KLH 970A Main / Stereo Speaker
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- Speakers Function: Main / Stereo
- Construction: 3-Way
- Nominal Power: 5 Watt RMS
- Peak Power Handling: 40 Watt
Similar in Home Theater Speakers and Subwoofers
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Cheap speakers... Limited sound
Pros
Very cheap. I would NOT pay more than $20 for the pair.
Cons
Poor sound. Too much treble. Cheap quality components.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Cheap speakers, better used in outdoor applications where wall reflections are minimal and sound quality is not of the upmost importance.
I bought a pair of these KLH speakers some time ago, for use as surround speakers on another receiver I had at that time.
The speakers were very inexpensive. That is probably their high point. I paid $19 for the pair! That was brand new, in retail packaging, at HHGregg, last summer (2009), in store (not online).
These are acoustic suspension speakers with sealed plastic cabinets. They come with brackets which allow attachment to walls, ceilings or wherever.
They also come with a small amount of speaker wire.
The drivers are:
A 4 inch poly cone woofer. A 1 1/2 inch poly cone midrange. A 7/8 inch dome tweeter.
However, don't let the description of the above drivers fool you. They are definitely NOT as good as they sound on paper.
For instance, the woofer is more of a midrange. Bass is pretty much non-existant. These speakers still mimic the old Radio Shack Minimus 7's in design concept and size. But, the performance and quality is no where near that of the old Minimus 7's. The woofers in these KLH speakers are much poorer quality with very limited cone excursion, a high resonant frequency (for a bass driver), etc. To call them "woofers", honestly, is stretching it, in my opinion.
The "midrange" speakers is also a bit of a stretch. These drivers are actually tweeter speakers. KLH uses the term "midrange" loosely, by calling them midranges since this is a claimed 3-way speaker design.
Actually, these drivers should be called tweeters. They are crossed over well above 4-5kHz. Their quality is also mediocre. They exhibit shrillness, ringing and are overbearing as compared to their woofer counterpart, making the whole system sound too shrill.
The "dome tweeters" make me laugh. These drivers are, in my opinion, totally worthless. They are there merely so that KLH can proclaim these speakers to be "3-way" types, to impress less knowledgable customers.
The tweeter is actually a ceramic disc (piezo driver). It's output is very low. Its range is also very narrow. These are the same kind of ceramic discs as those used in electronics to make "beeping" alarms, such as when your microwave is ready, They are a joke when employed as a high fidelity speaker.
The "dome" part is really amusing. It is a dome shaped piece of plastic or cloth glued onto the top of the ceramic disc, in order to make it appear to be a "domed speaker". It is useless. If you were to look very closely at these "domes", you will see they are typically not even centered correctly!
The crossover network of these speakers is simply a single capacitor for the so-called midrange speaker.
There is no crossover for the woofer. So, it plays the entire spectrum of sound, which causes more unbalance in the upper mid and treble portions of the audio spectrum.
There is no crossover for the disc tweeter, as that is a solid state device and none is necessary.
Again, comparing these speakers to the original Minimus 7's, you would see a huge difference in quality. The Minimus 7's, which won awards for their design, quality and sonic output, employed extensive 2-way crossover networks of both coil and capacitor, to provide a very smooth overall sound.
Surprisingly, these little speakers are filled with a sound absorbant material, which is good, although useless with these low-end drivers. That is one thing I will give credit to KLH. Over the years I have noticed that KLH almost always uses sound absorbant material in their speaker cabinets. This material is supposed to help reduce sound waves within the cabinet which might otherwise color the sound.
On the rear of the speaker is a pair of quick connect jacks.
OVERALL:
These speakers are designed for indoor/outdoor use. As sound reinforcement on a patio or pool, I could see them. In the home for audio enjoyment, I do not.
Their sound is way too shrill for me. Even as surround speakers, their annoying treble is irritating. And if you attempt to pump some bass into them, expect to hear cone flutter and distortion, as these speakers have very limited bass output.
The speakers were very inexpensive. That is probably their high point. I paid $19 for the pair! That was brand new, in retail packaging, at HHGregg, last summer (2009), in store (not online).
These are acoustic suspension speakers with sealed plastic cabinets. They come with brackets which allow attachment to walls, ceilings or wherever.
They also come with a small amount of speaker wire.
The drivers are:
A 4 inch poly cone woofer. A 1 1/2 inch poly cone midrange. A 7/8 inch dome tweeter.
However, don't let the description of the above drivers fool you. They are definitely NOT as good as they sound on paper.
For instance, the woofer is more of a midrange. Bass is pretty much non-existant. These speakers still mimic the old Radio Shack Minimus 7's in design concept and size. But, the performance and quality is no where near that of the old Minimus 7's. The woofers in these KLH speakers are much poorer quality with very limited cone excursion, a high resonant frequency (for a bass driver), etc. To call them "woofers", honestly, is stretching it, in my opinion.
The "midrange" speakers is also a bit of a stretch. These drivers are actually tweeter speakers. KLH uses the term "midrange" loosely, by calling them midranges since this is a claimed 3-way speaker design.
Actually, these drivers should be called tweeters. They are crossed over well above 4-5kHz. Their quality is also mediocre. They exhibit shrillness, ringing and are overbearing as compared to their woofer counterpart, making the whole system sound too shrill.
The "dome tweeters" make me laugh. These drivers are, in my opinion, totally worthless. They are there merely so that KLH can proclaim these speakers to be "3-way" types, to impress less knowledgable customers.
The tweeter is actually a ceramic disc (piezo driver). It's output is very low. Its range is also very narrow. These are the same kind of ceramic discs as those used in electronics to make "beeping" alarms, such as when your microwave is ready, They are a joke when employed as a high fidelity speaker.
The "dome" part is really amusing. It is a dome shaped piece of plastic or cloth glued onto the top of the ceramic disc, in order to make it appear to be a "domed speaker". It is useless. If you were to look very closely at these "domes", you will see they are typically not even centered correctly!
The crossover network of these speakers is simply a single capacitor for the so-called midrange speaker.
There is no crossover for the woofer. So, it plays the entire spectrum of sound, which causes more unbalance in the upper mid and treble portions of the audio spectrum.
There is no crossover for the disc tweeter, as that is a solid state device and none is necessary.
Again, comparing these speakers to the original Minimus 7's, you would see a huge difference in quality. The Minimus 7's, which won awards for their design, quality and sonic output, employed extensive 2-way crossover networks of both coil and capacitor, to provide a very smooth overall sound.
Surprisingly, these little speakers are filled with a sound absorbant material, which is good, although useless with these low-end drivers. That is one thing I will give credit to KLH. Over the years I have noticed that KLH almost always uses sound absorbant material in their speaker cabinets. This material is supposed to help reduce sound waves within the cabinet which might otherwise color the sound.
On the rear of the speaker is a pair of quick connect jacks.
OVERALL:
These speakers are designed for indoor/outdoor use. As sound reinforcement on a patio or pool, I could see them. In the home for audio enjoyment, I do not.
Their sound is way too shrill for me. Even as surround speakers, their annoying treble is irritating. And if you attempt to pump some bass into them, expect to hear cone flutter and distortion, as these speakers have very limited bass output.
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