Klipsch - Reference Series Quad 3-1/2" 400-Watt Passive 2-Way Center-Channel Speaker - Black

I purchased the R-34C center channel speaker along with a pair of R-51M to use as surrounds and a pair of R-26F speakers as the mains. The center and surrounds are brand new from Klipsch, so I actually bought them without hearing them in person first. Knowing Klipsch quality, I didn’t have any doubt that the new series would perform just as well as the older lines. I didn’t receive the mains until about a week after receiving the other three. The R-26F, being last year’s model, are being phased out and were hard to find. I ran a 3.1 system for a week, and got to evaluate each element based on their individual merits. They were attached to a Denon AVR-S920W, outputting 90 watts per channel with 7.1 or Dolby Atmos capability. Starting with the R-51M’s, I can say that there bookshelves are highly capable speakers. The Tractrix horn produces the most clear and distinct upper register that I’ve heard. Some say that Klipsch has a history of being harsh on the upper end, but I’d argue that the clarity and sharpness of the tweeter makes you feel as though you’re getting the full range of the source. The woofer gives a solid mid-range performance, but might be slightly undersized to compete with the amazing horn. You don’t expect a lot of lower end from a small bookshelf speaker, so crossing over to a subwoofer at 90Hz made up for any deficiencies on that end. The crossovers in these speakers make it very clear which frequencies are getting sent to each driver, as when you’re standing right in front of the speaker, the directionality and separation of each makes a huge difference in the overall sound picture. Backing up 5-10 feet, the speaker sounds like one single full-range image. Next up, the R-26F main speakers. These things are tremendous. Attaching them to the left and right leads, these floors performed right out of the box. My first stop was a test of the upper and mid range, Alison Krauss’ “Paper Airplane” via Apple Music and Airplay to the receiver. I’ve had surround systems for years, mostly with satellites and ceiling mounted speakers, but this is the first time I’ve truly been “wow’d” with the clarity of the reproduction. I don’t care if you are a fan of that style of music or not, do yourself a favor and pull up anything from Alison Krauss and Union Station with your HT rig. It’s the most honest music I’ve ever heard, and her production of the music features the musicianship of the members over the effects of the studio. “Dimming of the Day,” “Maybe,” “Goodbye is All We Have,” “Stay,” “Ghost In This House.” Solo, her “River in the Rain” or “I Never Cared for You.” Her voice is haunting and true, powerful and gentle simultaneously. I found that I needed more power to drive the R-26Fs to the same volume than I had with the R-51Ms in the mail role, but still had a lot of headroom. I played it as loud as I could stand and still had about 20db before I maxed out the receiver. Even at that volume, the floors never wavered or chuffed, almost as if they were asking for more juice. In fact, they don’t really shine until you really push them, the lower end tends to fall off at moderate listening levels. I put the receiver in “pure direct” mode, then verified that nothing was coming out of the center or sub. With an acoustic performance like she and Union Station provide, I literally had to feel the sub to make sure it wasn’t in play. What I was getting from the floors was just as if the band was standing in front of me. Unadulterated, I could hear the picking of each Steele string as it was plucked and fell off. An acoustic bass is well represented here and doesn’t overpower. Moving on to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” the range between the highs of crash symbols and guitars were very well reproduced. However, the low end needed some serious reinforcement. I kicked the receiver into “music” mode, activating the LPF crossover and subwoofer. Adding that into the mix completed the picture. I still couldn’t tolerate maxing out the speakers, as they would have given more than my head could absorb. Bottom line, mid and high ranges are amazing with these mains, but don’t expect them to hit under about 90-100Hz without missing something. Those 6.5 inch woofers are good at the lower mid-range, but can’t sound like an amplified subwoofer. Imaging between the two speakers was very good, and stereo effects transitioned beautifully from one side to the other. I didn’t try a phantom center, because I’ve got a gem in that role. The R-34C is nothing short of a gift. Four 3.5 inch woofers and the trademark Klipsch Tractrix horn are an absolute pleasure to listen to. If the center channel is the heart of a surround sound system, this speaker beats strong. Mid and upper range is so well done, that the only word that I can find to describe the sound is “rich.” It makes no mistakes. I couldn’t possibly glow about this speaker any more. For dialogue and vocals, the representation is full and clear. Pronunciations and echo effects that you might have heard in a set of quality headphones are apparent on a big stage, front and center. The moderation of male and female voices alike is pits the voice against the rest of the system. I had to turn the levels on the center down about 4db to let the rest of this overall exceptional system keep up. The bite of “s” and the “c” sounds are true, making you take note, but isn’t distracting. Hearing the personality of the voice come through was a new experience for me; to hear how the vocalist moves the sound from throat to nose and back brings real personality to the music, and you can hear the vocalist moving closer and further from the microphone based on the timbre of their voice. So how to they all work together in a home theater? Wow. The first film I put on was “Ready Player One,” which I’d seen in an Atmos theatre, in 4K BD from an Xbox One S. Once again, the center was a little over-powering and the dialog dominated the opening. scene. Once I dialed the center back about 4db, the whole system was balanced and each speaker complimented and played off of one another. Van Halen’s “Jump” got the heart rate pumping, but Foley effects in the film didn’t let you forget where the action was. Cut to the first race scene, all I can say is that this system performed amazingly. Once again, I pushed the volume as high as I could tolerate and there was still plenty of headroom. I imagine that the ~97db sensitivity of this set makes a huge difference with regard to how much power is needed to drive these speakers to satisfaction, because I can’t imaging pushing them harder. My daughter actually complained that her ear was bothering her after walking in front of one of the mains. (Whoops). There was no distortion, no chuff, no struggle, no rumble, and no distraction. My son, whose seen the movie twice, was wrapped in by the audio. The experience of seeing the movie coupled with the enthralling sound track and effects brought the movie to life for him, and for me too. These Klipsch speakers are a home theater dream, even in my large room with open “walls” on two sides. My bottom line is that I’m glad to have spent the money to get a quality system. Perhaps I could have done better by matching the R-34C to the upper level of Klipsch Reference speakers, but I don’t think it’s wrong that the center shines so beautifully. The sound is still well matched, enveloping, and engaging. After calibrating the system with Audyssey Bronze, and coupled with my Samsung UN65M9000 display and Xbox One S serving up UHD Atmos content, I finally have a theater quality experience in my living room.

The center channel speaker is the main component of any good home theater setup, and the one most people overlook. The R34C from Klipsch delivers amazing sound and tone quality that will draw you in to the action and dialogue on screen. The build quality is wonderful, it’s built like a tank, which Klipsch products are known for. It does have some heft and size, so make sure you have the proper room and clearances for this speaker if you are setting on a tv stand, etc. It can also be mounted to the wall with included wall hanging hardware, for those clean, flush on the wall installs. 400W/100W RMS of power means that you can drive this speaker hard and it will deliver. Sound is always crisp and clear. With four 3.5" graphite woofers and a 1” tweeter, along with dual rear firing bass ports, this speaker can reproduce sounds and tones that used to take multiple speakers. And with it’s 2 way speaker system, the sound moving across the front of you is much more fluid than other center channel speaker in my opinion and has a very wide soundscape, perfect for movies. You can leave the grill on the front for a more traditional look, or remove the grill and show off the copper injected molded cones that Klipsch is known for, for a more aggressive look. If you are starting your home theater and looking for a center channel, look no further than this one, you won’t be disappointed.

I have this center channel speaker combined with the two book shelf speakers, two floor speakers and a subwoofer. All are Klipsch in the same Reference Series. When testing this speaker, I did it in combination with the speakers I listed, as well as independently to see the difference. As a group, the speakers worked well together. The well balanced highs, mids and bass really sound great. At first glance, the speaker is very attractive. It has a nice black faux wood look, and matches the rest of the speakers. The grill looks great and does not hamper the performance of the speaker. This center speaker has something I have never had on a center speaker before, and that is rear firing ports on both sides of the speaker. That way, if your want to use this speaker alone and get sound on all levels, it is very capable. In fact if you wanted to use it alone I recommend this speaker for doing just that. Running this off a Onkyo receiver that has 4K compatible sound, I really like the results of the set up. Alone of grouped with the other speakers, this is a great speaker for the above average audiophile. For my man cave, I love the set up and now I can watch what I want or listen to what I want with extreme quality sound. I definitely recommend it someone that wants either a solid performing center speaker alone or to use it as part of a system. This thing simply performs and you will love it.

Center speakers are often the biggest hole in home theater systems. It's the center. It is supposed to be the pillar that supports the entire system. Often times, they end up not being able to perform that pivotal role. I always felt that the main left and right were good enough to fill that hole as I couldn't find a center that could really pop. Enter the R34C. Plugged it in without really much expectation. I could not believe how wrong I was. I had forgotten just how good things could sound with a great center speaker. Don't be fooled by how small this baby is. It takes front and center with its quad woofers. It fits right in the center without taking up too much space. Music seriously sounds clear and dynamic. You can feel their voices. It's powerful during movie sequences. I watched Spectre and man did it add that immersion element. Speech sounded so clear!! Even being next to the huge main left and rights, it was not drowned out at all. Not to mention it looks very good. I really love the modern and elegant look of the Klipsch with the copper. I can't decide if I like it with the grill on or off. Both look fantastic. All in all, a must buy for anyone who's trying to add to their home theater. You will not regret!

A big problem a lot of people have when putting together a home theater system is the center speaker. It arguably the most important one to your entire set up. Yet very often there are big and bulky, which often times makes it hard to set up in an entertainment center. The Klipsch R-34C helps alleviate some of these issues by being smaller but has quad woofers. When I first saw the speaker I thought it would not do a very good job especially next to the huge Klipsch Towers, But I was glad to be proven wrong. Everything I threw at it came in clear and easy to hear. even at lower volumes I did not have any issues hearing any characters speak on screen. The design of the Unit is also very nice, with most center speakers looking like huge rectangular blocks it was nice to have a different design. If your building a home theater system I would recommend this system and if your short on space I would recommend it even more.

in any home theater, probably the single most important component is the center channel. it’s where the vast majority of the dialogue comes from, and it’s what keeps things anchored to the screen. crisp, clear, full of body…all important features for a center channel to have. this new reference II from Klipsch fits that bill quite nicely and then some. the good: -sound quality - this center channel really shines doing exactly what it was designed for, onscreen dialogue. amazing highs and wonderfully full bodied, i really get the sense of cinema quality immersion with it. -wide imaging - perfect for a home theater, dialogue feels as if it’s popping off the screen. -matches sound quality and timbre perfectly with the reference II floors. -understated design, as with all of the new reference II series. the bad: -absolutely nothing overall: wow! this replaced a really good polk center channel in my home theater. the polk was good, but as soon as i put this center channel in its place, what a difference. i paired this center with the matching reference II floor speakers, and i can honestly say that my home theater is approaching cinema quality sound. the value here for your money is outstanding. 5 stars easily.

The Klipsch R34C reference II Quad 3.5" Center speaker is awesome. Upon unboxing it i noticed the build quality is top notch. The center speaker has some heft to it and is 26" long and about 5" high. It has four 3.5" speakers and a horn tweeter in the middle and 2 ports on each side. Aside from the signature Klipsch copper speakers this model has copper colored screws attaching all components. It sits long and is the perfect height for my tastes. This thing looks sexy under my TV! Now as far as sound goes, I love it. Dialogue from movies are clear and pronounced and so is the detail as well. Listening to music is a pleasure also. If you're looking for a center channel speaker I highly recommend this one.

First off, this speaker is gorgeous sitting under the TV with the cover off. The copper Klipsch color scheme really looks fantastic. Sound quality is crisp and clear at any volume. Dialog is so easy to understand while the rest of the system is booming effects. Mid tones are great and is perfect for doing anything from watching the TV news quietly in the morning, to live concerts, to the most effects driven movies. Very happy with this and it's beauty just adds to it. Highly recommend grabbing one of these while piecing together your next home theater system upgrade.