Features

Simplcity

The ProMedia 2.1 is no frills product. Installation can be completed in a matter of minutes without once consulting the owners manual. Reading the manual would probably add another minute or two to the setup time.

An attached stereo mini-jack cable connects the sound card or portable music player to the control pod which has a second cable to the sub. One problem with this setup is that the lengths of the wires going into the control pod are fixed, thus limiting creativity in speaker placement. These wires are about 2 meters long. For a small office or bedroom, this limitation should not be a problem. A similar restriction is placed on the satellites as well, the included cables are 3 meters long. These cables are a mono mini-jack to two bare wires, a cable type that is not readily available or replaced.

The main guts of the system are held within the subwoofer enclosure. Here, the signal is amplified and sent to the satellite speakers. As long as you know your left hand from your right hand, you will be fine. Notice the power switch that Klipsch added to the back of the subwoofer.

Subwoofer back

One thing I want everyone to notice is the replaceable fuse on the back of the sub. It is rated at 2 amps, at 250V, or 500 watts. Klipsch came prepared to do battle in our dorm rooms and office spaces. The ProMedia 2.1s are designed to play loud. Many systems have internal fuses, but an easily accessible fuse just begs to be tested. FiringSquad holds no responsibility for any associated damages incurred while trying the blow that fuse.

Break me!

There are no bass or treble controls like with other systems. The only controls are system volume and subwoofer volume. Once again, Klipsch offers a recommended subwoofer setting, with a mark at the 10 o'clock position. Even at this conservative subwoofer volume, you could already feel rocket blasts or the strumming of the bass guitar.

The controls

Too Simple?

Palm computing has shown us that sometimes simple is better than complex. Instead of allocating resources to features, Klipsch simply put all the money in the drivers and amplifier. This decision should bring a smile to music lovers everywhere. Purists will also rejoice, since many believe that all the extra circuitry of tone controls does nothing but degrade the sound. With a compromise between features and sound quality, I would go with sound quality.