rjp

I am using a VTA version of the ST70. It is an EL34 pp tube amp. It is 35 WRMS per channel. Is that ok for these speakers?

Also, I did some experimenting this weekend, and the objectionable sound component I am hearing appears to be produced by the mid horn, not the tweeter. I determined this using both tissue paper method and EQ controls (I am using a 4-band Schiit Loki). Given my concerns of excessive brightness I was a bit surprised to find they sound even better with the upper treble boosted a bit, so the part of the spectrum that I am overly sensitive to is actually in their upper midrange. A fix could be as simple as reducing the level to this driver. I did not try the bi-amp test yet.

To me the HIII sound better at closer listening distances. Basically, the closer I get the more I like them. Tried the couch about 15 feet away from 8' separated speakers and the sound is not as good unless I crank it up to really get some air moving. As I move closer it gets better. For low/moderate volume I seem to like them best at approximately equilateral triangle positioning. Is that considered near field? Say 8x8x8? It may be that at greater distance I am getting reflections from the far wall. Room is about 16 feet wide and 28 feet long, speakers about 18" out along short wall.

Oh, they cross over in front of the listener, so it would off axis indeed. To achieve this geometry I would have to move my couch back or move the speakers closer together. So if I put them only 6 feet apart and toe at 45 degrees they would cross over at 5.2 feet in front. So in order to have then cross over "well in front of the listener" I guess that means I should sit about 8-10 feet away. Does that sound right?

Ok, then that explains the printer as well

Then I get the impression he liked to hear as much of his horns as physically possible I think Westcoast's suggestion was for those of us who may want a little less. 45 deg corners does sound nice though.

Ok, now it's clear. See how useful the picture was! I generally keep them pretty straight like in your picture, but my seating area may be a little too close. I'll try moving the couch farther away.

Nice! I love the picture, thanks. In this shot your Heresys don't look toed out. In fact, they actually look slightly toed in based on the rug.

This weekend I plan to try bi-amping to see if a bit less power to the mids and highs might do the trick. I have an EL84 based amp I could use for the horns and keep the EL34 on the woofers. If this works then it seems reasonable that a simple padding of the horn levels would give similar results with a single amp. I'm still feeling optimistic that these can work for me with a little tweeking. There is so much greatness in that sound.

That's funny! Maybe they used it for internal bracing?

Not sure if I would call it fatigue, though maybe that is the the technical term. It's more like a sensitization. I had a similar reaction to the Klipsch Reference Premier series. Great at first, then hmm.... These Heresys are definitely smoother than the RPs I tried, that's why I was so excited at first. I do love something about the sound and I don't want to let it go, but apparently I also dislike something about the sound. It's like they are excellent and bad at the same time. In some ways I suppose this is better than always being palatably neutral. Maybe it's my ears. I don't listen for more than an hour at a time and it's generally been at night so no high volume.

Unfortunately the Heressy are starting to sound a little hard on my ears now after a week. Sometimes they are so great, but then sometimes I just want them to mellow out a bit. They seem to really excel with uncomplicated recordings, stuff featuring a single instrument like guitar or brass or drums or vocals. So I am left with just the Monitor Audio Silver 100s and the H3s now and I can’t decide which is better: extreme clarity and dynamic with harshness, or nice safe muddy smoothness. Sorry, I am being a little negative. They are both wonderful in different ways. Wish I could blend them:) Any advise appreciated. Thanks.

The size of the that little Heresy box was based on significant research. Apparently it was the largest box where 2 complete units could be made out of a single 4x8' sheet of plywood Hey, there's that efficiency thing again. No wasted wood.

I agree. They are nice in a special way without the sub. In fact, this is the first sub I've ever tried with my 2 channel setup so it is a whole new dimension to explore for me. At this point I still want it to sound like a 2.0 system so I want the sub to integrate so well it disappears. I have been running it at 60Hz 24dB/Oct lately and seems good. All the auditioning of speakers I have done so far has been without a sub because I didn't think I wanted/needed one. It seems nice overall to have it available when I want a bit more bottom.

Correct. The Klipsch are roughly twice the price. The MA Silver 100 are 1050/pair and the Heresy III are 1998/pair (or 2098 including a Klipsch SW-311 subwooffer). It was the SW-311 for 100 additional that made me pull the trigger. I figured I could always return them and I had to hear them to decide. So I have both of these setup with my VTA70 right now and have been listening to them every day. EDIT: The MA are not just better than other standmounters that are similarly priced, (to my ears and in my room with my amp) they are also better than KEF R300 (1300), and B&W 706 (1800), so I've got to hand it to MA. Well done. I am looking for the best speakers under 2K and the H3 and MA 100 are the last contenders in the showdown so far. I am leaning Klipsch because of the dynamics and clarity so far.

Thanks. I will give that a try.

I am playing around with the sub today. It sounds great. What are you guys using for sub setup? What is a good starting point for crossover frequency and slope? I am going for an integration that sounds like there is no sub, just 2 speakers with great bass response. This sub comes with built in DSP room EQ and a mic. Very cool. During the setup sweeps I have learned that everything in my living room vibrates at different frequencies

Actually I was referring to the Monitor Audio Silver 100 which has an 8 inch woofer and a relatively big box for a stand mounter. I edited the last line to make that clearer. Of course the Heresy has an even bigger woofer in an even bigger box. Maybe that is something I am liking about both these speakers.

I just received a pair of new Heresy III. FedEx delivered them yesterday. I just wanted to say I am very impressed with the sound. Over the past few months I have been auditioning several speakers to pair with my VTA70 amp and I believe these are the best so far. In addition to Focal, Monitor Audio, B&W, SVS, and KEF, I also tried the Klipsch RP-260F and 160M. The Heresy's surprised me. They are bright and clear like the Reference Premier line but somehow without the harshness, or at least much less of it. I don't now how Klipsch did this as the horn material is still hard plastic rather than the soft silicone used in the RP. I guess the purpose of my post is to tell anyone one the fence between the RP line and the Heritage line that, yes, there really is a substantial difference in sound quality and to my ears a softening of the high end. I should point out that I also liked the RP260 the first few days as well before the extra brightness got to me, so perhaps it is too early to say these are keepers, but I am feeling optimistic at this point. These are so beautiful to look at too! The package I bought included a Klipsh SW-311 sub for just 100 more so I got that as well. Haven't tried it yet. fwiw, the second best speaker (and the only competition the Heresys have to my ears) are the Monitor Audio Silver 100 stand mounters. Also an amazing speaker paired with this amp. The MA's 8 inch woofer and big box produce a great natural tone. I really hope the H3's don't wear on me. I want to keep these beauty's.

That is the same link I posted. Yes, it would be great to hear from others. In addition to frequency response KR also measured the harmonic distortion in that same article. THD seems really low. Assuming he knows how to use the R&S audio analyzer properly With freq response down only 0.1dB at 20KHz and a near immeasurably low THD its hard to point to any faults in the iPhone 5S DAC at least on paper. Still, for 100 bucks it might be worth at least listening to the Dragonfly. Certainly some of its reviewers feel it improved their iPhone performance. Maybe the difference is not something measurable? 0.00043% THD and harmonic distortion components at 1 kHz at -20 dBFS into 200KΩ at maximum volume setting.

I think you are assuming the DAC in the iPhone is not as good. There is no point is "upgrading" to an outboard DAC if the one in the iPhone is already better.

I am familiar with Ken Rockwell from my interest in photography. I know how unusual he is. That said, he did seem to use the right gear to perform these tests of the DACs, so even if he is a bit strange, I find it hard to dispute his measurements. LEt me give it another read and try to find some supporting data from others.

This is great news. So feeding my Klipsch RP-260Fs with highest bitrate Spotify will not be limiting them in any way it seems. What about the built in DAC in the iPhone 5S. Is it really as good as I've read? Based on these measurements I can't see any reason why I would want to buy another DAC. What do you think? https://kenrockwell.com/apple/iphone-5s-audio-quality.htm

Thanks for the info. So Spotify on highest quality is about 320kbps, which if I calculate correctly is about 1/4 of the bit rate of CD audio. I wouldn't expect much SQ loss at this level of compression. My guess is that it would not be audible to most listeners. Am I wrong? Can people reliably identify CD (or lossless compression) vs 320k MP3 in blind testing?

Thanks