Klipsch Heritage Inspired Powered Monitors: Tips and Tricks
If you are reading this, it is likely you are either a lucky new owner of a pair of Klipsch Heritage-inspired powered monitors. Maybe you have a pair of the OGs - the Fives. Or, you've leveled up to The Sevens or The Nines.
Hopefully, this will be a quick reference for movie fans and two-channel aficionados who want to use Heritage-inspired powered monitors in place of a soundbar.
Getting Started
If you download the Klipsch Connect App to your smartphone, you will find easy-to-follow video instructions that walk you through everything from correct speaker placement to connecting The Fives with a sub and all of your other audio sources. There’s also a complete user manual and a Quick-Start Guide.
For the purposes of this setup guide, we will mostly focus on tips and tricks for The Fives, The Sevens, and the Nines powered monitors you won’t find anywhere else.
Table Of Contents
- Connections Overview
- Making The Connections
- Placement Considerations
- Cool Features & Tech To Know
- Updating Heritage Powered Monitors with the Klipsch Connect App
Powered Monitors = Connections Galore
Let’s talk connections. The primary speaker is where the inputs and outputs are housed:
- One HDMI (ARC) connection
- A USB (Service) port for updating the firmware or as a connection
- A toggle switch to let you select which speaker is the primary and which one is secondary
- A push-button for enabling Bluetooth pairing mode
- A set of RCA Phono inputs
- Another toggle to turn the pair of RCA inputs into a line input,
- A stereo mini-plug input
- A subwoofer connection
- Finally, there’s a ground connection, so you can enjoy a hum-free music experience from your record player, a 4-pin connection that connects the secondary speaker with the primary speaker, and a power connection
Making The Connections
With all the connection options the Klipsch Heritage inspired powered monitors have to offer, we will begin with the basics. No matter what gear you connect, the first step is usually connecting the primary speaker to the passive speaker and then connecting the speaker system to a power supply. Klipsch has made the initial connections incredibly easy.
The nice thing about The Fives is you don’t have to worry about which one is the “left” vs the “right” speaker. Most powered monitors force you to keep the left and right layout based on one speaker having the amplifier — not The Fives, the Sevens, or The Nines. Klipsch added a little switch labeled “Primary” to the back of The Fives that lets you designate if the speaker with all the connections is on the right or the left side.
This comes in handy when the wall outlet you are trying to reach is closer to one speaker vs the other or for those times when your turntable is on the right side of your space and the speaker with all the connections needs to stay on the left to keep the channels correct. Being such flexible speakers that can fit in a variety of ergonomic situations, this is a really cool tip to know about just in case you need to switch things up later.
Using the included 4-pin connector cable, make the connection from the primary speaker to the passive speaker. The primary speaker is the one with all the connections on the rear panel, so just connect that one to the wall outlet. On the top panel, a white LED will light up next to the input selector wheel, which tells you the powered monitors are on.
Placement Considerations
From here, the next step should be the correct placement of your new Klipsch powered monitors. The HDMI ARC input on the back primary speaker means you can use these speakers in lieu of a soundbar. Trust us - you'll hear and experience the difference.
If you are planning to use these with a TV, we recommend spreading the speakers about 4 to 5 feet apart. The 4-pin connector cable is just over 16 feet long and allows you to spread them farther apart, creating a larger soundstage.
Music, gaming, movies, and more will all sound larger than life and, quite frankly, blow a soundbar out of the water. Did we mention the HDMI ARC enables control of the sound through one remote. Just one remote for all your sound. Sounds pretty great right?
Using Klipsch Powered Monitors as Home Office Computer Speakers
If you are placing your speakers on a desk in a home office, you’ll want to form an equilateral triangle with the speakers equally spaced apart so that you’re also sitting at an equal distance from the speakers. Play around with the angle of the speakers until the vocals sound like they are right in the middle.
Desktop stands will stabilize the position you set and they will improve the sound of the bass as well. Finally, positioning The Fives or The Sevens 1 to 1 ½ feet away from any walls will also help tone down any room resonances that might color the bass.
As for The Nines, they are quite a bit larger and heavier than the Fives and The Sevens. The Nines would be great if you have a large office or even small meeting space as part of your setup.
Connecting Klipsch Powered Monitors with A Subwoofer
Speaking of bass, Klipsch Heritage inspired powered monitors have a special crossover circuitry that improves the midrange (think voices) to sound much cleaner and detailed when you connect up a subwoofer. In the past, Klipsch leadership has said a subwoofer is not necessarily needed, but it can also make an excellent addition to your home theater setup.
As soon as you connect an RCA cable to the Subwoofer output on the powered monitors, the lower frequencies will automatically route from the woofer to the sub. With music playing, you can actually see the crossover in action when the woofer goes from maximum excursion to very little excursion as soon as you make the connection.
For a small to medium-sized space, we recommend a small 10-inch sub. But, if you are using the powered monitors in a larger room, go with a 12-inch or even a 15-inch subwoofer for even deeper, immersive sub-bass extension.
The Coolest Features To Know
How To Use Dynamic EQ
Klipsch offers a nifty item they call Dynamic EQ. This uses a special circuit that automatically adds some bass back in as the volume decreases, giving The Fives, The Sevens, and the Nines a very warm, musical sound even at super-low listening levels.
If you want to turn this feature off, hold down the Sub button on the remote control for 3 seconds. The white LED light on the top panel will blink once to let you know Dynamic EQ has been disabled. Holding down the bass button again for 3 seconds will reactivate Dynamic EQ, and the white LED will blink two times to indicate it is reactivated.
Connecting Your Powered Monitors with Smart Devices
Use the analog stereo miniplug cable to connect your Amazon Echo or other voice-controlled device to your Klipsch powered monitors. You can also connect using the miniplug cable with a pair of RCA connectors on the end to connect to the RCA inputs on the speakers. There’s a toggle switch next to this pair of RCA inputs that can be set to either “Line” or “Phono.” Setting this switch to “Line” will let you use Amazon Alexa from the Echo to play, pause or skip to the next song just by saying the commands.
If you have an Apple TV or a Roku connected up to your TV, you can use either of those as a music source with Klipsch powered monitors too.
How To Set up Klipsch Heritage-Inspired Powered Monitors with the Klipsch Connect App
The next most important step is downloading the Klipsch Connect app to your phone or tablet and then pairing it with your new powered monitors. If you have an iPhone, you can get it from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store if you’re on Android.
Updating the Firmware
A more important reason to download the Klipsch Connect app is the software updates.
It is possible to update the firmware using the USB port on the back of the primary powered speaker, but since the App unlocks so many cool and useful features, we will show you how to update The Fives wirelessly using the Klipsch Connect app on your phone.
Pairing Powered Monitors with Smartphones
1.) Once you download the app, the first thing you will see is the “Welcome” screen prompting you to choose your Klipsch product and to set it up.
2.) Select Klipsch The Fives/The Sevens/The Nines as your product and tap “Setup.” You will immediately see a screen prompting you to enable Bluetooth Pairing mode. With the remote control included in the box, follow the directions on this screen and hold down the Bluetooth button. After about three seconds, the white LED light on the top panel of your speakers will begin to flash. In the app, tap “Next” to continue.
3.) The app will guide you through the initial setup process including registering the serial number with Klipsch, and giving a custom name to your speakers. We found our serial number on the back of the primary speaker cabinet in the bottom right corner, but if you want to skip this step, all of this information can be set up later from the “Home” screen within the app.
4.) Once you complete the initial setup process. You will see the “Setup Complete” screen where you can access the Quick-Start Guide or press "Done." The Quick-Start Guide will provide a quick overview of all the steps we just completed, so you can just skip this part.
5.) If you press Done, you will see the Home screen where you can add another Klipsch product, get a view of all of your connected Klipsch devices, access the settings for a given Klipsch product, or see a list of “How To” video guides.
6.) To update your speakers, tap “Settings,” > “Updates” to view the currently installed firmware and software versions. If an update is available, you will see the version available on the screen below.
Have Fun!
The Fives, The Sevens, and the Nines offer a ton of flexibility and sound absolutely fantastic with just about everything. Whether you’re connecting a turntable, a computer, a TV, or just streaming high-quality audio with Bluetooth AptX, you and your family will love having so many ways to enjoy great-sounding music, movies, TV shows, and video games!
We hope this quick guide will help you achieve great results quickly. As always, the team at Audio Advice is here to help you out.
If you have any questions at all, you can always reach out to us via chat, phone or email.