Klipsch RP-500SA Dolby Atmos Surround Sound Speakers (Ebony) (1066507)

So far I have these on top of my mains (RP8000Fs). Definitely a much better separation of sound coming from above when these are mounted higher on the wall. Thats going to be a project for me mainly due to wire management, I dont want the wires dangling on the wall & would need to hire an electrician to drill holes & snake the wires through. Too lazy to do all that now but sound is sound, and the extra sound coming from these is more immersive than not having them. My ceilings are 8, supposedly the upfiring design makes sound bounce off the ceiling if 8, very subtle though & still not the same as mounting them on the wall. If you have taller ceiling or cathedral ceilings, there is likely zero upfiring benefit you could hear. But hey, they look cool sitting on the towers lol. In my setup its easier having these then two extra rears for 7.1, so I am going with 5.1.2 Another advantage is the option of a Dialogue lift with my AVR, meaning the center dialogue can get added & spread out to the Atmos speakers in addition to the center channel. For that purpose its better having these on top of the tower speakers so the sound is coming from the TV. Mounted up high, that feature may sound odd. I cross these over to the sub at 100 hz, I hear most people use that or 120. Atmos speakers are not designed to handle any significant bass, not even effectively down to 80 hz. My overall system these are playing with: AVR - Yamaha Aventage A2A. Two Outlaw Monoblock Amps 2220 powering the fronts (RP8000Fs). This frees up the AVR power more for the other surround speakers including these, making them all come to life a bit more. Center is RP500C & rears are RP500M. Sub is SVS SB3000. Very happy with these as part of a very enjoyable upgrade I have made to my sound system over the past month. Also, especially with Atmos, a total waste of money going with the Gen 2 substantially more $. Gen 2 is the same speaker big picture, just with tweaks to very subtly change the midrange. The subtle difference is for critical music listening, totally not worth it & at times depending on the song I actually preferred how the Gen 1 sounded. But when going to surrounds, especially Atmos, not going to hear any difference so my recommendation is dont spend about twice as much for the Gen 2. If I was willing to spend twice as much, Id save up a bit to add a bit more and make a real upgrade - to the next tier of speakers. Like the RF7iii or Heritage Forte iv. Maybe down the road I do. Until then Ill keep thoroughly enjoying the current upgrades I made to an entry level Polk set up I had the last 11 years.

Excelled......

I have large tower main speakers and these sit on top of them, the ideal spot for Atmos speakers is in the ceiling but that wasnt an option for me so these were the next best thing they bounce sound off the ceiling and down to you and it works great

Klipsch has the best sound out there! We love our system these are just 2 additional speakers were adding!

Ive had a pair of these for a few year. Ive also have a pair of the svs Elevation speakers (you can see the bracket in this picture) needless to say the Klipsch sound superior over the svs Elevation speakers so when I saw the piano black version on sale I had to grab them. Now I have front and surround height taken care of.

Klipsch RP-500SA Dolby Atmos Surround Sound Speakers (Piano Black) 8/8/2022: I was surprised how small the box was. When placing these up, because they are Piano Back, I was really worried of dropping them because they are so smooth. Also, I used 1 screws to place them, and took a second look at the book and it said to use 2 screws...oops. I didnt know, because they use the same book for all their speakers, and I only opened it to write the speaker information in it. Oh well, they dont seem to be in a situation where they will fall. The stud was very thick and the screw was in solid. At first I was going to put these in back as surrounds and reassign my RP-500Ms as rears (or try them while sitting atop the floorstanding ones); but I wanted to try out the Atmos feature using the Front Height position. I have only 2 blurays with true Atmos TrueHD 7.1 sound; and while Black Panther sounds great, it was Deadpool that really showed what these can do. I hate Audyssey; the first time I ran it (with 6 seated positions)- the left soundstage was so messed it caused the AVR to put too much brightness in the left floorstanding speakers that it caused the tweeters to flutter and distort at high frequencies (I thought they were failing). This happened right after I setup the RP-500SAs. Running the setup again with only 3 seated positions fixed it and now it sounds the way it should. I did have to make some adjustments to the levels, though. They look really nice and create a nice sound wall for the RP-8000F; the immersion with the rear surround RP-500Ms is just as nice. I am glad I got these. I just bot the RP-404C, and that will complete my 7.2 setup, unless I get another subwoofer. xD PaulJC

These were purchased by my husband. It’s the only speaker brand in his man cave. He says Amazon has had the best deals to build out his good quality surround sound. The sound is great quality on movie night and when I crank up the Saturday morning house cleaning music.

Nice speakers, excellent sound quality matching with the rest of my rp series. However, It did not accomplished the primary function of creating the overhead atmos effect. I tried different setups; on top of the floor speakers (this is how it should of work) on top of the media center furniture, like 6 inches lower than the top of floor speaker, and even 8 inches over the floor speaker without success, my listening spot is almost 10 feet away from the front of the speakers. I could listen the atmos soundtrack effect but practically coming from the front, it felt to directional and not overhead. The only way I got these speakers to sound incredibly good was as front height speakers, but since that isn’t an option for me because of the reduced space there is between my 84” projector screen and the walls/ceiling, they weren’t going to be centered. As you can see on the pictures, it’s a perfect match in size for my rp-250’s, there is another pic where it shows my reduced space with screen rolled down, beneath that screen is a 49” lg tv which I’ll be updating for a 65 in the future, another pic shows the atmos speakers sitting on my media center furniture, this way the speakers don’t interfere with the screen, but no overhead effect for me, (I was willing to sacrifice some screen if I’d got the atmos effect while they were sitting on top of the speakers) The Onkyo receiver was recalibrated and set to atmos option once I hooked these speakers. I was really trying to like them, they have astonishing sound quality and the finish is beautiful, but no overhead sound effect for me. Unfortunately I’ll end up returning these speakers and since overhead speakers aren’t an option since I’m a renter, I’ll look for smaller front height speakers that are adequate for my space, or just keep it nice and tight with 5.1

With these speakers you get the traditional Klipsch detailed sound out of a very small package. The piano finish is beautiful and the overall craftsmanship is very good at this price point. My only issue is that these are very overpriced for what they are. There are many traditional bookshelf speakers that are much better performers for less money. The only reason theyre getting away with the current pricing is very few manufacturers are making high quality Atmos add-ons or elevation type speakers. I guarantee if JBL was to ever get around to doing a similar speaker with their Stage series it would be equal in performance for half the price. The JBL Stage A190 towers already give the RP 8000Fs a run for their money at only $600 a pair. Ultimately, I do like these for side or rear surrounds, or even front high speakers. For just a little more money, the Klipsch RP 250s are going to be a much better value especially for surround speaker locations. I just think at this price point they should do more than just produce sound effects (which is all any surround speaker is really doing, especially when the switch on the back of these is set to Atmos which fixes the crossover at 150hz ). I would never even think of considering playing music out of these even at the Surround crossover setting (80 hz). The fact they are sealed (not ported) drastically limits bass output. With that said, thats why Im knocking the value rating on this speaker because they are ultimately way overpriced for what their actual purpose is designed for. Design rating: 5 Value rating: 3 Sound quality for surrounds/front highs: 5 Sound quality for music: 3 If you can make it work in your room, Id go for a good bookshelf speaker over these as long as you dont have mounting issues (if the bookshelf speaker is ported on the rear.) The Klipsch R15M or the R51M can do more for less money, especially having the option to use them for music down the road. Only issue is, bookshelf speakers are not aesthetically conducive as tower top Atmos add ons.

I have these set on the top of my RP-260F towers for now. They blend beautifully with my RP-450C, RP-402S and SVS PB-1000. Power is through a very capable Onkyo TX-NR777. The atmos speakers were delivered last night and I immediately installed them in the system. Initially I was unable to get sound from them. It was definitely operator error. Eventually I figured out I had to go into the Onkyo initial setup menu and enable height speakers. After entering a few dimensions and adjusting sound levels, I was in business. The best way to describe the sound as currently configured is a full frontal wall of sound. Its impressive. I will be picking up another pair of these for rear heights to balance the sound. Eventually I will mount the four atmos speakers in proper elevated positions. Im sure that will only improve the height effects. That has to wait for a while... What doesnt have to wait is enjoying this system daily. Im very happy with this system! These are all quality components from a legendary brand and are definitely worth your consideration. Gotta go now Saving Private Ryan just started... WOW!