Klipsch The Fives vs KEF LSX which is a better choice?

In today’s battle, we have the Klipsch The Fives and the KEF LSX. The Klipsch The Fives are a set of speakers that I am very familiar with as I have looked at them more than a few times over the last few weeks. Today they have a new challenger in the awesome and compact KEF LSX. Which are a shrunken down offering from KEF that promises to have all of the power and precision of their big brother, but at a lower price point and more compact size. This one is going to be a lot of fun so get ready to rock on with me as I try and figure out which speakers, I like the best.

The Price

I have to start this comparison fight off by letting you know, we are looking at a pretty hefty price difference here. I know that a price difference this large can make comparing two things rather hard, but I am going to give it my best shot.

Klipsch The Fives:

The Klipsch The Fives are one of those weird products where the color has an effect on the price. The black version of these speakers are a bit more wallet friendly as they come in at $529.99 as of me writing this. There is also a walnut version, but these are priced at $599.99 which is a pretty big jump for some different colored wood! You can shop around and find these for closer to the 500 bucks range on places like eBay. Overall, for the quality, I think that the Klipsch The Fives are offering great value for money.

Check price on Amazon

 

KEF LSX:

If we head over to Amazon, the KEF LSX are currently priced at $899.97 which is down from their usual just over a grand price. Still, this is a pretty huge jump up from the price of what Klipsch is asking for The Fives. The thing is, I would not say that the LSX are overpriced at all. They took what they did with the amazing KEF LS50 and managed to shrink it down as best they could and also lower the asking price considerably. The prices for these on eBay are all over the price with the white and the green versions tending to go for a bit more. I have seen these go for around 800 bucks and even over a grand.

Check price on Amazon

 

The Verdict:

You would think that this round would be an easy win for the Klipsch The Fives due to them being a few hundred bucks cheaper than what the KEF LSX speakers tend to go for, but it is not that simple. I really think that what KEF managed to do here is quite amazing. However, there is certainly no getting away from the fact you could get a new record player or a whole load of new vinyl with the money you would save getting The Fives.

The Design

I love the design of both of these so this the two speakers is going to have one of the most competitive design categories that I have done in quite some time.

Klipsch The Fives:

The version of the Klipsch The Fives that I have had to play around with are the black ones so that is what I am talking about. However, these are also available in a walnut design too. I am a huge fan of what Klipsch has done here with these speakers. I think that they manage to look cool and elegant at the same time and with their dimensions at 9.3 x 6.5 x 12 inches, they do not take up much space at all. However, due to the very cool design, they certainly catch your eye when you walk into a room. On the front of the speaker, Klipsch has gone for a rather interesting speaker grill. The kind of silver design of it, gives the speakers a bit of a retro charm, kind of like a set of speakers that you would have gotten with a hi-fi back in 1988. I really do like the design from the front, but one of the speakers has two dials on the top, one for the volume and one for input selection. It is not something I am too keen on if I am honest and clearly neither were Klipsch as they removed this from their Klipsch The Sixes speakers.

I was very impressed with the connectivity options that Klipsch gives you with these. You have an aux port, an optical port, a USB port, a phono in, and even an HDMI Arc port which was a nice surprise. I think that Klipsch really has done a great job in making sure people can connect whatever they want to these speakers. They also give you a nifty little remote that is compact in size and gives you excellent control over the speakers.

KEF LSX:

While I had the pleasure to look at the black version of the KEF LSX. They are also available in a variety of other colors such as white and green. Check out this KEF LSX Wireless HiFi Speakers Unboxing and Setup video if you want to see the green ones in all their glory! These speakers are nice and compact as they come in at 9.5 x 6.1 x 7.1 inches. They take up very little space, but these do have a great personality, these have a more modern style than what the Klipsch has going on. They have a very curvy design to them and the Uni-Q driver design with that cool looking dome tweeter right in the middle really does make these speakers capture your attention. They are also covered in this very nice looking and feeling fabric which looks so cool. However, fabric can be damaged and it may be a magnet for dust as well so they will require a bit of looking after. Still, I love the overall design of these speakers.

The cool design goes right around to the back of the KEF LSX as well. These have a nice array of ports on here with an aux port, optical port, sub port, USB port, easy access wireless buttons, and even a network port as well. They do also give you a handy little remote control with these speakers as well which I found to be very easy to use. I am pretty sure this is the same remote control that KEF has actually used with a couple of other models of their speakers.

The Verdict:

This is a really hard one to call as I love the design of both of these speakers. They are also very different. I feel that the Klipsch The Fives has a more old school design whereas the KEF LSX has something more contemporary. Usually, I would go for the old-school design, but I am actually going for the KEF LSX here as they are just so awesome and I think it is great how many different colors there are to choose from.

The Sound

To make sure the sound category is as fair as can be in this Klipsch The Fives and KEF LSX contest. I have decided to use my Sony PS-LX310BT as this is what I have been using in the other comparison battles that feature The Fives.

Klipsch The Fives:

Be sure to have a watch of this Klipsch The Fives with Audio Demo – Heritage Style with Modern Day Features video that gives a good sound test/demo. I really am a big fan of the sound capabilities of the Klipsch The Fives. These things have way more power and kick than their rather small stature suggests. If you listen to an album with some real power like The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden for example, you are going to be blown away by the bass and power in general that these speakers provide. It is not just that these speakers are loud, but they also have immense clarity as well. I am someone that when I am listening to my rock music, likes to listen to it very loud. Subpar speakers can get distorted and even tiny when you start to crank that volume dial up. That is not the case at all with the Klipsch The Five, I found that the sound was as pure and clear no matter what volume I was rocking these at.

Vocal clarity is also something that I have to give special attention to as these speakers really do come into their own in that regard. A couple of Christmas’s back my wife bought me Purple Rain, Remastered. I can tell you that Prince’s vocals when pumped through The Fives gave me chills man! I think that live music is also something that really does a great job of showcasing what these speakers can do. You can play around with the sound a bit with these speakers too if you want to have a more hands on approach to the kind of sound you are getting.

KEF LSX:

I am not going to bore you with all the technical mumbo jumbo in regards to why the KEF LSX sound as good as they do. However, the good folks at KEF are some kind of tech geniuses as they managed to take what was in their bigger and more expensive speakers and shrink it down here. Granted side by side with the bigger and more expensive KEF LSX Wireless Music System, you will notice a difference. However, I am not about to sell the LSX short, the power and bass that these offer at this size I think is actually second to none. I am having a hard time right now thinking of another set of speakers of this size that can rock as much power and bass as these do. I have this really fun Punk Rock Halloween – Loud Fast & Scary! record that features some artists I love such as Reel Big Fish and it rocked the house!

It would have been so easy for me just to listen to rock and heavy metal while playing around with the KEF LSX speakers, but I had to give them a real run out so I tested out a few different genres such as rap with the Kendrick Lamar led Black Panther Album. As well as some Sounds of Summer which is a collection of hits from The Beach Boys. I can hand on heart say that these speakers handled everything thrown their way and I was impressed no matter if I had them cranked loud or if I was listening to them in a more low key and chill kind of way.

The Verdict:

I think that both of these speakers are great in their own way. You could get the Klipsch The Fives and be completely happy with them, heck I would happily have these as my main speakers! However, I do have to say that when these are put side by side with the KEF LSX speakers, I do think that the offering from KEF offers a bit more power so I am giving them the win here.

What Is The Best?

I have had a great time with this Klipsch The Fives and the KEF LSX battle. The main reason for this is that I got to listen to a ton of music and both the Klipsch The Fives and the KEF LSX are awesome speakers in their own way. You could get either of these and be delighted with your purchase. At the end of the day, I have to say that I think the KEF LSX are the better speakers. However, they are also a lot more expensive than what Klipsch is asking for The Fives. Are they worth all that extra money? I have to say that I did notice a difference in the sound quality, but I am pretty obsessive about stuff like this. I would not suggest saving up for several more months to get the LSX, but if you have the money, they are the better option.

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