Tracking Angle

Perhaps you might change your avatar What was that Talking Heads song ...

I like the sound of the Pro-Ject tables: RM-5, $650 (More detail and better bass than my older Rega P3), RM-6.1 SB, $900 (I have not heard), and RM-9.1, $1500. Cartridges: Sumiko Blue Point No.2, $300, Sumiko Blue Point Special EVO III (I have not heard), $400, Benz Micro Ace $550, and Sumiko Blackbird $800. The Blue Point 2 is a good cartridge that is musically satisfying and not relatively expensive. Going to the Benz ACE will give you 10-20% more clarity and detail. The Blackbird gives you another 10-20% increase in performance. Rega also has a new P3-24 which I have not heard, but I'm sure sounds good and will probably run about $700-$800. I believe the RM-5 and the Benz Ace will rival or surpass the Axis / Ace combo. In my experience, the RM-5 seems to have the same good "pace" as the Axis with a slightly better delineation of instruments, and more bass. Looking at the specs, the RM-6.1 SB seems like it could be a worthwhile up grade. Or, you can be really nice to yourself and get the RM-9.1 along with the Blue Point 2 and then get a better cartridge down the road. Enjoy!

This post is worth re-reading given the discussion. My italics added for emphasis. On 3/6/07 klipschguy101 said: As some of you in this forum know, I recently struggled with whether to purchase and thereafter stop from returning a new pair of Klipsch Heresy IIIs. After living with a thirty year old memory of Heresys I heard but couldn't afford, I purchased some on line in an impulsive moment. For the next several weeks I struggled with the prudence of the whim and received helpful input from many members of this forum. Thanks for all the advice, again. In the meantime, I read with great interest the controversy about the Heritage line of speakers, particularly the Heresy (witness the disparate views expressed by "thermalup" and the responses to his postings - "Heresy - not for me."). After my speakers arrived in the mail several days ago, I feel like I personally ran the gamut from Klipsch fan, to foe, and back again. Because of that, I feel like I might have a different perspective than many who are either unfamiliar or far more familiar these speakers than I. For what its worth, at the risk of preaching to the choir, here's the aural observations of a new Klipsch owner: The Heresy IIIs (I have never heard the larger Heritage line) leave little margin for error. Because they are so loud, and so crisp, anything "wrong" with the music becomes obvious immediately. They remind me somehow of a camera with fine lenses, whose images are so sharp that anything out of focus is truly undeniable. When these speakers are out of focus, they are not just bad, they are annoying. Most cheap speakers can create unrealistic sounding music. These speakers can create noise. Loud noise. And they are not particularly "accurate" as that term is typically defined. Part of the "magic" of the studio is to try to create the impression of a sound stage by careful manipulation during production. Many "high-end" speakers can recreate the subtle nuances of this production. Some are simply scary. A Magnepan reproduces the breaths taken in the millisecond before Miles Davis blows out a run of sixteenth notes so well we know if he had a cold. And we can hear Eric Clapton's fingers slip from chord to chord so well on a pair of Martin-Logans that know if he needed a manicure. We have come to call the reproduction of these studio details "accurate." And we feel justified in this view by pointing to the charts showing "flat" frequency response. After all, its scientifically objective, right? And its true. Klipsch Heresys do not produce the same discernable separation between instruments or quite the sound stage as some. But then, you know what? Neither does a band. Close your eyes the next time you are listening to live music and see if you can tell exactly where a guitar is positioned, or the drums, or the voices. In my experience, the sound you hear at a concert is chiefly coming directly from one or both of two large stacks of speakers (which, I might add, typically are replete with horns) and indirectly from numerous sound reflecting surfaces (the recreation of which is, of course, the idea behind Bose products). And the same holds true for most non-amplified concerts. The sound you hear from an orchestra is largely just as ambient (non-focused), unless you have the pricey seats close enough to the concert mistress to see up her skirt. A jazz concert, with brass and woodwind instruments capable of focused sound projection, has some natural sound "staging." But that's the exception. (And, as we all well know, the Heresys actually image those instruments quite well anyway). Any "staging" that we "hear" at a real concert is usually in our heads, created by the image we see of where a performer is standing on the stage. A "sound stage" is really an artificial creation of the studio intended to give the impression of a live performance. So a speaker's ability to recreate this doesn't necessarily make it more "accurate" compared to a live performance. It might just make it more artificial. And why does anyone ever point to a chart when measuring speakers anyway? Listening to music isn't a science experiment. Music is an art. Its all about emotion. And passion doesn't come from a really flat line on the charts. It comes from imagining the expressions on the faces of the performers, the movement of their bodies while playing and the weird sense of community the audience feels while simultaneously moving to the same beat. That emotion comes from the stage, not the studio. I think "accuracy" should be measured by how close a speaker comes to moving the audience, as the performers might on stage. Neither the studio nor the laboratory have much to do with that. That may be news to alot of folks, but Bose knows, and has for a while. We can stick our audio noses in the air all we want, but if a flat line response meant two figs to most audiences, Bose wouldn't be the number one speaker manufacturer and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. When Klipsch Heresys are mated to the proper amp (and perhaps broken in a little) they do something that no other speaker I have heard can do. They reproduce sound like you would hear if you closed your eyes and listened at a concert. The crash of the cymbals. The pounding of the drums. The power of the guitar chord. The passion of the voice. Its the feeling of being there, near the stage, not the studio. Sure, those charts are hard to argue with. But I'm not trying to think logically when I'm listening to music. I'm trying to get lost in the emotion. And as even a cursory review of this forum will show, no other speaker evokes emotion more than Klipsch. Yeah, for now at least, I sound like a bad Klipsch commercial. I know, I know. But on the outside chance someone reading this feels just confident enough to make the purchase, it was worth sharing my passion for an old flame with whom I have just been reunited.

The Axis with the Ace is a sweet setup--go for it--I think your going dig it. Then, take it to a good shop and pay to have them set it up right. Ask them if you can watch so you can learn how to do it yourself. When you get it home you will need to isolate it from vibration. A wallmount stand is inexpensive but effective way to go.

OB, You've got a PM. Phil

A live performance often has very little processing and can sound good over the television. But this is not what you are saying. Care to share some examples?

I'm having a hard time with this one...examples please!

I pretty much agree. If your system has any transparency at all, GIGO is the rule. Phil

AKGST70, I would guess that the ST 70 is the weak link in your system. An Dynaco ST 70 in stock form has an over all warm sound that lacks definition and has muddy and bloated bass at best. When I did a mod to mine (AVA ST Super 70i), it was like day and night. The sound is much clearer and the bass is tight and has more punch. Before you make another change in your system, I would go for any of the mods to the ST 70 recommended on this forum. On the other hand, the acoustical characteristics of your room has a great effect on how your speakers sound. Start with whatever is the Klipsch recommended distances from the walls and then spend time moving your speakers around in small increments, layout permitting, to determine how they sound best. You may find the bass is there after all. If not, the next move I would make is to add subwoofers, and yes, I mean more than one. Where music listening is concerned, two subs almost always sound better than one because a pair tends to smooth out room response. Because you are going with two you can go with a smaller woofer size (2 tens instead of 1 twelve, for instance) unless you need to hear the lowest octave, which you probably don't need unless you listen to large scale classical or organ music. As far as what subs you should go with, what might go best are ones that have the the same design as your Heresy's which, I believe, but am not sure about, is a sealed box. But sealed enclosures are not the trend in subs these days. There are many good inexpensive subs out there today and most any good sub will integrate well, especially if you use two. I'm sure other forum members with Heresys and subwoofers will make recommendations. The Blueberry is a wonderful preamp, but I think you will get more sound for your investment by making the other moves first. Phil

Although this point is probably much discussed already, I'm curious to know what kind of room La Scalas need in terms of size, absorption, reflection, and diffusion? Thanks, Phil

oldbuckster, I'm am interested in the La Scalas. I'm in Western Mass. Where are they located? I would guess I'm in range to pick them up. But, I would certainly want to hear them before I purchased them. Does the owner power them with tubes or solid state? Does he have a turntable as a source? Phil