Klipsch has brought its reliable, best-selling Reference speakers into their seventh generation.
The new range is aesthetically familiar and yet benefits from what the US brand is calling the most dramatic upgrades since its inception, with many technologies in the higher-ranging Reference Premiere models now trickling down to these Reference ones.
Initially unveiled at CES 2022, the new Reference series comprises 10 models, ranging from £275 ($299, AU$499) to £1499 ($1799, AU$2598), and suitable across two-channel hi-fi and multi-channel home cinema applications.
Breaking that down, there are – deep breath – three floorstanding speakers (R-605FA, R-800F, R-600F), two bookshelf models (R-50M, R-40M), two centre channels (R-50C, R-30C), two powered subwoofers (R-121SW, R-101SW) and, last but by no means least, a Dolby Atmos height module (R-40SA). The system is Dolby Atmos friendly whether you're starting an AV system from scratch or want to upgrade your current package: the flagship R-605FA floorstander integrates up-firing Atmos-enabled speakers, while the R-40SA module is designed to add overhead effects to existing surround speakers fed by Atmos-compatible receivers.
The new Reference range boasts larger and enhanced versions of Klipsch's edge-to-edge proprietary Tractrix horn driver, as well as Linear Travel Suspension (LTS) aluminium tweeters. Completing a suite of new drivers for the new series are spun-copper thermoformed crystal polymer (TCP) woofers, which have adopted steeper cone angles in the name of improved crossover integration and smoother response.
The black, wood grain vinyl-finished cabinets, meanwhile, are now better braced and, alongside metallic binding posts, sport Dolby Atmos connections that allow for easy, discrete height channel integration.
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