I got a CS-700 setup for our home (a gift for my husband really) for Christmas. I set it up yesterday, so we have had 2 days to try it out. Not very long. But at this point I am really dissapointed with some of the things we have encountered so far.

It might be premature for me to post, because there is probably more troubleshooting, adjustment, learning, etc I should do on my end. And I haven't contacted Klipsch tech support yet. I don't know how many if any of these things are just the way it is, things that need to be adjusted or things that might be defective.

My husband wanted a Bose Wave Radio/CD. It just looked like an alarm clock to me. But he really wanted one. On their website I saw the 321 GS and GSX and realised something like that made much more sense. A 2.1 home theater in a box type of setup. I researched other choices and found 2 from Denon and 2 from Klipsch. And I decided on the Klipsch CS-700.

My main problems with it are with the subwoofer and the user interface with the audio.

Does anyone have experience with any of the following?

When not is use, there is a noise coming from the sub woofer. Kind of a constant hum. The first day it also began making an intermitent buzz kind of noise. I moved it and changed the plug to a different outlet and didn't hear the buzz again. But the hum kind of noise is still there. I have turned it off using the switch on the back. It makes a loud pop/buzz and then is silent. I turned it back on and at first I thought it was silent, but the hum seemed to build again. I turned it off again, pop kind of noise when turning off, turned on and hum definitely still there. AND the periodic buzzing noise was back. Tried again and got same results. I have it turned off now.

I cannot access the audio setting adjustments using the remote and onscreen menu when in TV or DVD mode. Only when in audio mode. So I can't be watching TV and want to adjust the bass or treble while hearing that audio. I have to adjust it and then come back to the TV to see what the results of my adjustments were.

When a CD with mp3's on it is playing and I hit menu to bring up the audio adjustment the audio stops altogether. When I leave the menu it resumes where it left off. But when a regular "store-bought" CD is in I can bring up the audio adjustment menu no problem and listen to the CD while I make adjustments which seems normal and as it should be for mp3's, DVD, and TV.

While listening to the mp3 CD, pressing volume up or down causes a break or blip in the audio, a quick moment of silence. Bringing up the on screen menu of songs also causes this break in the audio. That is not OK.

Also I will set the DVS to Wide and when I go back and look at the menu it keeps going back to Off. When I set it to Wide the subwoofer makes a bump or thump kind of noise. Which I am guessing is it turning "on" But when I leave the menu I hear the bump again which I think is it turning itself off again. Even though I have definitely selected it and pressed enter in the menu, and if I go back to it while still in the menu it is still selected. But when I leave the menu it must be turning off? I don't know. This being off is going to effect how the subwoofer sounds I assume.

To me, the bass seems really heavy and overpowering. I have adjusted it despite the problems with the interface above. I have not had a sub woofer before, so I will chalk this one up to perhaps my needing to adjust to the sound it produces. For now it sounds like weight, not enhancement of the sound. Also, again I will consider this one a matter of an adjustment period, it seems to be pretty disturbing to our cats. I suppose due to the downward speaker vibration into the floor. These are all I assume the nature of a subwoofer that would be occuring whatever system I got. Although maybe different systems would produce different qualities of sub woofer sound.

I really put alot into my selection process and was really psyched to have chosen this one and felt it had the best specs and features. Initially it sounds great compared to what we have had (the speakers on the TV), and it plays my husband's Grateful Dead mp3 CD's which was really all he wanted in the first place. Now I am wondering if I should have just gotten the Bose 321. (or just an mp3 CD player and 2 speakers) I can return this if we decide to, but of course for now I want to try to resolve the issues I can, andfind out which issues are intrinsic to the system itself.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

 This will only bump your request to the top and I won't bash Bose here...I have the Bose "alarm clock" and would rather have had my money and a cheap alarm clock...as an alarm clock it is pretty nice...for stereo sound it is weak in my opinion...Bose does a GREAT job at marketing but the reality falls short in my opinion...

I know Klipsch customer service will take care of you... I have heard the Bose 3-2-1 side by side with the CS-700 and the CS-700 was far and away better...(again, my opinion...)...even the CS-500 was far better soundwise than the Bose 3-2-1 but everyone knows Bose from their marketing...

Stick with it and I am sure you will be very pleased with the product...here's to hoping more will chime in here and help you out a bit...

Merry Christmas...

Bill

Hi Bill, Thanks. That's what I read in all the reviews and info I found online. It is good to hear that is what you experienced when comparing the sound. I kicked myself later for not doing a side by side with the CS-700 and the Bose 321 GS they had at Best Buy (they didn't have the GSX which would have been the one I would have wanted to get). Honestly I don't know if it would have helped, as busy as the store was and the units in different positions in the store. I had already made up my mind when went to the store that I was getting the Klipsch unless for some reason when I saw them "in person" there was some huge reason or aesthetic factor to reconsider. If anything aesthetically the Klipsch in my opinion is more attractive than the Bose. The woofer is larger, but wireless. One big minus to the Klipsch was that when I got it home it just barely doesn't fit in the shelf! I thought I had been checking all the dimensions carefully, but missed it by a smidge. The Klipsch is 3.5" and the Bose 3.25" But definitely not going to sweat that.

watchmefly:

And I haven't contacted Klipsch tech support yet. 

I would do this asap. It is possible that you need a new unit. These things happen from time to time. Klipsch will take care of you either way. I know that it will be hands down better than the Bose once you get it worked out.

Thanks. I think I was a little intimidated at how 

I could communicate all of this to support. Writing out my post helped me organize my thoughts. I took my post and edited it and semt it to their support just now.

Thanks for getting me moving on that!

I am not disappointed, but I do get the same intermittent buzz from the subwoofer. You have experimented far more than I have.

I contacted Klipsch support and they had this to offer regarding the subwoofer:

"Sub - do you happen to have an adapter for the power cord that converts from a three prong cable to a two prong cable? If so, try using this with the subwoofer and see what happens. This is called a ground lift adapter, and we would be checking to see if this is some sort of grounding issue."

A FAQ on their site says "A speaker hum at your listening location is never normal." (You can find the FAQ by going to http://www.klipsch.com/support/faqs/default.aspx and searching for "buzz")

They said all the other issues I mentioned are just the way the system works and not things that can be "fixed". Unfortunately that's not going to work for me, so I am returning it and looking into my other options. But if you can live with those, it definitely sounds like the subwoofer issue is worth trying to resolve with some troubleshooting help from Klipsch.

Hope that helps.

When I purchased my CS-700 system I had a "thumping" noise that came from my subwoofer when the unit was off.   I contacted customer service and they quickly sent me out a new sub.  The new sub didn't solve the problem, so I went back to customer service.  This time they sent a complete new system.  The new system works as it should; perfect. 

I would have designed the system settings to work a little differently, but I can live with it.  I wouldn't trade it for 2 Bose systems.

 I have been extremely impressed in my dealings with Klipsch up to this point.   I hope I never have to contact them again, but I know if I need to they will help me with my problems.