enough to make PC owners salivate, the ProMedia’s price was the icing that pulling in those playing hard to get with its amazing list price of $249.95 for the first THX certified 4.1 multimedia speaker system. The first reviews started to hit the web the excitement continued to build. Review after review, both web and print, heaped praise onto the ProMedias. However, after the initial excitement started to wane, some flaws in the original v.2-400 started to appear. First there were complaints of hiss - an issue Klipsch quickly addressed through release of a new gain modified preamp that was first offered free to all v.2-400 owners and later incorporated into all new systems coming off the line. Later as the v.2-400 was subjected to more critical listening tests it became apparent that there was a flaw in the systems midrange, apparently the result of some interaction between the systems MicroTractrix Horn and the midrange driver. Klipsch took this feedback along with other user wish lists and went back to the drawing board. The result was two new systems that strive to build on what they started with the original ProMedia v.2-400. One is what Klipsch proudly declares as the world’s first THX®-Certified three-piece computer audio system, the ProMedia™ 2.1. The other is an updated 4.1 system that incorporates all of the improvements featured in the new 2.1 system while maintaining the powerful subwoofer that gamers have come to drool over. So what’s a $179 list price 2.1 multimedia system that features the Klipsch MicroTractrix Horns, three-inch fiber-composite cone drivers for midrange, an auxiliary input, an amplified headphone jack and a 200-watt digital hybrid amplifier have as competition? Not a lot to be honest as what was once a very competitive area has become pretty wide open in North America with not even a handful of systems in the same range even without considering that some of the competition is no longer in production. In terms of systems still in production the ones that that come to mind that target the same 2/2.1 multimedia performance market are the 2.0 VideoLogic Sirocco Spirit (US$250), the 2.1 MM-1000 ($200) from Monsoon and the Cambridge SoundWorks MicroWorks (original list of $250 but now on sale from Cambridge SoundWorks for $150). Videologic’s 2.1 Sirocco Original is not available in North America but the ProMedia 2.1 is available in Europe so those two systems do have a market overlap outside of North America. We are not sure of the European pricing on the ProMedia 2.1 but they are not really in the same price bracket if the US pricing of the Sprit can be used as any indication. With the Sirocco Original listing for £210 (excluding Tax ) if we use the same price conversion applied to the Spirit (UK list price is £128 excluding tax) we can estimate that the Sirocco Original would come in at approximately US$400-$450 range if it was available. Competitive systems out of production, but in some cases still available new, include S2-4100/HMP-4100 (original list of $600 – limited quantities on sale from Diamond Audio Technology for $200), Boston Acoustic Media Theater (original list of $300) and Yamaha YST-M100 (original list $180). In this review we are going to take a detailed look at the new ProMedia 2.1 system to see how it stacks up against the HMP-4100, Media Theater and MM-1000 systems I have heard and take a few guesses at how it fares against the ones I have not heard. So on to detailed overview and installation
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