Flexus CORE 300

The Klipsch Flexus CORE 300 is a 5.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos soundbar built around thirteen drivers, including four front-firing, two side-firing and two up-firing units plus four integrated woofers, driven by around 285 watts of Onkyo amplification. Klipsch and Onkyo are part of the same group, which is why the electronics come from there.

Its distinguishing feature is Dirac Live room correction, which is rare in a soundbar and normally found on serious AV receivers.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It appears in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can put it in a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

Television sound does not go through Apple Home at all. That arrives over HDMI ARC or optical from the television, and the soundbar’s own remote and app control the modes and the volume.

Why Dirac matters here

A soundbar depends on bouncing sound off walls and ceilings, so the room affects it more than it affects a conventional speaker. Measuring the room and correcting for it addresses exactly that problem, rather than assuming an idealised space.

Before you buy

At 54 inches wide it is a large bar. Measure the television stand.

Klipsch sells matching wireless subwoofers and surrounds in the Flexus range, so the system extends without replacing the bar.

Specifications