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Klipsch's The Three ain't your grandma's smart speaker

Klipsch wireless smart speakers blend vintage looks with cutting-edge technologies like Google Assistant and multiroom audio.

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Ty Pendlebury has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about TVs and home entertainment.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
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The Three is a $500 wireless tabletop speaker with Google Assistant and Bluetooth.

 Klipsch

Klipsch has one of the freshest takes on what constitutes a "smart speaker" at CES 2018 with a pair of resolutely old-school tabletop systems.

The Klipsch Heritage Wireless speakers The Three and The One offer the use of Google Assistant with their built-in microphone arrays. The speakers are modeled after the company's Heritage range, which includes the Forte III, and features a wood construction with woven grills.

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Klipsch's The Three ($499) is a large stereo tabletop speaker that comes with an integrated subwoofer. But we have our eyes on The One ($349), which is a "semi-portable" speaker with a rechargeable battery.

As a pair of Wi-Fi speakers with Bluetooth , they could make an interesting complement to an existing whole-house system built on Chromecast . Having the Google Assistant onboard means you can ask Spotify to play songs or albums on demand with your voice as well as control other Chromecast speakers and even smart home devices.

The Klipsch Heritage Wireless The Three will be available in fall 2018, while The One won't be available until spring 2019.

What to expect from the smart home at CES 2018: We take a look at the smart home and appliance trends we expect to see this year.

CES 2018: CNET's complete coverage of tech's biggest show.