Heresy II and stands

[anarchist]

Hi guys,

I have been on an upgrade binge and just bought a set of Heresy II's for such an incredible deal, I couldn't pass them up. Two questions.

These do not have the little base that tilts them upwards towards the listening position. Anyone have details on building those bases or would I be better off buying stands?

I had no intention of buying another set of speakers after my KSP400 purchase two weeks ago (another incredible deal - my wife is losing her mind and I keep defending myself saying I couldn't pass it up) so I have nothing to hook these up to. Therefore, I am in the market for an amp.

I want something inexpensive - or another great deal - that provides an excellent audio experience. SS or Tube, I don't care although this may be a fine opportunity to try tubes if it can be done cheaply. Best suggestions?

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Home Theater

KSP 400's

KSP C6

KSP S6's

Yamaha RXV995

Music Room

Heresy's

KG4's

KSW200

The move to separates is coming, I can feel it.

[Manuel Delaflor]

I would rise those Heresy's to your ears level. In my experience you will have a sound more closer to other Heritage speakers (without the bass, of course, but you can always add a sub later).

[Chris Robinson]

For those Heresies, I'd definitely try a low powered tube amp. I won't get into details, but if you search this 2-ch section for Scott or Eico amps, you'll find a wealth of hits. Remember these are old amps, so if you're not handy, you might want to proceed to new tube amps.

Antique Sound Labs (Wave 8's) are very nice and inexpensive. DIY Labs has some nice new kits. A few of us have SuperAmps which kick butt.

Just read the threads and you'll consider it an education. You'll see there's been a lot of emotions flying on this subject as well

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"Bullsh*t!"

-PWK-

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TWO-CHANNEL SYSTEM

Eico HF-81

Eico HFT-90

AES AE-25 "Superamp" (in temporary retirement)

AES AE-3 Pre-amp (in temporary retirement)

New Tube 4000 CD Player

1976 Klipschorns (KCBR's & ALK'ed)

HOME THEATER

Klipsch 1968 ALK Cornwall "II"s (LF/RF)

ALK Belle Klipsch (Center)

Klipsch Heresy (RR/LR)

Klipsch KSW-12 sub

Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Cornwalls)

Sonic Frontiers Anthem AMP1 (driving Heresy's)

Denon AVR-4800

Toshiba SD-3109 DVD

[Kevin S]

Crash,

Some info that I hope helps:

1. Heresy's were originally designed by PWK to be positioned on the floor & in the corner. The slant riser base that many Heresy's have serves to get the woofer off the floor slightly for proper bass response and to get the horns aimed at your ears. The front of the riser is about 2 1/2 inches high. The rear of the riser is about 3/4" high. It is just a rectangle of 3/4" thick wood and would probably be easy to make.

2. I measured the following based on the placement of my Heresy's in my room: On floor, about 24" from the corners, -3db at 40hz. On floor, well out into the room, -3db at 63 hz. On 24" stands, well out into the room, flat to about 80hz and then dropping fast. Also, on stands, you will probably get a bit of a drop at 160 to 200hz due to a floor bounce cancellation.

3. When mounted on the floor, when music is panned hard into the left or right channel, it sounds as if it is coming from floor level, which of course it is. This is why I have mine on stands. Plus, Having subs that run up to 80 hz, I could sacrifice the bass output from the Heresy's.

So how you position your Heresy's is very dependent on how much bass you need from them, because the bass they will output is very dependent on where they are placed, more so than many speakers.

Hope this helps.

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L/C/R: Klipsch Heresy II

Surround: Klipsch RS-3

Subwoofers: 2 HSU-VTF-2

Pre/Pro/Tuner: McIntosh MX-132

AMP: McIntosh MC-7205

DVD: McIntosh MVP-831

CD Transport: Bang & Olufsen Beosound 9000

Turntable: Denon DP-72L

Cassette: Nakamichi BX-1

T.V. : Mitsubishi 55905

SAT/HDTV: RCA DTC-100

Surge Protector: Monster Power HTS-5000

[JoeCool]

I have ordered the stands - but in these parts, they will take a while delievring.

You could try the stop gap arrangement I have done meanwhile, it works better than just on the floor - buy two pairs of really big pencil erasers (mine are 1 inch high) and place them under the speakers about 3 to 4 inches from the front. This achieves a similar effect by having the horns pointing upwards and does the job - at least until the stands arrive.

[Manuel Delaflor]

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin S:

1. Heresy's were originally designed by PWK to be positioned on the floor & in the corner.

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I asume that your info is correct, but I had used them in that way when I first bought them. I feel they sound better raised to my ears level and in their sides. Perhaps not the most common way to locate them, but it works.

Now, reading your post, I wonder if I should begin to test new positions, like putting them on the corners and then raising them a bit like with the raisers.

I have a sub, so bass is not as important for me as it is soundstage, imaging and detail. Do you have any suggestions regarding this?

Thanks

[JoshT]

Hey Kevin,

I'm dying to know what speaker stands you are using. I really want to get some stands that are beefy enough for this speaker. Ideally with a fat top and bottom and solid legs and an 8 to 14 inch rise (no more or less).

What brand/model do you use? Do you like them?

Thanks,

Josh

[Manuel Delaflor]

Kevin?

[HDBRbuilder]

when I first bought my heresys, I decided to make up some speaker stands...I worked at Klipsch then and we had lots of scrap laying around in big boxes to be thrown out each day. Here is how I made em:

I took two of the cutouts from the woofer holes for the cornwalls...these had bee routed out so they were nice and round but a bit rough, so i sanded the edges on the stationary belt sander back in the sanding room and also slightly beveled the edges on each side...then hand sanded them smooth and rounded. These were the tops and bottoms for ONE stand...i guess they were just about the same diameter as the narrow sides of the heresy cabinet bottom.

Next I took 6 of the cutouts for the cornwall midrange horn, sanded the long edge on one side of each one on the belt sander, and ripped them to about 1-1/2" wide and cut each end off square so the length was about 12"...these were to be the horizontal pieces

next i took some solid knot-free yellow pine and ripped out 3/4" x 3/4" strips and cut four lengths at 4-1/2" long...these were the vertical posts.

then i laid down a pair of the horizonatal pieces on their flat sides, 1-1/2" apart and parallel to each other along their lengths...glued and stapled an upright to them both on each end...making a sort of rectangular framework kind of thing...and checking it to make sure it was "square"....repeat this for the other pair of uprights and 2 more of the horizontal pieces.

then i set each rectangular frame thing up on its end with one of the uprights horizontal on top and glued and stapled ONE horizontal piece across them, with the ends of the horizontal piece CENTERED so that it matched up with the INSIDE edges of the two horizontal pieces on each rectangular framework thing...I then flipped this over and did the same for the other end of the rectangular frame things...this made up the framework to separate the top from the bottom

if you are having trouble picturing this...here is how it looked....

you have 4 vertical corner posts...on two opposing sides of this you have a horizontal piece at the top and one at the bottom...on the other two opposing sides, you have just one horizontal piece in the middle.

then you just sit one circle down on top of this framework and nail thru the circle into the TWO horizontal pieces that touch the circle on the other side...flip the whole asseembly over and nail the other circle to the two horizontal pieces that touch it.

Simple but very strong and effective speaker stands...feel free to build some if ya want with any mods you want to add...the bonus of having the speakers on stands that allow air flow under them is beneficial to the performance too.

[Kevin S]

Josh,

Sorry, hadn't been paying attention, wasn't trying to ignore anyone.

My stands were actually plant stands that I had an oak furniture store make custom for me by enlarging the size of the top on one of their designs.

I could not find a ready made stand that ssemed proportional to the size of the Heresy's. They all looked like I had a square Mr. Potato Head sitting on the floor. Plus I have no aptitude for building anything.

So my solution was pricey, but it works for me.

[Kevin S]

Manuel,

Same apologies that went out to Josh.

Since you have a sub, I would definitely keep the Heresy's on a stand. With them on the floor, when anything is panned hard left or right, I had the definite sensation that the sound was coming from the floor. In fact with a strong center image, I could aurally tell that the pan had dropped a bit.

After that, all of the placement rules that would apply to any other stand mounted speaker apply. The one major exception for me is that I have ended up with the speaker axis crossing just in front of my listening position as opposed to aiming them directly at me or straight ahead. This is how Klipsch recommends to aim them in the manual, and I do feel it gives the best image and certainly widens the "sweet spot".

FYI, mine are about 10 feet apart on center, the rear of the speaker is about 18 inches from the rear wall, the sides are about 54 inches from the side wall and about 13 feet from my listening position.

Hope this helps.

[JoshT]

Thanks Kevin! I was afraid of something like that, since I have NEVER heard of anyone using Heresys on commrcially made speaker stands.

Could you describe the plant stands?

Thanks too HDBRBuilder. Sounds like one way or another they will be home made or special ordered.

[Kevin S]

JoshT,

How about a couple of photos, hopefully?

[JoshT]

Thanks Kevin!! Great pictures. Very helpful suggestion. I've printed the pictures and may take them to a local woodworking shop. Are they a solid oak?

[Kevin S]

JoshT,

Yes, they are solid oak.

[Manuel Delaflor]

Thanks Kevin

I will definitely keep my Heresy's where they are, with my last modifications in their toe in (I actually have them pointing slightly behind my head instead of in front like you do), I can clearly hear what I can only describe to be an holographic experience.

Damn, I love this speakers.

This message has been edited by Manuel on 04-19-2002 at 09:16 AM

[JoeCool]

Finally got my (original) Heresy II stands. I think the effect was brilliant - I thought the speakers would become brighter with the the horn more precisely directed at ear levels, but that didn't happen to any significant level.

Love these speakers!