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why the Heritage line has faded?


Heritage_Head

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I still haven't gotten over the fact that I can walk into a "Radio Shack" store and not see any speakers that have a wood cabinet. What has happened? lol...

i must be to young, ive never seen our radio shack carry anything but htib setups :) theyve turned into a overpriced computer/cell phone knick knack store

our local best buy carries a very small amount of klipsch icons and the next place that even carries low end reference is over an hour away, the only dealer i know of that even carried the thx or higher end reference was a good 3 hour drive and they still didnt have heritage gear, its to big, it costs to much, and the numbers the demand is not there

id be lucky to fit 2 lascalas or khorns let alone try to make a 5/7 speaker setup out of it, they just dont blend into todays ht areas unless youve got the cash and tons of room

a lot of people are just satisified with the little box setups for $300 its small, its cute (to them) and its cheap, they just havent experienced what real sound is to know what they are missing and the fact is that many places have just disappeared or gone out of business so that you really have to go out of your way to even find a half way decent sound store

if it wasnt for diving into a cerwin vega setup from a local shop that shortly went out of business and then buying a klipsch subwoofer i would have never known how great klipsch can be, its all about getting a flat tv with tiny speakers and having tiny earbuds on poor quality music that spins the world right now (cheap and convenient)

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I didn't end up with LaScalas because of a sentimental attachment to old speakers. I ended up with them precisely for one of cornfed's points. Nothing filled my large room like them! Add to that the value of the used market. I don't know if there are ANY options for the $1400 I spent on three LaScala that could give me what they do? Certainly nothing new, and likely a small handful of used.

Tony you have an amazing set up and no doubt put a ton of time and work into it. And for your behind the screen set up it’s a perfect match. I wouldn’t be able to pull off the center speaker but if I had your set up I’m sure I would be 100% satisfied. My comment about sentimental attachment isn’t meant to mean in every case. I also agree on the used market they are some of the great value speakers of all time. Your front row new would run (3) $9,000 would you have paid that? And if you didn’t would it be because you don’t care about sound as much as someone who paid 2k for them 20 years ago?

Reference_Head, that's three posts you've made in which you talk about how much people like music and care about good sound. That's at least two more posts than I've read about how people don't like sound. I really don't think that is the core of the argument here so you can probably quit repeating it. As to your post above...Tony spent $1400.00 on LaScalla I's that were in rough condition (if I'm not mistaken). Those DID NOT SELL FOR $3000.00 each when they were new. How old are they? Show me a rough RF-7 (the original) that sells for better than 1/4th it's original retail price. Your comparison's aren't accurate in the least. Old KHorns that are in very good condition sell or far more than the 1/8th of original price you claim. As do Forte's, Belles, etc.

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Guys I’m honestly a little

surprised that so many longtime members on here have posted that people don’t care

as much about sound as a big part of the reason that klipsch Heritage has faded.

If I have learned anything on these forums

(avs ,blu ray.com, ect) is that people

care a lot. Why else would they even waste their time on here? In the 60s and

70s if you wanted hi end sound you had to buy those kinds of speakers. Biggest

difference now is you don’t.

I think that really only applies to the younger crowd, convenience and portability is a big deal for them. Also where can the actually hear Heritage at, someones parents house just by chance with music they wouldn't care to listen to ?

That is also another problem where can anyone listen to them or most Klipsch, it would have to be by total accident unless the were really looking and asked to hear them even if they could find someone to ask.

The odds are VERY slim to walk in ANY audio store and find them or even a few different klipsch, it's a wonder they sell any really !

No dealers, no advertising, not even a setup in hope or Indy where someone could just walk in off the street interested in new speakers and have a listen ! [:o]

It's like the anti-Bose as far as advertising or someplace to hear them if you think about it.

An idea .......................not to appear smartxss........just want to see Klipsch do well/better.

Why don't the Indy office have a couple/few rooms for demo rooms with all Klipsch products set up as intended, like a somewhat normal storefront where people could addition any product ? I know it would cost money but I would think the sales would pay for someone to run the joint at least.....it would be a start, it's a big building, or even somewhere else ?

Most people need to hear to buy, if it weren't for word of mouth and chain stores and very few real audio stores we probably wouldn't be talking here right now, it would only be commercial theater business if that survived.

Disclamer...I have no business training or really any credentials to give a company like Klipsch/Audiovox advice, I just thought for people to buy they have to know it's for sale ?

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This is not a joke, it happened.

At the Pilgrimage in Indy a few years ago Trey was moving the speakers out of the hotel ballroom right in front of the Klipsch office. he was busy moving and the vans were not there yet to load the speaker in so I said i would stand there in front and watch the speakers until the van pulled up while he went back in to get the rest.

I'm standing there with 2 k402 horns and some electronics on a hotel cart waiting, a man waiting for someone asked what was it a party ? I tried to explain to him what was going on, he was looking at the speakers and asked "where is this company", I said about 500 feet behind this hotel. Thinking he was from out of town I asked where are you from ? He says I have lived about 5 miles from here all my life and have never heard of Klipsch ! [:o]

Someone lives 5 miles from Klipsch for say 45 years and has never heard of them, somethings wrong with that ?

Like the kids say......... just sayin [:(]

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I would not have LS if I had to pay $9k. I would have still lusted for them, but they would be outside of my personal "value scale". I'm in agreement that (in a small to medium room) they are hard to justify (for me) at new retail compared to the performance of something like the 83's or 7's. As mentioned, my room is large and I have them hidden, and I purchased used, so several reasons why they're a good fit for my needs. By the way, mine weren't in rough condition. All three are about an 8 of 10.

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My La Scalas sold for $1050 when they were new in 1974. I paid $1200 for them in 2006 and considered it a good deal. How's that for long-term value? Thirty years from now, when burger-flippers are making $80 an hour, maybe a pair of 2011 La Scala IIs will sell for $10,000.

I didn't buy them for any nostalgic reason. For me, they were hi-fi that I could actually afford. The upgrades came later, and took them to a whole other level. The thing is, they were so much better-sounding than my other speakers that I soon got a pair of Heresy IIs for surround, then another pair of H-2s, and sold my previous speakers.

A forum member from the southern US alerted me to a pair of Belles for sale 15 minutes drive from my place, and I brought them home a few days later. You meet some great people here.

Oddly enough, and I've mentioned this on the forum before, the size is somehow not an issue. The black La Scalas seem to shrink over time, and most people just think they're part of the landscape of the room. As for the Belles, soon after I got them, I asked a number of visitors how they liked my new speakers, and they couldn't find them!

My living room is medium sized, at 18' x 19', so it's hard to lose two speakers the size of kitchen stoves, but it happened three or four times. "Oh, that cabinet under the TV is a speaker?", was the response sometimes.

The Heritage speakers sound great to me, and to everyone who hears them. They put a smile on my face every day.

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I would not have LS if I had to pay $9k. I would have still lusted for them, but they would be outside of my personal "value scale". I'm in agreement that (in a small to medium room) they are hard to justify (for me) at new retail compared to the performance of something like the 83's or 7's. As mentioned, my room is large and I have them hidden, and I purchased used, so several reasons why they're a good fit for my needs. By the way, mine weren't in rough condition. All three are about an 8 of 10.

My appologies on the "rough" remark...I remembered someone buying three Heritage models and he got a bargain due to the rough cabinets. It was behind the screen, so I was assuming that was you. Silly me. $1400.00 was a great price!

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I'm standing there with 2 k402 horns and some electronics on a hotel cart waiting, a man waiting for someone asked what was it a party ? I tried to explain to him what was going on, he was looking at the speakers and asked "where is this company", I said about 500 feet behind this hotel. Thinking he was from out of town I asked where are you from ? He says I have lived about 5 miles from here all my life and have never heard of Klipsch ! Surprise

Someone lives 5 miles from Klipsch for say 45 years and has never heard of them, somethings wrong with that ?

Minor point... Klipsch has not been at that location for 45 years [:o]. Your point is still understood.

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I'm "Old School", and proud of it. "Old School" to me means......

- Built with true lasting quality, the kind of item you pass down to younger generations

- Made to perform in excess of the intended use of the item.

- Items that people would rather have USED than to settle for any other brand or item.

- items worthy of repair.....NOT something disposed of at the least sign of an issue.

- built properly enough that they still hold validity scientifically.

I not only sought out Heritage, I sought used Heritage because I knew that if found in reasonably good condition that they could be updated, and would last a lifetime. As a "working stiff" who earns a modest income, I have been able to build systems that perform far in excess of their cost. In addition to Heritage Klipsch, I also own a number of vintage electronics, such as McIntosh MC30s, MX110, and MC250s, as well as a vintage turntable and component home theater system. The value of used Heritage affords me room to hook up the best electronics for them, "buy a lifetime speaker, get electronics at extreme value".

Heritage is STILL the best kept secret in audio. It's all about the marketing landscape - people have been "marketed" out of them over years of the industry telling people that a big TV is more important than sound. In a way, it's selling people DOWN to match incomes, which has a spillover effect from the way we used to do it - sell UP, and show people what is really possible. From a marketing angle it became a vicious cycle - people buying smaller speakers, which had many brick and mortars disappearing, which killed the marketing for such products. Even if there IS a potential larger market, those potential customers won't see them, and will never know about them.

That is, unless they find us, or we find them.

Over time - and eventually - people are finding out what they were missing, and other old schoolers like me who remember find their way back here. While not the volume seller of the past, Heritage are enjoying a bit of resurgence, now again in production, which says enough in and of itself. Even with recent economic troubles in the larger global picture, Heritage are still in production. Which makes a certain amount of sense, because when times are tougher economically, you want to make the purchases you do make count.

All of which is to say that quality NEVER fades completely if people have some way to find it. If I went with the masses I would have Bose. But since I went with my ears and my knowledge, I have Heritage Klipsch. Still the "one" after 60+ years of production, and the best kept open secret in the audio world BAR NONE. They are like Listerine: They say what they do, and they do what they say[H] In today's world, a rare quality.

I guess I'm old school in one other way not previously mentioned.....I do not own an Ipod[:)]

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What year is the car you drive? Lol but seriously I feel like the RF series is something that meets all your "old school" criteria. I have not owned them for long but just seems like they should last forever. The drivers are stiff and the cabinet seems well built. I don't think your "old schol" title applies to heritage only. I men my brother-in-law has an old set of kenwoods he bought 20 years ago and they don't have a scratch on them. Anything that is well cared for should last well beyond it's intended life.

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What year is the car you drive? Lol but seriously I feel like the RF series is something that meets all your "old school" criteria. I have not owned them for long but just seems like they should last forever. The drivers are stiff and the cabinet seems well built. I don't think your "old schol" title applies to heritage only. I men my brother-in-law has an old set of kenwoods he bought 20 years ago and they don't have a scratch on them. Anything that is well cared for should last well beyond it's intended life.

The RF series is a very good line of speakers, and gives a lot of
performance for the dollar. Impressive midrange from a cone speaker
(quite a feat). In fact, it's efforts like the RF, Synergy, and others
that kept this company in business. And in some respects they do convey
traits from their Heritage forefathers. There are other, newer ways,
too - the Palladium, for example, but that is a "cost is less of an
object" type of effort and an "advanced application" to say the least,
so those are in a separate category. Palladium says a lot about how
Klipsch feels about sound.

A late 1960's to early 1970's Heritage cabinet is another
animal. Overbuilt for the purpose, and handling them will make one a
believer. The peak of American production and quality, when just good
enough wasn't good enough, even within price points or constraints. And
of course the direct legacy of PWK in the room. His "children". "The
Original Five".

So whle I am impressed with many of Klipsch's efforts over the
years, Heritage will always stand alone for me. It is rare that I ever
recommend or am as loyal to a product as I am Heritage....most who know
me understand my loathing for advertising/marketing and corporate
behavior - and am more prone to brand disloyalty or just downright hate
than anything else. I tend to hold entities who make promises to
account. So I don't make such a recommendation lightly......

It's a
bit like that old McIntosh ad: "Some people would rather have a used
McIntosh (Heritage Klipsch) than a new 'anything else'."I LOVE that Klipsch still builds them. Still worth it. Speakers for life.

I have
sold a number of people RF series speakers.....complete whole systems.
They fit a bill Heritage don't, primarily in "form factor" in the new
desired home theater installation. Wives let RF series in the room when
Heritage wouldn't pass. And their ears are quite happy for it, and will
have them for years as they are adults and take generally good care of
their stuff. And I can still stand there and look good, taking credit
from the wives of a job well done. So RF has made me look good.....[:)]..and
I would not say anything bad about them for the price. The "top end" of
the RF is quite impressive. The drivers are where it's at, and Klipsch
delivers the goods here. With care they should last.

But Heritage, like other historical
pieces (Mac) are exactly that, historic, and timeless as they are from
the Zenith of audio history.

Oh, and for the record, I drive
late model Toyota Corolla and Sienna, which I chose for strictly
utilitarian reasons....reliable, solid vehicles that do what I bought
them for every day with no issues. If I were the RV type, I might well
buy an Airstream, though.......another incredible American relic still
capable of doing what it was made for. Sometimes new brings benefits,
but 50 years old can still be better than 99.9% out there (and like
nothing else in truth), as my Belle Klipsch and MC30s display regularly.
Knowing when to apply, and when not to apply the latest technologies is
where my road to audio bliss has borne the most fruit. And even in the
most modern home theater system you can build, Heritage are as valid as
anything on the market.

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What year is the car you drive? Lol but seriously I feel like the RF series is something that meets all your "old school" criteria. I have not owned them for long but just seems like they should last forever. The drivers are stiff and the cabinet seems well built. I don't think your "old schol" title applies to heritage only. I men my brother-in-law has an old set of kenwoods he bought 20 years ago and they don't have a scratch on them. Anything that is well cared for should last well beyond it's intended life.



That’s a very good point Jason. Before the technology boom
of 80s, 90s, and 2000s there was definitely a different way to do things. A good
example is the micro-processor in a typical avr (receiver) has more power in it
than it took to get a man on the moon (fact). I know speakers haven’t come as
far as computers but when a cell phone has a computer in it now the size of one
that would fill a warehouse in the 60s it tells us that things are built different
for more than just cutting corners. They built lots of cheap stuff back then
too it’s just the only stuff people still talk about is what was good. Also the
average cost of a pair of Heritage speakers new (including the Heresy) is about
5k. A lot of really great speakers in that price range.



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The demand for large efficient speakers to reproduce music realistically (i.e. with dynamics and low distortion) is low and getting lower by the day. The trend is toward small nearly invisible speakers e.g. Bose cubes and hidden sub-woofers powered by mega-watt SS amps. The only time my sons (21 yo and 28 yo) listen to music on speakers is in a car,otherwise it's headphones. While stationary, they only listen to speakers as part of movIe watching or game playing. To them, music is an mp3. They don't own CDs or vinyl.

To a small extent, the niche market of fossilized audiophiles rediscovering tubes and the need for efficient speakers has spurred a renewed interest in horn loaded speakers. That demand from the AARP crowd is more than met by used vintage products from Klipsch Heritage, Altec, JBL, etc. It's difficult for the new Klipsch Hertage to compete with Klipsch's own well made existing products in a dwindling market for those products. While I applaud those with the resources and inclination to purchase new Heritage, it's difficult to see how that market can be a money maker for the new Klipsch.

Audio dealers (also an endangered species) are understandably reluctant to devote capital and floor space to an inventory of large expensive speakers. Gone are the days when I could walk into an audo salon, like Almas Hi-Fi in Birmingham, MI, to listen to beautifully veneered Klipschorns powered by expensive McIntosh gear or visit an audo hobbyist den, like The HI-Fidelity Workshop in Royal Oak, MI, to listen to bare plywood decorator Klipschorns powered by Dynaco DIY kit amps.

Changing demographics, I-Pods, the advent of the world market for used equipment represented by, eBay, Craigslist, etc. have combined to alter the audio landscape forever. If you want to hear truly high fidelity music reproduction you must visit the home of an enthusiast.

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size and price are big factors i think. the same reason why people don't have JBL pro speakers in their HT room, even if they have the cash.

with most people's typical 15x25 ht room, having 6 or 7 of these speakers in such a room is very challenging. and as much as i love the cornwalls, i had to let them go mainly due to size. with quality speakers half the size and 1/10th of the price, combined with some very good subs, you have yourself a pretty decent setup and not miss the big ole heritage at all.

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If the foam surround is rotting out of your speakers then perhaps the environment your speakers are in is not ideal. Lol

Foam speaker surrounds dry out and fall apart in 10-20 years if the speakers are in a typical home. Poor conditions might make it happen sooner, but it will definitely happen. 21st-century foam may last longer than the older stuff, but we don't know yet. It's a common problem, or there would not be so many "re-surrounding" kits and services available.

The pro audio type woofers with pleated-paper surrounds used in Heritage speakers seem to last decades longer than foam-surrounded speakers.
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If the foam surround is rotting out of your speakers then perhaps the environment your speakers are in is not ideal. Lol

That's what you would think but it's not true.

Some are just made out of material that does not last. I have some baby Advent ll speakers, at about 8-10 years the foam was gone, I re foamed, in the last bunch of years they may have 5 hours of playing time on them and I would bet If I pull off the grill the foam is gone again. Nice little sounding speakers but the foam just sucks.

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