New Klipsch Pro-Media 2.1 are garbage!

**EDIT: please move this to the computer Audio section. I seem to have made a mistake. sorry for the inconvenience. **

I thought I'd write this just as a precaution to anyone considering purchasing a set of pro-media 2.1 speakers. They are not the same as the old 2.1's. The front speakers are similar in quality except they don't have jack plugs in the back like the old ones do, instead the speaker wire goes right directly into the box.

The subwoofer is what has been extremely gimped. The old subwoofer weighs like 20 pounds, no exaggeration. It was an extremely hard hitting, deep sounding sub, for what is was, a 6.5" woofer. The new version,The box weighs like 5 pounds, and seems to be filled with just air and completely missing the amp. It lacks the on/off switch as well as the external fuse also.

No of this was even apparent to me until I went to move my old sub out of the way, and put the new one in its place. I thought to myself, wtf...wheres the rest of it? I new right then and there that something wasn't going to be right.

I threw on some lamb of god, something with a lot of had hitting bass,quick to test it out. I was in total disbelief. The sub was like completely bassless. You can't even hear the sub over the blaring front speakers. Total fucking joke!

...And the thing about it is, the price of these new 2.1's are the exact same as the old version. It really pisses me off to see another great company such as Klipsch degrade their product, making it quite inferior than it's predecessor, yet selling the shit for the same price. Anyways these are going back to BB, where I bought them from, I just thought I'd share my little rant with anyone considering these speakers or just interested in them. I didn't bother to examine them in the store. I seen them sitting there, grabbed them, and was in and out in a matter of minutes. I thought to myself, "hmm, they changed the box." LMFAO,(though I don't really find it funny, quite disappointed actually) that ain't the only thing that's changed.

I'll probably end up paying the $120 fucking dollars and ship my old sub back to Klipsch and have them repair it. That is if they actually fix it, rather than just sending one of the newer pos versions. I guess I should've just did this in the first place, but I figured why not just buy a complete new set for a few dollars more. Made sense to me at the time.

Hmm that is very sad to hear. I have the Promedia 2.1's and I just bought them (in april) refurbished for $95 from overstock with a 2 year extended warranty ($9).

http://www.overstock.com/Electronic...eaker-System-Refurbished/4405131/product.html

The box looked brand new (but some people said theirs were pretty beat up), and the speakers look BRAND new. I also have the speaker wire hardwired but my sub box is very heavy (20 lbs). It seems to me that they have moved to a cheaper sub unit, or internals

Do the mids and highs still sound OK though?

At that price range I would look at the Swans M10 or M12, or you would probably be extremely ecstatic with some good studio monitors (M audio or the like). My roommates AV40s sound just as good with music as my Promedias

I would look more into this and make sure your findings are genuine and you didn't by chance get some kind of brick in the box.

heavy weight does not always mean better sub. Depends on what the enclosure is made of, magnet material, amplifier etc. But, it is what it is, if you say it sucks then I have no reason to doubt it.

You can send the sub off to be repaired by an independent tech -- there's a thread around here somewhere. Should be less than the $120 + shipping that Klipsch wants, too. I'd do that rather than send it to them given you do run the risk of them sending you the newer sub back and being completely out of luck.

Justintoxicated said:

heavy weight does not always mean better sub. Depends on what the enclosure is made of, magnet material, amplifier etc. But, it is what it is, if you say it sucks then I have no reason to doubt it.

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While that's normally the case, the new ones are much, much lighter in weight than the older versions. And in this particular case the guts have also been cheapened. The driver used in the sub's box is significantly less efficient than the one that came in the older subwoofer boxes. Moreover, the sub's box seems noticeably smaller than the one that came with the older model. I listened briefly to them, and I would have to say that I'm glad that I didn't buy them. The sub's volume had to be nearly maxxed out in order to even sound balanced - and then, the sub's output began to clip (distort) at even moderate volume. (By comparison, my 11-year-old Altec ACS-48 speakers had to have its sub output turned almost all the way down to minimum or else the sub's output would have overpowered the satellites in my particular room setup.)

What a pity really. I got tired of my built in speakers (since I usually use headphones), and bought these out of my closet; been at least 3 years since I last used them. Sounds so much better, and really, these are supposed to be quality speakers. If they are cheapened and it costs the same price, wow, that's just terrible.

rive22 said:

I would look more into this and make sure your findings are genuine and you didn't by chance get some kind of brick in the box.

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I think in this case a brick in the box would be good, metaphorically speaking ofcourse. The fact that the box was seemingly empty, is the real problem.

investinwaffles said:

Do the mids and highs still sound OK though?
At that price range I would look at the Swans M10 or M12, or you would probably be extremely ecstatic with some good studio monitors (M audio or the like). My roommates AV40s sound just as good with music as my Promedias

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The front speakers still sounded great, but with no bass from the sub to hold it all together it is pointless. But you can tell they are of a cheaper build. The system together sounded ok at extremely low volume, and I mean barely even moving the volume knob. Any more you could hear the woofer basically just die right out, like there was nothing more to give, or nothing there to begin with. Even at low volume it was a hollow sounding bass. Definitely not the same, and definitely not worth the same price. Who spends $160 on speakers to listen to them with not even a quarter of the volume? Not me.

My original 2.1's did a great job of filling my room with sound, though there was at times still more to be desired. The swans M10/12's look nice and that's actually the first time I've heard of/seen them. Ultimately though, I think they would again leave mean wanting more.

silent-circuit said:

You can send the sub off to be repaired by an independent tech -- there's a thread around here somewhere.

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I've seen that thread in the computer Audio forum, thanks.
I think what I am going to do is what I should've done a long time ago, and that is just run my sound card through my receiver. My old Pioneer vsx-d307 has been sitting in a spare bedroom for a couple years now, because I literally have no room in my room anymore. I feel kinda stupid now for selling all my speakers They were pretty old and weren't that great anyway but...

I'm looking to buy a Dayton sub-100 or the Venturi v1020 from parts-express and just use my Klipsch fronts for the time being. I'll eventually get a pair of bookselfs in the future. Unless anyone has any recommendations for a better sub under within their price range, under $200?

If you can wait for BCB, or are willing to use ebay, the BIC H-100 can be had for $200, and it absolutely cannot be beaten in it's price range. BCB is 15% at Acoustic Design, and their ebay store, Sound Distributors, will usually accept offers at $200 or so.

I had a set of old model Promedia 2.1's, after their death I used a Z-2300 set for as long I could bear (thought I'd give 'em a shot, but, no), and now use the modest system in my sig, which I am 100% happy with. Especially considering what I've paid.

When you are ready for bookshelf speakers, check out the Polk Direct store on ebay, they are great to do business with, and everything I've ordered from them has arrived in perfect condition.

Good luck.

Hey thanks. I was just looking at the BIC website yesterday for some more info on the v1020 and happened to look at the acoustech series as well. Thought to myself, 'now those seem like some nice fricken subs right there' lol. The v1020 seems like a well constructed/quality subwoofer, but something about it just seems a little 'radioshacky' to me. Not that there's anything wrong with radioshack, I buy a lot of things from them, just the idea of speakers and what not doesn't sit well with me. And I agree with the statement that I read somewhere that the Dayton sub-100 looks like something you'd buy from a guy out of the back of a white van.

I never really thought to use ebay because I cancelled my paypal account some time ago, and most people anymore that's all they will accept. Luckily for me Sound Distributors Store takes credit card, and they accepted my offer of $210 I also had a few other choices in mind, but the H-100 just screams quality.

Thanks for posting Cer (pun)

Klipsch says the subwoofer should just have a better more efficient amp.

The amp board is more efficient. We have changed unneeded parts and modified others. Since the amp is more efficient, it is actually more powerful and durable.

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what do you think? lying his ass off?

I'm sure he appreciates this info 3 years later

I just bought a new pair of Klipsh Promedia 2.1 speakers for my legacy computer. I have an older pair (2003) on my primary computer. The sub box is the same size for both but as several posts here report, the new box is about 2/3 the weight of the older box and the sub speaker is slightly smaller. The satellite speakers are hard-wired with each wire independent (the old system has a 4-wire "ribbon" that you split as needed).

I have the new speakers hooked up to my Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro and they sound more than adequate to me. I can't raise the volume more than maybe an eighth of a turn before the bass and sheer loudness of the entire system becomes too much (I have no constraints with neighbors to worry about BTW). The sound is clean and balanced across all frequencies so far as I can tell.

My old speakers are hooked up to a new Sound Blaster ZxR and they continue to sound awesome as always. I'm thinking it may boil down to the quality of your sound card that makes the difference. I'm very happy with my speakers both old and new.