The first major use of electronic speakers came with the inevitable rise of the telephone. They grew even more popular, and nearly ubiquitous, with the rise of desktop minicomputers. With the rise of home theaters across the past few years, the speaking industry has seen yet another boost. This has given rise to a number of big speaker companies trying to innovate and build better speakers every year.
Meanwhile, headsets also evolved overtime to meet the new demands of the market. Headsets provided privacy and an opportunity to listen to something without anyone else getting to know. This led to them becoming so popular over the past few decades that today, it would be safe to say everyone has a headset in their home.
Klipsch vs Bose
The intense competition and rivalry among the big companies in the audio industry has forced them to attract larger portions of the market with their high end speakers and headsets. One such rivalry is between Klipsch and Bose. In the huge market of audio devices where these two giants are often recommended for pretty much any kind of speaker or headset, it can get a bit difficult to determine what’s best for you. But don’t worry! We got you. We have compared the two brands, one by one, listing all their advantages and disadvantages, to save you all the time and effort required to do the boring research work. So here we go:
About Bose
Bose was founded by Amar Bose in 1964. It sells smart speakers, home audio systems, earbuds, headphones and audio glasses. They’re known for their excellent noise cancellation technology, which comes as a result of years of research and development put into this particular area. Bose manufactures a wide range of products, all audio related, and is quite creative and bold about its product designs. Smart speakers manufactured by Bose are quite good, however, they’re easily dwarved in terms of quality and functionality by Amazon’s smart speakers, which are way more popular for the same reason.
The Bose QuietComfort series is the company’s line for its headphones and earbuds. The Bose SoundLink series is the company’s line of portable speakers. Soundbars by Bose are sold under the Smart Soundbar category. Audio Glasses sold by Bose are branded Bose Frames. Bose Smart speaker line is the line for the company’s smart speakers, as the name suggests.
Bose is known for its rather aggressive focus on marketing its products, setting up ads everywhere possible. To keep things simple for customers, Bose has a very simple and organized way to name their products.
Bose speakers have been criticized for being overpriced and of sub par quality. Bose headphones are a bit more popular and tend to grab more attention, however, they often face tough competition from manufacturers like Sony.
About Klipsch
Founded by Paul Wilbur Klipsch in 1946, the company manufactures speakers, earbuds and headphones. Klipsch products feature a clean, simple, and mainly traditional design. Klipsch mainly excels at making home audio systems. Its smart speakers or earbuds aren’t that popular, neither are they excellent value for money products.
Klipsch speakers are more moderately priced than Bose speakers, which make them an excellent competition. However, they have been criticized for using cheaper materials, especially in the lower end models. Klipsch speakers generally take a more “crude” approach to sound, as opposed to Bose’s more researched, sophisticated approach. All Klipsch speakers have an iconic horn for better amplification and dispersion of sound over a large range, thereby increasing the efficiency of the speakers.
Klipsch has a Palladium series of ultra premium products, which are sold only on select platforms and exclusively through special authorized dealers. There are a few more lines of Klipsch speakers which aren’t available on most online retail platforms. There are four major lines of Klipsch products that are available on most retail platforms: the THX series, Synergy series, Reference series, and Reference Premiere series. Klipsch also has a Heritage series, which espouses the original design ideas by the founder, Paul W. Klipsch, and features old school, last century’s design. The Reference Premiere series is the ultra premium series of speakers with the best tech you can get from a Klipsch speaker. The Reference series is a flagship series of high quality Klipsch speakers. The name “Reference” comes from the idea that Klipsch Reference speakers serve as the gold standard for speakers in the market, with other brands using them as a Reference to assess their own speakers’ sound quality. The Synergy series is a wide range of mid range speakers aimed at the mass market.
Buying a Klipsch speaker can be a challenging task as a beginner, because the naming strategy for Klipsch speakers is quite complex, and getting yourself a different speaker than you intend to can prove to be an annoying experience at best and a waste of money at worst. In general, you can remember a few important things to steer yourself clear of trouble. The R-X speakers, where X is any number, are Reference series speakers. The RP-X are Reference Premiere speakers. The SW suffix means the speaker is a subwoofer. The F and FA suffixes are used for Floor standing speakers. The M and PM suffixes are used for Monitor (or Bookshelf) speakers.
Best Bose products
1. Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700
Released in 2019, this pair of headphones is not a part of the QuietComfort series, but is, in many ways, a successor to the QuietComfort 35 Series 2, officially stylized as QuietComfort 35 II. Even though the product was released quite a while ago, it still holds up pretty well. First off, the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 are quite expensive. Even though they’re older, they’re slightly more expensive than the QuietComfort 45. Bose has been quite bold with the design of the Headphones 700, featuring a redesigned headband that gives off an exoskeleton vibe. However, the earcups cannot be folded back as a result. The headphones have eight microphones in total, which is great for voice reception as well as instant reception of background noise for better ANC. The Headphones 700 are a bit heavier than the QuietComfort 35 II, or even the newer QuietComfort 45. As a result, you may feel a bit uncomfortable while wearing them. You get USB-C charging, which has become a standard for cables today. You get touch controls on the right ear cup, which makes it a bit easier to manage some basic controls and settings.
- Excellent ANC
- USB-C Charging
- Touch controls
- Unique design
- May feel a bit heavy on the head
- Cannot be folded
- Expensive
2. Bose Frames Tenor
The Bose Frames have to be one of the most exciting Bose products in the market. The Bose Frames Tenor is a pair of audio glasses: a combination of speakers and sunglasses. Unlike headphones or earbuds, these speakers won’t go in or over your ears. Instead, the speakers are beside your ears and direct sound to your ears using transducers. The Bose Frames Tenor marks a huge improvement in terms of battery life when compared to its predecessor, the Bose Frames Alto. They now last around 6 hours. Since these glasses won’t cover your ears, your ears are not blocked from hearing natural ambient sound. This may not be good news to audiophiles, but it is an extremely viable option for those who want to listen to music while cycling or walking on a sidewalk. You get to listen to music without blocking out the essential ambient sound. You also have the option to swap out the original lenses that come with these glasses, and may choose to get prescription lenses instead. Unlike its predecessors, these lenses are now easily available in the market. The glasses also support touch controls, which help you easily change the volume according to your wish. You can easily answer calls on the go by just pressing the button on the right arm of the glasses. The frames also support digital assistants like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, which make these glasses a little more than just music playing devices. You can activate your digital assistant just by double tapping the frame. They automatically turn off when you put them upside down. The Bose Frames Tenor is IPX2 rated, which means it can withstand vertically dripping water.
- Decent battery life
- Looks like normal glasses
- IPX2 rating
- Supports Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa
- No dust resistance rating
- Not for audiophiles
3. Bose Smart Soundbar 900
Released in September 2021 alongside the Bose QuietComfort 45, the Smart Soundbar 900 is an inescapable option if you’re looking for premium soundbars. The soundbar features Dolby Atmos for high quality audio. It comes with two voice assistants: Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. You’re free to choose any one of them for voice commands; whatever suits you. Starting from the design itself, the Bose Smart Soundbar 900 is unmistakably premium. It has a glass layer on both top and bottom. The drivers on the top deliver specific sounds for bouncing off and creating a more immersive effect. The Smart Soundbar 900 also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity for streaming. It comes in two colors: Black and White. The soundbar is 41 inches long, so it best supports large screened TVs. It comes with its own remote control, which may help you prevent those embarrassing situations where you need to lower the volume quickly but can’t find the TV remote. You can also connect a lot of peripheral devices to enhance your experience, though you won’t exactly get the same experience that you would expect from a surround sound system.
- Dolby Atmos powered speaker
- Voice assistant support
- No surround sound
4. Bose QuietComfort 45
Released in 2021, the Bose QuietComfort 45 is the official successor to the Bose QuietComfort 35 II released in 2018. The most important improvement is the implementation of USB-C, which replaces the micro-USB used in earlier QuietComfort models. This makes it much easier to charge without having to carry a separate cable. The headphones have a total of six microphones, which help in better voice reception and recording, while also doing an excellent job of filtering the background noise out. The QuietComfort 45 has done a big deal of improvement in active noise cancellation (ANC), which makes it a good alternative to the Sony WH-1000XM4. It also features an Aware mode, which enables you to listen to your surroundings by just pressing the Action button on the left ear cup. Despite being released in 2021, the QuietComfort 45 faces huge competition from the Noise Canceling Headphones 700 from 2019.
- Excellent ANC
- Good background noise filter
- Nice design
- USB-C charging
- Faces tough competition from 2019 Noise Canceling Headphones 700
- Expensive
5. Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth speaker
For minimalists, the Bose SoundLink Flex is the perfect speaker. The speaker has dimensions of 3.6″ H x 7.9″ W x 2.1″ D and weighs just 1.3 lbs. It’s highly portable, but you’d be mistaken if you think this speaker doesn’t deliver good quality sound. The speaker delivers decent bass, and the music quality doesn’t disappoint, except if you’re looking for stereo level quality. The speaker is a mono speaker. It comes in 4 color options: Stone Blue, Carmine Red, White Smoke, and Black. It carries an IP67 rating, which means it’s both dust and water resistant. The speaker has Bluetooth functionality. However, it supports Bluetooth 4, and not the newer Bluetooth 5. This means the range of connectivity is significantly lower. Bose claims that the SoundLink Flex has a long battery life of upto 12 hours per charge. That can easily last you for a day of use on a single charge. It also supports digital assistants. There’s a microphone for your voice reception too, which enables you to make and take calls with the speaker. It supports USB-C charging. The speaker sports what Bose likes to call the “PositionIQ technology,” which consists of a set of sensors which detect the position and environment of the speaker to adjust the sound accordingly.
- Bluetooth powered
- USB-C charging
- Long battery life
- Highly portable
- Multiple color options
- Mono speaker
- Could have used Bluetooth 5
Best Klipsch products
1. Klipsch R-41PM
The Klipsch R-41PM is a part of the Klipsch Reference series. They are a pair of bookshelf speakers. They weigh around 19 lbs, which makes them quite light. Each one of them has the iconic Tractrix horn associated with Klipsch speakers, with a 1 inch Linear Travel Suspension (LTS) tweeter inside. Below the Tactrix horn lies a 4 inch woofer. The woofer is copper spun. The speakers are equipped with Bluetooth, enabling you to control them remotely. These speakers don’t look as premium as the Bose speakers, but deliver reliable sound. You get the benefit of stereo sound. If you want a no nonsense, affordably priced pair of speakers to be kept on your shelf or table, the Klipsch R-41M is an easily recommendable choice.
- Lightweight
- Bookshelf speakers, but equipped with Bluetooth
- Stereo speakers
- Not very premium in terms of design
2. Klipsch RP 8060 FA II
The Klipsch RP 8060 FA II is a part of the premium Reference Premiere (RP) series. It is the successor to the Klipsch RP 8060 FA released in 2018. It’s a floorstanding speaker powered by Dolby Atmos for high quality sound. It stands 48 inches tall and weighs 76 pounds, making it taller and heavier than the Klipsch RP 8060 FA. It is available in 2 color options: Ebony and Walnut. Unlike the bookshelf speakers sold by Klipsch, floorstanding speakers aren’t sold in pairs. You can buy it in a single piece. It features a 6.5” Dolby Atmos Elevation speaker on the top that directs the sound toward the ceiling instead of you. The sound gets reflected off the ceiling and gives you a more realistic 3D sound experience. It features a 1 inch LTS Tweeter with the Tractrix horn. Below that, you have two 8 inch woofers. On the rear, you have another Tractrix horn for better airflow, which helps minimize distortions in the sound. The speaker has dual input terminals, which means you can bi amp your speakers if you want. It also comes with a magnetic removable grille.
- Bi amp and Bi wire support
- Dolby Atmos powered speaker
- Premium
- Rear Tractrix horn for better airflow
- Removable magnetic grille
- Heavy
3. Klipsch Heritage The One II
The Klipsch Heritage series is one of the most iconic sets of Klipsch products in the market. These speakers have a unique design that sets them apart, rivaling those of Bose. All Klipsch Heritage speakers sport a vintage look that may look like retro tech from your grandparents’ times, but have ultra modern tech hidden inside. Klipsch Heritage series has a lot of speakers, all based on the original design ideas of Paul W. Klipsch. However, it has two “the X” series wireless speakers: Klipsch Heritage The One and Klipsch Heritage the Three. Klipsch Heritage The One II is the second generation of the Klipsch Heritage The One speaker. It is a Bluetooth tabletop speaker that weighs just 8.4 pounds. It comes in two color variants: Walnut and Matte Black. With dimensions of 12.68 x 5.83 x 5.51 inches, it is certainly not as portable as the Bose SoundLink Flex, but it isn’t trying to be either. It gives you a fuller, much better sound experience. It doesn’t have the latest Bluetooth 5; Klipsch opted for Bluetooth 4 instead. It is a stereo speaker, unlike the Bose SoundLink Flex. It sports a 4.5 inch woofer, which proves enough to fill your room with sound. This is something not seen in most portable Bluetooth speakers available in the market.
- Stereo speaker
- Bluetooth equipped
- Unique vintage look
- Could have used a newer Bluetooth version
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Last update on 2023-06-03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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