Do you want the best speaker to deal with a combination of modern look and extraordinary sound? Then you are most probably looking for something like Klipsch R-51M. Make your every movie night thrilling or your playlist full of exciting songs with this speaker. This is super budget-friendly and marvelous in every aspect. They are also bearing all Klipsch signature features and sounds. From the build quality to audio quality, this speaker is never disappointing.
To prove its worth in every aspect and help you know if this speaker is good for you or not! We are going to show you a comparative review of this speaker by comparing it with another high-end bookshelf speaker.
By the end of this article, you indeed will find a suitable bookshelf speaker for you. Because with the help of the comparison you will be able to choose something else for you. So, let’s deep dig into the article to explore Klipsch R-51M.
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Klipsch R-51M Review
Klipsch R-51M is an incredible speaker for getting a place in the living room within a reasonable budget. This Reference series bookshelf speaker has robust sound quality and an elegant design. It bears Klipsch’s traditional horn-loaded tweeter with an excellent quality woofer for a perfect high and low-frequency response balance. This is what makes the overall sound quality awesome.
If we compare it with another bookshelf speaker of the same price range, this is one of the best. Now let’s review some of its highlighted features for your better understanding.
Design
All the Klipsch speakers come with a simple structure but contain a premium-quality look. A pair of speakers from Klipsch is enough for impressing the guest only.
This R-51M also holds the same tradition with a gorgeous look. There is not much design on the speaker’s body, which increases the beauty more.
The Bass reflex enclosure and wood grain vinyl finish are perfect for beautiful design and sound. Because the structure also helps to get an excellent sounding system.
The Bass reflex enclosure and rear-firing port ensure enough airflow, so the sound doesn’t distort or vibrate.
There is a copper color woofer on the front side with a square-shaped horn with a circular throat. The woofer looks shinny and enhances the overall beauty of the speaker.
But if your kids or pets can cause harm to the woofer, or in case you don’t want the front side left like this, use the detachable grill. Attach or remove anytime you wish for.
There is the logo of Klipsch REFERENCE inside the horn.
This boxy shape bookshelf is not too big or small but is a perfect size. Place it with your TV or home theater, on a table, or in your bedroom wherever you want.
This speaker is just going to bring a lot of praise for you at first glance.
Features
This bookshelf speaker is stuffed with numerous features and nothing less than any tower speaker. The sound quality is dynamic, and a couple of reasons or parts are responsible for that.
Tweeter
90° x 90° Tractrix® horn with 1″ LTS aluminum diaphragm compression tweeter is all that a bookshelf speaker needs to produce a dynamic high-frequency response.
LTS or Linear Travel Suspension is a clever mechanism for getting the high frequency without distortion. It minimizes unwanted vibration or distortion as much as possible; thus, clear, detailed highs improve the whole audio quality.
Moreover, the aluminum diaphragm compression tweeter that is the material is solid quality. High-quality tweeter material is needed too. Nowadays, many suitable tweeter materials are available, such as titanium and magnesium. The aluminum tweeter is counted among the best-performed ones.
Last of all, the 90X90 tractrix horn, which belongs to only Klipsch. With a circular throat and square shape mouth, this horn helps to get the desired sound directly hit the listener’s ears.
It minimizes unwanted reverb and artificial effects.
In a word, Klipsch consumed the best tweeter technology even in this price range. This is really praiseworthy.
Woofer
The woofer is closely connected with a tweeter or high-frequency. Because only woofers are responsible for producing low-frequency and getting the best quality sound, you both need low and high frequency good enough.
But Klipsch also showed their dedication by making extremely light-weight copper spun magnetically shielded IMG woofer, yet rigid. The size is 5.25-inch which is absolutely perfect for delivering powerful bass.
This type of construction is undoubtedly suitable for a tight, punchy bass. This bookshelf speaker would be a choice of the dream for the bass lovers.
Also, good quality bass can simultaneously make the whole audio quality; bad quality bass can ruin the entire audio experience.
So, just be careful while choosing a speaker and check the woofer and tweeter performance with another criterion.
Rear Air-Flow Port
Klipsch made a big hole in the back of these speakers to let air flow through. This way, air can get out more easily, which will make the bass sound hit harder.
But it’s important to note that these loudspeakers don’t have the best range of low sounds. Because they can’t go lower than 62 Hz, you can miss parts of the instruments and maybe even some voices.
But you can always use a subwoofer to make up for the frequencies you lost. You’re in luck, because Klipsch makes a subwoofer that looks just like the R-51M.
Power handling capacity
Klipsch R-51M has an RMS power 85-watts and peak at 340-watt. This speaker works at 85-watt continuously and can reach the peak at 340 watts.
To maintain the whole performance, 85-watt is good enough, but Klipsch could do a bit better with the RMS power. Apart from this, there is no complaint about the peak power.
Impedance
The lower the impedance rate, the more efficiently the speaker can pass through the electrical signals, the audio signal basically. Impedance is measured in ohms, and it is crucial to check out the impedance rating.
R-51M has an 8-ohm impedance which is pretty good, and most of the speakers maintain this rating. With this rating, this speaker can transfer signals efficiently and smoothly.
But rating lower than this is better, but that does not mean 8 Ohm is not enough. As already mentioned, most of the speakers maintain this rate, so you don’t have to be much worried about this.
Sensitivity
For the loud music lover, this point is the most important. If you are a loud music freak, then this speaker is for you. Though this is a bookshelf speaker, it still delivers a loud sound like a tower speaker.
With a 93 dB sensitivity rating, this speaker performs like a beast.
Sound Performance
The Klipsch R-51M is a great speaker for the price, and its sound makes it stand out from other speakers. They are full of life and energy, play great music, and pack a punch that will make you tap your toes and smile. Their music is surprisingly big, but it’s not quite realistic. That makes them look bigger than they really are. I was happy to find out that they work really well as background music because they have a great sense of presence and can fill the space very well. You don’t have to sit in the front row to enjoy good sound.
Even though high-pitched sounds may not be very clear, I didn’t find them annoying. Even with the volume turned down, these speakers sound great. If you use the volume control, you don’t have to turn up the sound as much as you do with some other speakers. Even at low volumes, the R-51M sounds great, which is great for you and your neighbors if you want to watch movies or listen to music late at night.
Klipsch R-51M Comparative Review
Now it’s time to see if Klipsch R-51M is better than other brands’ bookshelf speakers of the same level or not. This section will help you to know the actual difference.
We will be comparing high-end brands like Polk, Sony, Jamo, and others. In the meantime, if you think other speakers are doing better than R-51M, then you can choose.
This is actually one’s personal choice. So, we are not recommending any speaker also; we are not finding the best speaker. All we are doing is comparing some same-level speakers so you can make the difference clear and make a wise choice.
Klipsch R-51M VS Polk Audio Signature S15
Klipsch R-51M VS Polk Audio Signature S15, two passive bookshelf speakers, comes with several identical features. Both are also budget-friendly, and the price range is almost similar.
After discussing all the criteria and factors, we actually could not figure out which is best, but undoubtedly Klipsch R-51M is slightly better.
First of all, it is louder than S-15 and can produce a better low and high-frequency response. The RMS and peak power are much more than S-15, which also makes a massive difference in the sound quality.
Sound quality is better clarified and detailed in Klipsch R-51M.
Despite all these things, Polk S-15 still gives a tough competition to the R-51M. It has improved frequency response and low price than Klipsch. The sound quality is also decent.
So, it’s all your decision which to choose.
Klipsch R-51M VS Sony SS-CS5
Though Sony SS-CS5 comes with a minimal price that is under 150$, which is also so much more affordable than Klipsch R-51M, this speaker can still give tough competition to Klipsch because of its spectacular performance.
We will be discussing about those in the next section. If you are on a tight budget, then Sony SS-CS5 can be the best alternative.
Sony SS-CS5 comes with some unique features like a 6-ohm impedance and an extra super tweeter. These things are missing in Klipsch R-51M. If you count on these features, then Sony is definitely offering much bigger than the price.
But comparing the overall performance, SS-CS5 still lacking’s some points. Thus R-51M becomes the winner here.
We would recommend SS-CS5 for those with a tight budget or who only want a speaker for movie nights and some music.
Klipsch R-51M VS Klipsch RB-51 II
Klipsch RB-51 II is available for under 200$, and this is almost 100$ lesser than R-51M. Still, RB-51 II is giving tough competition with its reliable performance.
Both speakers have many similarities, and we can say R-51M performs like the big brother of RB-51 II.
Now it’s time to explore whether you should spend your money on a 300$ speaker or a 200$ speaker?
Both of these Klipsch R-51M VS RB-51 II is our favorite because of their dynamic superior sound quality. They have their traditional tractrix horn, LTS tech, and signature sound quality.
Talking about the features, RB-51 II features several same features as Klipsch R-51M. This makes the sound quality almost the same, but sensitivity, frequency response, and a couple of other things make a slight difference. This means the R-51M is a bit better with the sound quality. Other than that, you can go to any one of them, and the choice is not going to make you regret sure.
Klipsch Reference R-51M VS Jamo S 803
Jamo is enlisted among high-end speaker brands for their fantastic speaker and other audio equipment. We choose to compare Jamo S 803 with Klipsch R-51M because the features have some similarities.
The price range is much small than R-51M. So, let’s see if this speaker is worthy of getting a place in home entertainment.
We are gointo be very honest with you about finding the best one.
Jamo S 803 is a superb speaker with an elegant, gorgeous design and sound quality. In this price range, this speaker is offering more than our expectations.
This is great in its way. Also, Dolby Atmos brings a massive change in the performance. Much realistic and natural sound comes from all directions.
Except for the Dolby Atmos feature, Jamo could not perform well like the R-51M. There are criteria like tweeter, woofer, sensitivity rate, etc.
Considering all facts for the Dolby Atmos lover, you should go for Jamo S 803.
Klipsch R-51M VS Dali Spektor 2
Dali Spektor 2 is the most expensive speaker on our list. The performance is decent but not dedicated as R-51M.
Dali Spektor 2, of course, is much more expensive than R-51M. With the price range, Dali could not full fill our expectations.
When we have enlisted speakers like Jamo S803 and RB-51 II at an affordable price, we also performed much better than Dali. Dali should have been more conscious about the features as they decide how the sound quality becomes.
We would not recommend Dali Spektor 2 for you as an alternative to R-51M.
Final Verdict
Klipsch R-51M is a fantastic bookshelf speaker that performs more than like a traditional speaker. This speaker is absolutely perfect for the price range and getting the praises from all.
This article was about this speaker, and we tried to compare it with other brands such as Polk, Sony, Jamo, and Dali. This also provides you to choose something else if you think R-51M is not for you.
However, while comparing, Klipsch managed to be the best, not every time.
Polk Audio Signature S15 and Sony SS-CS5 are the two best competitors of R-51M. Both are incredible in every stage, and you can check on them.
But the most formidable competitor was Klipsch RB-51 II. Next Jamo S 803 and Dali Spektor 2 another two alternatives. These two also perform decently.
Now the decision is yours which to choose according to your need and budget. Just know what you actually need or what is your music or movie taste. Then enjoy the great movie and music experience only sitting in your home.
Student of Computer Science and Tech Journalist. Read More