70's Loudness button and Klipsch heritage speaker sensitivity - On?

[littlejackhorner]

Hi all, I was wondering...

The Klipsch heritage line is known for their high sensitivity and their relatively weak bass,

and the loudness button on 70s receivers were deployed to replace compensate for low freq

at lower volumes.

Is that a marriage made in heaven? In other words would it always make sense to generally use the Loudness

switch on a Klipsch heritage line? I guess technically Loudness is for low volume which is not the same as input power.

At least for the moderate volumes I listen to, it tends to sound more accurate with the Loudness on,

but them again Im 50 and my hearing isn't so hot.

On a Marantz 2230 I've usually got it around 25% on the volume control

ps. posted under updates and mods which isn't really right...so apologies if this posting was in error.

LilJack

[Budman]

the heresy is the only speaker in the heritage line that i know of that has weak bass. where did you come up with that at ?

[Marvel]

LilJack,

The loudness button/switch on most equipment will boost the bass and treble. Due to the way our ears works, at low volumes (maybe under 65db... I would have to look it up), the highs and lows aren't heard. If you feel your system sounds better to you with this engaged, go for it. Perhaps your high frequency hearing is dropping, too, so it sounds more balanced with it engaged all the time.

Bruce

[littlejackhorner]

Thanks Bruce. I didn't realize it also boosts the Treble too. I later discovered that the loudness circuitry should automatically compensate when the volume is increased to reduce it's effect. Meaning if I can hear a big difference at the volume Im listening at, then that's exactly the volume range that the loudness switch was designed for in the first place.

Hi Russ, I was referring to the La Scala too, which is also considered weak in the bass department. Although it has the same woofer as the Cornwall, the ported design of the cornwall gives a better bass response. I have a pair of each and can confirm. Certainly the La Scala has better bass than the Heresy though.

[jhoak]

Here's a pretty good explaination as to the how's and why's of loudness compensation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

My other thought on the subject is that there simply is no right or wrong. What's "right" for you is what you enjoy the most.

[tromprof]

I was referring to the La Scala too, which is also considered weak in the bass department.

Does the La Scala have weak bass, or just limited low bass. Because of the size of the cabinet the bass does not go all that low, but I find it has terrific bass up to that point, esp. if placed into a good corner. Loudness correction will do nothing for its inability to produce tones lower than around 50hz.

[Islander]

I was referring to the La Scala too, which is also considered weak in the bass department.

Does the La Scala have weak bass, or just limited low bass. Because of the size of the cabinet the bass does not go all that low, but I find it has terrific bass up to that point, esp. if placed into a good corner. Loudness correction will do nothing for its inability to produce tones lower than around 50hz.

Exactly! You need a sub to go with La Scalas. For some music, the sub doesn't need large output, but for most music and all movies, you do need a pretty good sub for accurate and pleasant full-range sound.

[coolhandjjl]

People who wanted more bass would go to the Cornwalls, but then missed the brilliant and open upper end the LaScala had. That's where the "Cornscala" design came from. Best of both worlds. Check out Bob Crites' web site.

http://www.critesspeakers.com/cornscala.html

[T.H.E. Droid]

In my experience, the bass and treble boost of a loudness control is OK for bass reproduction but produces too much treble, which is a common complaint with Klipsch speakers anyway. On my setups I tend to boost bass only at lower listening levels, and on some recordings actually cut treble a bit.

[littlejackhorner]

That's a good suggestion. I'll play around with that too.

I agree with the other observation that the bass is limited, not weak. I'm more than charmed by the open highs too and only notice the bass when A/B-ing them to other speakers such as B&W.

Li'l Jack