HERITAGE OWNERS - NEED OPINIONS

[T2K]

I, like everyone else,would like to eventually own a pair of Belle Klipsch's.I am

unable to hear them locally at my dealer because my dealer does not stock them.I certainly do not plan to spend my money on speakers that I cannot demo first.What I would like to hear from some of you knowledgeable Belle owners is some insight as

to what I can expect to hear as compared to the more contemporary Klipsch speakers such as Legends,Epics,or what I am using right now,the KSP's.I know there are Belle owners out there that had or have other Klipsch speakers and I would like each of your subjective comments.I also know that you probably like to talk about them,so talk to me.Thanks in advance for your detailed comments.Keith

[T2K]

Guess I'll buy some JBL's.

Keith

[jdm56]

I am not actually a belle owner (yet!), nor am I knowledgeable, but I do have k-horns and I have heard belles a number of times, so I hereby certify myself qualified to respond to your question.

In comparison to newer klipsch designs, I think the belles will sound bigger and more lifelike. And cleaner at high levels. Really, you could say they'll sound similar to the KLF's, but just have "more" of what makes those speakers so good. And oh yeah, one more thing - that big horn midrange will just give you fantastic clarity and detail compared to some of the newer designs.

------------------

JDMcCall

[Frzninvt]

As a Belle Klipsch owner I would have to say that I am completely satisfied with their performance. Before I bought them I was using Forte's which are a good quality speaker as well with solid bass. The Belle's are stunning to look at and the dynamic's are very impressive. I picked up mine used for $1000 they are Oak Clear with the cane style grills. They sound good with every type of music and make DVD's come to life with startling realism. I have not listened to much of the newer stuff other than maybe the 5.5's a few years back. I am a true believer in the original Heritage line of products I use Heresy II's as rear surrounds a KV-4 center and a KSW-15 subwoofer. You will more than likely need a sub to reinforce the low end as the Belles are only solid to approximately 50Hz which leaves you missing an octave of bass. People that come over a watch movie are impressed with the incredible amount of detail at relatively low volume levels. If you happen upon a pair at a reasonable price pick them up I am sure you won't be disappointed. Check out my set up by clicking the little house icon in the top row of my post. If you have any direct questions please email me directly. Hope this helps a little.

------------------

If it's too loud, your too old

[pzannucci]

The only speaker that is similar to the depth of bass on the newer Klipsch speakers and has a horn bass section is the K-horn (at the moment). If you like to feel the lower octaves and fundimentals in the music and don't want to use a sub, La Scalas and Belles won't be for you.

If you are looking for bass that is "just there" and accurate, not so deep along with better midrange than Klipsch's current speakers, the Belle's or La Scalas will excel. Just don't look for bass below 45hz or so.

I've owned K-horns, La Scalas, KLF-30's, Cornwall IIs, and Forte II's over the past 10 years. My opinion of course, similar to Frzninvt's.

Peter Z.

[edster00]

I too love my Belles. I have owned (or still own) Cornwalls, Forte', Forte'II, Quartet, Heresy's, and a complete set of Reference series (due to the wife acceptance factor Reference is in HT, I can't have anything larger...YET ). I much prefer the Belles over any of the others with the exception of possibly the Cornwalls. The Cornwalls go lower and sound as good as the Belles (IMHO) but I prefer the folded horn bass and I use a sub to supplement the last octave.

[Ray Garrison]

Belle Klipsch and La Scala sound almost identical.

I have 1974 vintage La Scalas with a couple of tweeks - I applied Dynamat to the midrange horn (mine is metal) which eliminated a bit of "ringing" or "honkiness" on vocals at high volume levels, and I replaced the (26 year old) original Klipsch crossover network with the network that Al K. is selling (see updating older speaker forum for more info on Al's (EXCELLENT!) crossovers.)

I moved to the La Scalas from a pair of Epic CF4. I have owned a pair of KG4 since about 1985, and the KG4 are now the centerpiece of my office system.

The Epic line had more extended bass than the La Scalas (not hard; the La Scalas roll off around the mid 50's). The Epic line had better "imaging" while the La Scala have better "soundstaging". By this I mean that the lateral and front-to-back placement of images between the speakers was better with the Epic. I could say "that singer is RIGHT THERE - the guitar player is RIGHT THERE - the drums are RIGHT THERE". However, these were pretty much pinpoint images, with no conveyence of the relative image "size", for lack of a better word, between the different instruments or vocalists. The La Scalas don't have quite the same pinpoint image ability, but the perception of the "space" the different instuments and vocalists occupy is much more realistic with La Scala than with any other speaker I've ever heard. A good example of this is the cut "Lost in the Fifties Tonight" by Ronnie Milsap. When the background, Five Satins-esque chorus chimes in, on the Epic CF4 I heard each distinct voice in the chorus as a separate point in space - via La Scala I hear a group of guys standing in a small circle around a mike taking up about four or five feet in the soundroom. Via Epics, Ronnie is a point source voice emanating from RIGHT THERE - via La Scala, he's a guy standing sort of over there who's got this big, resonant chest that really fleshes out his singing.

Epic were highly sensitive speakers, could drive them with 30 or so watts, very dynamic. La Scala are way more sensitive, and MUCH more dynamic. I used to have B&W 801 driven by big solid state amps - Drum kits on 801s were very Bam Bam Bam - on Epic are more BAM! BAM! BAM! - on La Scalas are BLAM!!! BAM-itty BAM BAM BLAM!!!s>

La Scalas have occational traces of honkiness - on some cuts, some times, not frequently, Judy Garland sounds like she's a bit too close to the mike (The Man that Got Away cut on the Carnagie Hall disc, last verse, sounds a bit, uh, ******?) but based on the way this sounds on other speakers, don't think it's her, think its a touch of resonance in the upper base / lower midrange section of the La Scala. This is not intrusive on 99% of my music, and I would rather listen to a real, live Judy singing in my room, even if she occationally has this honky overtone, than listen to a prisinte, nice recording of her courtesy of other speakers.

I LOVE my La Scalas.

Oh, you're gonna need a subwoofer. Don't even think about going with Belles without one, or every time you're over at a bud's listening to his setup you're gonna be pissed at the bass you're missing. I have an REL Storm - meshes Great with La Scalas.

Ray

[T2K]

WOW! Ray you really know how to answer a question!As I was scrolling down reading your

answer I jumped back when the La Scala kicked

in.Then as I was reading your descriptive musical passage(I was really enjoying it)my wife walked by and I asked her if she wanted to dance!She shook her head and kept walking,

as usual.

Anyway, I'll have to think about the lack of bass part.Just this morning I was listening to some bass heavy jazz and heard a reasonating/buzzing? type sound.Got up looking for speaker problems and found the plastic front screen surround on my RP Sony resonating.Four KSP/sub combo is loaded with bass(the good fast tight kind).Guess its hard to cover both ends and the middle.But I can still see the coming when I'll have to try something with a little more lumber.

Anyway,thanks for the responses and keep those cards and letters comin'.

Keith

P.S. My wife said I needed to duct tape the TV to stop the buzzing.Ain't life grand.

[Mad Bat]

If you want to take off bass from Belles, please read my post in this same forum:

Speaker placement (a must read for Belles and La Scala owners!)

I wanted to buy a big sub, but I assure you that after the new placement of the speakers I'm fully satisfied without!

I think that if you take off fully those 45 Hz from the Belles (and at their full potential, not thin) they are more than enough, the problem is that with the Belles near to the wall behind them we can only get 120 - 100 Hz and thin bass, and this is really not enough.