soulcat
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Posts posted by soulcat
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5 minutes ago, Idontknow said:
Hi, Thank you. These are the rare ribbon mahogany versions from the year 2000. Grills are also original and all mint.
Ooooh from 2000! OK, that's explains it. Very nice.
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On 1/28/2023 at 8:21 AM, Marvel said:
Matt,
I love the room! I have the Heresy IIs, which my older son bought for me when he was off at school. The labels are gone on them but I found some small inspection stickers insixe them which indicates '84 or so. Full HII, with rectangular input cup, mid horn sits closer to the woofer.
Mine have no risers, but I currently have them up about 4 feet.
They replaced my JBL 4311s, currently on duty in our living room, hooked to an H/K 630 for radio and the smaller tv.
I went from the HIIs to La Scalas, huge MWM bins and back to the Heresy... they are wonderful. I'm sure I could mix on them. I'm getting back to large horns, but that's a story for somewhere else.
Thanks man! That's crazy about your HIIs being from 1984 or so. That feels a bit early, since my H1s or 1.5s are '84 and the woofer doesn't overlap at all with the mid horn. Mine are firmly rooted in the first style, but prob have the updated mid-driver. I've been listening non-stop for the past 4 weeks and my love for their sound grows each day. Seriously. I had a hard time letting the JBL 4411s go (I didn't let me them really "go," but they are not in use at the moment), but the more I listen to the HIs, the more I don't miss the JBLs. My ears are getting used to the fact that there is no boosted bass with the H1, but when bass is needed, they bring it. Acoustic upright bass sounds sooo good and natural on these. I know many suggest running a sub with the Heresys, but for me, a sub with music has never felt or sounded right. For movies, you absolutely need a sub, but for music, I feel your speakers should be able to produce enough bass. Just my opinion and what feels right to me. These H1s are my introduction in Klipsch heritage and now I'd love to compare to Cornwalls, Fortes, La Scalas and Khorns. I want to hear them all! OOOH Choruses too and...and...Quartets! LOL! Bring on the horns as I think my tubes can drive them all with 75 watts of KT88 power.
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On 1/28/2023 at 9:22 PM, Idontknow said:
I was amazed how much nicer the Heresy II sounded rised tp 6” and in a seated position.
Those are gorgeous. I love the color combo. Is that cherry wood? The grill looks fabulous. Did they have grill choices back then or do all 2s have that grill color?
My Heresy 1s are about 23" high and sound pretty amazing.
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18 hours ago, wuzzzer said:
Since you found they’re easy to remove I would do it and see if you notice a difference.wuzzzer...WOW! So I removed the risers and on the shelves, they now produce just a tad more weighty bass, but it goes a long way to the overall balance over the frequency spectrum. I'm actually blown away at how great they sound. I did a shootout with the JBL 4411 pro studio monitors. The JBLs sound really good, but when I A/B them on say, a Sinatra Capitol recording from 1957, Sinatra's voice is much more pronounced, front and center with the Heresy. It's 3-D, rounded and just more "real" and less of a recording. It's hard to turn away from that. I get that the JBLs are very neutral to provide the best audio info for mixing down in the studio. But now I'm a true believer that the Klipsch sound is more of a life-like, live sound. I get it now. I really love those JBLs and I bought them from my old audio professor who bought them new in 1982 or so. They are special, but these 1984 Heresy 1.5s are going to be set up for the foreseeable future.
Over the years, I always thought the Heresy in general looked like a good fit for me on paper, but with all the negative reviews floating around out there and the fact that they were meant to be floor speakers and I was going to use them on a shelf, I stayed away. But it turns out that they sound great up on shelves, toe-ed in a bit, the phantom center is crystal clear and very 3-D, the soundstage is wide and the dynamics are fantastic. Heresy IS the speaker for me.
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I just took the Heresys down to clean them up now that they are officially mine (paid the guy today). So I checked and the risers are easy to remove. Do you think I'll get slightly more bass by removing them? They're an inch in height.
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1 hour ago, OO1 said:
The midrange driver in the 1,5 was a cost cutting measure as the K-55V was more expensive to manufacture and only available in limited numbers as Alnico V prices were through the roof .... the Heresy 1 was an exception , it used the same midrange and tweeter as the Khorn , Belle , Lascala ,Cornwall
WOW! Thanks for that info!
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25 minutes ago, M_Klipsches said:
Congratulations. You’ve got a great pair of Heresys there. As @wuzzzermentioned they are likely H1.5s which are the transition between H1 & H2 versions. Using a different network & woofer from previous models, they just sound “better” than either. I use mine with an integrated tube amp, (not nearly as nice as yours) mostly for 2ch vinyl listening; it reminds me of how we used to listen to music. When others tell you that they need “recapped” just ignore them, & leave them as they are unless the capacitors are leaking or swollen they are just fine. Maybe open them up, check & clean the connections, but that’s all they’ll need. I hope you get your amp safely down the stairs, and repaired.
Thanks so much, man. You guys on the Klipsch board are so nice. I get my *** fried over on the McIntosh board with all the snobs. I really appreciate the welcome. So the 1.5 version is pretty different than the 1s, except the tweeter is the same, right? People talk about how great the tweeter upgrade is, but I can't imagine it sounding better than it does now. It's doing everything you want a tweeter to do. It's crisp, but not harsh and it's very airy on instruments.
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1 hour ago, AndreG. said:
I have a double set-up in my living room as well, the Heresys and my Klipsch RF3s (a two way design). I find that I like to listen to classic and jazzy music on the Heresy, pop and metal and the like on the RF3.
The Heresy is even better suited to listening at low levels (late at night) and miss nothing of the sound. I think that´s what people want to say when they talk about speakers opening up sooner.
I listen to my music in linear mode all the time, except radio.
Something I'm really noticing, especially with the jazz I'm listening to, I can hear background conversations on the music that I never heard as clearly or at all before. It's kind of jarring because I think someone's behind me, but it's really the musicians egging each other on in the recording! These really are "revealing" speakers and I'm diggin' 'em more each day.
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15 minutes ago, AndreG. said:
P.S.: You seem to lack space, but it would be interesting to set up the Heresys and the JBLs together and A/B them.
Thanks AndreG! Yeah, I'm going to set them both up for a shootout. I don't find the horns harsh at all. I imagine the Heresys will win the mids and highs battle, but the JBLs will probably win the battle of the bass, though the JBLs are not bass heavy and are extremely balanced as they are professional mixing speakers (4411). The JBL sensitivity is 90db and I guess the Heresys are 96db and man do I notice the difference. My 75 watt McIntosh amp really drives the Heresys better, not that it struggled with the JBLs, but you can sort of hear the "ease" if that makes sense?
Now that I've lived with these Heresy 1s for a week and a half, one thing they are making me ask myself is, "how much bass do you really need?" Because the H1s certainly provide enough, even up on stands. It makes me sort of question how much we may, even unintentionally, boost the bass, unnaturally? It's an interesting audiophile question.
I think a few resistors in my McIntosh MA2275 have blown, because my phono stage is picking up some interference. It was low on the JBLs, but since the Heresys reveal more, I'm really hearing it. I should get it looked at, but man, this amp weighs 77lbs and it's up in the attic of my 1846 house. I dread having to carry it down the narrow stairway. The things we do for our hobby!
Matt
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51 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:
@soulcat If the risers don't have an obvious way to to be removed I'd just leave them there. Good call on the spade connectors, I use them also and it makes connection a lot easier.
Do you mind if I ask what you're paying for them?
Oh yeah...if I can't just unscrew them, I'm leaving them. I mean, it's prob a good thing that they are slightly elevated anyway. I mean, you're hearing more of the speaker and less outside resonance, I would think.
So these were really well taken care of, all stock and he wants $400! I thought that was a solid deal.
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20 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:
@soulcat Congrats! Your Heresys were made in 1984 and are Walnut Oil finished. Lots of people use Watco Rejuvenating Oil on Klipsch speakers with an oil finish.
More than likely yours are the Heresy “1.5” version which uses the midrange driver from the Heresy II. It was kind of a transitional model.
As far as I know, the only factory riser offered for the Heresy is a slanted riser that tilts them up in front to aim the speaker up a little. Any factory riser is easily removed with four screws accessed from the bottom.
I would just listen and enjoy them before you start any crossover work. One thing I would suggest and that I’ve done with all my vintage Klipsch is to remove the cabinet backs, locate the crossover and loosen and tighten all the screws on it. This will remove years of oxidation and give a better signal path to everything.
I think some people see a Heresy and its 12” woofer and think man these things should pound out the bass! These are usually people who have had cheap speakers with big woofers and are used to bloated, overemphasized bass.
Hey thanks wuzzzer! I appreciate the response. I'm waiting on some spade adapters to crimp onto my speaker cables to provide a better connection to the Heresy terminals. When I install those, I'm going to really clean the terminals, oil up the cabinets and I'll open them up and take some pics and loosen and tighten the screws like you advised. That sounds like a great idea. Thanks.
So this riser looks like it's got giant thumb tack feet. Maybe it has screws too as I guess I really didn't look too close. I'll see when I take 'em down for a good cleanin'. Do you think I'd benefit from removing this riser and planting them right on my shelves or am I splitting hairs?
When I take the Heresys down for the cleaning, I'm going to set up the JBLs again as I'll need music while I work on them and that'll give me a chance to better compare the sound of the 2 speakers. The guy I'm buying the Heresys from hasn't come by to pick up the money yet, so they still don't feel like mine, which also plants a few seeds of doubt. I really like them, but man do they make so-so recordings sound bad and great sounding recordings sound phenomenal. I also collect 78s, so I'm nervous about running 78s through them, but I should...who knows, maybe they'll sound fantastic?
Matt -
Hi all,
I just joined the Klipsch Community after wanting to try "true" Klipsch speakers for a long time. I bought a McIntosh MA2275 integrated fully tube amp 15 years ago (the only all tube integrated that McIntosh has ever made and well...they discontinued it...) and I knew then that tubes and Klipsch go hand n' hand like beans and cornbread. But finding the right Klipsch? I was able to try a pair of KG2s and returned them to the seller, because they weren't any better than my Paradigms and they didn't have Klipsch horns so I wasn't really getting that Klipsch signature sound.I was using Paradigm Monitor 3s (small, 2 way with 8" woofers and rear ported, so they were boomy) and then in 2021 an old college audio professor of mine sold me his trusty JBL 4411 studio monitors (12" woofers, 3 way and front ported). I LOVE the JBLs and they sound fantastic, but...what about Klipsch? Horns and tubes? I've been intrigued with the Heresy for many years...reading about them and seeing them come up for sale once in a while. I always had a reason not to buy them. I'm happy with my JBLs. I don't have floor space in my record room for Heresys. JBLs are better for near-field listening than the Heresys, etc. Then last week, a guy who lives across the Common from me, lists a pair of Heresy 1s on FB. I try to hold back, but my wife urges me to open a dialog. I do and the guy offers to let me try them before I buy them. Well, I can't say no to THAT offer.
His parents were the only owners. By the serials, it looks like they are 1984/5. The cabinets are in really good shape, just need a little oil. I hate the tiny screw speaker terminals, but hey, that's how Klipsch did it at the time, so I'm cool with it. They have all stock parts, so my first thought was that I'd upgrade the caps and crossovers and then I set them up.
WOW! The highs and mids don't sound like the caps are bad. They are smooth and 3-D sounding. Since they don't appear to need the caps replaced, maybe I should just leave them stock, the way Klipsch intended them to be? Of course all I've ever read is that the Heresys lack in the bass department. They aren't lacking THAT much compared to the front ported JBLs, but the bass is tighter and a little leaner. My small Paradigm Monitor 3s with the 8" woofer had much deeper bass due to their rear ports, but I'm evaluating now how much bass is really needed. As you can see in the pics, my speakers are not near walls. I know that Heresys are meant to sit on the floor, so I did try that and a whole lot of bass came back, BUT for my room, I just can't place them on the floor. Raising them up isn't the worst thing though. The McIntosh drives them well with 75 watts of KT88 power. I have boosted the bass a bit using the tone controls, which I try to stay away from, but it doesn't seem to hurt the mids and highs at all.
I spent a lot of time messing with the toe-in and I've found that a slight toe-in has improved bass reproduction, created a wide soundstage with a fantastic phantom center image. Are they better than my JBL 4411s? I just don't know. They are a bit different. They are livelier and very fun to listen to so that alone justifies my purchase...maybe?
I do have a question about the risers. As you can see in the pic, they are raised 1" off the surface. Did they come this way or is this something that was installed either by the dealer or the previous owner? They are not removable, but rather look tacked on. When I look at pics of other Heresy 1s, I don't see a small riser on those. Does having them up 1" impact bass?
One final note: looking around the web, man do these speakers get a lot of hate thrown at them. Lots of love too, but man, some people out there absolutely despise Heresys and I just can't understand why?
Thanks for reading.
MattSalem, MA
Klipsch Heresy Owners Group
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
Man, that's some bass.
BTW, I just noticed your Jackson Browne quote. Nice!