I bought these to replace an old pair of Bose 201 Series III. I was a little worried about the bass after seeing a few reviews mention it. The Bose had 6" woofers compared to the 4" woofers in these, so I was fully expecting a drop in bass output.
To my absolute shock, these little speakers put out SIGNIFICANTLY MORE bass than the much larger Bose, while being much clearer and less muddled. If you really want to feel the bass in your chest cavity, sure add a subwoofer, but IMO, its totally unnecessary. These things easily fill my living room with clear, booming bass and actually rattle the walls if I turn my stereo up too loud.
The overall sound quality is fantastic as well. They have a nice wide sound stage and I'm hearing details I've never heard before in songs I've been listening to for years. All around great speakers.
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From the manufacturer
RP-400M Bookshelf Speakers
The RP-400M bookshelf speakers offer maximum versatility without sacrificing performance from a small, yet elegant audio solution. Designed as main speakers for a compact living space or surround sound to support a Reference Premiere speaker system, the RP-400M bookshelf speakers are the ideal choice for your home theater system.
HORN ANATOMY
Klipsch Reference Premiere series speakers feature a compressed molded silicon face thats matted to the 90x90 Tractrix horn to reduces horn resonance for a smoother frequency response.
ALL-NEW VENTED TWEETER
A vented tweeter design reduces standing waves behind the tweeter diaphragm for a smoother high frequency reproduction. The titanium tweeter diaphragm's light weight yet rigid composition exceeds the performance of aluminum, polymer or silk tweeters.
WOOFER ANATOMY
Klipsch Cerametallic cones are matted to a dual-layer, copper-wound voice coil for exceptional conductivity.
Reference Premiere woofers are housed in a non-resonating, stamped-steel basket that’s secured to a large magnet motor for exceptional efficiency and low distortion.
REAR TRACTRIX PORT
The rear Tractrix port of the R-400M bookshelf speakers is perfectly matched to the cabinet and woofers, creating ideal airflow with minimal distortion or turbulence even at the lowest frequencies.
FINISHED TO PERFECTION
The RP-400M ebony finishes boasts a satin painted baffle with a scratch resistant design for an elegant audio solution to your home theater system.
Strong, flexible, magnetic grilles provide protection and a sleek aesthetic to compliment your home's decor.
Compare with similar items
This Item  Klipsch RP-400M Reference Premiere Bookshelf Speakers - Pair (Ebony) | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $299.99 | -46% $325.00 List: $599.00 | $649.00 | $249.00 | -30% $279.00 List: $399.00 |
| Delivery | — | — | — | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 14 | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 14 | Get it as soon as Monday, Apr 14 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Electronics Expo (Authorized Dealer) | Beach Camera Same Day Shipping | Acoustic Sound Design Inc | Amazon.com | Huppins |
| speaker size | 4 inches | 4 inches | 5.25 inches | 6.5 inches | 10.16 centimeters | 13.33 centimeters |
| power source | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric | Corded Electric |
| connectivity tech | Wired | Binding Post Pair | Wired | Wired | Bluetooth | Speaker Cable |
| speaker type | Bookshelf | Bookshelf, Surround Sound | Monitor | Bookshelf | Bookshelf | Monitor |
| mounting type | Shelf Mount | Shelf Mount | Tabletop Mount | Tabletop Mount | Tabletop Mount | Shelf Mount |
| weight | 9 pounds | — | 13 pounds | 18 pounds | 14 pounds | 22 pounds |
| control method | remote | touch | remote | remote | remote | remote |
| model name | Klipsch RP-400M Ebony | R 41M | RP-500M II Eby | RP-600M II Eby | R-40M | R-50M |
| woofer diameter | 4 inches | 4 inches | 5.25 inches | 6.5 inches | 4 inches | 5.25 inches |
| subwoofer diameter | — | 4 inches | 5.25 inches | 6.5 inches | 4 inches | 5.25 inches |
Small speakers with big clear sound
As expected, excellent quality and sound. I have them as surrounds to go with my Klipsch tower speakers. They are perfect for movies, music, you name it... In regards to the seller, I initially was hesitant to not order directly from the Klipsch website, but any initial concern was erased when I received the speakers. Pretty much the equivalent of quality and care you’d expect when ordering directly from the Klipsch website. All good, all around!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2021
- Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2020
As expected, excellent quality and sound. I have them as surrounds to go with my Klipsch tower speakers. They are perfect for movies, music, you name it...
In regards to the seller, I initially was hesitant to not order directly from the Klipsch website, but any initial concern was erased when I received the speakers. Pretty much the equivalent of quality and care you’d expect when ordering directly from the Klipsch website.
All good, all around!
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2022
- Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2021
- Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021
- Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2021
- Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2020
These speakers are everything they say they are. Outstanding! Perfect for my rear surround. Beautifully built and very attractive! Sound is solid and clear!
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2018
Top reviews from other countries
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- LydiaReviewed in Australia on February 17, 2021
Klipsch RP-400M Impressions as Desktop Speakers for leisure
So here's a picture of the RP400M on my desk with a 30 cm rule and xbox controller for size references. I would say that the footprint is true to its 4 inch woofer size (comparing to my previous Presonus E4.5) but that it is significantly taller.LydiaKlipsch RP-400M Impressions as Desktop Speakers for leisure
Reviewed in Australia on February 17, 2021
I gave my Presonus E4.5 to a family member looking for good computer speakers knowing that it would give me an excuse to go out shopping for new ones. I limited myself to 4 inch speakers since I found the 5.25 inch speakers to be far too big to comfortably put on a desk. Previously I was looking at actively powered speakers like the Audioengine, Presonus, Mackie, Edifier and decided upon the E4.5 ultimately because of the front IO and unoffensive black and blue colour theme. Gosh they also sounded very good for sub $300 AUD. If you have never listened to music on expensive gear before, then these would be more than enough to leave you satisfied for the rest of your life. Since I would be too, if I didn't have to give them away.
Back to the RP400M. I'm using a Topping PA3 desktop amplifier to power these speakers. According to the user manual, these RP400M's are 8 ohm speakers and the PA3 is supposedly capable of 40W per channel for 8 Ohm. More than enough power for near-field use. I'm using the line out of my computer - Asus B550 gaming-f motherboard. Probably has one of the best on-board audio solutions. Let's get to the "negatives". As a complete package (RP400M + AMP + all the cables you need to buy individually) it came to around $900 AUD. The sound is not 3x, not $600 AUD more than the Presonus E4.5 (also plugged into the same motherboard). The E4.5 are "studio monitors" and supposedly adds less colour to the music. When ABA comparing the two, I notice the RP400 can play lower bass tones and plays shrill sounds like electric guitars louder. It is definitely V-shaped compared to the E4.5. Vocals seem a tad thinner on the RP400M's, I feel there is with more emphasis on the high-pitch nasal quality of voices. If I wasn't comparing the two speakers, I probably wouldn't really notice or care at all.
To the biggest downside I've found - the treble fidelity. Not sure if it is the speakers, or the AMP (but definitely not the onboard audio DAC), the RP400M's have poorer treble fidelity than the E4.5. Have you listened to music that has triangles, or cowbells, or a person running their hand over a series of windcharms? On the E4.5 (placed in the same location on the desk), you can definitely hear them and can almost track where they are coming from in the sound stage. But on the RP400M's, I can't. In fact, it seems a struggle? Whereas on the E4.5 the sparkles ands high notes are clear and defined, I struggle to hear so on the RP400M's. You can hear the notes of the bells and such, but when you close your eyes and try to figure out where they are. It sounds like a lot of the sounds are coming from the same place inside a tunnel - there is "space" around the sound, and you get the direction, but you can't "image" the precise locations of the instruments since they are mushed together. My guess is that these are designed for home theatres and so the waveguides aren't designed for listening ~1 metre away. Or that the tractrix horns can't match silk dome tweeters for near-field? But that sense of "space" does work with certain genres: movies and orchestra.
Now is what I said a bad thing? No but it definitely reminds you that the RP400M were intended to be used for home theatre setups. You can definitely pump more power into these speakers. Unlike active speakers, these are passive so you need to buy your own AMP (or Stereo Receiver). In my case, I found the PA3 to deliver more than enough loudness. It definitely gets louder than the E4.5. Plus your choice of an AMP means that you can spend money on one that has a lower noise floor. The hiss produced by the PA3 is definitely less than the E4.5 which seemed to have a much higher frequency hiss sound (~1 metre away), but still quieter than the dual 140 mm fans on my PC (~1 metre as well).
The last point I'll make is that these look fantastic. The copper accents are beautiful and probably won't clash with your colour palette. If the exposed look isn't your thing, there are 2 magnetic cloth grilles included. These feel sturdy enough and the interesting arrangement of the magnetic polarities means that the frames "seek" their correct position. So long as you "try" to put the grilles in the approximate position, the magnets will do the rest and align them nicely. I really didn't notice much of a sound difference having them on- maybe a smoothing over of the absolutely higher frequencies? The MDF wood cabinets are very solid and the wood veneer warps around the sides and top smoothly so there are no unseemly creases. The wood grain texture seems legit enough. There is an artificial silver shine added to the veneer. If you are more than 5 cm away, this silver shading emphasizes the wood grain and looks fantastic under all lighting conditions. But upon super close inspection (<5 cm), you will notice that the colour printing is not particularly high resolution - you can definitely see the individual print dots. The front fascia is a separate piece of wood finished satin black. So sitting 1 metre from the speakers, you will see the clean satin black face with the copper accents and get hints of the shiny wood veneer peaking around sides of the cabinets. But curiosity will kill the cat of those who then want to get a super up-close look of the wood finish. But then that's what you aren't paying for.
So do I recommend these? If you looking for just simple desktop speakers on a budget. You could do just as well with active studio monitors by Mackie, Presonus etc. Plus you won't have to bother researching about desktop AMPs and DACs. But ignoring the price, am I satisfied? Perhaps. The bigger sound makes watching movies more engaging, the bass digs lower than the E4.5 to the point that I don't think I'll even bother with a subwoofer, and the premium aesthetics does at least justify the some of the price hike. But, it is also a no, since the total system ended up being 3x the E4.5 and isn't a definitive winner in my use case. So the RP400M's do sound fantastic for their $650 AUD price, but factoring in the cost of the PA3 Amp and the speaker wires (to get it to work) which makes it $900 AUD, it is far less compelling value proposition for desktop use. But after a few months and the price of these is buried under all the other bills and forgotten, I can definitely say that I'll be satisfied. And isn't that the most important thing after all?
Update: May 5th, 2021 (a few months later) = I guess I'm okay with the speakers. My biggest gripe is still the treble. For desktop use, it is not as detailed and proficient as my previous E4.5. Strums on guitar strings, violins and pianos don't sound nearly as intimate because you cannot hear the musician's touch.
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