klipsch heresy 2 's 4 ohm 0r 8 ohm help

[audio-ed]

I just found a pair of heresy 2's the other day at an estate sale . I noticed on the plate that the binding posts are attached to it says nominal impedance 4 ohm .They are being powered by a mcintosh ma-230. I have a wire that allows me to switch to a 4 ohm setting .Its still set on 8 ohm and they sound amazing . Should I switch to the 4 ohm setting on my mcintosh ? If anyone has an opinion about this I would be thankful . I have seen other heresys that were 8 ohm. I think I've found the speakers of my dreams ! ! !

[Brian]

Are they from '85 or '86 and do they have round or rectangular plates on the back? I have a late '85 and early '86, 1 with the round and 1 with the rectangular. I've looked at the x-overs and they have the same components so not sure why the 2 different shapes. I had asked over at the Klipsch board and got 2 different answers and called Klipsch but got no answer. 1 answer was that tthey used the woofer out of the industrial version and hence have a lower impedence and the other was that the actual nominal impedence of the Heresy II is 6 ohms and for a brief time Klipsch decided it was advantageous to market them as 4 ohm to go with the fact that ss amps at 4 ohms produce more power and therefore the combination of the speakers and amp will go louder than using a 8 ohm speaker and that hence they will have better dynamics. After a time they went back to 8 ohms. I tend to believe the latter and the specs as to power handling is the same as the 8 ohm speakers. During the II production there was some kind of change with components or a difference in measuring the efficiency as I have seen to different ratings both @ 1 watt and max spl.

[.dh.]

One upon a time, I had a pair of IIs from '86, and I called Klipsch regarding this same question.

I was told pretty much the same thing as Brian. Check the woofer - if it's got the regular K-22 or K-24 (more likely) it's 8 ohms.

Why do marketing departments always gotta make stuff harder for us?

[audio-ed]

Thanks for the reply they are the round plates made in 1986 and I will check the woofer .I'll see if I can get some more info and post another thread.There seems to be many different models of heresys and heresy 2's I am very happy with the sound warm crisp highs and strong deep pounding lows. The reviews I've read said they lacked good bass but I don't find that to be the case at all

[Brian]

The Heresys are not really lacking in the bass compared to most speakers. The bass is just not as predominant due to the energy at the upper frequencies that most speakers do not have. Also, the horns have such low distortion and detail they draw you away from the bass. In fact I find the bass to be well balanced with them and on clasical presentations the bass energy does better in matching the bass energy of the performance than many other speakers. My complaint of them is that the high end delivers the recording and mic'ing setup too well and as a result where massed strings should be together and not disticnt instruments, the Klipsch will deliver each instrument individually based on the mic'ing. On listening to them I find myself drawn to the instruments and the detail that is excellent but it draws me away from the music itself and as a whole the presentation as an integrated group. I do love them on chamber music, solo instrument and vocals where they shine.