Klipsch Heresey opinions

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Klipsch Heresey opinions

Postby TerrySmith » Fri May 08, 2009 2:54 pm

A local guy has a pair of Heresey's for sale. Any opinions on sound, and what they are worth?
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Postby nyazzip » Fri May 08, 2009 3:46 pm

right after i put together my st-35, i auditioned a pair of used Heresys. i think they were going fro about 400 bucks. anyway it was in a pro listening room, and i could A/B them with the push of a button with alot of other nice speakers. seeing as i was(and always will be) on a budget, i didn't even try most of the fancy speakers with exorbitant price tages. but, the heresys sounded very very good to my ears, nice and clear and balanced.
theres no substitute for a bigger speaker(12") when it comes to reproducing soft, airy low stuff like upright bass and such, i think. they might not have the "tight punch" for modern electronica and hard rock and stuff, but, i did almost buy them. they were a bit too '70s looking and bulky for my tastes, so i splurged and got a narrow pair of Klipsch RF-52 instead(rear ported, 5.25" drivers).
sonically, the heresys probably would have been better for an st-35, due to the superior sensitivity ratings and the bigger bottom, as low end is not a strong point of the st-35 so i understand...
edit: i wanted to post the specs of the Klipsch rf-52s, i am very happy with them!

Frequency response..............34Hz-23kHz +/-3dB
Power handling.....................100W RMS / 400W Peak
Sensitivity............................96dB @ 2.83V / 1m
Nominal impedance.............. 8 Ohms compatible
High frequency crossover..... 1900Hz
High frequency Drivers.......... 1" (2.54cm) Titanium diaphragm via 90x60(not sure what they mean here....millimeters?)square Tractrix Horn
Low frequency drivers........... Dual 5.25" (13.3cm) Cerametallic cone woofers
Enclosure type...................... Bass-reflex via rear-firing port
Unit Dimensions.................... Height 37.6" (95.5cm, with feet) Width 6.75" (17.2cm) Depth 14.25" (36.2cm)
Last edited by nyazzip on Sun May 10, 2009 10:32 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Postby JW34 » Sun May 10, 2009 10:21 am

I had KP-250's which were the pro audio version of the Heresy. I loved the sound! They mad a lot of the music sound "live". Yes the bass is a bit lacking but the mids and highs are wonderful....very airy. These speakers are typically ran with a sub. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another pair if the price was right....unfortunatley the price that is "right" is different to each person acoriding to their budget. I found a beat up pair that I refinished myself for $200 and put in another $200 to refinish. They can go for over $1000. As for which Heresy is the best is debateable (I, II, III). You cannot go wrong with any of them. You should go to the Klisch.com forum for more information and opinions of them. There are even people in the Klipsch community who rebuid Klipsch crossover networks for a living. There is a lot of praise about these networks. What is cool is you start off with a great speaker for a decent price and you can make upgrades along the way if you choose.

There must be a reason why Klipsch has been selling the Heresy's since the 1950's. People wouldn't keep buying them if they didn't sound good.

FWIW, they only speaker line I would buy from Klipsch is the new and old Heritage line of speakers...K-Horns, Chorus, Forte, Cornwall, Heresy, quartet an the La Scala. Everything else they can keep. No offense.

Good luck,

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Postby TerrySmith » Sun May 10, 2009 12:29 pm

I ended up getting the Heresy's, they are the H-1, with the HWO (heresy walnut oiled) finish. Other than a scratch on one, they are in almost new condition, they even came in the original boxes. I noticed they have motor run caps in the crossover.

The horns and my get-set-go are perfect together. Mids and highs are stunning!

They are very weak in the bass, I'm wondering if I have a X-over problem. Should the crossover caps be replaced anyway?
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Postby kheper » Sun May 10, 2009 5:49 pm

Heresys are fairly sensitive speakers, but I do not know how much bass you can get from a get-set-go amp. Try a familiar (st70) push-pull amp for comparison.

A few years ago, Heresys were reasonable in price on ebay. Now, they are not.
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Postby JW34 » Mon May 11, 2009 2:01 pm

TerrySmith wrote:I ended up getting the Heresy's, they are the H-1, with the HWO (heresy walnut oiled) finish. Other than a scratch on one, they are in almost new condition, they even came in the original boxes. I noticed they have motor run caps in the crossover.

The horns and my get-set-go are perfect together. Mids and highs are stunning!

They are very weak in the bass, I'm wondering if I have a X-over problem. Should the crossover caps be replaced anyway?


Mine were weak on bass but you should be talking to the people on the Klipsch forum. There is tons of info on that site and people are willing to help answer your questions. I wish I knew more about the Heresy to help you out.

P.S.- Recaping old crossover networkds never hurt.

Thanks,

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Postby MashBill » Tue May 12, 2009 8:34 pm

T,
The Heresy's are placement critical. They will have better base if they are on/near the floor. Putting them near corners helps too. Do not put them on stands or a shelf. Did yours come with the riser base? If not, find or make a set. They allow you to place the Heresy's on the floor, but they tilt the top back slightly for better vertical dispersion of the mids/highs.

They are great speakers. In my old hifi retail days we sold truckloads of them. I wish I had a pair. I've been looking on CL and ebay for a local deal, but no luck yet.....

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Postby nyazzip » Tue May 12, 2009 11:44 pm

in my brief listening tests, they certainly didn't seem "bass shy", to me.....they were on the floor, on wedge type risers/bases.
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Postby TerrySmith » Sun May 31, 2009 2:32 pm

I joined the Klipsch forum and got a lot of help. One modification is to move the tweeter and mid horn down one tap on the autotransformer and add a 15 ohm swamping resistor to the mid. That took the edginess off. Still bass weak. I still have yet to try a different rear cover with a tuned vent. The reason to vent a new rear cover is it's reversible, and I don't want to butcher up a really nice set of speakers.

Yesterday I decided my Fisher 400 needed some run time so I hooked them up to the Heresy's and now I have BASS!! These things really rock when pushed a little!
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