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Pinnacle Speakers Reviews the KLH Kendall Floor Standing Speaker
I think that there’s one thing us audiophiles can all agree on:
Everything you do – whether it’s watching a movie in your home theater or chilling with your favorite tunes playing in the background – becomes ten times better when you have speakers that can rise to the occasion and take the entire experience on a whole new level.
And that’s why I’m going to cut things short here and get straight to the point:
You know why you’re here – to find the best floor standing speakers on the market.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t even bother reading this right now, am I right?
So, why not jump straight to it and find you some speakers that pack enough of a punch to rock your world?
Buying The Best Floor Standing Speakers? Here’s What To Look For
So, what makes an excellent floorstanding speaker?
When it comes to the so-called tower speakers, the answer is much more complicated than you might think:
You want tangible performance-related benefits – a bass that can dig deep, and a speaker that is not only powerful but efficient enough to turn that power into room-filling, clear, well-balanced sound.
But at the same time, all these specifications and sound delivery are only a part of the equation with floor standing speakers. The other half, of course, is their design.
You can’t have a pair of large, attention-grabbing tower speakers sitting in the middle of the room, and have them look all ugly and out-of-place, now, can you?
I mean, you could – but it will be a not-so-pleasant sight.
So, be sure to take design and aesthetics into account, too.
It’s not that different from buying a new piece of furniture for your living room. Sure, you want it to be comfortable and functional – but the actual design and aesthetics matter, as well.
That said, what better place to start your search than my detailed best floor standing speakers buyer’s guide?
separate the frequencies into lows, mids, and highs by adding a mid-range driver into the mix, to produce more detailed sound.
Frequency Response
If I were to explain frequency in the simplest way possible, I’d say that it’s a measure of how low or how high the sound is.
And as such, the more extensive the frequency response range of the speakers in question, the more details and clarity you’ll hear in the sounds they produce. So, pay attention to what you’re getting frequency-wise.
Now, remember:
The human ear can distinguish sounds within the 20 Hz to 20 kHz range.
And while in practice that might be the upper limit of our hearing, don’t be surprised to see speakers that go well beyond it.
Why?
Well, things aren’t always that simple. I mean, sure, a new set of speakers won’t give you super-human hearing – your ears probably won’t pick up any new tones beyond that 20-kHz limit, no matter how broad of a frequency range the speakers have.
However, there will most certainly be a distinct difference in how detailed and precise the sounds are throughout the range – and that’s what matters here.
Wattage & Power Ratings
Okay, let’s start with the apparent part:
All floor-standing speakers require electricity to produce sound. That’s why the speaker’s power rating is so vital for determining what you can expect from it performance-wise.
Of course, I wouldn’t say that wattage is everything – a few other factors contribute to the speaker’s sound output.
However, if you want them to be able to go super loud without affecting the quality of sound, you’ll have to pick something with a bit more power to it.
Also referred to as wattage, this is the power that the speaker is capable of pushing out, and is usually split up into two separate categories – continuous (RMS) and pear power.
The latter refers to the speaker’s total maximum capacity – but they can only keep those levels up for shorter periods.
If you’d like a more realistic take on the speaker’s power, focus on what they can push out continuously, instead.
Sensitivity
This one’s pretty easy – sensitivity, sometimes also referred to as efficiency, directly relates to loudness:
It defines how well your speaker converts power into volume – or how loud the speaker will go when a specific amount of energy is put through them.
In theory, if you were given several different speakers that have everything in common, except for their sensitivity levels, and gave them the same amount of power, you would notice a difference in how loud they all are.
In practice, though, things aren’t as simple as that, because there’s no universal testing or standard. So, while sensitivity does give you an idea of how much sound the speakers will put out, you should still take these ratings with a grain of salt.
Be that as it may, 88 dB or more is what you should aim to get from a tower speaker sensitivity-wise. As you’ll see later on in my best floor standing speakers reviews, a lot of top-of-the-line models go well beyond that point and shoot for 98-dB sensitivity.
Speaker Drivers
Speaker drivers can be described as individual engines in charge of producing sound – but they can only be so powerful on their own.
That’s why a higher number of drivers in a single floor-standing unit typically ensures a richer, more detailed sound.
If you’re looking for rough guidelines and recommendations regarding the number of drivers per server, here they are:
You should aim to get at least three drivers per speaker – anything less, and you’re in for a not-so-stellar audio experience.
The three categories of drivers you’ll usually find in floor-standing speakers are tweeters, reserved for high-pitched sounds, mid-range drivers, and woofers, which tackle the lower range and bass lines.
Oh, and I’d like to take a second to talk about two different setups commonly seen in tower speakers – two-way or three-way configurations. I’ll keep it short and simple, so pay attention:
- Two-way speakers split the frequencies into two – lows and highs – by employing two types of drivers – tweeters and woofers.
- Three-way speakers separate the frequencies into lows, mids, and highs by adding a mid-range driver into the mix, to produce more detailed sound
When it comes to the so-called tower speakers, the answer is much more complicated than you might think:
2. Close Second: KLH Kendall 3-Way Floorstanding Speaker
Our Rating: 84/100
There are only a few speaker brands that are famous enough that even non-audiophiles recognize their name – and I’d say that KLH is one of them.
And what you’re looking at here is the KLH’s flagship tower speaker, a handsome tower with a three-way design, better known as Kendall.
So, is Kendall truly the best floor standing speaker under $1000 that has everything going for it – from design to performance?
Read on and find out!
The design
Design-wise, the KLH Kendall floor-standing speaker is an absolute beauty – every single detail is subjected to achieving a high-quality look, worthy of being the center of attention in any room.
Configured as a three-way speaker, it combines a total of four drivers:
Its components include a one-inch anodized aluminum tweeter, a woven Kevlar, a 5.25-inch mid-range driver, and two 6.5-inch Kevlar woofers.
The low-resonance cabinet further complements the quality of its internal components, featuring real-wood veneers and low-profile magnetic grilles with no visible attachment points to enhance that streamlined, clean look of the speaker further.
Plus, it comes with rubber feet and chrome-plated floor spikes, which not only add stability but decouple it from the floor, too.
The performance
The first specifications that caught my eye – besides the four-driver configuration that is – were the 250-watt RMS power rating and the custom-designed, multi-element crossover.
The result was a smooth blend of frequencies among the four drivers, throughout the 25 Hz to 23 kHz range.
What blew me away was how efficient these floor-standing speakers are. The Kendall boasts a sensitivity rating of 96 dB, which, if you remember what we talked about previously, goes above and beyond the average 88-dB sensitivity.
As a result, they don’t drain a ton of power but still manage to deliver big sound – and match well with a wide range of modern amplifiers.
I put it to the test with quite a few tracks and genres, and the result was always the same – excellent tonal versatility and dynamic range. I was beyond impressed with its expansive soundstage and room-filling bass.
Kendall even delivered that “live show“ feel where it was needed, too. It reproduced sound with natural details and deep bass that could be both heard and felt.
Top Floor-Standing Speakers – Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Floor-standing vs. bookshelf speakers – which one’s better?
A: Floor-standing speakers tend to be the favored type among audiophiles searching for the perfect home theater setup. They’re large enough to fit multiple drivers – tweeters, mid-range, and woofers – and in some cases, even an additional passive radiator or integrated powered subwoofer that extends their low-frequency output. That said, bookshelf speakers still have their fans, too. So, yes, it all depends on where – and how – you plan on using your new speakers.
Q: What is the speaker’s wattage?
A: Everyone knows that the speaker’s wattage is in charge of producing room-filling, booming sound. However, the power rating can be quite an interesting concept, since it usually comes with two different sets of numbers. One is the RMS rating or the speaker’s wattage consumption during continuous use, and the other is the peak power rating, which shows the maximum wattage capabilities in short bursts.
Q: What is the speaker’s sensitivity?
A: Arguably, just as important as the wattage rating is the speaker’s sensitivity. This specification, expressed in dB, tells you about the unit’s efficiency. More precisely, it shows how efficient the speaker is in converting sheer power into volume output. Given the same amount of energy, speakers with higher sensitivity will deliver better sound quality and output levels.
Q: Three-way vs. two-way floor-standing speakers – which one’s better?
A: To say that three-way speakers are better than two-way speakers would be a hard generalization – something I’m not fond of at all. However, one can’t deny the fact that a speaker with a higher number of drivers has more components, each dedicated to specific frequency ranges. That may lead to a more accurate, better audio performance coming from three-way floor-standing speakers.
Conclusion
Each of the floor-standing speakers I’ve shown you today can be the right choice – it all depends on what you’re looking to get performance and design-wise. I’d say that’s pretty apparent here.
Drop me a line if you agree – or let me know about your personal favorite in the comment section!