onemoretime Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 I've been full of ideas (and possibly something else) all day today, so at the risk of making a fool out of myself I'm throwing this one out to the forum & lurkers from Klipsch Product Development: What if Klipsch were to make Heritage-series surrounds for home theater? Maybe it sounds silly at first glance, but think about it. How many forum members are using Heritage speakers in their HT setups? How many goofy, un-elegant ways have we tried to elevate a Heresy to ear level without creating a danger for small children and pets? Envision a smaller version of the HIP with heavy-duty woofer, horns for mid-range and tweeter, and porting. How cool would that be? If you can build a mini-LaScala for the desktop (Klipsch blog), why not something like this? I run a market research firm for a living, and would be happy to suggest ways to test which would be low-risk. If anyone's interested, that is... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 So are you talking heresy sized? For so that huge. Now a nice pro 8" woofer based would be cool. Something like the kpt-8000 I think but in a veneered wood cabinet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Something like this KPT-250 maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 I've often wondered why they don't have surrounds that match the RF-7ii, actual compression drivers and wrapped in veneer. They're already building the THX surrounds in Hope, shouldn't be that much bigger of a deal to use veneer and copper woofers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 7 minutes ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said: I've often wondered why they don't have surrounds that match the RF-7ii, actual compression drivers and wrapped in veneer. They're already building the THX surrounds in Hope, shouldn't be that much bigger of a deal to use veneer and copper woofers. Agreed, it would be nice if the RS-62IIs had been available with the top and bottom pieces veneered like the Palladium surrounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Scrappydue said: So are you talking heresy sized? For so that huge. Now a nice pro 8" woofer based would be cool. Something like the kpt-8000 I think but in a veneered wood cabinet? Noooo - not Heresy-sized. Anyone who likes that sort of thing can have it already. Smaller, yes perhaps like the KPT-8000, although I'd prefer more of a bookshelf format that can be put on a stand and angled in toward the listener. Ideally, it would be a three-way design as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said: I've often wondered why they don't have surrounds that match the RF-7ii, actual compression drivers and wrapped in veneer. They're already building the THX surrounds in Hope, shouldn't be that much bigger of a deal to use veneer and copper woofers. But aren't there surrounds which match the Reference Series overall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 Another way to think of this - wouldn't it be great to have bookshelf speakers in the Heritage line? Granted you'd ideally want nothing smaller than 8" but that would still count as a bookshelf, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 9 minutes ago, onemoretime said: Another way to think of this - wouldn't it be great to have bookshelf speakers in the Heritage line? Granted you'd ideally want nothing smaller than 8" but that would still count as a bookshelf, right? Are you familiar with the KG bookshelf speaker line? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 32 minutes ago, onemoretime said: But aren't there surrounds which match the Reference Series overall? They have copper woofers yes. The finish doesn't match at all other than they happen to be kind of black. Tweeters are just normal tweeters and not compression drivers. If you had some ref premiere towers they're great, but if you're going with RF-7ii's, there's room to improve. I know of at least one other dealer who has been matching the THX surrounds with the RF-7ii's now that the 62's are gone. Would be nice if there was a better alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, billybob said: Are you familiar with the KG bookshelf speaker line? Not with the bookshelf models, but I have a pair of couple of KG 3.5 currently doing surround duty with Heresy HIP 1's in left-right-center. OK but not really a fit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted September 6, 2016 Author Share Posted September 6, 2016 55 minutes ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said: They have copper woofers yes. The finish doesn't match at all other than they happen to be kind of black. Tweeters are just normal tweeters and not compression drivers. If you had some ref premiere towers they're great, but if you're going with RF-7ii's, there's room to improve. I know of at least one other dealer who has been matching the THX surrounds with the RF-7ii's now that the 62's are gone. Would be nice if there was a better alternative. Sonically, are the THX surrounds a good fit? Is it just an issue of cosmetic matching then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzydog Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said: Tweeters are just normal tweeters and not compression drivers. The RS-62IIs had 1" titanium compression drivers according to the spec sheet. Are you talking about the new Reference Premier surrounds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 6 hours ago, FuzzyDog said: The RS-62IIs had 1" titanium compression drivers according to the spec sheet. Are you talking about the new Reference Premier surrounds? It says titanium horn loaded tweeters. VERY much different from a compression driver. Not very many have had compression drivers. Rf-7/rc-7, 63/83/64, 7ii/64ii, RB-75. Think that's it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 1 hour ago, FuzzyDog said: Are you talking about the new Reference Premier surrounds? Yes they're just normal tweets as far as I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 2 hours ago, onemoretime said: Sonically, are the THX surrounds a good fit? Is it just an issue of cosmetic matching then? I can't really say, I have some on hand but have never mixed and matched them. I would think that they're pretty flat like the normal THX stuff. My gut says to not mix them up due to playing around with a THX center and RF-7ii towers, but like I said I do know one other guy who mixes RF-7ii's and THX surrounds together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted September 6, 2016 Share Posted September 6, 2016 Other than timber in the Reference line, the surrounds for the Reference series can be of several sizes for the woofer. Anything from 4 1/2 to 8 in. can work. Since we are talking surrounds, this is an HT setup that should have a sub or two in the system. Surrounds can be XO at 80 or 100 Hz when using a sub. The woofer size then becomes less of a factor since autocalibration should match things pretty well. This is one reason Klipsch can use the small Atmos modules. The bass is taken care of by the larger tower and subs in the system. There is nothing magical about matching woofer size except personal tast IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onemoretime Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 4 hours ago, derrickdj1 said: There is nothing magical about matching woofer size except personal tast IMHO. Wouldn't it be about matching sonic characteristics of drivers and cabinets together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 5 hours ago, derrickdj1 said: Surrounds can be XO at 80 or 100 Hz when using a sub. The woofer size then becomes less of a factor since autocalibration should match things pretty well. i couldn't disagree with this more. if you think crossing at 80 hz that a 6.5" woofer would sound the same as a 12" based model you are wrong. i know, that you have to not believe what you said. perhaps worded wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 To much emphasis is put on all matching speakers and woofer size. The Reference line uses the same type of driver and timber matching is pretty darn good. What a surround is doing in a multichannel system is providing ambient and directional cues. Effective use of the system XO allows tailoring of the system integration. Sure an HT system may sound slightly different with different size speakers but, this is not to say that a good HT can't be put together with surround having smaller woofers than the main. This is one reason a subwoofers are an integral part of the HT. I'm not talking about extreme mismatch of speakers, like using an HD 500 or quintet for a surround with RF 7's. I use 6 1/2 in. woofers for side surrounds, 5 1/2 in. woofers for surround back. There is no lack of performance or problems keeping up with the RF 7's in a large room. Why, because of the subs. I knew others would feel different on the issue, which fine. Next month an area GTG will be held and feedback will be presented by some of our forum members. Subwoofer placement in the front and back of the room allow for greater flexibility in speaker selection and room setup. It is my belief that Klipsch dose not make surround to match the RF 7's for this reason and offer various size surround speakers. I don't think their engineers just overlooked this issue blindly for all these years or production is a major obstacle. It takes thought, trial and error in putting the HT together. It's not just about the performance of any one speaker. System synergy is needed for the speakers and gear. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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