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My review of the Hi Fi Plus review of Heresy III


Richard Guba

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Speaker fans,

I actually purchased the issue 71 of Hi Fi + just to read the review of the H3. Since I am sure the review is copy right protected using the full force of the United Kingdom, I will just give my observation.

1. The reviewer was an owner of the H1 and actually liked the H3. He remarked that the H3 sounded like you were sitting close to a concert while the H1 was like sitting 15 rows back. He ordered the H3 with a subwoofer but since the subwoofer showed up late he listened to the H3 for a few weeks by themselves. He felt that the bass had great quality but lacked a bit in quantity. The sub filled things out when it showed up. All in all he viewed the H3 as a great value even if you added the cost of a sub.

2. Hi Fi + is an interesting magazine. It is printed on heavy paper and seems to be targeted to upper income British enthusiasts who are also value oriented. There are reviews of really expensive things along with more affordable stuff. The record reviews seem to be the same as the absolute sound which is a sister publication.

3. All in all this is a very favorable review. I think Amy and the marketing folks should get some sort of permission to at least quote the reviews and put some lines on the product web page for the H3. This is the first real magazine review I have seen for the H3.

4. Now the real question: Was it worth $16 for the magazine to be airmailed from the UK? I guess so. I will keep it to show visitors who hear my speakers.

Rich

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I checked Borders in Chicago (two stores). Hi Fi + was not to be found.

I checked B&N in the Rush Street area. It had several copies of Hi Fi + from the end of last year. It is related to Absolute Sound IIRC.

It might be that B&N in the USA gets copies with a very long delay and maybe only left overs. I'll check in a couple of weeks.

Wm McD

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I am in Annapolis, MD. THere is a BN in town so I will check that out. Issue 71 has the H3 review.

Hopefully Amy and the marketing people will get some quotes to use.

In an unrelated page there was an ad for a cable burn in machine. I always burn in my cables by connecting them to the system, but I guess that is why I need to read high end magazines so that I can be enlightened. All of these years I never burned in my cables.

Rich

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Hello Rich, and greetings to everyone on the Klipsch forum from England. My name is Jimmy Hughes, and I wrote the Heresy III review in Hi-Fi Plus. This is my first post here using a friend's account. I have signed up for the Klipsch forum, but am awaiting my password to participate.

First off - thank you Rich for bringing my Heresy III review to everyone's attention on the Klipsch forum. And thank you for taking so much trouble to obtain the magazine - I'm pleased you thought it was worth $16. My friend Gary Burley alerted me to your original post about the review a couple of weeks back, and - seeing as the magazine is so difficult to get in the USA - I have been wondering if it might be possible to post the review here.

However, I might be able to offer you something slightly better (or, depending on your point of view, considerably worse - LOL!) - the full unexpurgated 'Director's Cut'. My original piece was rather long, and the version that appeared in the magazine was trimmed. Unfortunately, the various cuts have created at least one serious misunderstanding. When I referred to the 'H1s' I was thinking of my own Impulse H1 horn speakers - NOT Heresy 1s.

In the magazine version, most of the intro was cut. In the original version, I described how I got to hear the Heresy III's at the house of a friend (Gary Burley), and how hearing them made me want to write a review of them. In passing, I mentioned my own Impulse H1s, and how their size had made it difficult for me to review speakers due to lack of space. Unfortunately, none of this was published.

Trouble is, I'm not quite sure how to post the original article here. I've already checked with the Editor of HF+ and he's cool about me doing it - so no issues there. The problem is actually getting it on the forum. I could, of course, simply cut and paste it here, but most forums have a word limit, and I fear it would it be waaaaay too long. Would I be correct in thinking I could put the article on a site like flickr, then post a link to it here? Alternatively, I could send the text to Amy for her to post here. But, these are details; one way or another, I will find the means to do it.

Thanks again for your interest!

Jimmy Hughes

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Hello Rich, and greetings to everyone on the Klipsch forum from England. My name is Jimmy Hughes, and I wrote the Heresy III review in Hi-Fi Plus. This is my first post here using a friend's account. I have signed up for the Klipsch forum, but am awaiting my password to participate.

First off - thank you Rich for bringing my Heresy III review to everyone's attention on the Klipsch forum. And thank you for taking so much trouble to obtain the magazine - I'm pleased you thought it was worth $16. My friend Gary Burley alerted me to your original post about the review a couple of weeks back, and - seeing as the magazine is so difficult to get in the USA - I have been wondering if it might be possible to post the review here.

However, I might be able to offer you something slightly better (or, depending on your point of view, considerably worse - LOL!) - the full unexpurgated 'Director's Cut'. My original piece was rather long, and the version that appeared in the magazine was trimmed. Unfortunately, the various cuts have created at least one serious misunderstanding. When I referred to the 'H1s' I was thinking of my own Impulse H1 horn speakers - NOT Heresy 1s.

In the magazine version, most of the intro was cut. In the original version, I described how I got to hear the Heresy III's at the house of a friend (Gary Burley), and how hearing them made me want to write a review of them. In passing, I mentioned my own Impulse H1s, and how their size had made it difficult for me to review speakers due to lack of space. Unfortunately, none of this was published.

Trouble is, I'm not quite sure how to post the original article here. I've already checked with the Editor of HF+ and he's cool about me doing it - so no issues there. The problem is actually getting it on the forum. I could, of course, simply cut and paste it here, but most forums have a word limit, and I fear it would it be waaaaay too long. Would I be correct in thinking I could put the article on a site like flickr, then post a link to it here? Alternatively, I could send the text to Amy for her to post here. But, these are details; one way or another, I will find the means to do it.

Thanks again for your interest!

Jimmy Hughes

Post it as a PDF!

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Hello Rich, and greetings to everyone on the Klipsch forum from England. My name is Jimmy Hughes, and I wrote the Heresy III review in Hi-Fi Plus. This is my first post here using a friend's account. I have signed up for the Klipsch forum, but am awaiting my password to participate.

First off - thank you Rich for bringing my Heresy III review to everyone's attention on the Klipsch forum. And thank you for taking so much trouble to obtain the magazine - I'm pleased you thought it was worth $16. My friend Gary Burley alerted me to your original post about the review a couple of weeks back, and - seeing as the magazine is so difficult to get in the USA - I have been wondering if it might be possible to post the review here.

However, I might be able to offer you something slightly better (or, depending on your point of view, considerably worse - LOL!) - the full unexpurgated 'Director's Cut'. My original piece was rather long, and the version that appeared in the magazine was trimmed. Unfortunately, the various cuts have created at least one serious misunderstanding. When I referred to the 'H1s' I was thinking of my own Impulse H1 horn speakers - NOT Heresy 1s.

In the magazine version, most of the intro was cut. In the original version, I described how I got to hear the Heresy III's at the house of a friend (Gary Burley), and how hearing them made me want to write a review of them. In passing, I mentioned my own Impulse H1s, and how their size had made it difficult for me to review speakers due to lack of space. Unfortunately, none of this was published.

Trouble is, I'm not quite sure how to post the original article here. I've already checked with the Editor of HF+ and he's cool about me doing it - so no issues there. The problem is actually getting it on the forum. I could, of course, simply cut and paste it here, but most forums have a word limit, and I fear it would it be waaaaay too long. Would I be correct in thinking I could put the article on a site like flickr, then post a link to it here? Alternatively, I could send the text to Amy for her to post here. But, these are details; one way or another, I will find the means to do it.

Thanks again for your interest!

Jimmy Hughes

Post it as a PDF!

Tell me how to post as a PDF, and I'll do it! (Excuse my ignorance)

Jimmy Hughes

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Jimmy:

You will need to take your original document (in Word format?) and save it as a PDF file. Once it's in PDF, when you reply to a message (as I am doing), you will see tabs at the top of the message you are replying to. See the tab "Options"? Click on it - it allows you to add files (your PDF file in this case).

Hope that helps.

Chris

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Dear Mr. Hughes,

Thank you for the review of the Heresy III (yet to be available on the Internet) and the unedited version you published here.

I must admit that I had mixed feelings about your review of the H1 Impulse from a long time ago.

On one hand your review of the Impulse system said so many good things specifically about that system and generally about horns. Your comments were very consistent with what the crew here loves about the many Klipsch horns. Of course horns from many other manufacturers, often British, are described in similar terms by other reviewers over the decades. I thought: "Hughes is one of us."

On the other hand, (take the following gently -- I'm convinced you’re a very good fellow) it was annoying to me that you pronounced judgment on the use of printed circuit boards and wide track with an air of superior knowledge. Further, you removed the resistors intended by the designer with no apology. On the latter point (and after some reflection), maybe you do have a room which is very good for the bass horn and the mid and tweeter did need full output. Folks here are always tinkering.

For others reading here: Mr. Hughes’ review of the Impulse H1 is attached. I’ve put it together from sources on the Internet. As we all can read, Mr. Hughes concluded the Impulse H1's were the best speakers he ever heard. I find it heartening, Mr. Hughes, that you’ve keep them over the years. You are one of us.

Someplace I have a copy of the H1 article and the manufacturer’s reply. The people at Impulse thanked Hughes. They did not comment on Hughes removing the resistors and what could be a criticism of the design. After the "best I’ve ever heard"comment . . . why should they complain!

But, then, recently, this thread announced that Hughes had reviewed the Heresy III.

What came to my mind was a scene in the movie "Jaws." Captain Quint has been uncontrollably critical of Hooper and hostile to Hooper being along on the hunt for the shark.

Chief Brody, in some consternation and intense worry, says, "It’s not going to be like this out on the boat, is it?"

Similarly, I wondered if Hughes (Quint) might follow form in the review of the Heresy III. Will he take it apart the speaker to examine for printed circuit boards with wide tracks? Will he remove resistors? Smile.

As we see, that didn’t happen. Thank goodness.

Mr. Hughes, thanks once again for your thoughtful articles.

BTW, do you resemble Robert Shaw?

Wm McD

H1 Impulse by J. Hughes.pdf

H1 Impulse by J. Hughes.pdf

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Dear Mr McDermot,

Thanks for dredging up my 21 year old Impulse H1 review [:o]. Truly, the internet is a wonderful thing - LOL!

I must say, I never expected my past Sins and Misdemeanors to come back and haunt me when I posted the Heresy III review here. But, I suppose it's Guilty as Charged. Yes, I did remove the midrange and tweeter resistors from my original H1s. I wouldn't do that sort of thing today - or, if I did, I'd not blazon it forth in a review. But (to quote Bob Dylan) I was so much older then...

The Impulse H1 review has a certain proseletysing quality; it might be 21 years old, but sadly I'm not sure it's Come of Age. Hopefully the Heresy III review manages to sound committed and enthusiastic without being too partisan. But, you have to remember - the Impulse piece was penned in 1989 and I was writing for the UK. Many of the speakers available then were soggy inefficient 'monitors' that sounded flabby and dull. I was trying hard to make a case for something very different.

I'm on my second pair of Impulse H1s. The set I use now (circa 1991/2) have more or less standard crossovers with tweeter damping resistors. For what it's worth, my views about getting rid of tweeter resistors have changed dramatically. While you undoubtedly get a crisper more articulate treble without them, often you sacrifice musical coherence and integration in the process. Tweeter damping resistors have a downside, but it's a Battle you have to lose in order to win the War - you have to have SOMETHING there. However, I still believe in hard-wired crossovers - doesn't everyone?!

To add a touch of irony, last year I auditioned one of the latest speakers from a small UK company called Aspara Acoustics - basically the two guys behind the original Impulse speakers. I found their new speakers sounded way too bright, and lacking in bass/treble integration. I strongly suspected the tweeter was being used without any sort of attenuation - and turns out it was. I conveyed a certain displeasure, and designer Brian Taylor agreed to listen again. He did, and completely concurred with my findings, adding a resistive T network for the tweeter! I did not review these speakers, incidentally

Not sure about Robert Shaw - was he in Jaws? The only Robert Shaw I know is the choral conductor based in Dallas. He colaborated with Toscanini, and made many fine recordings for the Telarc label.

Jimmy Hughes

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