History of the "newer" heritage speakers?

[akirk]

Does anyone by chance know the history of the "newer" heritage speakers (Chorus, Forte, Quartet, Academy)? I first got turned on to Klipsch speakers back when the "old" style (K-horn, Cornwall, Heresy, etc.) was all there was. Lately I've been getting acquainted with the newer Klipsch speakers (Synergy, etc.) but I'm kind of in the dark on the later speakers in the heritage line. I gather by reading posts on this forum that the Chorus, Forte, etc. are well regarded since many people have them in their systems. The Academy seems to be particularly sought after. I notice that these speakers were made in the years 1989 thru 1996. Why are they no longer made? Were these newer heritage speakers meant to replace or merely augment the older heritage line? I would be interested to see if anyone has the story on this.

[Tony Reed]

There seems to be some debate about these speakers being "Heritage". Klipsch says they aren't. I own all 4 of these speakers and they come closer to that "Heritage" sound than any other. These speakers don't have a series name. I've been calling them the "Classic" line. Anyway... they are great speakers, very sought after. They were built just about the time that PWK was getting out of the business. There is also some debate about who designed them, PWK or the engineers at Klipsch. I know for a fact that PWK had a major hand in their design. They're in his house, and they wouldn't be there if they were designed by someone else.

Tony

[jdm56]

As far as I know, the only heritage speaker that was "replaced" by one of the newer models, was the Cornwall II, which was retired soon after the introduction of the Chorus. They used very similar drivers and were close in msrp. I would have liked to heard them side by side, Cornwall & Chorus.

I think Klipsch was premature in discontinuing the Legend speakers (Chorus, Forte, Quartet, etc.) I thought they certainly were more disirable than the Epics.

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

JDM