Loudness war to the extreme
352174
The albums in this box-set feature some of the worst "loudness war" mastering I've ever had the chance to analyze. I'm not going to get into much detail on what the "loudness war" is - look it up on Google and YouTube for a few thousand examples. In simple terms, a recording is said to have been victimized by the "loudness war" when it was mastered with the audio volume so high that it exceeds the limits of the CD format specifications. Among other nasty effects like unwanted distortion and loss of dynamic range, this usually causes "clipping", that is, parts of the audio simply don't "fit" into the CD's volume range and are cut off, or in other words, lost. It doesn't matter if you play a "loudness war" CD at low or high volume - it will always sound distorted, uncomfortable to listen to, and you simply won't be hearing everything that was in the original recording because much of the audio was lost or damaged in the production of the CD. Recording companies have been cannibalizing musical masterpieces like these albums for years now, and I wonder why no class action has been filed against them yet for what is, in a nutshell, a crime against the consumers.
2742785
Wow, this sounds amazing!!!  We try to be conscious of the sound being too loud for neighbors but even at reasonable levels it sounds incredible.
4650257
Great product, lots of good features. But wow, its loud.  The lowest setting on volume is still too loud.  Wish there was a firmware upgrade to fix this.
4567169
Imaging is great, sound quality is generally super. But, and a huge BUT, they are way, way too boomy (with default Bass/Treble knobs) in the 150Hz range. WIth plastic enclosures, this frequency range seems to resonate the cabinets. An EQ adjustment can flatten the response out (don't have it on mac unless using iTunes or installing Boom app ($). After EQ, bass is pretty flat until about 80Hz then totally drops out... probably a -18dB/oct drop and the EQ can't solve that- the speakers will destroy themselves.

Also note: VERY TALL.
4948010
The Good:

Noise cancelling is excellent. Engine hum and road noise in my car, the atrocious music played in my health club, and TV drone are suppressed.

The ear buds are comfortable and stay in place.

The Bad:

I feel unpleasant pressure in my ear when noise suppression is turned on. The pressure is more pronounced when no music is playing.

The Ugly:

The head phones I had been using are fairly good over the ear Ultrasone HFI-700's. I am not an audiophile so it takes a pretty dramatic sound difference for me to notice.  By comparison to the Ultrasones music from the QC 20is sounded like it was filtered through a wet blanket. Symphonic music was lifeless. I couldn't hear individual instruments. Modern pop electronic music was less affected but the difference was still there.

The QC 20i's are still much better than the ear buds that came with my Iphone. I did not know that you cannot return earphones. I wish I had read all the Amazon comments before buying these. I will definitely use them to blot out the noise, but I wonder if I could have found good noise cancelling headphones that also have good sound.
1467000
Pipes are very loud. Awesome for people who want loud.
111958
The music is good. I'm not here to review the album but the actual engineering of the album. This CD is LOUD as a jackhammer. The album dynamic range is only 5db and every song is trying to louder than the last. Get the vinyl if you like your ears. Sound Check actually rates the volumes from -5.9 to -8.0. Please stop this LOUDNESS WAR already.
1190237
I loved this speakers. The sound is incredible... so incredible that at my birthday party, my neighboors had to call the police to lower the volume of the music! preferred 100%
1417474
I'm running these speakers alongside a Creative SoundBlaster Live! audio card and only begin to notice distortion when listening at volume levels exceeding 80%.  If you like to BLAST! your speakers, these are not for you.  However, if you listen at reasonable volume levels the theater sound will blow you away! Alot of sound for a small price.
571034
Where is the "Stealth"?  This were insanely loud! Bought a different brand and it made a world of difference.
4866360
These speakers are very efficient and can be driven with a 20 watt amp. The reason they're so efficient is the horn mid-range and tweeter. They sound like they're shouting at you. The bass is ill defined and I just could not get these speakers to sound good. I'd keep looking. Maybe it's just me, but I just do not like the sound of Klipsch speakers. From Klipschhorns to La Scallas, the horn loaded system just does nothing for me and I've been an audiophile for 35 years. If you want to use a low powered single ended class A tube amp, these may work for you. Otherwise try B&W. Even their bookshelf models will sound better.
1173488
Harsh sound.  To get any kind of decent sound, the Variable Loudness had to be engaged to the point there was too little power.
485076
IT'S TOO LOUD! Plain and simple. This is one case where the "Loudness Wars" has claimed a victim. The original Combat CD is too quiet, and this disc is too loud. And the bonus disc is trivial-you'll listen to it once and then never again. The loss of dynamic range really hurts this one. Can someone simply remaster this at a decent level?
466506
I really want to like this soundbase. It checks everything that I'm looking for from a compact audio system. However, the fact that I cannot turn off the surround is a major issue. The audio sounds amazing when playing movies. Many times I thought I had speakers behind my couch. AccuVoice is good for dialogue and Audio leveling feature works fine if not a little muffling.

What makes this soundbase unbearable is strictly when playing music. All I can hear is audio but not the vocal. Tried adjusting it on numerous settings to no avail. Tested from different sources via optical, coaxial, and 3.5mm cable. Some sounds sound fine while others do not.
1663258
I have these set up in a rather large room and the speakers are loud! the bass rattles all 3 floors of my house! sound quality remains great even at high volumes. And WOW at the size of the subwoofer. Way larger than I was expecting The only thing i wasn't prepared for was the input for the 5.1. I use these mainly with my laptop / Ipod and had to purchase an adaptor (link below). Not a huge drawback. Overall great buy. Don't waste your money on a logitech z5500.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006U3ACY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
538754
LOUD!!!! Wish the amp had an equalizer adjustment, though. Without an equalizer app, they sound terrible. Download or adjusted your phone's equalizer settings, though, and these things kick some serious ass.
729041
I must agree and add my $0.02. It is VERY OBVIOUS to me that this is too loud on the mastering job.

If I could send it back, I would - they screwed this up. People spending this much money should have the real deal

Here's a CRAZY IDEA - with a zillion discs in these 'deluxe' editions, WHY NOT HAVE THE MAIN ALBUM PRESENTED WITH PROPERLY NORMALIZED AUDIO AND ANOTHER WITH THE LOUD VERSION - People might actually learn the difference.

PS: In general, you're better with a properly mastered CD and turning up the volume yourself