Home > Consumer Reviews > KLH 943PL 100-Watt 3-Way Center Channel Speaker

OK - so this might not be your top of the line Center Channel (most of which retail in the 150-300 dollar range) but for a beginning DVD enthusiast this more than fits the bill to upgrade any stereo system you might have. For the price, it delivers crisp, audible dialogue that will only enhance your viewing pleasure (though Star Wars sounded nice on this speaker, I couldn't get over how amazing the Matrix played.) I have friends with the JBL center speaker which I guess is more of the standard on a higher end system but for a novice, this speaker pretty enhances any movie experience (especially DVD). One last note, the only problem that I had with this speaker is that when you have your center channel standardized (set on a particular setting) it drowns out your rear and front speakers (I'm not sure if this is exclusive to this model, but I've had to constantly adjust the center mode to accomodate this particular model).

I've been looking for a center speaker to upscale the sound of my Yamaha Home Theater System. It has a great sound but the center is so important and I find myself having to strain at times to clearly hear the dialogue. Thje KLH 943PL is my first attempt at buying a speaker I have not heard. A task I doubt I will do again! I can't complain, for the price this speaker performs ok and it is marginally better than my Yamaha center especially if only listening to cable HBO or music. I can easily say this is a fair speaker and hey, you can't beat the price. As I write this I am already looking for a center which can deliver a little crisper sound and I realize I will have to pay more. That said, if you have a bare bones system and need a cheap upgrade, I doubt you will be disappointed. I do want to mention that this product was expensive to ship in my opinion and it did not include speaker wire or the 4 rubber feet that was suppose to come with it. When I called J&R Music, where the speaker ships from, they were less than friendly, could care less that it did not ship with what they said it would and a final thought, based on my brief interaction with this place, I wouldn't look to them for anything else, there are better placec to buy speakers. Hope this helps, skip

Just bought one last night and quickly hook it up with my home audio system. I was immediately impressed with the sound coming out of this little box[...]You can't beat it...Movie dialog sound is tight, crisp, and vibrant...this is a definite must buy for the budget conscious home theatre novice...i have two Bostons for my fronts and a AudioSource subwoofer and a Pioneer VSX 100 watts/channel (5-channels) receiver...the[...] amazing KLH center channel speaker stands on its own...

You can't go wrong with a speaker like this - two 3 5/8" drivers, one 1", and one 5/8". Just by picking it up, you'll realize that this is a quality speaker - it is nice and heavy, with a deep and sturdy cabinet. That's what is great about KLH, they don't try to make things overly complex. The speaker sounds great, is the equal of anything I've heard, and I have absolutely no complaints.

Are speakers from other companies any BETTER? Biases aside, I highly doubt it ... this speaker doesn't seem to have any shortcomings. Movies sound perfect, the dialogue is crisp and clean, it has great dynamic range, and has plently of volume to spare. It also compliments the rest of my system, and makes for a seemless presentation of sound. With these attributes, I really don't know what else another company could be offering.

The bottom line is that other companies offer other speakers, and each is going to be different in some minor way ... aside from the price of the name on the speaker grill. Luckily, this one has a removable grill, so you can always hide the name if you're status-conscious. Or, if you're like me, you will proudly display it because you are confident that your ears are better judges of quality than your wallet.

Oh, and as an aside... I hadn't realized how important a center channel can be. I used to have to keep the TV volume up in order to help my previous weak center channel. It was not until I got this one that I realized how much that was degrading the overall experience. By having the TV volume up, you force a lot of the left and right stereo sounds to play also from the center of the room ... sounds which would otherwise play only from the the front satellites. Thus, you miss a lot of the stereo effects which are coded into the Dolby Digital sound track. As soon as I hooked up my KLH center and was able to turn off the TV volume, I started to notice all the sounds coming from the left and right satellites that used to be masked by the TV's speakers. Thus, buying a good center channel is a good way to upgrade your satellites as well.

I am sure there are better center-channel speakers, but what, they are 10% better and 10 times more expensive? I bought one, and I am happy with it. It makes the TV dialogs more legible. I have a Bose system, so when I am listening to music, I disable the center channel, and make everything go through Bose. I think this KLH is sligtly tinny. Most people would not be able to discern any difference, though