Final Verdict

FiringSquad says:

Economics prevents me from giving the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system the score that engineers earned -a score in the mid 90s. In terms of performance, the Klipsch ProMedia is among the best, I have repeated this many times in the review. However, when it comes to price, the competition is too crowded to award victory to the ProMedia 2.1.

At $200, the ProMedia 2.1 system isn't cheap. With $200, you could get a 5.1 system from other manufacturers and possibly a dolby digital decoder in the package. Those systems won't sound as good with music, where the standards are higher, but in games and movies fidelity isn't the most important factor. Still, the Klipsch's will play louder than most of these multi-speaker competitors.

When listening to CDs or MP3s on your computer, the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 will outplay the Midiland and Cambridge systems. Throw in a DVD, however, and the 5.1 systems will more closely recreate the multi-channel theater experience. That said, the Klipsch subwoofer still does a great job with movies.

Among the 2.1 systems, the ProMedia is right up there with the more expensive speakers from VideoLogic. Today's gaming market demands a little more than a simple 2.1 setup. For gamers, the Klipsch ProMedia v.2 400 remains a better value than the ProMedia 2.1, in addition, the ProMedia v.2 400s will be easier to find this holiday season.

We are still waiting for the next generation Klipsch system that will be called the "Big Daddy" of the ProMedia series…