What's the scoop on Heresy II Signature Editions?

[jimjimbo 10181]

I have seen a couple of pairs of these for sale recently, and had never heard of the "Signature Edition". What makes them special, and do any of you folks own them?

[CECAA850 28796]

I think sanchopanza has a pair. Isn't that his avatar or am I misremembering? (to quote Roger Clemens)

[Schu 4893]

he does... and they are BEAUTIFUL!

I'd love to own a pair, but I don't know how much of a premium I would be willing to pay for them.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Schu

[Frzninvt 525]

I have seen a couple of pairs of these for sale recently, and had never heard of the "Signature Edition". What makes them special, and do any of you folks own them?

The badge with a PWK signature on the grill, nothing more.

[Budman 959]

Sancho Panza has a pair or 2

[Sancho Panza 4618]

yes, if you'll look in my Gallery, you'll see lots of info & pics

basically, standard Heresy II (1986 & 1987), with Flat Risers, Cane Grilles & PWK Signature Badges as in my Avatar...said to have been built under personal supervision of PWK...weigh more, disremember how much & do NOT know if that is simply the weight of the Flat Risers, or there is something more...

[Sancho Panza 4618]

prettiest speakers I've ever seen...

[Sancho Panza 4618]

You're welcome; as far as I know they were only sold in Military Exchanges in Europe; although I had access to the Exchange System then (& now), I bought mine 2d Hand...to me, they are worth $100 to $150 more than standard Heresy II, IF you like Cane & Flat Risers...& of course, the nostalgia of being made under personal supervision of PWK...

Edited June 20, 2014 by Sancho Panza

[Sancho Panza 4618]

You're welcome. Be sure to ask if he has the letter, signed by PWK, that came with them.

That I've never seen, even a copy.

[cube48 11]

I just got a pair of very well preserved HII's Signature Edititon recently and while re-doing the crossovers, this fell off one of the boxes. It seems that indeed PK really touched these in Sanding Dept. 🤩

 

Unfortunatelly boxes have no consecutive SNs and P.R.I.D.E. sheet was only in one of them. Also the top veener patterns are not 'neighbouring' nicely but you normally don't see it as they don't stand right next to each other. 

[jimjimbo 10181]

More photos?

[cube48 11]

Here's a gallery. 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mo9T5swUbwek7R2c8
Not so great pictures, I'll try to do sharper ones later.

Still experimenting with positioning. Floorstanding has better, snappier bass but looses a bit of mid-high presence even when tilted. This seems to be easily remedied with gentle treble gain on pre-amp. Elevated position on the other hand has great width, depth and better imaging probably due to couch not getting in the way of left speaker. Elevated looses bass detail and snappiness. Dedicated sub would perhaps sort it out as many had suggested and are practicing. But I like the simplicity of intended floorstanding position (for now 😁). 

Also tried a few, given for free, mostly old amps with various flaws until I got the sound right, suspecting my fail on one of the crossovers. All is fine now with Kenwood Basic C1 & M1 combo which was in my budget and I'm really happy with and re-capping XO's opened the sound a lot. For evening listening sessions I slide HII's apart as far as room allows, toes in and life is wonderfull, my passion for music is regained after years of not-so-exciting headphone music 'consumption'. During the day boxes are parked next to TV table, providing more forward shooting sound projection. 

Until yesterday I mostly listened to Spotify or internet radios only but tried to convert a few CD's to FLAC and boy ... what a difference. My old trusty CA DACMagic (the first one, without volume wheel) and Win10 mini PC get the job done pretty well for cheap-skate like me.

Oh, and here's the story how I 'inherited' HII's. (my father still lives though 😉)

Edited July 20, 2020 by cube48

[Schu 4893]

Wow... six year old thread... I to now have a pair that gets used a rears for 5.1/HT.

[Oicu812 425]

 

I love the PK initials on the PRIDE sheet under the sanding department.  If that means what I think it does...

 

 

 

 

  

On 7/20/2020 at 10:28 AM, cube48 said:

I just got a pair of very well preserved HII's Signature Edititon recently and while re-doing the crossovers, this fell off one of the boxes. It seems that indeed PK really touched these in Sanding Dept. 🤩
 

Unfortunatelly boxes have no consecutive SNs and P.R.I.D.E. sheet was only in one of them. Also the top veener patterns are not 'neighbouring' nicely but you normally don't see it as they don't stand right next to each other. 

That is one heck of a card to have.  You should make sure to put it in a small ziploc bag, and tape that inside the speaker it came from.  Preserve it for posterity.

 

[cube48 11]

And here slightly better picture with current parking placement. Tilting unfortunately introduces some weird panning issues and frequency cancellations in our living+kitchen room.
 

[Oicu812 425]

6 hours ago, cube48 said:

And here slightly better picture with current parking placement. Tilting unfortunately introduces some weird panning issues and frequency cancellations in our living+kitchen room.
 

 

I love your setup.  It's rather clean looking!

 

You might think about moving the speakers to the left and right around 6" (and the same forward!), and slightly toe them into your listening position.   That space in front of the speakers is already "dead", not being used.  If it were my set, I would bring the front of the speakers exactly as far forward as the front edge of the TV stand.

 

Angled toward the middle puts the "focus" of the sound directed more toward your ears.  A small rug will help with your "panning" issue, cutting down on the reflections you are getting off the floor.

 

You can always move them back if you are having a party or something.

 

 

[cube48 11]

Thanks for your kind words and valuable tips on placement! It's really helpful!

You are totally right @Oicu812 about putting them a bit more apart, above pictured placement really creates sonic 'shadow' in front of TV stand. That's sorted now. Unfortunatelly I can't go any further towards listening position. 1st, they loose low-end as soon as moved from wall, 2nd there's a wheeled chair next to left speaker where my wife has her laptop table and risk of bumping the speaker gets higher. For party or focused listening they can go much more apart and with toes in. For daily position, it seems I've found a sweetspot, thanks again! But I'm torn between floorstanding and elevation. I like the width and much more details with elevated boxes overall even though the bass snappiness gets little rounded. Will maybe try half-height stands than what you can see here to get that bass response back a bit and still keep the mid-high width and detail. But I'm already getting somewhere 😁

[Oicu812 425]

17 minutes ago, cube48 said:

Thanks for your kind words and valuable tips on placement! It's really helpful!

You are totally right @Oicu812 about putting them a bit more apart, above pictured placement really creates sonic 'shadow' in front of TV stand. That's sorted now. Unfortunatelly I can't go any further towards listening position. 1st, they loose low-end as soon as moved from wall, 2nd there's a wheeled chair next to left speaker where my wife has her laptop table and risk of bumping the speaker gets higher. For party or focused listening they can go much more apart and with toes in. For daily position, it seems I've found a sweetspot, thanks again! But I'm torn between floorstanding and elevation. I like the width and much more details with elevated boxes overall even though the bass snappiness gets little rounded. Will maybe try half-height stands than what you can see here to get that bass response back a bit and still keep the mid-high width and detail. But I'm already getting somewhere 😁

 

 

To be perfectly honest, as a real bass lover you should have a subwoofer with a pair of stock Heritage Heresies.  There have been a lot of conversations regarding this around here... 

 

With your space considerations, there are a couple of things you can do.  Add a sub to the far right, hiding it behind the plant and the end of your bookshelf, firing into the corner (This will sort of mimic the Klipschorn bass design that uses the walls for extra amplification).  Or (if you are more adventurous),  grab an identical pair of subs that are front firing.  The pair can then be used as speaker stands without changing the footprint very much at all.  I've heard that a sheet of sorbothane between the top of the sub and the bottom of the speakers will help with any excess vibration and protect both from scratches (I've used regular rubber sheeting between speakers successfully!).  This will also free you up a little bit as far as speaker placement goes.

 

Just an old guy's opinion, and someone else may have better ideas.

[cube48 11]

Yes, sub(s) is not ruled out. And I really appretiate your view and hints. I'll stick to current configuration for a while and eventually do pre-amp and amp re-capping in a month or two which is said to improve bass response significantly with my particular pre-amp/amp combo. Until then I'll do research on subs. Amp still has another pair of outputs free so this might be the way to go. But I guess it will be tricky journey. I don't feel I need 'more' bass, it's just that snap that is really nice with HII's on the floor. Maybe properly done tilted risers might do the trick now when L/R sweet spot is found. This tinkering is part of the fun ... isn't it? 🙂

Edited July 22, 2020 by cube48

[Oicu812 425]

1 hour ago, cube48 said:

Yes, sub(s) is not ruled out. And I really appretiate your view and hits. I'll stick to current configuration for a while and eventually do pre-amp and amp re-capping in a month or two which is said to improve bass response significantly with my particular pre-amp/amp combo. Until then I'll do research on subs. Amp still has another pair of outputs free so this might be the way to go. But I guess it will be tricky journey. I don't feel I need 'more' bass, it's just that snap that is really nice with HII's on the floor. Maybe properly done tilted risers might do the trick now when L/R sweet spot is found. This tinkering is part of the fun ... isn't it? 🙂

 

My wife says I like "fiddly" work, so she and I both agree with you!