Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system review: Spectacular ’nuff said

It has been a long time since I’ve had a Klipsch product in my studio to review and I did not know what to expect. The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 showed up a few weeks ago and was ready for me to review. The only problem was, I had to leave on a two-week vacation. That meant leaving Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 waiting for me inside its boxes for two more weeks. I could hear it crying as we pulled out of the driveway; “Alex, come back, listen to me, use me, you won’t want to go on vacation.”

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

I am grateful that I have a strong will, or more truthfully, I was so wrapped up in prepping for vacation that I could not find the time to unbox the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200, the sub, and the surrounds. So the CORE 200 setup just sat on my floor in its boxes for two more weeks. I am grateful that I was too busy to unpack this system when it came in because after listening to it for the first time, I would not have wanted to leave for vacation. I truly did not know what to expect from this system, but what I found was nothing short of amazing. Let’s get into it!

Before we start, this review covers not only the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 soundbar, but it covers the soundbar paired with its surround and subwoofer speakers. I should also mention that the Flexus system is a joint effort between Klipsch and Onkyo sound.

The Quick Take

It’s a rare thing that a product takes so little time to make an impression on me. The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 managed to excite me the moment I fired it up and started watching movies with it. Setup is a breeze, though I will say that it took three attempts for the surrounds to properly pair, and I am not a fan of having a separate dongle for Bluetooth transmission. It would have been nice to have that built-in the soundbar. But a minor gripe.

As for the sound, this is one of the best all-in-one home theater solutions I’ve ever used. The clarity is spectacular. Movies sound BIG and BOLD when using the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 and its surround and subwoofer. That’s about as quick a quick take I could do.

Overall, this is just a phenomenal piece of kit. The combo of Klipsch and Onkyo has really produced a major player in the home theater, soundbar market. You could buy a more expensive Samsung flagship soundbar setup, but this gets you most of the way there at a little smaller price.

Specifications

The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 Sound System has the following features and specifications:

Klipsch Flexus CORE 200

Klipsch Flexus Subwoofer

Klipsch Flexus Surrounds

What’s In The Box

• Klipsch Flexus CORE 200
• Klipsch Flexus SUB 100
• Klipsch Flexus SURR 100
• Power Cables
• HDMI Cable
• Bluetooth Dongles
• Remote
• Manuals and Documentation

Design

The overall design of the Flexus system is handsome, robust, and well-built. Materials used throughout all three devices consist of a mixture of aluminum, wood, plastics, and rubber. All the material feels premium, and nothing feels cheap or like it’s ready to fall apart. A very solid build and a very solid mix of materials.

Let’s start with the subwoofer. The bottom of the subwoofer has four nice sized rubber feet that keep it nicely glued to the ground. The sides are void of anything and the top has the Klipsch logo, which does light up with a white LED when the sub is on.

The back of the subwoofer has four rubber hooks (which could be used as feet if you want to point the speaker upward) that you can use to wrap your power cord around for cable management. There is also the power port, a subwoofer 1/2 button (you could pair two subs to this system if you wanted to), a pair button, a sub in port, and a USB-C service port. The front houses the sub itself.

The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system surrounds are also simple looking, these feel a little light. They don’t feel cheap, but they are a little lighter than expected. The front has the speaker grille. The top has the Klipsch logo, the back has a mount for mounting on a stand as well as the USB-C service port, and the bottom houses the power port, and pairing button.

Finally, the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound bar. This is a heavy boy, it feels nice and robust and solid. The build is remarkable and the design and look is classy. The front is covered in fabric and has the Klipsch logo. The front also houses the LED lights that show volume and other functions. Of course, there are speakers in the front as well.

The top houses more speakers but covered in a metal grille, and there are capacitive buttons to control things here. The buttons are easy to use but I do wish they were clicky buttons instead, just a minor complaint. The sides have nothing going on.

The back and bottom have rubber feet for placement and then, of course, all the input/output ports. Here’s what to expect in terms of I/O on the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound bar.

• AC In
• IR in
• HDMI eARC
• Optical
• Sub Out
• USB-C 5V/2A
• Flexus Transport 100 Bluetooth Dongle Port
• Pairing Button

Overall, the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system is one of the nicest looking and well-built home theater sound solutions I have tested. Klipsch and Onkyo really put significant effort into this setup.

Ease of Use/App

If you’re setting up the entire Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system with subs and surrounds, the process is fairly straightforward. I did have to hit the pairing button on the surrounds three times to get them to properly pair. I had an issue where one would pair, and the other wouldn’t. But it wasn’t a massive deal. The sub paired up without my having to push any buttons.

Physical setup is also easy and you have several mounting options. You could just place it on the entertainment stand, or you could mount it to the wall. The surrounds have a 3/4 inch receiver for mounting on speaker stands. There are plenty of options, I would just recommend finding your best fit and sticking with it. The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system comes with a feature that maps your placement and optimizing the sound in where you place it. Of course, you can always run that again if you move it.

As for the app, it’s a decent app (simple) and offers you the following:

• 3-band EQ with 5 presets
• Dialog Mode on/off
• Night Mode
• Input Selector
• Level Adjustment for surrounds and sub
• Display Brightness Control
• Factory Reset and Software

I would have like more than 3 bands for adjusting and I feel like the preset EQs are just not tweaked to my liking. I used a custom EQ and I got it where I enjoyed the sound. But I think there is room for improvement when it comes to the EQ on the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system.

Overall, this is a simple system to use, and the app is good but could use some minor tweaks and improvements to really hone in the sound users are looking for.

Sound

I’m not going to go into the driver layout of the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system, just take a look at the specs above and that should give you all you need. Instead, let’s jump right into the sound experience. As with all of my home theater sound reviews, I tested with movies, streaming apps, YouTube, and Apple Music.

Let’s start with music. My preferred genre of music is rock, blues, folk and hard rock. I listen to a lot of Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, Rez Band, and various other artists. I felt that the sound on the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system handled music extremely well. Though I will say that it seemed to favor the bass response more than I usually like. Nothing a jump into the app EQ couldn’t fix. So I think, if you’re a fan of bass in your music, this sound bar is going to love you.

YouTube and spoken word were also handled very well and with the dialog feature, the sound came through with good clarity. The dialog feature also helped to enhance the spoken word in movies, you know, sometimes the other sound can drown out dialog, so this was helpful.

As for the movie experience, I watched some of my normal movies for testing and TV shows, such as:

• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
• Pacific Rim
• The Matrix
• Reacher
• Top Gun Maverick
• Tombstone
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Those are just a few, and the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system has ZERO issues handling the sound of any movie I threw at it. The bass is intense on this system. If you have the volume up, you will rattle the windows and shake the walls. It really delivered the Dolby Atmos experience very well.

The sound coming from the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system is clear, punchy, and BIG. Given the footprint of the sound bar, it sounds like a much bigger system than it is, which impressed me very much. Klipsch and Onkyo are really giving the competition some heat with this one.

Overall, the sound coming from the Flexus system is going to certainly amaze those of you who end up buying it. There are better systems out there, but at this price, no. This is one of the best home theater Dolby sound bar setups you can get for just over $1,000.

Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 Sound System Gallery

Price/Value

The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system has three components to it.

• The CORE 200 sound bar, priced at $499
• The Flexus Surround 100, priced at $249
• The Flexus Sub 100, priced at $299

That’s a total cost of $1,047 for all three components. You could go down a step to the CORE 100 sound bar for $349 and be under $1,000 easily. I think the CORE 200 with surrounds and sub is the way to go. This is the best value and I think it is well worth the price.

Wrap Up

The Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system is a fantastic system that you can get for just under $1,050. If cost is an issue for you, the Flexus CORE 100 is a bit less expensive but offers an excellent experience as well. You could even just get away without the sub and surrounds, the CORE 200 sound bar alone will please just about anyone. The magic, though, is in the whole system together.

I highly recommend the Klipsch Flexus CORE 200 sound system and the Flexus CORE 100 sound system if you want to save a few bucks. This is one of the best home theater sound solutions I’ve used.

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