This US design blends cutting-edge tech with a dash of retro charm in a decidedly mid-century chassis. Read our Klipsch The One Review.
Described as a 2.1 speaker by Klipsch. The One makes use of two 57mm drivers underpinned by a single 114mm bass driver all powered by a 30W amplifier. Unlike some of the models here that deliver audio from several directions at once, all of the drivers are front facing. The Bluetooth implementation is listed as v4.0 and supports aptX. A 3.5mm line input is also provided and battery life is claimed at eight hours.
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PRODUCT Klipsch The One
ORIGIN USA/China
TYPE Portable Bluetooth speaker
WEIGHT 3.9kg
DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 322 x156 x133mm
FEATURES
- Quoted battery life: 8 hours
- 2 x 57mm tweeters
- 1 x 114mm mid/bass drivers
- Bluetooth wireless v4.0 with aptX
DISTRIBUTOR Henley Audio Ltd.
TELEPHONE 01235511166
WEBSITE henleyaudio.co.uk
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Klipsch has a different approach to portable Bluetooth speaker design, and The One mimics its Heritage line of loudspeakers (see boxout) with its retro design. While on the one hand it feels solid and carefully assembled. The One lacks a lot of features that are present elsewhere – such as a USB charging port, a way to make calls, a voice assistant or the ability to pair with another device for true stereo.
Glorious styling in ebony or oak wood veneers
Klipsch The One Review: Sound quality
With the Klipsch successfully paired – indicated by a small LED rather than any audible prompt – The One does a solid turn with the Bach Sonata. The violin has a pleasant richness to it, which lends it a convincing sense of realism. The top end is extremely smooth and refined, but lacks some of the sparkle and energy present elsewhere so that the piano in The Raven doesn’t have the same clarity and impact heard on rivals. The lower midrange also feels a little congested, resulting in the plucked double bass being lost and blunting the music’s energy.
The more open San Jacinto recording is less affected by this congestion, but the upper registers don’t have the same amount of clarity. It does a fine job with Gabriel’s vocals, though, capturing his tone so that it remains distinct from the supporting instruments. That lack of treble energy ensures the dynamic peak of the chorus is handled without any hardening up, but there isn’t the emotional engagement that there really should be.
State Of Mine continues to highlight these foibles. The bassline is partly within the congested part of the frequency response – which robs it of some of its funkiness – while the fine detail of the piano doesn’t come across as effectively either. The bass extension is good, however, with commendable depth being achieved while avoiding any serious lag or overhang. The Klipsch also has significant reserves of volume at the listening level, although increasing it too far tends to accentuate the lower midrange hump and risks further adding to the sense of congestion with some music. More positively, the upper registers gain a little more dynamics while managing to steer clear of any unwanted harshness.
VERDICT
Intriguing design, but sound quality needs a little more excitement.
8/10
- Build and style
- Smooth HF detail and pleasingly rich sound
- Lacks sparkle and clarity
- Limited features for the price
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The One is part of what Klipsch calls its Heritage Wireless range and adopts a number of style calling cards from the full-size Heritage loudspeaker series – including the Cornwall III that was part of Beautiful System back in HFC 440 – and comes in a choice of ebony (pictured) and walnut wood veneer finishes. This is partnered with a speaker grille made from a similar heavy weave to those that are found on the full-size models, along with copper-plated controls. The result is a speaker that looks and feels completely different to anything else in the test, but builds on the brand’s retro identity in the process. The only real drawback to the design is that while it can be battery powered, it’s larger dimensions and lack of carrying handle mean it’s unlikely to be seen as truly portable.
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