Klipsch Bookshelf Speakers B20

What A Wonderful Surprise – I stumbled across these speakers from somebody who was selling up gear from a deceased estate, and they had no idea what they were - in fact they had never been used and were still sealed in the original box. These speakers were made since 2010 so they are old, but boy are they a gem. I've got a heap of Klipsch speakers, mainly the Reference Series which is a step above the Synergy Series and thought that these would be a disappointment, but they can hold their heads high. With a 0.75" tweeter and 5.25" woofer they will faithfully reproduce all the highs and mids for your listening pleasure - of course they won't do the very low frequencies but nobody expects that from a Bookshelf speaker.

I think what makes them shine is their efficiency - 92.5 dB which means that either you need a smaller amplifier to achieve the same amount of sound, or the same amplifier will achieve more sound - and what a sound it is!! It's always difficult to use words to describe sounds but I will do my best - the highs are clear and crisp without any harshness or shrillness and the mids are warm and powerfull with no distortion, even when working them hard. It fills the room with music without dominating the room.

With an honest power handling of 85 Watts RMS (yes, that's a lot) these things can handle a beating. Sure they're not floorstanding loudspeakers that will do 120 Watts RMS but neither are they the size of a small child. For their footprint and their cost these things are punching WAY above their weight.

It may be difficult to find these in the wild any more, but if you do happen upon some you will not be disappointed.

Punch above their weight – Hard to get sound like this at this price. Super Easy to drive, mates well with a subwoofer but great alone too. Won't disappoint at this price point and will put many significantly more expensive/bigger speakers to shame.

At $249 you won't find better value than these awesome little speakers – You have to put everything context. And the context of this is these speakers only cost $249. I am fortunate enough to have owned some incredible hi fi gear in my life, B&W 801's, Duntech Sovereign to name a few. So when I bought these for $249 for my outside deck I wasn't expecting what I got. Klipsch have been around for a long time and are pretty good at what they do. They make speakers and earphones from $40 to into the tens of thousands of dollars. As with anything in life you get what you pay for.

5 stars? If I had have paid $2500 for these I would be very disappointed. If I had have $1500 for these I would be pretty upset. If I had have paid $750 for these I would be happy. But I didn't pay that. At $249 these are great little speakers and in my opinion an understated bargain. They might not have the bass you would expect, a 5 1/2" driver can only move so much air. But they are very efficient. You really don't need much to get them humming. The highs and mid range are crisp, clear and defined even at high power levels. They weigh a bit too, strong enclosure construction and they look very neat with no grilles.They easily handle the 70 watts Ig put into them with no sign of fatigue. I have them mated to a Yamaha HTR-4066 AV receiver.

So the context is this, well made, great sound, good sensitivity, excellent crisp sound and $249 to boot. If you are limited to space and have an amplifier with limited power, I can assure you, you can do a lot worse for a lot more money than these tiny little gems. I have no hesitation in recommending these for someone on a budget and want a pair of speakers that sound far better than what they cost. In this rare case you get far more than what you have paid. 5 stars from me.

Enjoy............