Klipsch Heritage The Three speaker system in Walnut

I really wanted to love this, but it doesn’t live up to the hype. The two knobs are coppery plastic, and are eccentric. The woodwork is gorgeous, no mistake. The system has a reassuring mass to it, but when it was finally paired (the instructions were poor) the midrange on this system seemed somewhat lost. The bass is there (not low, but ok, and not too boomy) and there was good definition in the higher registers, but it did sound like a small set of speakers; there’s no getting away from it - it is limited by size.It won’t play some of the songs in my library for some reason, they’re just greyed out. Wrong sort of file, so that was pretty disappointing.The App. I was reluctant to agree to the Ts and Cs, but I did. Klipsch want quite a lot of my data, including about my job ... why? I agreed, since I had to in order to get the app to work. I wasn’t too happy about this, but it’s liveable with. The next day, the thing turns on for about half a second and then turns straight off.I hate to say it, but it’s just another example of something promoted as Oh-So-American, but it’s made in China. It was ok when it worked, which was for just less than 20 minutes.

I ordered this speaker as I wanted a Wi-fi speaker to play Spotify throughout the home. I’ve had many Bluetooth speakers previously but I wanted a Wi-fi speaker in order to maximise audio quality output (as Bluetooth is not able to playing lossless audio). I should say at this point that Bluetooth and many other connectivity options work with this speaker and all work flawlessly. My review will be based around using Wi-fi as this was my reason for buying the speaker.Setting up the speaker through the Klipsch Stream app uses PlayFi (Wi-fi) and I found that although I got there I’m the end, it took a little while to get the speaker on the app. You have to wait for the speaker to be found on the network but once found, it is pretty easy from here on.The sound of this speaker is great. I was very happy with presence of the mid-high frequencies and many elements of music I have not heard before I could now hear. The bass is tight and punchy, and not so much boomy like I had read other reviews say. It plays very loud, and only did I hear the speaker struggle was when I was playing dance music with a heavy kick drum.Unfortunately, I did end up returning this speaker for one main reason - it does not work with Spotify Connect. Although advertised and informed by Klipsch and PlayFi themselves that it does work, I could not use this speaker with Spotify Connect. I was told that my router needed to communicate using multicast signals in order for the speaker to be found on the network, however I just have a BT Smart Hub with standard broadband. I’ve not had any Wi-fi issues with any other products before. I can confirm that the Klipsch Stream app worked with Tidal for me with no problems, all though the app always took a while to find the speaker on the network, which got annoying.One reason why I’m writing this review is due to my experience with the Sonos Play 5, which I ended up replacing this speaker with. It sounds better that the Klipsch The Three which on its own was a big enough reason to prefer the Sonos. Much more bass response but yet still balanced across the spectrum. Connectivity is excellent with this and I use AirPlay and Spotify connect with this every day with absolutely no issues. I’m very happy with the Sonos, despite paying £425 instead of the £337 from the Klipsch. I also really like how it stays on all the time so it is always ready to play music (the amplifiers switch off when not in use to save energy).In summary, if you want a Wi-fi speaker, don’t get this. If you want a Bluetooth speaker with lots of connectivity options and you like the look of this (I certainly do), then get the Klipsch. The Sonos won it for me, purely based on sound, app use and connectivity.

This is an excellent product. First off, it looks lovely, very tactile, very high quality finish. Secondly and perhaps most importantly, it sound so nice. Rich, smooth, powerful and detailed. A real acoustic tardis. So very musical, so nice to listen to. You can connect anything to it, even an old turntable with no need to buy special preamps or extra contraptions. The only thing of note, position it carefully to get the best sound. Preferably on a solid surface, a litlle away from a wall and preferably not in a corner. This is true of all high quality speakers, especially those capable of an extended bass response. I believe this product represents excellent value for money and can recommend it whole heartedly.