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Having become accustomed to an Adcom GFA-535, I'd love to hear one of Mr. Pass's grown-up designs. How's the break-in going?

I've heard all sorts of wonderful things about the Epic series. I bet the sound is huge with those big drivers flanking the horn like that!

Yes you did! I liked the pic too. It was more than just the usual pics of the s/n's and the front grills. Very interesting angle. Thanks! Their unusual dimensions do make them photogenic, I may do more pictures with them at some point. I'm still getting used to hearing the cabinets so much; I think once I rearrange my listening space into something a little more permanent they might be a bit better. I do seem to notice it less when seated in just the right spot.

First impressions? "Sheesh, all I hear is cabinet and mid-horn!" The symptoms were clear. Lack of dynamics and sense of ease at low volume. Absence of desire to push louder. But when pushed louder, things sounded notably better. That doesn't usually make sense, right? I came thiiiiis close to posting a thread asking when the crossovers start to get cranky on these, since a speaker made in the early 2000s seems a bit young to need those. I was ready to declare that Klipsch had come a longer way than I thought with their current designs. Then I added up the symptoms. Nothing but mid-horn and cabinet? Which frequencies punch through thick nylon mesh easier than others? As much as I like the look of the grilles, they eat just about everything coming out of that top horn. Taking them off fixed everything, and now I see why these speakers have been around for so long. They're surprisingly neutral, and I'm having a tough time pinpointing exactly what it is about them that gives the sound so much sparkle. I'll have to post a comparison to the RP-280Fs sometime in the future, but already I'm very pleased! $200 has never sounded this good.

To provide a timeline of events: The listing went up yesterday morning. I contacted him when the listing was only a few hours old and made the arrangement, then went over early this morning to pick them up. The seller told me he'd been receiving calls all day over them; one guy was from Texas visiting the area and wanted to take them back with him! It'd seem if I'd found the sale listing even an hour later I might had missed out. Turns out he did Klipsch installations a while back and the way he described it, it sounded like he'd bought these from the dealer he worked for and they were only used for home listening. They're in great shape, a few negligible nicks here and there but I love the finish! They look a lot like any home speaker would, so it really is like a pair of H2s with the cool professional grille and tweeter protection. (I also don't -ever- have to worry about something damaging the big drivers) It's going to take some redecorating to get them where the RP-280Fs are set up, so I won't be able to have everything put together until probably later in the afternoon or tonight. As of right now, I tested them out and know that everything works. Super excited I found them!

Got 'em!

It might be that large opening to the kitchen. I use a pair of RP-280Fs in a pretty small room on an odd wall, longer than the parallel wall because the door is set back a bit. Essentially, one is right in the corner and the other is along the wall. So one has pretty solid bass response, and the other has a huge dip around 60hz that is noticeable in a lot of material. It could be amplification as well, I know the bass is less 'present' on my 65w amp than on my 125w amp with these speakers. For some songs, this means the upper octaves of an acoustic bass can shroud back behind the rest of the music. I can't speak for the Fortes since I've never heard them, but I can offer my experience with big speakers and placement/amp power. Hope you can figure it out! (I use a subwoofer when powering them with either amp, by the way, to fill in those bottom frequencies yet more)

I have a big subwoofer, so I'm not concerned with bass response from the KP's. As a result I have them up on Ikea Lack end tables so they're right at ear level. If you're looking for "on the floor" use, yes the standard risers should work fine. Whoa, $10 a table! At that price I might as well get a pair.

Actually, here's a question. Will any pair of Heresy risers do?

That's what I tell myself whenever I think of getting new electronics. There are better amps than my old Adcom, but the Adcom cost me $100! I don't -need- the KP-201s since I have my phenomenal RP-280Fs, but one doesn't find a pair from the coveted Heritage series (in professional guise, but evidently the same to listen to) at $200 and not try it out, especially with some equity to be had. Excluding the Heresies at Chipotle, I've never listened to heritage speakers before. My listening space is almost certainly a bit small for them, but that's less permanent than the speakers themselves.

Seller has them listed for $200, which seems killer for a pair of Heresy IIs made in the early 2000s. They look to be in good shape in the pictures so I'm going to see them tomorrow morning. The listing says they're oak, too.

Thanks for finding that, Bill! These particular examples look rather domesticated as well, they have wood veneer cabinets (interesting since the spec sheet didn't have that as an option) and no handles, so it really will be like having a pair of Heresy IIs. I've contacted the seller and I'll be back with pictures if I end up getting them!

Hi, everyone! I've spotted a pair of KP-201s for sale locally. From what I can tell, they look like a pair of Heresies that have been outfitted for 'professional' application. Are there any differences under the hood? It looks like they can take a balanced connection and have a fuse. This particular pair even has a wood cabinet, not the more industrial-looking one on the Klipsch site. As long as they'll sound the same, I might try to grab them!

Neat, I put my system together on an early-twenties budget too! I've been a fan of Adcom for quality budget equipment. I started with a 65w GFA-535 that I used to power my Synergy F-20s, and that was swell. When I upgraded to the RP-280F, I switched to a 125w Adcom GFA-7607. I learned that bigger speakers, even if Klipsch's are more sensitive, prefer more power to -really- fill out how they should sound. The new pair (8" drivers instead of my old pair's 6") had an uneven low end on the 65w amp that smoothed out tremendously when given 125w; the upper registers of an upright bass, for example, would get a bit lost. Now they don't seem to strain for anything. The GFA-535 cost $100 (and was also sold with a $100 GTP-500 preamp, so I paid $200 for the pair) and the GFA-7607 came for $500. I don't have much experience with higher end amps for comparison, but I know Adcom is well-regarded for quality budget power, and in my experience they're worth it. I had rough expectations from the 7607 since it's a 7-channel amp, but to my ear, it performs immaculately for two-channel. Most of their amps are high-current designs, so they're not upset by different resistance levels in different frequency ranges. (The 7607's manual, for example, implies that the transformer's thermal protection should only activate when driving seven 3-ohm speakers at very high volume. Whoa!) Look for either their early GFA-series amps or more recent ones. I understand the GFA II series (GFA-535 II, GFA-545 II, etc) have wonky capacitors that, after years of use, tend to pop and blow the amp up. I don't know how common that is, but that's why I never bought one of those. You can also go for a big fat 7-ch amp like I did; I'm using mine for stereo, but it already solves the upgrade path to surround if I'd like. Also, it could very much be your receiver's crossover limiting how much bass is sent to the RF-7s, but it could also just be their size. The benefit of big drivers is that they don't need to move much to do their work, which is why those speakers will sound so clean and unburdened. Thank you for your service!

Glad to hear it's all so well-suited to Klipsch speakers! The 975 seems to be the only surround preamp that's both in a comfortable price range for me and that seems like it should work with my chosen source (only outputs PCM surround over HDMI).

If I could get a pair of factory stock LS II with this grill format in Cherry, I would likely consider a second mortgage 2pair (Medium).jpg Matt ♪ ♫ ♪ This! The finishes and grille designs look incredible here. Offering custom finishes and grilles would be an awesome direction for Klipsch, I think. Speakers are a style choice for a lot of people nowadays; in a world where they're becoming increasingly small and awful, big speakers can be a real interior design statement. Offering customs makes a lot of sense. It would probably also help to set new speakers apart from what's available on the used market. You may want to count mine as half a vote since I'm not quite near being able to buy myself a new pair of Heritage speakers, but I'll be all the more eager for the day if I can have a unique design.

As in converters from other countries' voltages? Don't have any of those! Further testing seems to point to dirty, dirty USB power. I know for a fact that my desktop has a noisy power supply, you can actually hear the same noise it generates through the speakers if you hold your head next to it. It's also a possibility that my laptop could be carrying some noise created by the aftermarket power brick. Surely enough, leaving my desktop PC plugged in as normal but out of the signal path creates almost no noise. (Its distinct power supply noise is still audible, but only with one's ear in the horn, which is never a good listening position!) There's still some background buzz that I'd like to stamp out, but at the very least, I've determined that the obnoxious noise I was hearing before seems to be coming over USB. Schiit makes a USB power conditioner that I think I'll start with as a solution.

Matt, I might have to keep an eye out for something like that. It seems like the issue is indeed more complicated than I thought it might be: My full signal path is wall > computer > USB DAC (actually a DAC/headphone amp) > (power conditioner >) preamp > (same power conditioner >) amp. When I use my laptop on battery, it's dead quiet. Serene, even. When I plug my laptop in, however, there's that awful noise again. Curiously, it seems to only happen when the system reaches the wall in more than two spots (the preamp and pre being the first two). With my laptop plugged into the opposing wall and moved as far from the amp and preamp as it can get, plugging the DAC into the preamp creates the noise even with the preamp off, but unplugging the DAC from the pre and leaving everything else plugged in is just fine. The DAC's gain isn't a factor, either. What a predicament! I can even induce pops and sizzles by waggling different cables around when this happens. I could spend $250 on a decent used power conditioner. Maybe plugging the computer into its own power conditioner on another wall would help, too.

Did you end up trying the 975? I'm unfamiliar with Outlaw, but it does look good!

I have the amp and preamp both plugged into the Furman strip, so they're both plugged into the same outlet. I use a computer monitor nearby; I assume the HDMI contains copper. The computer creates noise as long as it's plugged in. It even generates extra noise if one jiggles the power cable. I didn't consider the possibility of interference via proximity, but now that it's on my mind it seems to fit. It made just as much noise when I used a different outlet but left the computer in the same place. I've been planning to move the new amp since it generates a lot more heat than my old one and would clearly prefer more open placement, so perhaps I'll try simultaneously moving the computer farther away. Matt, I'd like one of those, but something about seeing those sexy tube amps in the background suggests it may not be in my range!

Hi, Klipsch forum! I upgraded amplifiers today, moving from an Adcom GFA-535 (65w) to an Adcom GFA-7607 (125w 7ch, but only used for 2ch). It's surprisingly good at two-channel for a home theater amp; it smoothed out the low end and took some sizzle out of high-volume listening, but it really takes a magnifying glass to AC noise. I've always had issues with noise; the source is my desktop PC, and it's incredibly pervasive. It happens wherever it's plugged in in the room and even generates some buzzing when it's off. Using a Furman SS6B power conditioner seemed to reduce it before, but it's not helping with the more powerful amp. Curiously, it seems that a lot of the noise is picked up by my preamp; it comes through regardless of how the volume pot is positioned, and cuts quite a bit when I turn the pre off. Since this low-end power conditioner doesn't seem to do the job, what should I be looking at? Thanks!

Oh, and I'm located in South Jersey, or "near Philadelphia" as we call it. Why do you ask?

Maynard, I suppose I'm more curious than anything. My Adcom preamp doesn't sound bad or displeasurable to me in any way. I see what you mean about brightness as well, though I'll say it's been a non-issue since moving from Synergy to Reference Premiere. Things could be less bright, but it's never gratingly so. I've been a bit convinced of the effect of a preamp's sound since trying out an Adcom surround processor, as a matter of fact. It wasn't bad in any way that someone could complain about, but it was brighter and more digital-sounding. It's being traded off soon for a 7ch amp, and I've been back to my stereo pre. I suppose I'm most interested in the allure of tube sound. They say tubes are typically warmer, which I expect should balance well with the treble-forwardness I've been hearing. My expectation is that a tube preamp would, in theory, be a good compromise between cost and getting a bit of that mysterious "tube sound."

Hi, friends! Thanks to a shift in the global economy, upscale luxury items are trending their way downmarket. BMW's entry level models are cheaper. Nordstrom Rack exists. And Schiit makes tube preamps that cost as much as a pair of Ray Bans. The majority of impressions I can read about their tube headphone amps (as well as almost anything else they make) are glowing. And although they all have pre-outs, almost nobody acknowledges them for this. Of course, I'd like to try it out. I've heard plenty about the effectiveness of Klipsch speakers with tube sound, and lacking the financial will or patience to pursue a tube amp, pairing an affordable tube pre with my current amp seems like a fine compromise. Has anyone used or heard one of Schiit's tube amps as a preamp? Thanks! (And while we're here, what are a few things a tube newb should know? How do you tell when they're due for replacement or being overdriven?)

Thinking in-depth about it, I suppose it comes down to the preamp. If for some reason I had to blow a ton of money on one and not the other, I'd buy a good amp and a Schiit SYS. It's a passive preamp, literally a potentiometer that you stick between your source and amp. It's purported to be transparent enough, and would let a good amp do its work while giving control over the volume. I recently bought an Adcom GTP-830 surround preamp, for example, which is fine for surround but squashes musical dynamics compared to a proper preamp (a much older Adcom GTP-500). If I were building a two-channel system and had to choose between the surround preamp ($1200 when it was new) and the Schiit SYS ($50), I'd choose the SYS because it would let the dynamics flow much better. After all, a good amp will never sound better than the worst part of the signal path before it. So on that note, I suppose it also depends on the quality of your source!