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Stereophile on the Heresy III


SiliconTi

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15 hours ago, ODS123 said:

 

That comment about the Khorns sure hIghtens my interest in hearing a pair :)   But I don't understand the remark:  

 

"Choosing the correct ancillary components is a must with the Heresy" 

 

Why?!!  Given their very high efficiency,  I can't imagine ANY modern day amplifier having difficulty cleanly driving them to ear-damaging levels.  Though I generally use my McIntosh MA6600 to drive my cornwalls, I did - just for fun - listen to them with the $100 50w AudioSource AMP 100 integrated I use for my deck speakers.   ..And they sounded just as terrific - clean, clear, smooth, and to insane volume levels.

 

AudioSource AMP 100

Not all source components and amps sound the same.  I would recommend lots of clean power with the capability of doing tight bass.  Components that are bright need not apply.

 

The thing that is little understood is efficiency doesn't mean everything and is not the end all.  Component synergy is the key.

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On 6/11/2018 at 11:59 AM, Westcoastdrums said:

Anyone have a link to a discussion on the heresy iii here from other forum members points of view?  I just got a pair and in my room, I am BLOWN away.  The Soundstage is HUGE, muds and highs ad very smooth and I was stunned on the bass.  I don't care what the number is on paper I am flat out impressed without a sub 

Listening to my Heresy IIIs seriously for the the first time tonight. I’m totally surprised by how good they sound in direct comparison to my La Scalas. I think the Heresy III fit my small listening space better. Much larger soundstage and just as smooth in the midrange as my La Scalas. Their small size lends itself to more precise location than the larger Heritage offerings. 

 

These are serious speakers. 

 

Oh, just to be clear, my Khorns are in a league of their own. However, that’s a different room and story! 

 

Hope this helps anyone who has a smaller listening space but wants to hear the vaunted Klipsch Heritage Sound.  Heresy III's will not disappoint you.

 

Mark

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I am going to have to agree with you entirely.  I am surprised. I thought for sure these would NEED a sub with these.  I prefer them without a sub for most types of music.  Clean, tight fast bass from the sealed enclosure.  Soundstage is HUGE, I second.  I just bought stands for them but haven't had the chance to set them up yet.  

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Just now, Westcoastdrums said:

I am going to have to agree with you entirely.  I am surprised. I thought for sure these would NEED a sub with these.  I prefer them without a sub for most types of music.  Clean, tight fast bass from the sealed enclosure.  Soundstage is HUGE, I second.  I just bought stands for them but haven't had the chance to set them up yet.  

Just put mine on stands from Bob Crites tonight. I think they really help.  

 

Running mine with a Decware Rachel 5 watts per channel SET amp. Joni Mitchell on vinyl sounds just as it should, angelic. 

 

M

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7 minutes ago, Westcoastdrums said:

You have a link to those stands?  Curious to see what you bought 

https://critesspeakers.com/heresy-slant-risers.html 

 

there you go. Maybe not as pretty as the Klipsch risers but my Heresy III didn’t come with stands as I bought them through the Klipsch Museum sale. However, they are signed, “Chief Bonehead” and that has to be worth something ! 

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On 6/19/2018 at 8:37 PM, cincymat said:

https://critesspeakers.com/heresy-slant-risers.html 

 

there you go. Maybe not as pretty as the Klipsch risers but my Heresy III didn’t come with stands as I bought them through the Klipsch Museum sale. However, they are signed, “Chief Bonehead” and that has to be worth something ! 

Can you post some photos please?

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  • 1 month later...

For me and audiophile speaker, such as my ProAc Response D2 can created a 3-D soundstage.  Each instrument has its place in space and time. It does not waiver. And, furthermore, each instrument's apparent size is proportional to other instruments in the recording.   Example: a flute would not seem larger than a tuba. A acoustic guitar would not change size and shape as it is played up and down the fingerboard.  Also each instrument is 3-D unto itself in that one could get the impression one could walk around it. (of course when you get up out of the sweet spot to try this, the whole soundstage collapses).   Also the image or soundstage goes back deep if so recorded.  The image also can seem as if some instruments can be left of the left speaker and right of the right speaker.   Some instruments are lower in the image, some higher.  A truly 3-D experience!

 

Much like music, where rests, sustains, loudness, delicateness, etc. makes for interesting and emotional experiences, a system and its speakers must pick up on the cues of silence, decay, rhythm, timing, time alignment and so on.  There is more to a system than just hearing the notes in proper pitch. 

 

The best Klipsch heritage speaker can do is left to right imaging.  All the instruments seem to be smashed up against a glass window in front of the speakers.  There is little depth by comparison to "audiophile" speakers .   Even the left/right imaging is not stable as the center seems to drift depending on frequency (cabinet resonance anomalies).   Klipsch are great at macro-dynamics but are not the last word in micro-dynamics.    It depends on what is important to you. All speakers have additive and/or subtractive distortions.  No speaker can do it all.    Life like soundstage and imaging is typically not the priority of heritage Klipsch owners.  For the "audiophile" (the strictest sense of the word) it is an imperative.  

 

Oh and when "audiophiles" talk about live concerts, they are usually talking about classical concerts or small combos in venues that do not require microphones, or any electric or electronic sound reinforcement.   They typically do not mean a Rolling Stones arena concert.    The standard for an "audiophile" is unamplified live instruments.  Once that can be done with the most accuracy the rest is child's play.    An "audiophile" is not concern how his speaker play in a "party" setting. They sit in the sweet spot and pay close attention as one would watching a complex and intricate drama on TV.  They are totally absorbed in the listening experience.  Of course they also enjoy playing music under less intense scenarios such as parties or doing chores. But a system that can satisfy the most stringent standards of an "audiophile" can easily handle any casual use. 

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As for measurements, they do not tell the whole story.   For one thing: some things we have not come up with a means to measure. This is true in all aspects of science, not just stereo equipment.   And as for the concept that audiophiles consider how expensive something is, then the appearance and sound comes last, I say hogwash.   Anyone with a Dual 1219 turntable (I had a 1229 once) and has never heard a SOTA Sapphire does not know the difference is about the same as said Dual 1219 and a child's "Close and Play" record player.    That is a Dual turntable is as much an improvement over a Close and Play as the SOTA is over the Dual. 

 

As for people playing in orchestras. Well wherever you sit in the orchestra is from an very unbalanced perspective compared to what the audience hears.  The orchestra is carefully balanced for the audience's perspective. 

 

 What I CAN totally agree with is most recording suck, I mean they are HORRIBLE.  And the Klipsch speakers do have a "feature" of really revealing that fact.  These horns really amplify the tubbiness, or  harshness and brightness of so many recordings that boost the 800-5Khz (or certain areas within this bandwidth).   The are really very frequency sensitive and reveal glare, harshness, inherent distortions in recordings.    But the news is my ProAcs are even MORE so revealing. They are not your typical "pleasant" sounding British monitors, no, they are very non-forgiving as well. But the difference is they sound better than my Klipsch speakers with the best recordings I have.      

 

That being said, I quite like my Klipsch Forte I and my Heresy III speakers.  But neither of them can image anywhere nearly as well as my ProAcs. And the ProAcs have better, lower bass than my Heresys.  The Forte Is go lower but the ProAcs are not as fat sounding, they are more defined and quicker.   

 

I use subwoofers no matter what speakers I use.  Yes even the Forte I really need a subwoofer to get the bottom octave right. 

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On 5/28/2018 at 1:40 PM, JohnA said:

I'll take a good review any day! 

 

But I went to Stereophile.com to see if the article and been posted, yet.  Not there.  I also read a few articles.   Those guys have broken "on through to the other side".  Hearing things no one else hears and they can't measure and then creating a narrative to justify why it can't be measured.  Like saying a usb intermediate device has less jitter than the obscenely expensive DAC used to create the analog signal and thus improves the sound, but you can't measure a change because the DAC's jitter covers it up.  No.  Just No. 

 

The authors were dismayed when commenters said the device needed a blind listening test with a 90% positive ID rate to be believable. 

Everything one knows about sound and sound reproduction comes into play.
 



 

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On 6/4/2018 at 11:46 AM, Schu said:

 

I don't do anything to try impress any idea on any person... I live this lifestyle for myself.

Yep, me too basically.

I love perusing the Craigslist Electronics ads and thinking "Nice but I have better".

I was just downstairs earlier in my listening room with Iggy and The Stooges Funhouse Sessions turned way up into my La Scalas and beating the hell out of my Djembe to it!!

John Kuthe...

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11 hours ago, kink56 said:

But the news is my ProAcs are even MORE so revealing. They are not your typical "pleasant" sounding British monitors, no, they are very non-forgiving as well. But the difference is they sound better than my Klipsch speakers with the best recordings I have.      

That wasn't my impression when I heard them, they were the proto-typical British near field monitor, about mid-80s sensitivity.  The sweet spot was extremely limited vertically as well.  An inch up or down was pretty critical.  The bass sounded artificial, boomy, and one dimensional.  They were revealing and sounded quite good in some areas.

 

I have heard the 3D you describe with Khorns, LS (with subs), and Cornwalls, but they were dependant upon well recorded and mixed recordings, room size and treatments.

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