Klipsch RP-504C II

Movie dialogue is very clear – This review is for the ** Mark II ** version of the Klipsch centre speaker. The first thing you notice is the cerametallic copper coloured woofers which are a work of art in themselves. We can go into all sorts of discussion about sound pressure levels, frequency responses and contour plots, but, at the end of the day, it just sounds great. The uplift in sound quality from my previous centre speaker is really noticeable. Dialogue is clearer and it handles bass quite nicely thanks to Klipsch's rear firing Tractrix port (the way it directs air in the cabinet to the outside). The speaker does a good job of dispersing the sound horizontally, meaning you can sit to the side of the speaker a little (let's say at a distance of 2 metres) without losing too much quality in the dialogue. One of the biggest problems with cheap centre speakers is that sound deteriorates rapidly if you are sitting off centre only a little. At $1349 its a hefty price to pay for a centre, but it performs really well in its price range. It is reasonably heavy and larger than many would expect a centre speaker to be, but when you consider that most of the sound in a movie is comes through the centre speaker it is worth the price and space. I wasn't disappointed.