Klipsch kg3 Speaker System Review

The Klipsch kg3 is a moderate-price two-way system that combines extended bass response and high sensitivity in a compact and attractive package. It is also the smallest and least expensive true horn-loaded system offered by Klipsch.

The kg3’s single 8-inch woofer has a polystyrene cone, a 20-ounce magnet, and a rubber surround. The speaker’s low-frequency output is augmented by a 10-inch passive radiator mounted on the front panel below the woofer. The passive radiator contributes an effective output from its rated 36-hz cutoff frequency up to about 100 Hz. In previous systems in the kg line the passive radiators were located in the rear, but Klipsch engineers found that front-mounting produced better coupling with the output of the kg3’s driven woofer.

At 1,800 Hz there is a crossover to a horn-loaded, ferrofluid-cooled dome tweeter, with an 18-dB-per-octave slope to the tweeter and a 12-dB-per-octave slope to the woofer. The wood cabinet is available finished in oiled walnut or oak veneer or in black lacquer. The cabinet measures 24-1/4 inches high, 13-7/9 inches wide, and 11-1/4 inches deep, including the removable black cloth grille, and each speaker weighs 31-1/2 pounds.

The rated sensitivity of the Klipsch kg3 is 93 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter with a 1-watt input. Its nominal impedance is 8 ohms, with a 4.4-ohm minimum at 165 Hz. Rated power-handling capacity is 65 watts continuous and 325 watts peak. The system's frequency response is given as 36 to 20,000 Hz ± 3 dB. Price: $530 a pair.

Lab Tests

The averaged room response of the left and right speakers was within ±1.5 dB from 500 to 20,000 Hz. A close-miked measurement of the woofer response, including the output of the passive radiator, was flat within 1.5 dB overall from 50 to 250 Hz, falling off to -5 dB at 35 Hz. The effective acoustic crossover between the driven and passive cones was at 55 Hz. The upper end of the woofer’s range sloped down slightly, but after we removed some obvious room-interaction effects, the woofer curve overlapped the room curve for more than two octaves.

The resulting composite response curve was very smooth. The lower end of the woofer’s output averaged about 2.5 dB above the midrange plateau level from 500 to 1,800 Hz. The tweeter’s response was very flat though about 2.5 dB below the midrange level between 2,000 and 11,000 Hz, and it returned to the midrange level between 13,000 and 20,000 Hz. The overall response was flatter and smoother than that of most other loudspeakers we have tested, with a variation of only ± 3.5 dB from 32 to 20,000 Hz and a notable absence of significant irregularities (peaks or dips) through most of that range.

The speaker’s minimum impedance was 4.1 ohms at 150 Hz, with the two bass-resonance peaks being 44 ohms at 24 Hz and 35 ohms at 58 Hz. The impedance rose to 31 ohms at 2,000 Hz, and overall it averaged about 8 ohms.

The system’s sensitivity was even higher than rated, with a 96-dB SPL at 1 meter from an input of 2.83 volts of pink noise. Our distortion measurements were made with an input equivalent to a 90-dB SPL, or 1.4 volts. The total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD + N) of the driven cone was between 0.4 and 0.8 percent from 100 to 1,000 Hz, increasing to 1 percent at 80 Hz, 2 percent at 43 Hz, and a maximum of 8 percent at 30 Hz. Most of the output at the lower frequencies, however, came from the passive cone, whose distortion was 1 percent at 85 Hz, a minimum of 0.8 percent at 65 Hz, and only 4 percent at 30 Hz.

In the horizontal plane, the output of the tweeter measured 45 degrees off-axis was some 6 to 10 dB lower than the on-axis response over most of the range above 2,000 Hz. There was also a sharp dip at 10,000 Hz (off-axis) that was apparently caused by diffraction or other interference.

The phase linearity of the system was very good, as shown by its group-delay variation of less than 0.2 millisecond from 2,000 to 19,000 Hz. The upper limit was associated with a sharp resonance that produced a very narrow response dip, but the effect was completely inaudible.

The short-term power-handling ability of the kg3 was excellent, especially in view of its high sensitivity. At 100 Hz (into its 5-ohm impedance), both the active and passive woofer cones “bottomed” against their limits with a single-cycle input of 315 watts. The equivalent acoustic output from a speaker system of average sensitivity would require an input of well over 1,000 watts. At 1,000 and 10,000 Hz, the amplifier clipped before the speaker did, at respective inputs of 650 and 860 watts.

Comments

The Klipsch kg3 delivered a clean, deep bass that seemed almost incongruous for a speaker of its compact dimensions. The output was truly usable at 35 Hz and below, giving the speaker some of the sonic properties of a much larger one. We tried placing the speakers on stands about 8 inches high a couple of feet in front of a wall as well as on the floor close to the wall. The floor placement gave the low bass even more authority, although the general difference in sound between the two locations was minor.

The overall frequency balance of the kg3 was excellent, with no audible (or measurable) evidence of peaks or holes in any part of the spectrum. The absence of the upper-bass emphasis found in many less-expensive speakers contributed to the kg3’s audible neutrality and made its deep-bass performance even more striking.

Playing a variety of recordings, the Klipsch kg3 always sounded like a much larger and more expensive speaker than it is. Although there are a number of small speakers that produce a balanced, clean sound, their limited deep-bass output almost always betrays their true size and cost/performance compromises. Rarely have we heard a speaker of this size that could compete so effectively with others several times as large. We also appreciated its lack of critical placement requirements. An outstanding value.

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