Jump to content

Differences between the Heresy Original, II and III (what are they)


JjR

Recommended Posts

A tremendous post GLA51, I don't care if you typed that standing on your flat head! Or should I say Jar Head. [:D] Makes me want to upgrade my H II's, although they don't have a lot of mileage on them. The Heresy to me at least, are among the most sensitive to placement and room dynamics of the Klipsch that I own.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 years later...

I have Heresey I, unmodified and I really love the sound.  Have them paired with a couple of subs.  I was about to pull the plug on the crites crossovers for the models but then was disappointed with some of the reviews I read after the modification.  At present, I'm not convinced for doing any modification to them.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I remember correctly, it was at the end of October or in very early November of 1977 (or maybe 78) when the HDB(X), Heresy series was OFFICIALLY replaced by the HB(X) series.  BUT, there was a problem in getting the new HB(X) ones COMPLETELY built, that delayed shipment for a few weeks...and we still had a number of HDB(X) parts, so we built them for shipment instead.  The problem which delayed the HB(X) series was DIRECTLY due to  SOMEBODY (who had NO CLUE!) making a decision to use up a bunch of (approximately) 3/4" Baltic birch for their "Drop-in" motor-boards, since we had so many sheets of it and it was seldom utilized for much of anything.  The FIRST PORTION of the problem was in routing out the holes in the Baltic birch...which got the router bits so hot that the cutting edge would explode out of the body of the bit, while routing them out!...lots of scrap happened from that issue, and it was very clearly dangerous as hello for the router operator to do it to begin with, since the only protection the operator had was standard safety glasses, and the hot shards could and did go right thru them!...and into other parts of the operator's upper body thru his clothing.  BUT the panels were already cut and wasting them was not a part of the number-crunchers' vocabulary...So, after they FINALLY  got a sizeable number of them successfully routed out, they drilled the pilot holes into them for attaching the drivers to them...but the drill bits got dull very quickly and had to be changed often!  So, after getting them drilled, they sent then to the sanders, who hated dealing with them, too!...then they went to be painted black...but the painter had to modify the mix of paint to make them have the necessary even coverage after the paint dried (which also took longer!).  Then they brought them to my birch Heresy work-table...and who woulda thunk it, but almost EVERY staple shot into them, to mount them to the glue blocks underneath folded without ever getting thru the motor-board...MORE SCRAP!  So they told us to attach them with our finishing nail  guns...and the vast number of those nails ALSO folded, while kicking those Senco guns back into our faces!!  So they wanted to drill pilot holes so that the nails would get thru them...yet ANOTHER FOLLY  FInally, after maybe a dozen or so actually got assembled over a three-day period, they just gave up and we had to wait for another couple of days for a new shipment of the GP plywood to arrive before new motor-boards could be cut which we could actually USE!!  So, during that FIASCO interim, I built up a few hundred HDB(X) speakers instead from remaining parts and newly made parts...but not ALL of the dealers wanted that style, because they were expecting the new style!

 

So we finally got rid of those, and we were "totally" rolled over the HB(X) version...(but NOT REALLY!).  Here is why:  

 

EMPLOYEE SPECIAL HDB(X) Heresys:

 

If you have the LUCK to run across HDB(X) versions which were serial numbered later-on after the change-over to the HB(X) model cabinet design...even as late as shortly after the end of 1983...and if the back panel of the speaker has a stamp on it (GENERALLY on/across the labe!l) that reads "NOT FOR RESALE" in RED....and the cabinet is in great condition...you will MOST LIKELY FIND that the wood grain/color is extremely nice in one way or another and that the tops (at least!) match the front motor-board panel ...and the sides have (AT LEAST!) the same kind of coloration as the motorboard and top panel has with an identical or very close style of wood grain pattern... then check the rear of the top panels' edges...or maybe the rear edge of one of the side panels for a complete name of somebody stamped into the edge...or maybe an SSN stamped into it...or even BOTH!  Some ALSO have the industrial woofer motor-board installed (metal grille!).  If all of this is there, then you likely have an "employee special" built for somebody who worked at the plant!...MOST OF THEM were built by ME.

 

These parts were NOT custom-cut!  I would be routing out the motor-boards and would notice VERY SPECIAL color(s) and/or grain patterns in some of them...and if I found one or more PAIRS, then I would remember them and "cull" them for saving them as I built the speakers up.  Not only that, but I often found side panels to match as I built and pulled them to end up with complete sets for pairs. OFTEN, I would find additional top/bottom panels matching , so that the entire speaker pairs would matched...even the bottom panels!!  Basically, it was "the luck of the draw" while assembling the cabinets!

 

The LaScala builders would do the same kind of thing...for "employee specials".  I remember that we also built up a VERY FEW CDB(X) "employee specials", too!

 

When we went over to the HB(X) from the HDB(X) cabinet style, I had already set-aside about 40+  sets of panels for pairs of HDB(X)  models for employees to pick out the ones they liked best for "employee special" HDB(X) Heresy pairs.  I left Klipsch in October 1983, but there were still maybe a dozen sets of really pretty "matching" panels for pairs of HDB(X) speakers on the full-length shelf under the worktable.  The guy (Steve) who ended up building the vast majority of the birch Heresys AFTER I left ran into me in mid 1984...he told me that there was only one set of those panels remaining, but one of the employees had already claimed them, and he would build them up sometime soon. I said "They are all already gone to employees?  That happened quickly!" He replied that the cabinet shop foreman WANTED to throw them all into the scrap trailer after I left, but before he could get around to doing that, employees heard (from Steve!) what was about to happen and rushed to claim them for their own "Employee Specials"...and he had been CAREFULLY building them up during breaks and lunch time almost ever since I had left! I laughed my arse off!  Of course STEVE had already claimed a set for himself, FIRST!  He already had LaScalas, but he also always wanted some "employee special" HDBLs!

 

I built for MYSELF the SECOND most beautiful (IMHO!) pair of HDBL Heresys!  I had set them aside about a year before they were built...but found a perfectly matching set about six months afterwards.  THAT set had almost EVERY color there is on it in swirls...and it wasn't REALLY "loud-looking" at all. Picture this...have you ever seen a color pic of a star-producing nebula?? Not only that, but its grain pattern also went everywhere and the coloration swirls did NOT match to the grain swirls!  VERY RARE for birch!  BUT the panels matched each other exactly!  WHAT A FIND!So, I just set those panels on top of my earlier selection. 

 

Well, Judy Harris was planning to get a pair of "employee special" HDBLs, and wanted to have them ready for Christmas...so I told her to wait until I ate lunch, and we would just look thru them together so she could pick them out.  So I left to eat, and when I got back, she had already looked thru them and said "THESE, DEFINTELY THESE!" Guess which ones she wanted?? YEP the most beautiful ones there...the ones I planned to build for my own...then she started begging...even got on her knees and started crying...I eventually gave in, and said "OK"!  She still has them!  She will probably NEVER think of selling them, either!  She told me once that she would sell her LaScala "employee specials" before she would let those Heresys go!  She still has both pairs!  It has been over 40 years since those Heresys  were built!  I built mine a week or so after I built hers, in November 1977!  Unfortunately, I never got pics of hers...but I have asked for them...just haven't gotten them to me, yet!

 

MOST OF THEM were bought as clear laquer...or clear laquer over stain!...but not ALL of them were!!...some were taken home RAW!...but probably had stain and/or poly-urethane applied after taking them home.

 

How can one BEST find them??  Well, the odds of finding them OUTISIDE of the Hempstead or Nevada county, Arkansas/Texarkana area are EXTREMELY slim...but it COULD HAPPEN!  Former employees and their family members have NOT always remained in that area!   GOOD LUCK!  I already have MINE!😉

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I am bringing up this old, and somewhat recently rebooted thread, so that the new Heresy IV can be included. I am curious how those listening to the new Heresy IV compare and contrast it with prior versions. Especially, now that the Heresy IV has a port and a taller box dimension, as this marks a major transition away from the first versions physical anatomy. I have H III and I really enjoy them but am considering getting the IV, while keeping my H III for alternate use.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...