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Hello Forum Members
 
How you all doing? Hello from Birmingham in the UK. I hope this message finds you all well.
 
This is my first post on the Klipsch forum and hopefully not my last, I am coming to you with an enquiry in reference to setting up a new audio system in my home. 
 
For a bit of backstory, just over a week ago I attended a party in London which had Klipschorn speakers as the main speakers system. It was the first time I had heard music through a klipsch speaker and like a lot of you have been turned and tuned into the delights of high fidelity sound. I heard music at that party like nothing I had heard before, well known records sounded better and unknown records sounded incredible. My ears were not battered but more so in tune with every delicacy and element. It was incredible! 
 
After that it got me thinking, at home I have a basic set up of mission speakers running through a mission amplifier going into my technics 1210 and DJ mixer. Whilst it works it doesn't work like a klipsch speaker, my ever going record collection of jazz, disco, ambient, soul, house, psychedelic rock and hip hop I feel would benefit from a klipsch speaker system. 
 
Whilst I'd love horns my room isn't big enough, my small music cave (which I can share pictures) hosts my collection and DJ equipment with around 8x8 space behind it for sitting in. So, it got me thinking about investing in Hearsys speakers. My main listening habits are home listening with the odd DJ practice session before gigs. I figured I'm going to be listening to music for as long as I can therefore I should take the approach that good sound is important. 
 
I'm tempted to save and buy a pair, on eBay they are retailing at £1400 but then there is the discussion about amplification which would then be secondary and a purchase later on down the line.
 
I'd like to hear reviews, thoughts, considered ideas for a novice and what is a good process to be with some klipsch speakers. I'm new to all this so bare with me, but I'm keen and interested. I see this forum as an education tool as much as a fan club.
 
Tom
 
 
 
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
Edited by Tom_Birmingham
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@Tom_Birmingham,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Man you were spoiled with your first intro to Klipsch.

 

I absolutely love Heresys(I and II) but have not had the pleasure of listening to Heresy III's yet.  I listen to my HI and HII and in their prospective rooms and they sound incredible for most music but they do require a subwoofer to extend down to the next octave or two if you want full extension.  I am very pleased with what they can do without subwoofer/s but do admit that they do have a fuller sound with one added.

 

Look into a pair of Forte I, II, or III also.

 

Yes, get your speakers first and then find amplification.

 

Bill

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Greetings Tom from Birmingham, UK and welcome from Neil from Birmingham, MI, USA.

 

I’ve owned and enjoyed all Klipsch Heritage (Klipschorns, La Scalas, Cornwalls and Heresys).  I tried to wean myself from the efficiency and low distortion dynamics of horn speakers, due to space constraints.  My five DIY Fostex single driver speakers  with four DIY tapped Horn subs do an admirable job reproducing TV and movie sound.  

 

An adult son returned to the nest while between jobs, which allowed me to again listen to the Heresys I’d restored for him. I quickly realized what I’d been missing.  Now I listen to DIY “Super Heresys” for 2-channel music, mostly without the subs, but adding the subs does fill in the extreme bottom.  The single drivers still do HT duty.

 

The thing I like about Klipsch horn loaded speakers is the dynamic impact provided by high efficiency and low distortion.  With proper amplification and source material, IMO, they’re the best.  Klipsch speakers work best with low distortion low wattage amps.  A clean 5 watt class D chip amp sounds much better than a 100 watt amp with dirty low power output.

 

You must feel like you’re re trying to drink from a firehose.  I agree with @willland above.  If you want to discuss this in greater detail, send a PM.

 

Klipsch speakers can be connected to most amps with tinned zip cord (lamp cord).

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Too bad for you; you started your Klipsch exposure at the top of the line, and now you want, WANT, WANT! It's an addiction you'll never cure of.

 

Anyway, back to your question: Since you heard a full range Klipschorn, you were exposed to a full-range speaker, with substantial low-end. The Heresy, while giving you that horn loaded mid-range and tweeter, probably plays no lower than your Missions (I had a pair of 700 Leading Edge Missions for years-bookshelf sized).

 

Since your room is small, the Heresy's will definitely give you the Klipsch sound yet fit in your room. But you'll definitely have to compensate for the lack of bass, which drew you to the sound as well. So I suggest accompanying a pair of Heresy's with a SEALED subwoofer, to maintain the tight, acoustic suspension sound. And a subwoofer can easily be situated out of the way. No need to get a large model; you're not trying to fill a large room with sub-30Hz movie effects.

 

I recommend an SVS SB-1000 or 2000 due to their small size as well as their reputation. Don't know if they're available in the U.K., however.

 

For what it's worth, I have my pair of Heresy's coupled with a passive Klipsch subwoofer and absolutely love the difference the sub makes. And I still get that horn-loaded, signature sound.

 

Check on U.K. craigslist or eBay and you might be able to pick up a pair of Heresy's for a bargain, as I did.

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Welcome Tom, I have relatives that own a business in Birmingham, and live in Bridgnorth. They vacation here 3-4 times a year.

 

What speakers do you use in your DJ gig? Klipsch makes a Heresy that would do both home use and DJ. Just a thought.

 

 

 

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It's whatever is available in the venue. My best gigs are on larger PA systems, ine such has two huge peaveys which suit the environment well.

 

Ceptorman - What is that Hearsy you speak of?

 

Bridgnorth is a lovely town. Visited many times. My folks are 20 minutes away.

 

Thanks for the tips on subs guys.

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Any Heresy would work in a DJ or home environment.  I have Heresy, Heresy 2, “Super Heresy,” HIP, and KP-201.  While each would work in either environment, the differences between them would make each better suited to particular situations.

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Any Heresy would work in a DJ or home environment.  I have Heresy, Heresy 2, “Super Heresy,” HIP, and KP-201.  While each would work in either environment, the differences between them would make each better suited to particular situations.

Hi Tom! Welcome to Klipschland. Klipschorns were my introduction to Klipsch. I couldn’t afford them so I bought Heresys in 1978. I still have them and listen to them daily. Klipsch are most efficient so you don’t need a huge powerful amplifier. If you have good corners along the same wall put them snuggly into the corners and toe them in 45 degrees. They are 4x more efficient this way. Corner placement also reinforces the bass. With corner placement you may find they are satisfactory without a sub. I’ve only had my sub three years and was totally happy with them for 37 years. Good listening my friend from the UK!


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Hi Tom!

 

My Klipsch introduction was very similar, K-horns playing "Tales Of Mystery And Imagination".  From the other room, the thunder convinced me to go outside to look.  Later a Santa Esmeralda recording made my bell bottoms move whilst the sound level was not too loud to converse over.  :rolleyes:

 

Mission amplifiers are considered quite good on our side of the Pond.  If it can produce 50 watts/channel, or a little more into 8 ohms, you will not need a new amp. 

 

I have 4 Heresies of various ages.  They work pretty well in small rooms.  I would also recommend a good subwoofer.  Have a look at Cornwalls, though they are pretty big, Forte' and Chorus (about the size of Cornwalls).  

These are not pretty and not "II"s, but you can get a feel for the size. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-Klipsch-Cornwall-II-Speakers-15-Woofers-100dB-Watt-Efficient-Hampshire/323160982674?_trkparms=aid%3D888007%26algo%3DDISC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D49130%26meid%3Decc44419dd514be6a284aface1c478aa%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D253504708027%26itm%3D323160982674&_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982

 

https://www.hifi-forsale.co.uk/moreinfo7.php?prod_title=Klipsch_Heresy_11&p=&prod_id=48790&q=klips&offset=

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Thank you for the links, especially the Hearsys speakers at £850- refurbed too. In your honest opinion, by paying extra for the III's how would I benefit with that ? Some basic lingo rather than technical language would be useful for me to understand. 

 

The Hearsys III I have found are £1400.00 so a big jump up from that £850 price. Saying that though, I could then get a subwoofer with that if I went for a price around £850.00. 

 

My amp isn't a Mission it's a Cambridge Topaz (my mistake) it's fairly basic if I am honest but does the current job.  https://www.richersounds.com/cambridge-topaz-am1-blk.html 

 

 

Edited by Tom_Birmingham
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Welcome Tom,

 

I'm also relatively new to the forum.  After having a Perreaux 3150 amp/preamp powering my old Infinity Reference Standard 2.5 speakers. I stepped it up w/an old pair of La Scala, so in the middle of a rebuild on those.  Fair warning, these guys will drive you insane with all of their knowledge on what to do, when and where to do it.  Now I'm working on TWO systems!  Gotta HAVE tubes they say, so here I go!  Green tubes, orange tubes just all tubes.  I feel like I'm reading a Dr Seuss book at times.  My advice?  Read all you can, listen to what you can @ the Klipsch dealers and go with what you hear and like.  The other thing???  These guys truly know their stuff and ya got a great bunch to chat with.  Seek and you shall receive!  Again, welcome to the forum and good luck!   It'll sort!   :)

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8 hours ago, Tom_Birmingham said:

It's whatever is available in the venue. My best gigs are on larger PA systems, ine such has two huge peaveys which suit the environment well.

 

Ceptorman - What is that Hearsy you speak of?

 

Bridgnorth is a lovely town. Visited many times. My folks are 20 minutes away.

 

Thanks for the tips on subs guys.

I thought you might supply the DJ speakers, and some Klipsch Pro speakers would work at home and as DJ speakers.

 

My younger brother has "holidayed" in Bridgnorth a few times. He loves the town. He's a home builder and recently stated a housing addition here called Bridgnorth.

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Just as an FYI about room size, I am currently using a pair of 30+ year old Cornwall IIs as studio monitors in my home studio control room, which is exactly 8 feet by 8 feet with an 8-foot high ceiling. As long as I listen at sane volume levels (under around 95dB peaks) I have never felt that they were too much speaker for such a small room. Even though they're on stands that put them around 16" off the floor they have good bass performance, although my next step will be to remove the stands and put the speakers on the floor on their factory risers.

 

Without a subwoofer, Heresys of any vintage are likely to have somewhat inadequate bass performance for house and hip-hop, but for the other music genres you list a simple twist of your preamp's Bass control (maybe +4dB or so of boost) should make everything sound great without a sub. However, if you can at all afford a pair of Cornwalls, they should work fantastically well in your situation, and would not require a subwoofer no matter what type of music you feed them. They would be the closest you can get to the overall performance of the Klipschorns that so impressed you. (Although I have not personally heard them, I've read nothing but glowingly positive reviews of the new Forte III.)

 

And here's just a small bit of advice from an old fart who's been playing this audio game for going on 50 years: No one has ever regretted spending more to get what they really want in the first place. Regrets result from making compromises. 

 

Have fun!

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5 hours ago, Tom_Birmingham said:

Thank you for the links, especially the Hearsys speakers at £850- refurbed too. In your honest opinion, by paying extra for the III's how would I benefit with that ? Some basic lingo rather than technical language would be useful for me to understand. 

 

The Hearsys III I have found are £1400.00 so a big jump up from that £850 price. Saying that though, I could then get a subwoofer with that if I went for a price around £850.00.

 

I don't feel the "improvements" of the Heresy III make them so attractive as to discount considering the earlier versions.

 

I just did an eBay UK search for "Klipsch Heresy" and turned up a lot of offers, which also appear to include international shipping. Worth considering. You can post any you find, here, and ask our opinions. You might find a real buy.

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Thanks for the tip Peter. It would be so helpful if I could do a comparison, whilst I do listen to electronic music which has a heavy kick drum and bass note it's mainly music at home that has a more detailed midlevel hence the welcome response to hearsy speakers, I'd also get a subwoofer to compliment this in the future but do not see this as an immediate priority. There is a trader selling II's near to me but only showing the box, I have asked for additional images - he is so close I could go and inspect before purchase.

 

So, in short, the II are not going to be that different from the III. I'd be interested to hear other peoples thoughts too.

 

Thank you for all of your comments and tips, it's so great to be supported by such dedicated and friendly individuals. A big thank you to you all.

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