Klipsch unveils the first Dolby Atmos soundbar with Dirac Live elite room correction – and it’s crammed with extra features too
There’s a new flagship in Klipsch’s Flexus family and it’s a seriously smart soundbar.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Klipsch has announced a new member of its Flexus family, a joint venture between the firm and Japanese AV expert Onkyo. The new Flexus Core 300 - Powered By Onkyo, to give it its full name, is a 5.1.2-channel soundbar and the world’s first soundbar to come with Dirac Live Room Correction.
Dirac Live Room Correction is designed to deliver a clearer, more accurate sound with tighter bass. It does that by analyzing the sonic characteristics of your room and adjusting the sound accordingly, reducing unwanted resonances and adjusting timings to compensate for acoustic reflections. It’s similar to the tech used inSonos' TruePlay system, or the SpaceFit sound correction inSamsung’s soundbars… but Dirac Live is the hardcore version thatelitehome theater installers use. This requires a special mic, which is provided in the box.
And that’s not the only reason you’ll want to hear this soundbar in your home. The rest of the spec is pretty impressive too.
Klipsch Flexus Core 300 soundbar: key features and pricing
The new Flexus Core 300 is now the flagship of the range, sitting above theCore 200 and 100 models we saw back in January. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and inside you’ll find two 2.25-inch up-firing, two 2.25-inch side-firing and four 2.25-inch front-firing drivers. There are four 4-inch subwoofers for low-end thump and a dedicated center channel with Klipsch’s horn-loaded tweeter.
To pair with the new soundbar to create a full surround system, there’s also the new Flexus Surround 200 wireless surround speakers with up-firing drivers for Atmos, and a new Flexus Sub 200 wireless subwoofer with a 12-inch high-excursion woofer. You can connect up to two Sub 200s to any of the Flexus Core soundbars – combine all of this together and you’ve got a surround system with four upfiring channels and serious bass.
There’s HDMI passthrough that includes8Ksupport (and presumably4K120Hz, though Klipsch didn’t explicitly state this), which is still relatively rare (theSamsung HW-Q990DandSony HT-A7000support it, though).
There’s Wi-Fi and Ethernet for network streaming powers, plus Bluetooth for a direct connection from phone to soundbar.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
There’s a new app too, called Connect Plus. Available for iOS and Android it gives you one-tap access to input selection, EQ presets and streaming services such as Spotify and Tidal Connect. It also works withGoogleCast andApple’s AirPlay.
All of these new products will be available towards the end of 2024, and the Flexus Core 300 will have an official price of $999 (about £760 / AU$1,470), while the Flexus Surround 200 set will cost $399 (about £300 / AU$590), and the Flexus Sub 200 will cost $499 (about £380 / AU$730).
You might also like
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
Sonos Arc Ultra review: the best one-box Dolby Atmos soundbar for the price, with one grating flaw
Vizio’s new Dolby Atmos soundbar is also a karaoke machine, because why not
NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, November 10 (game #252)
