Listened to some new Heritage Sunday...

[silversport]

...was out with my brother Sunday and we stopped by Simply Stereo in Hoffman Estates, Il...listened to some beautiful sounding and looking Cherry Laquer Heresy IIIs...(sound similar to my ear to my originals...not like brother's IIs )...Walnut Laquer Cornwall IIIs...BIG speaker with a BIG listening area (soundstage???)...then the old Klipschorns in Full Black (black painted Oak)...very nice (but of course)...Dark Side of the Moon 25th Anniversary disc or some such on a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C v1...very nice...nice place, nice guys and nice speakers...they have a lot of Klipsch in there including floor model RF-5s (Cherry I think) and RF-7s (Black I think)...nice Klipsch subs as well as the new Klipsch Triangular subs...

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Bill

[pmsummer]

Sounds like a great dealer. Our Heritage dealers here are all long gone.

[SamS]

Sounds like a great dealer. Our Heritage dealers here are all long gone.


Bummer. I thought the Klipsch website lists StarPower as a Heritage dealer?

[pmsummer]

Bummer. I thought the Klipsch website lists StarPower as a Heritage dealer?

It does. They can order them. You just can't listen to them BEFORE you order them.

Tends to limit sales.

[SamS]

That sux. I've always wanted to hear what Khorns sound like. Typically, as part of the dealer agreement, a certain number of speakers must be displayed to keep the dealer license for a brand.

[pmsummer]

That sux. I've always wanted to hear what Khorns sound like. Typically, as part of the dealer agreement, a certain number of speakers must be displayed to keep the dealer license for a brand.

Some folks feel Klipsch has really screwed up the distributor network for the Heritage Line. It's so badly messed up that no USA dealers wanted to handle the unbelievably beautiful 60th Anniversary Klipschorns... so they've all gone to Europe and Asia.

They may be trying to be too many things to too many people here. There's a pretty big gap between $160 computer speakers and $16,000 home speakers.

[mhardy6647]

Any sense as to how the new Cornwalls compared to any of the earlier versions?

[pmsummer]

Any sense as to how the new Cornwalls compared to any of the earlier versions?

The Cornwall IIIs I heard in the highly suspect environment of Hope, Arkansas last June (highly suspect because a shoebox with a piezo horn tweeter might have sounded good to those of us there who had all drunk deeply from the "Draught of Paul" that weekend) were VERY impressive... and VERY, VERY close to the Khorns and better than the new La Scalas IIs (the speakers I want just because they look so menacing).

There was a test between some Cornwall IIIs and some customer modified Is, but his XO was so buggered (or "tweaked") that valid comparisons couldn't really be made. The remaining "old guard" at Klipsch (those who worked under PWK) all felt the C-IIIs are a real improvement over the C-IIs.

[silversport]

I can't comment on the differneces between the three Cornwalls but I can with Heresys...The IIIs are the best yet...more like my Heresys (Is) but more efficient and more top end...enjoy!
Bill

[Tom Brennan]

"more like my Heresys (Is) but more efficient and more top end"

The old Heresy needed more top end like I need a hole in my head, in fact a hole in the head was almost the result of listening to them.

"enjoy"

Is this an S&M website?

[pmsummer]

I may be wrong, but it seems like the word at Klipsch was that the highs were reduced a bit on the IIs to compensate for the Heresy's lack of bass. This was a mistake.

The IIIs have the highs back up to where the Is were... and much better bass from a different woofer (from the pro series) and xo.

[pmsummer]

Is this an S&M website?

Possibly. Especially the Pioneer and Infinity sections.

[cubdog]

I have been trying to locate some new Heritage speakers in Denver. Seems that no one carries them. One store listed as a dealer, (Listen Up), and how I hate them, said "We don't carry Klipsch, they are mass market speakers" Makes you wonder how Klipsch intends to sell these.

cubdog

[Tom Brennan]

"Especially the Pioneer and Infinity sections."


Not to mention AR. With a Heresy one can at least hear the music. I prefer Bose to AR and that's no lie.

[pmsummer]

I have been trying to locate some new Heritage speakers in Denver. Seems that no one carries them. One store listed as a dealer, (Listen Up), and how I hate them, said "We don't carry Klipsch, they are mass market speakers" Makes you wonder how Klipsch intends to sell these.

cubdog

Amy,

Are you passing this on? Please?

Restructure that distribution channel after the Toyota model: Prius/Toyota/Lexus.

[pmsummer]

"Especially the Pioneer and Infinity sections."


Not to mention AR. With a Heresy one can at least hear the music. I prefer Bose to AR and that's no lie.

To each his own. I'll give you all the Bose speakers I get, in exchange for all the vintage ARs you land on. We'll both be happy campers. :yes:

[Tom Brennan]

"We'll both be happy campers"

Well it's not as though I really like either.

But old ARs sound dead and lifeless to me, muddy and compressed. Poor clarity.

[pmsummer]

Have you heard a restored pair? A restored pair with WORKING tweets and mids ( and with cleaned pots) and freshened caps fits my ears pretty well. An old pair with lifeless caps will sound, well, lifeless...just like you describe. And the pots are dead far too often, making the tweets and mids even less effective.

The proof of vintage AR's ability goes back to the same trick Paul Klipsch used: live demos of a musical performance compared to an instantaneous tape playback of the same performance (in AR's case, behind a screen at times). Paul and Henry were both able to pull the trick off coming from very different directions. Neither design, properly set up, missed much of the music, if any.

[Tom Brennan]

"Have you heard a restored pair?"

Don't need to PM, I'm 57 years old and well over 35 years with this hobby, I decided I didn't like ARs on the first go-round.

Kind Regards

[pmsummer]

"Have you heard a restored pair?"

Don't need to PM, I'm 57 years old and well over 35 years with this hobby, I decided I didn't like ARs on the first go-round.

Kind Regards

That cool. I'm 56, and fell in love with AR-3s and Klipschorns upon my first hearing. Heard Coltrane on a pair of AR-3s at a art professor's house in about 1967, and thought someone was playing a sax in the next room.

Heard Cornwalls up close at a friends house in 1969, and Klipschorns the next day (had to visit the dealer!). Didn't care for the Heresys.

[silversport]

I'm only 45...so I'm going to hate my Heresys soon??? ;)
Bill

[pmsummer]

I'm only 45...so I'm going to hate my Heresys soon??? ;)
Bill

Nope. As a matter of fact, a set of Heresy Is are on my cheapskate wish list (HBR decorators, thank you). I'd love a pair of IIIs, and if some IIs drop out of the sky, I'd grab 'em waiting for the Klipsch II/III upgrade kit!

Life's too short to hate anything.

[silversport]

Ha...I knew that...wanted Heresys when I bought my first pair of new kg2s in 1989...(older brother bought the Heresys)...when I found a very nice pair of Heresy (Is) about 2 years ago I was VERY pleased...updated the crossovers (BECtoo/Bob Crites) and enjoyed them so much I bought a second pair (for Home Theater use now)...I am VERY pleased with Heresys and would not hesitate to buy more if the right pair presented itself locally...Is, IIs OR IIIs)...those IIIs are SWEEEEEEET!
Thanks,
Bill

[cubdog]

Can someone describe the difference in sound between the Heresy and KG-4 speakers? Thanks.

cubdog

[JESSTER]

Just strictly my opinion but I own a pair of Kg4's that I compared to and chose over the Hersey's simply because after auditioning them on a home brew tube amp in my den I thought they had a much fuller sound at average to lower volume levels....however....when I really want to enjoy my music collection I turn to my McIntosh powered Klipsch "Belles".

I should also mention a friend of mine owns a pair of Hersey's he powers with Rotel gear and they sound great at higher levels.

As with anything it is a matter of personal preference.....so if possible audition both on your own system and let your ears be the judge.

"Rock on"

[silversport]

I can't compare having not heard the kg4s in almost 20 years...I didn't like them then (preferring Heresy IIs at the time) but the kg4s are a 2 way speaker, right??? The Heresy is a 3 way speaker...comparing my Heresys to Reference RB-5s (2 way) if I ad never heard Heresys, I would say the RB-5 is a great speaker...hearing them back to back, RB-5s and Heresys...I felt like the RB-5 was missing something...it was missing the middle...I guess that makes me a Heritage kinda guy...now is the water muddied enough??? The Heresy IIs were more expensive than kg4s...that doesn't really help much either though...
Bill

[rcarlton]

Starpower in Dallas has a pair of Heresy's in the warehouse. A couple of the sales people there would really like to hear the Heritage speakers. I suppose if enough of us in the Dallas area bug them they may eventually get some in to audition.

The Cornwall I vs. Cornwall III shootout in Hope was informative (and expensive for me since I went out and bought some Cornwall I's based on this experience). The Cornwall I's crossover was not modified as someone stated (the one in the anechic chamber was slightly modified by a p-trap, the second one had not been touched). I thought the III did a better job on the vocals, but not by much. Only had time for one B. B. King song to audition as we had to get to the farm house.

[gonzp]

Ross, I have got a pair of Heresy 1's that you are welcome to take home and listen to. Let me know.... :thmbsp: