Klipsch RC-52II BK Center channel speaker

I bought this speaker to replace a Mirage Omni-C3 center channel that just didn't seem to be doing a good job of clearly and accurately reproducing the dialogue and other center channel sounds in most programming. The Mirages are nice speakers but the omnipolar design tries hard to fill the whole room, rather than directing sound to the listener, and my room is a large one to fill. The speakers also aim up at a 45 degree angle so the sweet spot seemed to be when I was standing up halfway between my couch and TV.After a search for the largest speakers I could find to fit in the slot under the TV in my entertainment center (about 7.5" high I think) I settled on the Klipcsch. Unfortunately I couldn't do the 62 or 64 but I knew the 52 would still be an upgrade over my old speaker. I also looked at other brands like Polk and Yamaha but settled on the Klipsch due to their horn speakers and higher level reference line. I have had Klipsch horns on computer speakers in the past and have liked them and a coworker also has Klipsch speakers that he raves about.This speaker is large and solid. Without the grille it looks pretty impressive but those copper cones can be distracting so I leave the grille on. After hooking it up and before re-running the dynamic EQ on my receiver I found that this thing is loud! Klipsch speakers are usually more efficient than others and my levels were clearly set for the weaker old Mirage I was replacing. After running dynamic EQ the level was reduced from 1-3dB up to 7.5db down!On first listen the first thing my wife and I noticed was how much more clear the audio sounded. The dialogue was now clearly locked on to the center of the sound stage. What had we been missing these last months with that old speaker?! Now we know.The only "downside" to this speaker was that buying it made me second-guess the rest of the speakers in my setup, my fronts were also Mirage towers. They used to hack it in my old, smaller room. In my new home with a very large room their audio also sounded muddy and diffuse. My old fronts now also weren't timbre matched with my new center. I always thought this was an audio snob thing to notice and say, but it really was obvious in watching content. So buying this speaker "forced" me to go out and pick up the matching RF-52 speakers so the whole front setup were the same basic type. Hardly a negative I know. :) And honestly the system sounds fantastic now. I love it!

We are a family of gizmos, gadgets and *a lot* of A/V equipment. We have fairly discerning ears. We just added this speaker to our family room. We purchased it "Used - Like New" off of Amazon for $215 and are very pleased with the purchase. The vocal clarity and overall tone that comes from this unit is perfect for a mid-range 5.1 setup. It looks and feels like a well made unit, and most of all brings a great center channel experience to your surround sound setup.For anyone new to 5.1 surround sound, here are a few insights that might be helpful. Generally speaking, there are three categories of sound involved with 5.1. The first is the dialogue in the movie. For the most part, dialogue is delivered through your center channel speaker. This is why getting a nice center channel is important. A large part of enjoying movies is being able to hear what the characters say in a clear manner, even when there are explosions and such going on in the scene. A nice center channel should deliver dialogue that feels authentic, easy to hear and is coming from the center of your room.The second category is special effects/movie soundtrack. This is mainly where your front speakers and rear speakers come into play. Those four speakers work together to "surround" you with sound effects that create an atmosphere / mood for the scene. They also can provide the "movement" of sound. For example, if a car races from left to right in a scene the sound passes from the left speakers to the right.The last category is the ".1" in 5.1. This is often called "low frequency effect", or LFE. This is the ultra-deep sound tones that will be passed to your subwoofer. Your subwoofer is responsible for adding that rumble or deep bass effect that you hear when things explode, pound , crash or thump. A nice subwoofer will literally shake a room and adds an immersive effect that brings certain movie scenes to life.If you are putting together a mid-range 5.1 system ($1,500 - $4,500) and are looking for a nice center channel then this center deserves your research and consideration. For us, it fit perfectly into our family room setup and has made a big improvement in hearing clear dialogue. Hope this was helpful. Take care.

At first, I did not like it and was almost going to return it. I purchased it with a new Yamaha receiver and 2 matching Klipsch bookshelf speakers. It literally took me 4 days of tweaking the frequencies until I was totally satisfied with this speaker. This is your main center speaker for all voices to include news programs with a lot of talking so it was very important to be satisfied. I just figured the speaker would have been a little more aligned to be "flat". That wasn't the case but with a lot of adjustment, it finally "popped" with really good results. I'm very glad I purchased it but be sure that you have a very wide-band adjustable equalizer on your receiver, not just bass, mid and treble knobs. For what it's worth, and not to be arrogant, I have made a lifetime of music as a pro keyboardist and producing, knowing frequencies and how they relate just to give you an idea that what I'm posting is not from a layman's prospective.