What? These speakers don't even come with Dolby Digital and Dolby Prologic support? Yes, one of the major drawbacks of this system is the lack of digital surround sound support that you would get with most of the new speakers coming out. Klipsch's response to this question is that adding in those digital goodies along with a center channel would significantly raise the price of the speakers over the retail price of $249. Personally, I think the THX certification says a lot already, but digital output would have been nice as well. If it really bothers you though, getting a separate decoder card shouldn't be a problem.

The lack of a true center channel is also an issue for most hardcore DVD enthusiasts. With the release of new 5.1 digital speaker systems, as well as the new 5.1 Sound Blaster Live! cards, the ProMedias are losing their edge in the market. However, it may not really be fair to compare this system to these new products, but considering these speakers are the first THX certified multimedia speakers, they may not need all that fancy digital stuff. Some of the heavy duty 5.1 systems out there work better in movies than the ProMedias, but may not be as good when dealing with games or music. You rarely see a system that can do everything, but the ProMedias effectively pull it off and at a reasonable price.

System Settings
Processor	Dual Celeron 366@550 (being upgraded soon though)
Motherboard	Abit BP6
RAM	256 MB RAM (128 PC133 From Memman)
Sound Card	Sound Blaster Live! Value
Video Card	VisionTek GeForce2 GTS 32 MB DDR
Operating System	Windows 2000

Installing this monster system didn't take long at all. Everything was clearly labeled, and the manual outlined everything you needed to hook up. When I received the speaker system, I was immediately impressed with the look and size of the subwoofer, as well as the satellites. The subwoofer is big and very nicely constructed. You could tell this isn't your run of the mill speaker system here. Klipsch really went all out when they designed this system. I spent at least 15-20 minutes just admiring how the system actually looked. The Klipsch and THX certified logo on each component is definitely a nice touch.

Speaker placement is always important to get the maximum effect of the sound. The two front satellites sit right in front of me at the sides of the monitor, and the two rear satellites sit about a foot away from the back of my chair. The subwoofer placement is critical to hear the full bass effect. Since my dorm walls were pretty thin, I didn't expect them to bounce the sound around that much. I placed the sub right in front of me, against the wall. Since there is a window right in front of me also, I knew the sound wouldn't be as good as it could be, but I was too lazy to rearrange the room just to get slightly better sound.

Next I proceeded to plug the speakers into my sound card, which supported the 4 speaker system. After everything was hooked up properly (always make sure you don't cross the positive and negative wires), it was time to see if the speakers worked as advertised. Sure enough they worked, and I even tested the 4 speaker output with the Live! software. Now the next part of the review is the performance and quality.