Bill W.

Thanks for posting this Roy

There has been a lot of discussion here about the impressive performance of these new subwoofers. We often focus on specific features or characteristics when describing the differences in gear in order to convey what we have experienced to others who were not there. While listening to these, I had two distinct experiences. First, I was struck by how each set of speakers used in the demo seemed to “scale up” when paired with the respective subwoofer, even though the speaker spacing and room did not change. It just felt like a grand performance. The second experience really caught my attention, I was not expecting this. The demonstration with the large and extra large subs with the La Scalas was beyond impressive. The sound was so cohesive that there were no clues that there were multiple sources of bass, all of the music came through this way. There is something about providing that lowest frequency content cleanly that adds unexpected realism to the performance. I spent some time with my eyes closed to confirm what I was hearing without the visual clues in the room. For me, this was the best reproduction I have ever heard in the lab listening room. Surprise Bottom Line = The results are far greater than the sum of the parts

Years ago, PWK published some papers on his measurements of amplitude and frequency modulation distortion in loudspeakers and described the resulting sound characteristics of each type. He also described the effect of increased levels of audible distortion in loudspeakers as having a masking effect, resulting in a loss of clarity. He called it the “Mud Index” and proposed ranking speakers on a scale based on their Modulation Distortion measurements. Speakers with higher levels of M.D. would score worse in the mud index. As to the new Klipsch subwoofers, There ain’t no mud to be found, even when loud!!!

Whole new level

Don’t get Roy started on that, you know better!

John covered this very well I think, including the rationale of sensitivity match with the mains in a system. Describing the performance as impressive doesn’t begin to cover these!

All signed up! Sooo looking forward to this

Hey Travis, I plan to be there....My comment was agreement with JohnA., because Roy keeps inventing stuff we all really want, it costs money when you can’t resist...

Yeah, that might be happening to a lot of us!

Looking forward to this!

Travis, both links you provided work for me...

As long as each location is has unique characteristics, not cookie- cutter uniformity.

Haven’t been to one of these but I like the concept, especially since there are few places to hear great sound in public/commercial/retail space these days. A few thoughts: I would love to see someone develop a business model for this type of listening lounge to be located near airports and the business and cultural attractions of cities. It’s not difficult to market to business travelers if they are well located. If done right, this is a great way to grow the public exposure and awareness of premium audio and great sound. I wonder if this might be a cool franchise opportunity?

A few people here know me, though many do not, as I have been a sporadic poster since the early years of the forum. My perspective on this is as follows: Years ago, there was a prevalent viewpoint among many forum members that Klipsch had not maintained its focus on the heritage models, limited R&D investment, few updates, just continuing to build each of these models as they had been for many years. The company’s focus was on other product lines that it had created for market segments that were growing. The first several years of the forum were like “ Must See TV” that you would tune in for daily, as the collection of members was quite knowledgeable, passionate, and opinionated. I learned a great deal from many of the members who participated in the lengthy debates and discussions as they occurred. Some of that forum activity back then revolved around what could or should be done to bring vintage Klipsch speakers up to something like “state of the art” performance. Rightly or wrongly, these debates spilled over into what should be considered for current production Heritage models. Back then, the forum was wide open, like the Wild West. In my view, many of these forum conversations came to exist because there was little confidence at that time that Klipsch would actually undertake the effort to update the existing Heritage models. This probably played a role in the development of a cottage industry to support the experiments that some enthusiasts were engaging in to modify their own speakers. What actually happened in recent years is truly remarkable... Every single model of Heritage has been thoroughly updated with excellent acoustical results. The Cornwall and the Forte were brought back to market and are better than ever. The Jubilee, a long-shot dream if there ever was one is now a reality. Truly amazing! If you haven’t heard it yet, you owe it to yourself to do so. The point I am making is that the categories of discussions that are now closed don’t seem relevant as they once were, I much prefer seeing Klipsch step up to the plate and hit it out of the park with the advances in their Heritage products than revisiting the past when we were lamenting the lack of attention to these same models. Kudos to Roy Delgado, Klipsch and the Corporate leadership for getting it right. With much respect, Bill

Clearly, the word is getting around out there....