Sound quality: Klipsch's RSB-11 delivers sound quality that falls in the good range - it reproduces music and dialog reasonably well despite the obvious shortcomings in its sound. The bass has good impact and goes deep, but is a bit prominent and boomy. The midrange is fairly even, but somewhat hazy and a bit grainy. The treble is a bit subdued and smeared, and the upper treble is muted. This model does a so-so job of recovering room ambience (the sense of the acoustic space in which the music was recorded), lacks treble air and fine detail, and sounds somewhat congested. The various sound modes have a noticeable effect - the Dialog mode makes the midrange more prominent and harsh, the Surround mode makes the sound louder, more bassy, and a bit echoey, and the Night mode lowers the volume significantly. There was no significant difference between the HDMI, optical, aux and Bluetooth inputs. The system can provide satisfying volume in a medium sized room.
TV setup and ease of use: Excellent overall. Setup: Programming the soundbar to respond to a TV remote was quick, easy, and straight forward. HDMI CEC setup is quick and straight forward; HDMI CEC must be engaged for the HDMI ARC function to work, but unlike the typical HDMI CEC connection the TV remote is not claimed to control any sound bar function. The system comes with an HDMI cable for TV connection, optical or stereo analog cables must be purchased separately if you want or need either of those to connect your TV. Ease of Use: If the soundbar has been programmed to respond to a TV remote control volume and mute commands it can work seamlessly with most TVs. Its own remote is well organized and easy to use. The soundbar console lacks a power button but has an auto on/off feature, and source, volume, and mute controls that are adequately identified and easy to see and access. The console display shows power status, has a highly visible muting status indicator, and source and DSP (digital sound processing) effects mode indicators that are readable from arms length; while it does indicate when the volume is being changed it does not show the volume level.
Features setup and ease of use: Very good overall. Setup: Pairing a Bluetooth device required a long push of a well marked button - easy and straight forward. Ease of Use: The remote is well organized and easy to use. The soundbar console lacks a power button but has an auto on/off feature, and source, volume, and mute controls that are adequately identified and easy to see and access. The console display shows power status, has a highly visible muting status indicator, and source and DSP effects mode indicators that are readable from arms length; while it does indicate when the volume is being changed it does not show the volume level.
