Klipsch Chorus Speaker System Review

The Klipsch Chorus three-way speaker system is based on a 15-inch woofer, with a 3-inch voice coil and a 6-pound magnet, operating in a ported enclosure. The middle and high frequencies are radiated by horn-loaded compression drivers. The mouth dimensions of the midrange horn are 10-1/4 x 3-1/4 inches, and the treble horn’s mouth measures 4-5/8 x 2 inches. The drivers are vertically aligned on the center line of the speaker board, with the woofer at the approximate center of the panel and the horns directly above it. The two ports, each 4 inches in diameter, are located at the bottom of the speaker board. The crossover frequencies are 650 and 7,000 Hz. The system’s frequency response is rated as 45 to 20,000 Hz ± 3 dB and down 10 dB at 36 Hz.

The wood-veneered wooden cabinet measures 39-1/2 inches high, 18-1/2 inches wide, and 16 inches deep, including its black grille, which is retained by Velcro fasteners. It weighs 89 pounds. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms. Price: $1,490 per pair in walnut or oak veneer.

Lab Tests

We placed the Klipsch Chorus speakers about 1 foot from the back wall and about 10 feet apart for testing and listening. The room-response measurement, averaging the outputs of both the left and right speakers and correcting the range above 10,000 Hz for known room-absorption properties, was generally quite uniform from about 50 to 20.000 Hz, although the curve had a pronounced peak and dip of ±4.5 dB between 200 and 500 Hz and a smaller peak of about 4 dB at 1,500 Hz. The output rose smoothly by about 5 dB between 6,000 and 20.000 Hz. The output in the woofer range, from 50 to 200 Hz, was remarkably flat, within about ±1.5 dB between those limits.

A close-miked woofer measurement, made separately at the ports and the cone, produced a response curve that varied only about 1 dB overall from 50 to 150 Hz. It became somewhat ragged from 150 to 800 Hz and fell steeply above 800 Hz. Below 50 Hz, the output fell off at 12 dB per octave. Combining this curve with the room response yielded a composite frequency-response curve whose maximum variation from 35 to 20,000 Hz was only ±5 dB, most of which was in the peak and dip between 200 and 500 Hz. This effect appeared only in the room-response measurements, suggesting that it was the result of a floor reflection rather than an intrinsic property of the system.

The Chorus, true to its Klipsch heritage, is a highly efficient loudspeaker. Driven by 2.83 volts of pink noise, it produced a sound-pressure level (spl) of 96 dB at 1 meter. Although this did not quite match the speaker’s 101-dB rating, it was one of the most sensitive speakers we have yet measured. We make bass-distortion measurements with a drive signal equivalent to a 90-dB SPL, which in this case was 1.41 volts. The Chorus’s bass distortion was very low, about 0.5 percent or less from 100 Hz down to 50 Hz, increasing to 1.7 percent at 35 Hz and only 8.3 percent at 20 Hz.

The speaker’s impedance varied widely, from a minimum of 4 ohms at 140 Hz to a maximum of 70 ohms at 2,100 Hz. There were smaller peaks of 40 ohms at 26 Hz and 28 ohms at 75 Hz, and there was a dip to 5 ohms at 52 Hz. By conventional rating methods, it is a 4-ohm speaker, although its impedance is well above that value over most of the audio range. In view of this, its 8-ohm rating seems reasonable.

The Klipsch Chorus was able to absorb huge short-term power inputs without significant distortion or damage. With a single-cycle input, followed by 128 off cycles, the amplifier clipped before the speaker’s acoustic output showed any sign of distress. At 100 Hz, the output power at clipping was 1,150 watts into 6 ohms, at 1,000 Hz it was 500 watts into 15 ohms, and at 10,000 Hz it was 1,030 watts into 7 ohms. These measurements suggest that the Chorus can deliver peak acoustic outputs of as much as 125 dB (per channel) over most of the audio frequency range!

Quasi-anechoic response measurements with the fft analysis system showed a considerable number of (mostly) minor up and down output fluctuations across the audio band. There was a narrow notch at about 5,000 or 6,000 Hz that was probably a crossover-interference effect between the midrange and high-frequency horn radiators. The horizontal-directivity measurements, on-axis and 45 degrees off the system’s forward axis, showed that the overall level changed by 6 to 8 dB at frequencies above approximately 600 Hz, but there was little change in the actual frequency response.

The group-delay measurement showed that while each driver had a relatively constant delay (linear phase shift) within its operating range, the signals emitted from each of them traveled a different distance to the listener. There was a delay of about 0.6 millisecond between each of the drivers’ outputs (the woofer’s output lagged behind that of the midrange by 0.6 ms, and the midrange lagged the tweeter by a like amount), corresponding to a path-length difference of about 7 inches. Although the audible effects of such delays are debatable, they have been virtually eliminated from most other direct-radiating speaker systems.

Comments

Apart from its physical size, the Klipsch Chorus is also a large speaker in a sonic sense. It is unlikely to “choke up” on high-level transients that could drive other speakers into distortion, or at least compression. Our pulse-power tests provided convincing evidence that any amplifier likely to be used in a home music system will “run out of steam” well before this speaker has reached its limits of acoustic output. Given its high sensitivity, however, it is unlikely that most people would be able to remain in the same room with a pair of these speakers pumping out a 125-dB-plus sound level!

Sheer volume aside, what about the sound quality of the Chorus? It was very different from the “laid-back” sound of most direct-radiator speakers, with a definite prominence or forward character in the midrange and a strong, bright top end. Some kinds of music thrive on this; others do not.

I listened to a variety of music with these speakers, making frequent A/B comparisons with other speakers with which I am familiar and comfortable. In our 15 x 20-foot room, the dynamic capabilities of the Chorus were difficult to appreciate—the speakers can be overpowering in a small room—but they always sounded clean and listen-able. Somewhat surprisingly, they were completely without the upper-bass coloration that mars most speakers’ reproduction of the male voice. Playing random noise, however, such as interstation fm tuner hiss, clearly revealed a slight midrange coloration and strong treble output that were consistent with our measured response variations. Some of these characteristics might not be present in another room.

Although the low bass output of this speaker drops off below 60 Hz, it is amply present for another octave. It may not always sound as though the low bass is there, but that is probably because the distortion level is so low. A 30-hz tone with less than 2 percent distortion is not as audible as many people think (a bit of 60-hz harmonic mixed in with it can sound louder than the fundamental). Also, the system’s strong treble output can sometimes make it sound a little top-heavy.

In the final analysis, a speaker should be chosen, if possible, on the basis of your own listening preference. I can say, however, that the Klipsch Chorus is a highly efficient system with tremendous dynamic capabilities and a strong, extended treble response. It has a forward, slightly bright sound and a notable absence of upper-bass coloration. It is large, heavy, and highly visible in rooms of average size or smaller. But after you have been listening to it for a while, other speakers tend to sound rather dull and subdued in comparison.

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