Klipsch Heresy I, II, or III looking for opinions

How can you seriously choose a 2-way speaker over a 3-way speaker ???
Can your KG-4 Really reproduce more frequencies, just as the producer intended than Heresey-II ???

Urizen said:
I've only heard one set of Heresy, which, FWIR, were series II. My opinion is that they sounded best with tubes, and then at only moderate volumes (<90 dB or so). They didn't dig very deep, and were ear-bleeding (shouty) at higher levels. They had fresh caps and were properly set up with very good amps and upstream gear.

I have La Scalas and KG 4. Heresy don't interest me, but that's just my opinion, and my experience with them is very limited. Would I trade my KG 4 for Heresy? No.

I would like to hear them mated with a good subwoofer. That said, I've passed on three local pair within the last few months.

YMMV.
Click to expand...
 
As a current owner Heresy III's and a previous owner of Heresy II's I can definitely say the III's are a superior speaker.

Even though they are highly efficient speakers, they do respond well to higher quality amplification.

I previously was using a vintage Yamaha receiver and recently switched over to a McIntosh integrated and the difference was night and day. My HIII's actually have a great low-end with the Mac (when the eq controls are used accordingly).

I am absolutely in love with my Heresy's and I love their classic and timeless style. They are definitely keepers.
 
I have a set of Heresy Is hooked up to a Fisher 800B tube amp and they sound great. I've read the later versions are better on the bass, but I have no delusions of turning my system into a Disco dance floor. For an experiment, it put the acoustical stuffing from an old set of Boston A150s in the cabs and it did make for a more satisfying bass and mid- bass response.
 
I have had Heresy IIs (a decent speaker, better with recap & titanium tweeter diaphragms) and now have more-or-less Heresy IIIs - the reason for 'more-or-less' is that (a) they are built in Heresy I HBR boxes (with lots of bracing and new motor boards (b) the crossovers are ALK CornScala-Wall Universals and (c) the drivers were assembled individually rather than by buying the upgrade kit from Klipsch. That being said, when paired with a good subwoofer (sub high pass is set at 45Hz, Heresys run full-range) and a good amp (I've run them with a Dynaco Stereo 70, Stereo 35, a pair of Fisher 30As, Magnavox AMP196BA, Fisher 800C, Millett DCPP and a Luxman L100), they can sound really, really good. I run mine on the floor with the stock angled riser and have good bass extension.

The problem with stock Heresys is that they tend to be bass-shy and upper-midrange-emphasized, which can lead to the 'ear-bleed' phenomenon. Reinforcing the bass frequencies can do a lot to even out the response.

-D
 
Just get Cornwalls and be done. :thmbsp:

Hopefully the OP has upgraded to Khorns by now.

Never heard the II's, but I do own several pairs of I's & III's. If drivers are in good shape and crossovers fresh, either version sounds good. The III's seem a little smoother in the mid's and highs but neither have that deep bass that Cornwalls or khorns have.

Rock on,
Bob.
 
I have had HIIIs for several years. Without my sub, I would not be satisfied. Adding a sub and properly blending it in really brings the music to life. I find them great for rock, jazz, and classical. The only caveat is that well recorded music will sound really good, and crap recordings will sound that way. I have some jazz and classical records that put you right in the action with the HIIIs/sub combo. I don't find them overly bright, although I did at first.
 
Our Heresy II are sitting on top of LaScala bases bi-amped, for us and all the different music we enjoy this stack is the tops.
 
I'm in the love HIII's camp. Mine are hooked to a Harman Kardown HK-3480 in a bedroom setup. They are definitely keepers for me. I love em at low volume and high volume.
 
Tom Brennan said:
The Heresy is one of the worst sounding speakers I've owned, no, THE worst sounding. Screechy, bass-shy and piercing, an audio flamethrower IMO. But if you like LaScalas they might be right up your alley.

Never heard a Heresy III though it makes impossible claims---higher efficiency AND deeper bass than earlier models in the same size sealed box. Ole PWK had an expression he favored for such claims. But if tonal changes were made it would seem impossible to not improve over the originals.

My opinion and experience ya understand.
Click to expand...

Seriously, Tom...does it give you a chubby to come into the Klipsch forum and thread-crap?

-D
 
no harm in having balance, all opinions are valid and there is no point wearing rose glasses, there is no speaker that everybody likes. I had a pair of Heresy ll and have Heresy lll presently (along with an assortment of other Klipsch) BUT I would not buy any new speaker with K701 horns and I could not own any stock Klipsch. All my klipsch are very much modified. I still love my klipsch but mine are more than a little different from the factory offering. Best regards Moray James.
 
I have owned Heresy I's and Heresy II's as well as KG 4's. The Heresy's are good speakers but not the best I have heard or owned in large part because of the Bass issue mentioned by others. Powering them with a tube source does improve the Bass but IMO not enough that a subwoofer was not needed. I did not find a very large difference between the I's or II's but they could have probably both used a re-cap and perhaps that would have brought out a bigger difference. Thought they were great for Accoustic and Jazz but not rockers by any means. IMO the KG 4's were a better all around speaker capable of playing all types of music well and they did not lack on the lower end. Probably would have kept the Heresy's if there was not a space issue and I did not have so many other speaker options.

As was mentioned speaker taste is very subjective. One of the nice things about Heresy's and Klipsch in general is that if you try them and decide they are not for you they are very easy to flip for cash or gear.
 
All Klipsch's can be shouty

Almost all the Klipsch's can be shouty. I have read numerous posts by people in this forum complaining about their Klipsch's (all models) being "shouty". Now having said this, it seems they are most shouty in stock form and with OEM drivers. Once people start tweaking the drivers and crossovers, the shoutyness goes away and they sound nice.

I have the originals and have replaced all the drivers with non-Klipsch drivers and have reworked the cabinets (thanks to Morey James) and crossovers. They now sound very nice and put out pretty decent bass. I have auditioned them for the audiophile club and they were pretty impressed with their performance. They noted they are a bit bright, but a lot of "high end" speakers are bright as well, including OEM Klipsch's.

What impressed them most was the modest drivers I used . They are not the most expensive or highest tech. drivers out there. But matching the performance of the drivers so the sound was very linear is what won the day. The drivers I use are all 8 ohm and very efficient with a combined average of over 103db at 1 watt. So this makes them very efficient for use with low powered amps or even a tube application.

In this experiment, I have been able to generate a big sound out of a small package with spending a boat load of money. I have used one of my sets as DJ speakers at outdoor picnics for my Masonic Lodge, and they cam fill the area with nice clean sound and thump some good bass out as well.

If I had the room, I would love a set of LaScallas, but they would be overkill in my small den. You can make a silk purse from a pigs ear. Try a Heresy, you might like it.
 
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Try as I might, I am one that hasn't gotten along with them very well in general, and I REALLY want to like them. There is much to admire-for me at least-I like their efficiency, love the package-relatively small and coolish vintage/older look to them. I have listened to all three series, and several of them I have to admit were a bit rough, and several of them updated-Crites etc. I have heard them mainly on various tubes from Mcintosh, Wright Audio etc., and still just cannot seem to enjoy them long term.

But, I also come from speakers/gear from the opposite side of things(Shahinian Obelisk2/Plinius/Naim-Audio), and a totally different perspective, and I guess in the end, it is one I just prefer a bit more. With that said, I probably will always have an odd fondness for them regardless. Strange huh? Enjoy what you have, especially the music! Tim
 
I like them, to sell that is! They sell themselves.

I just prefer other speakers. Try as I might, swapping units to feed them just lacked something my 2AX's had already. They sounded the best on a 2230.

Barney
 
Hallucinogen said:
How can you seriously choose a 2-way speaker over a 3-way speaker ???
Can your KG-4 Really reproduce more frequencies, just as the producer intended than Heresey-II ???
Click to expand...


Because they sound better. That's how. Kg4s are underrated as hell. And I could care less about 2-way 3-way,, the kg4s sound better. Two horns is sometimes too much. Idc if that makes it a 3way The kg4 can compete with 3 way speakers with ease
 
Urizen said:
I've only heard one set of Heresy, which, FWIR, were series II. My opinion is that they sounded best with tubes, and then at only moderate volumes (<90 dB or so). They didn't dig very deep, and were ear-bleeding (shouty) at higher levels. They had fresh caps and were properly set up with very good amps and upstream gear.

I have La Scalas and KG 4. Heresy don't interest me, but that's just my opinion, and my experience with them is very limited. Would I trade my KG 4 for Heresy? No.

I would like to hear them mated with a good subwoofer. That said, I've passed on three local pair within the last few months.

YMMV.
Click to expand...

The series two for some reason weigh 20lbs apiece less than the series one, I wonder what cost cutting resulted in this difference.
 
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