Heresy / KG / Vaulted ceilings advice

[holtrp]

We moved recently and I now have a 20 x 24 living room with 14' ceilings to fill with sound. The room itself is already wired for two speakers 8' off the floor about 15' apart and are currently inhabited by the lamest, cheapest Sony Wal-Mart style black box satellites you could every have the displeasure of hearing. The boss is in full control when it comes to decor and whatever I get must be in either a "wood" color finish (i.e. oak, birch, walnut).

Here is what I am thinking so far:

Option 1 would be a set of Heresy I or II however I am concerned it would be extreme overkill running them 8' off the floor and putting big shelves or mounts that high up might be unsightly. Good thing about these is they could be moved to the office down the road and there is no doubt that they are very pretty speakers.

Option 2 would be a KG 2 which might be a better fit for the room without giving up too much speaker, a guy on Ebay has a set for sale that is very reasonably priced.

The speakers are going to be driven with a fully restored Marantz 2226B. Probably 90% FM stereo for background noise, but I may end up moving my Velodyne sub from the theater to support this system, as the room is wired for it. I know I would personally be much more inclined to stream good recordings to it if the speakers were better.

So I guess the basic question is this: Is it worth it to purchase Heresy, even if the room placement is not exactly ideal or should I just save my money and go with KG's as the room is going to handicap the Heresy anyway. I would be grateful to hear from anyone that has been in the same situation or has experience with big abnormal rooms / vaulted ceilings and KG / Heresy etc.

Thanks in advance,

Ryan

[gnatnoop]

i'd buy heresys but put them on the ground. simply don't use the existing wiring.

then it opens up many more possibilities, Corns would sound great in a room that size.

the only speakers i'd consider up on the wall would be surrounds in a home theater application.

[holtrp]

WAF won't let that happen. Has to be wall mounted off the floor and out of the way. Plus, we have a 1 year old an another due in March, so I don't want to risk a little one feeding a Heresy horn a PB&J sandwich or drawing on them in permanent marker some day. Perhaps 10 years from now the speakers can go on the floor.

[oldtimer]

I have a room similar in size, with chorus II's, which do quite well. That does not solve your problem however. You should be able to hide the wiring elegantly enough to place speakers more to your liking. Right at about ear level is best, for background maybe standing up ear level? Heresies on the floor as suggested would also be good enough but will she allow that? The heresies are not that much larger than kg2's, but they are a lot heavier. The kg's do have a rear passive radiator so they can't be right up against the wall anyway, so ultimate space taken is probably not a deciding factor. The heresies are also way more sensitive, so I would try heresies and a sub. If you place them up on a wall, you can make shelves of suitable decor and everyone is happy.

[holtrp]

Thanks for the responses. Keep them coming. I might also mention we have hardwood and lots of window in this room as well. There is plenty of furniture and rug to take down the reflection, but another reason to install the speakers up high is the room is already laid out with our L shaped couch and two wing backs so there isn't a really good 'listening position' anyway. Better laid out for the women folk to sit around and chit chat, opposed to me blasting music.

The room is actually wired for 4 speakers and a sub in the corner. The wires for the other two speakers come in from the ceiling from the transition to the kitchen and I was planning on just leaving them blanked off, but now that I am looking at it, perhaps it would work to have speakers placed here instead of on the opposing wall.

I will try to post a few pictures tomorrow.

[fini]

Speakers on the floor, kids on the wall.

[Groomlakearea51]

H's will work on the walls as long as you can get them into the corners and facing, on axis, at the central point in which you sit to listen.

[holtrp]

Alright. I did it. Picked up a set of Heresy I for $410 with only very minor cosmetic blemishes. Being in Alaska, I couldn't let these suckers go somewhere else as shipping from an Ebay / Audiogon / Forum pair, you may as well tack on another $150. The speakers are on the floor and will be staying there. I don't think my wife knew how pretty these speakers were and after seeing how modest and attractive they are, she does not want them mounted up high now that she saw them sitting on our hardwood. Almost like they are just another perfect accessory to her living room. We'll have to keep the kids away from them, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I have been playing them for about 5 hours now through my old Marantz 2235 while the 2226b is getting rebuilt. All I can say is WOW! I wish I would have stepped into Klipsch Heritage speakers about 15 years ago. If anyone reading this is ever considering Heresy vs something comparable, dollar for dollar, I would put these 27 year old, $400 Hersey up against just about anything. At some point, I would like to set them up with my RF-83's and do some good back and forth switching (although that might not be a wise choice as I will likely decide to get a full 7 channel heritage system going). Many people complain about the bass performance from these speakers, but I just don't hear it. These speakers sound much better on the low end than just about any other store monitors I have heard. Perhaps compared to LaScalia or Cornwalls, they may not stand up, but on their own they sound great. The bass guitar on Diane Krall sounds amazing, the piano sounds like it is actually in the room being played. I mean, they don't stop your breathing when playing the opening to Welcome to the Machine or anything, but they are still a very capable full range speaker. These Heresy bring a new level of realism to stereo.

Thanks again Klipsch!!!