heresy2guy

Hey - this new BB is good-to-go...I'm having some fun with how easy it now is to insert pictures and stuff - lol - gotta show off Daddy's "little girl" here - forgive me - lol. [] Thanks, Klipsch! []

Since when did Sperry's go out of style??? Guess I'm stuck in a time warp...been wearing them for 20 years now (see below).

I concur with Michael - the "old" logo's the best, hands-down. -H2G

I believe I have an old DFH (dope from hope) in which PWK says there's no such break-in requirement with respect to loudspeakers and that it's a myth. -H2G PS - There seems to be a lot of myths out there in "Audio Land" and a lot of them seem to originate from manufacturers (hmmmm...wonder why?!) and are perpetuated by self-proclaimed "audiophiles."

"I sincerely hope Klipsch doesn't cave to the marketers and make changes for the sake of change." -JPM _______________________________ In my opinion, they've done so already, re: Reference and Synergy line. Not that I'd classify those speakers as "bad" - much to the contrary, but they've definitely taken Klipsch in a different direction then they were on with the Heritage series. Yes, they're more profitable now, but 10 to 15 years ago nobody would have thought that Klipsch would be making a cheap lineup that would be found in gigantic, mass-marketed stores like today's BestBuy let alone getting into (or inventing) niche markets like high-powered computer speakers. All of these things has helped Klipsch make $$$ and has allowed them much greater name recognition and has not only kept them alive but has allowed them to grow. But there's defintely been a change with the quality of the products that they put out and that change definitely has something to do with Klipsch's bottom-line. There were a lot of problems (QC and otherwise) with Klispch's Pro Media lineup and I always thought that was cause for concern should Klipsch allow stuff like that to carry over to their high-line gear (Reference). Well, there has been a few issues of wires and connectors supposedly coming undone on Reference series but that's nothing in comparison to the problems that plagued the Pro Media line. Still, it could be cause for concern if they don't nip in the butt before it potentially gets out of hand. I've been a Klipsch fan for the longest time and I love them dearly. I happen to think the company was "purer" when PWK ran it but I'm not stupid or blind either with respect to what Fred Klipsch has done insofar as expansion and profitablilty is concerned. I only hope that Klipsch doesn't lose sight of their roots and forsake the very train-of-thought that gave them the reputation of going against-the-grain with their horn-loaded speakers so many years ago. In other words - KEEP THE FAITH...like bringing back a three-way Klipsch speaker with the all-important horn-loaded midrange.

Congratulations. I'm sure a pair is in my future somewhere. Right now, I've just don't have the corners/space available and my wife is still reeling over my Heresy IIs, KG4s, and two pairs of La Scalas. -H2G

"It's just plain rude to crank a stereo at 100 db if you live in an urban or suburban environment with close-by neighbors." -Allan Songer ________________________________ I agree 100% with Allan on this one. Call me crazy, but I actually adhere to the old adage of doing onto others as you'd have done to you. I certainly wouldn't want to hear somebody else's system at that volume so why would I subject them to mine??? -H2G

The only way to verify that they're okay is to listen to them yourself. Otherwise, you're simply trusting what someone else tells you. Some people are trustworthy (your friends for isntance) and some aren't (scammers, rip-off artists). If somebody from this board auditioned a pair of Klipsch for me and told me they sound fine I'd trust their judgment.

"Clipping an amp tends to kill tweeters first because all those harmonics increases the total amount of power sent to them and they can quickly get to the point of overheating and melting the voice coil." - sfogg __________________________ True. When you hear of people "blowing" their tweeters it's almost always due to them overdriving (and thus "clipping") their amplifier. Better amps tend to have higher amounts of dynamic headroom (reserves) to help prevent this. Then again, if you don't turn your volume up past the half-way mark and/or manage to keep your bass/treble settings closer to if not exactly "flat" at high volume levels you should be fine. Getting more power then you need suffices too (i.e. getting a 200 wpc amp if you only intend on using 50 continuous watts, which allows you to have approximately 4 times the continuous power available for reserves, or musical "peaks"). This should afford you plenty of dynamic headroom (about 6db) to ensure that your amp doesn't clip and damage your tweeters. Of course, if your speakers can only take 50 continuous watts and you pump the full 200 watts into them (continuously, as opposed to peaks) then you're probably going to open up all your voice coils anyway, reagardless of whether or not the amp clips. Still, in my opinion, it's better to have more power then you need (so the amp runs "clean") then to not have enough and stress the amp (so the amp clips). Since Klipsch speakers are so efficient (my La Scalas are 104db with 1 watt at 1 meter) that it seldom takes more then 1 to 10 continuous watts to produce very to extremely loud levels in a typical living room. With this being the case, technically speaking, a 50 wpc amp should be enough to afford a La Scala plenty of dynamic headroom (in the form of the unused power providing for a reserve of 4 times or more the continuous power being used) to prevent the amp from clipping. If the amp itself has a low dynamic headroom rating (1 to 2 db) and you use the full 50 continuous watts available, then there won't be much left over for the peaks (or transients) and then the amp will surely clip and your speakers will be at risk. So, you can basically get more power then you need (as long as you don't use it all continuously) or you can look for an amp with extremely high dynamic headroom (6 to 7 db), which should allow you 4 or 5 times the full-rated continuous output in reserves. Either way, the goal is the same: make sure you have enough in reserves so you don't overdrive ("clip") the amp and damage your speakers. -H2G

You defintely need to clean the switches and pots. Andy (HDBRbuilder) posted extremely detailed instructions on this forum relating to the proper cleaning of the HK430, 730, etc... series of receivers some time ago. Do a search for HK430 in the two-channel forum and scan the varying threads until you find it. I managed to fix the "scratchiness" when turning the volume, balance, bass, and treble on my own HK430 by following his recommendations. This, if done correctly, should fix your problems too. For the record, I had to clean mine about 3 or 4 times in order to get rid of the 30 years (?!) of crud that had accumulated within. -H2G

Ray is onto something here. In fact, Ray posted the below response to a similar question way back in 2002 in the General Questions forum: __________________________________ Guys, I'm not affiliated with Klipsch in any way, so anything I say here is just a layperson's perspective, but... My take on the different specs is that Klipsch is being *MORE* accurate with the new specs. The point that 104dB at 1 watt at some distance equates to 124dB at 100 watts at that same distance is true *ONLY IF* the speaker in question is capable of playing 20dB louder with no compression or limitations due to the mechanical structure of the drivers, saturation of the crossovers, losses due to resonances in the cabinets, etc. etc. etc. I strongly doubt that even a Klipschorn is able to scale perfectly linearly from whisper quiet to absurdly loud without any loss of sensitivity. That just seems impossible. My guess is that the new specs represent actual measured values of the new Heritage series, while the older specs where based on some measurements and some extrapolation. Of course, whether one could hear the difference between 121dB and 124dB over the rattling of various bones, teeth and structural components is another question... Ray (Garrison) _________________________________ In addition John Albright responded: ________________________________ Stumped, The difference is compression in the drivers. NO speaker has linear output from 1 watt to max. power. The new frequency bandwidth is most likely from a different testing technique. The older K-horns were said, by Mr. Paul, to be linear up to 63 watts. After that the double the power and get 3 dB didn't work. Heresies would not be linear through as wide a range. You are not seeing something new. You have just discovered something you didn't know. So far, the HIIs have the same drivers your HIIs have, but that may change, now that the new KH/LS/B drivers are in production. Klipsch only makes a few if its own drivers, not all. John (Albright) ________________________________

Me too Mike...I laughed like hell at that one.

Came across this little informal review on audioreview.com and I got quite a laugh out of it so I thought I'd share it. It was originally posted back in 2001. _________________________________________ Reviewed by: CHRIS CRANSTON, Audio Enthusiast, from COLO. SPRINGS, COLO Price Paid: $600 at OUT OF NEWSPAPER Product Model Year: Pre 1995 Summary: WE USED LA SCALAS IN A COUNTRY ROCK BAND IN THE 60s AND 70s WITH AMPEX THEATER AMPS. NO OTHER CLUB SYSTEM COULD TOUCH THEM ON CLARITY OR RANGE. THEY BECAME LIKE A PACIFIER, WE WOULDNT GO ON WITHOUT THEM. MOST CLUBS HAD VOICE OF THE THEATER OR SURE VOMIT MASTERS. THESE SYSTEMS WERE NO MATCH FOR THE MIGHTY LA SCALAS. I HAVE TWO OF THE YELLOW BUTTONS THAT PAUL KLIPSCH GAVE OUT AT AUDIO SHOWS, TO OTHER SPEAKER REPS, AFTER THEY TOLD HIM HOW MUCH BETTER THEIRS WERE COMPARED TO HIS. THEY HAVE ONE WORD PRINTED ON THEM......THIS SITE WILL NOT LET THAT WORD APPEAR IN PRINT, IF YOU ARE A LONG TIME FAN(30 YEARS FOR ME)YOU SHOULD KNOW IT. Strengths: ABLE TO MAKE BLOOD RUN FROM YOUR EARS AND YOU LIKE IT. Weaknesses: CAN CATCH FIRE IF A LOOSELY ROLLED CIGARETTE IS LEFT ON THEM Similar Products Used: ENGINE FROM A F4-PHANTOM

"The absolute detail and "realness" are somthing I have not heard in my systems ever before. The reproduction of live music is what we strive for, and La Scala has given me a sound as close as any I have heard in any home." - Nightrider ________________________________ I agree. La Scalas really make you believe you've got a real--albeit invisible--band in the room with you. The best thing I can say is that to me, they don't sound like speakers - they sound like a LIVE performance. -H2G

The main differences between the Heresy and Heresy II are that they have different drivers and the horns were changed from metal to plastic. The midrange compression driver also shrunk from a 2" throat to a 1.5" throat. According to the Klipsch specs, the Heresy II is 1 dB more sensitive and goes a bit higher (20khz compared to 17khz) BUT, at the same time, also loses some bass dropping off at 63hz compared to the 50hz listed for the original Heresy. Then again, I seem to recall an old spec sheet or two that listed the original Heresy frequence response to be +/- 5 dBs compared to the specs listed for the Heresy II at +/- 3 dBs. The main thing, to my ears, is that the Heresy II sounds a bit more, well, I guess you could say "refined," or subdued in comparison to the Heresy. The Heresy's midrange seems a bit more "forward" then that of the Heresy II. This was my personal impression when I A/B'ed them together on my old Proton D940. The Cornwall is substantially bigger then the Heresy - it literally dwarfs it, both physically and sonically. The Cornwall literally SOUNDS bigger then the Heresy or Heresy II. It seems to project a much larger wave of sound into the room and the bass response drops down to 38hz. The thing that helped make the Cornwall famous is it's bass response. This excellent bass response is what aids the Cornwall in sounding very "balanced" because it can effectively produce deep bass (but not "boomy" subwoofer bass mind you), great mids, and great highs. In short, it delivers the all of the goods and leaves no audible "hole" in it's presentation. Speakers like the Heresy, on the other hand, seem a bit unbalanced because they give poor bass response (relatively speaking here) compared to their strong midrange and strong highs. It's been argued as well that the La Scala is somewhat unbalanced too because it's bass repsonse drops to only 45 or 53hz and although fast and tight (as horn loaded bass tends to be), it's bass seems somewhat "weak" when compared to the mids that eminate from it's monstrous midrange squawker. The Khorn has the same gigantic midrange squawker and the same tweeter as the La Scala, but because the basshorn is folded thrice (instead of twice, as on the La Scala), the Khorn can drop down all the way to 35hz when properly placed AND sealed into the corners of your room. The Khorn truly does it all and sounds larger then life...much larger then the Cornwall, or any other Klipsch home speaker for that matter, with the La Scala coming in a close second. The two-way Klipsch speakers (KG series, RF series, etc...) have many fans and, as far as two-way designs go, sound excellent. But to me, the fact that they utilize their cone woofers to produce the all-important midrange is what effectively kills them. They have excellent lows and excellent highs (some have said the highs are too sharp) but in my opinion, they have a subdued or laid-back midrange. Again, in my opinion, this creates an unbalanced sound wherein you get strong, pronounced lows and highs but subdued, laid-back mids, so you're faced with an audible "hole" again. But some people like it that way. To them it fits the bill and they're really happy with what they hear. More power to them I say, after all, music is a very subjective issue hence you should buy what sounds best to YOUR ears and not be "sold" into buying something OTHER people think sounds best to them. In my case, part of the "magic" of Klipsch has always been their horns. The horns (particularly the midrange) just make the music seem so effortless, so dynamic, so, so...LIVE and RIGHT-THERE in the room with you. I simply haven't heard the same type of results from a conventional driver (i.e. cone), which is why I favor the three-way Klipsch models. Let's say for instance...with all things being equal...if you were to make two sets of speakers and horn-load the midrange in one while simply relying on a cone for the other, you WILL hear an immediate and extremely detectable difference. The only question that really matters to potential buyers in the end is, which one will his own individual ears prefer?

I've used an NAD integrated amp with the Power Envelope feature with my Heresy IIs (I've also used a Proton D940 Receiver with Dynamic Power On Demand, a virtual clone of the NAD with Power Envelope units). They both 40 wpc and had 6dBs of dynamic headroom and mated well with the Heresys. I listen to a lot of classical music and I run my KG4s alongside my Heresy IIs in order to get the really low bass (KG4s go to 38hz - Heresy IIs go to 63hz I think). There's a HUGE difference in bass output between the two. The Heresy IIs can't touch the KG4s for bass but on the flip side of the coin, the KG4s can't even remotely touch the midrange of the Heresy II (thanks to the Heresy's midrange horn). Heresys sound great but really need a sub in order to balance out their mids and highs. If you have the space and the money, I'd recommend that you simply by a used pair of Cornwalls, or Fortes, or even KLF20s or KLF30s. With those speakers you'll get awesome mids and highs thanks to their horns AND you'll get excellent bass (dipping in the 30-something HZ range) as well. This will save you the hassel of buying Heresys and then buying a sub and then trying to accurately match them up, etc... Furthermore, subs can sometimes sound "boomy," which may be good for DVD soundtracks (explosions, jet engines, machine gun fire, etc...) but isn't good, in my opinion, for music. Then again, you can also opt for used Khorns or La Scalas but now you're talking about $2000 plus for Khorns and about $1000 or so for La Scalas. The Khorns will drop to 35hz but require corner placement for that. The La Scalas can be positioned practically anywhere but generally call it quits around 45hz to 53hz. What you will get with the Khorns and La Scalas though (which you can't get with the Cornwalls, Fortes, or KLF series) is 104dBs of sensitivity and that HUGE, gigantic, beautiful midrange horn. That massive midrange horn and high sensitivity will enable you to hear things in your music you've never heard before. It's a truly amazing experience. People always seem to remember the first time they've heard a pair of Khorns or La Scalas (when mated with the right equipment, and, in the case of the Khorns - properly positioned snugly into the corners). So, in short, if you're on a budget, try a pair of Fortes ($450-$500). If you can go higher and bigger, try Cornwalls or KLF20s or KLF30s ($750-$900). If you can go a bit further, and will give up some bass for absolutely amazing midrange and clarity, try La Scalas ($1000-$1300). If you have the dough and the room, and simply want the best with no audible compromises (meaning you can go from deep down low all the way to crystal clear highs), try a pair of Khorns ($2000 and up depending on year and condition). Hope this helps. -H2G

Colin and Scott hit the nail on the head. -H2G

Now *that's* funny!

Oh...welcome to the forum Jason.

Here's another current thread on the topic of biwiring over in the Technical Questions forum: http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=68770&sessionID={3F45ED31-9864-4485-B8B1-9F093F7626A9} The author's inquiring as to his personal RB15s and RC25, but there are several postings with respect to individual opinions about biwiring in general. Makes for an entertaining read. -H2G

Colin, The author of this thread (Raptorman) isn't talking about biwiring speakers with "stiff cones with thick rubber surrounds, low and wild impedance curves and low efficiency." He's talking about biwiring a pair of Khorns. And PWK, as per his Dope From Hope, didn't go for that idea with respect to Khorns. There's nothing taken out of context there. Regards, -H2G

"My good friend PWK says, "BULLSH!T"." - DeanG ______________________________________________ Dean's right - PWK says so himself in a few of his old Dope From Hope papers. Well, he doesn't actually say "bullsh!t," but he does say that you shouldn't do it. -H2G

I love Klipsch as much as anybody here, but come on now - why should anybody have to do this sort of stuff (taking it apart, switching wires around, etc...) on a brand new speaker? -H2G

Scriven brings up an excellent point - if you're using analog connections, then it'll essentially boil down to how good the DA converter is. The one thing that DVD players tend to have now are good DA converters that surpass those of entry level CD players. About a year ago or so, this was a HUGE topic on many audio forums (including this one) with people harping the merits of the DA converters found even in cheap DVD players from Toshiba and Philips. I myself bought a Philips and it crapped out on me so I purchased a Toshiba SD3960. Both had 192khz/24bit DA converters. The difference in sound--compared to my old Yamaha CD player--was astounding. The old gritty, harsh tones were mostly gone (except on extremely bad recordings commonly found in the mid 80s, but even here, they were definitely subdued); the bass was improved; and background noise (hiss) was cut way, waaaaay down. So the end result was a tremendous improvement in sound for roughly $50 (I bought the Toshiba here in San Diego when it went on sale at Best Buy). The build quality, quite frankly, sucks, and it seems as light and fragile as a feather. But it sure sounds good. For how long is another story - lol. -H2G

"or maybe he genuinely did not like the speakers. can't anyone have an unpopular opinion these days?" - tofu ___________________________________ He can like or dislike anything he wants; I have no qualms about that at all. I was simply stating that it was odd for me to hear somebody heap more praise on a Heresy II then on a Klipschorn or a La Scala. You're reading too far into it, like you've got an axe to grind about something, somewhere. -H2G