Klipsch Synergy F-30 Floorstanding Speakers First Look

Are you a movie lover? Do you love that Memorex ad with they guy getting blown into the back of his seat and think, "Yeah, that's the kind of movie experience I want in my home?" Well, you need to get to know Klipsch speakers. While Klipsch the company would love to be known as "the best all around speakers anywhere," the fact is that most people consider them great for movies and just sort of so-so for music. This is particuarly true of their lower-end lines. What you usually get is a lot of boom and sizzle - deep bass and dynamic top ends. Oh, and volume. Lots and lots of volume.

Check out the spec sheet from any Klipsch speaker and you'll usually see Sensitives well over 95dB at one watt. This is mostly because of the horn-loaded tweeter but make no mistake - it means that it takes very little power to get these loud. VERY little. So if you are in to parties, house music, or just using your speakers to dry your hair, Klipsch speakers are for you.

While they've recently announced a revision to their entire Reference line, the Synergy line hasn't been left out. The new Synergy line consists of eight new models with three floorstanding towers (F-30, F-20 and F-10), one bookshelf model (B-20), two center channels (C-20 and C-10) and two surround speakers (S-20 and S-10). The new models range from $598 to $998 for a pair of floorstanding speakers, $279 for a pair of bookshelf models, $199 to $299 for a center channel and $329 to $479 for a pair of surrounds. So if you are in college and want to impress your friends, start saving your lunch money. At these prices, you'll only have to eat beans and rice for a couple of weeks before you make your first purchase.

The F-30s are the top of the new Synergy line from Klipsch. This speakers have the expected Tractrix Horn mated with a aluminum diaphragm compression driver for a tweeter and a pair of 8" magnetically shielded IMG woofers. IMG stands for Injection Molded Graphite which has an appearance much like aluminum. The speaker is front ported which means you'll have no problem putting them close to walls and have a full front grill. The black ash vinyl veneer is probably convincing from a distance though you can expect little else at this price point. The speaker weighs in at a hefty 60lbs though the 9.5" wide, 16" deep footprint isn't overly intrusive.

Klipsch claims an impressive -3dB point at 35Hz which, with two 8" woofers, is probably doable. The dual pairs of 5-way binding posts on the back are obviously a result of marketing research, a desire to sell more speaker wire, or some sort of bulk discount on the binding post part as there is no reason that anyone at Audioholics can think of that a 97.5dB sensitive speaker would ever need to be bi-amped.

The concerning part of the Klipsch Synergy F-30 is the lack of a midrange driver. While it is possible that the tweeter and the dual 8" woofers crossover perfectly and create a flat frequency response, we're doubtful. We're guessing we'd see more of a U shape with an overly energetic high end and a bloated bass response. But we could be wrong.

Conclusion

Even if we are right about the frequency response of the Synergy F-30, there are plenty of people that love that sort of sound. Klipsch has always done well with the Synergy series and we doubt they'll do any differently with these new offerings. For the price point, they've got a lot of name recognition, a good look, and provide (most likely) a very impressive demo. When other speakers are fighting with their amps for more power, the Klipsch Synergy's will be barely breaking a sweat. If  you like loud and dynamic, Klipsch should be right up your alley. If your wallet is still feeling the pinch of the recession, the Synergy line should appeal to you. Regardless, keep your eyes open for the new Synergy line to hit big box stores soon.

For more information, please visit www.klipsch.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.