Klipsch To Debut THX Ultra2 Home Theatre Speaker System At CEDIA EXPO 2002

17-Sep-02

Klipsch has introduced a complete THXÆ Ultra2-certified home theatre speaker system. The typical system consists of three front speakers four WDSTô (Wide Dispersion Surround Technologyô) surround speakers, and a pair of 12-inch subwoofers driven by an external 1,000-watt amplifier. The front speakers may be used as surrounds as well. Proprietary Klipsch TractrixÆ Horn tweeters and Cerametallicô woofers are used throughout the system.Kerry Geist, Chief Engineer for Home Products, describes the new system as ""a big step up in performance"" for this category. ""Klipsch is a major supplier of professional stage and cinema loudspeakers. We knew that we could leverage our expertise in that sphere with our experience in home speakers to create real theatre sound in customers' homes. At the same time, we wanted the system to be easy to install and set up in almost any room. No other speakers designed for custom installation offer such a combination of flexibility, reliability, and sound quality,"" said Geist.Each of the three front speakers has two 5.25-inch Cerametallic woofers and a 6- by 10-inch Tractrix Horn tweeter. The tweeter driver is the same 1.75-inch titanium dome compression unit used in the top Klipsch professional and Reference Series home speakers. The Tractrix Horns, with controlled directivity, are said to enable the front speakers to meet THX directivity specifications without the interference and lobing effects that plague the multiple-tweeter arrays commonly used for this purpose. The left and right front speakers are a mirror image pair, with their tweeters on baffles angled slightly in toward the listening area. The center speaker has a flat baffle.The front speakers operate in a 2.5-way configuration, with one woofer working through the entire bass and midrange up to the tweeter crossover. The other woofer is crossed over at a lower frequency, so that it functions strictly as a bass driver.The surround speakers use a pair of the same 5.25-inch Cerametallic woofers and dual 5-inch-square Tractrix Horn tweeters in a Wide Dispersion Surround Technology array. Each woofer/tweeter set is on an angled baffle facing opposite the other, with the tweeters on a diagonal to one another to minimize interference between their outputs. WDST is said to deliver a unique combination of diffusion and coverage, yielding the benefits of both diffuse- and direct-radiating surround speakers. The tweeters employ a 1-inch version of the titanium dome compression drivers used in the front speakers.This THX Ultra2 system has two compact, high-performance subwoofers with 12-inch, long-throw Cerametallic drivers. The subwoofers are driven by an external 1,000 amplifier, tailored to their characteristics. The amplifier has a built-in, switchable low-pass crossover and a room gain compensation switch.All enclosures have the dado ""lock-joint"" and rabbet construction used in Klipsch professional speakers. The speakers are OmniMountÆ-compatible. The surround speakers come in a textured black finish, and the front speakers and subwoofers are available in the same finish or in a metallic silver gloss. For more information, visit www.klipsch.com.

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