Klipsch wants to replace your soundbar with its 'The Fives' active speakers

Klipsch wants to replace your soundbar with its 'The Fives' active speakers
(Image credit: Future)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your TV's built-in speakers probably don't sound very good. Connecting a soundbar is one way to solve this of course, but there is an affordable, convenient alternative: a pair of active speakers with a HDMI or optical input.

It's a product we're seeing more and more of, with Audio Pro among the most recent brands to enter the active speaker market with nicely priced, HDMI-toting models. And now Klipsch has introduced a pair called The Fives, which we have just spied at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show following their worldwide debut at CES last month.

(Image credit: Future)

With HDMI, Bluetooth, optical, USB, 3.5mm and phono inputs, The Fives are active stereo bookshelf speakers that can hook up to almost any source – a TV, turntable, CD player or smartphone, for example. 

They feature 1in titanium tweeters on tractrix horns – a common design trait of Klipsch speakers – coupled with a 4.5in woofer, all housed inside black- or woodgrain-finished wooden cabinets that sport source input and volume dials on their top panels.

The Fives look very promising indeed and are expected to launch in spring for around £800/$800.

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Becky Roberts

Becky is the managing editor of What Hi-Fi? and, since her recent move to Melbourne, also the editor of Australian Hi-Fi magazine. During her 10 years in the hi-fi industry, she has been fortunate enough to travel the world to report on the biggest and most exciting brands in hi-fi and consumer tech (and has had the jetlag and hangovers to remember them by). In her spare time, Becky can often be found running, watching Liverpool FC and horror movies, and hunting for gluten-free cake.