Heresy III versus RP 160M (and RP600M)

[MeloManiac]

I'm a total newbie here. I recently purchased a pair of RP 160M speakers and I'm totally impressed by them and rediscovering familiar music and discovering lots of new music as well.

When I was doing my research, I first came to Heresy III speakers. However, they were not within my budget and where I live, they are hard to get. If budget was no issue, I would have bought them because I'm intrigued by the 'heritage' they belong to.

 

I find it striking that the specs of both, the Heresy's and the RP160Ms are very similar. The Heresy's are three way speakers, of course, but other than that, the technical sheet is almost identical. 

So this makes me wonder if there is a lot of difference in the listening experience. Has anyone here been able to compare these two? 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2018 by LeftEyeShooter

[willland]

As you probably know, specs don't mean everything.  I have never heard the RP-160Ms but many on the forum have and are very impressed.  A well designed pair of speakers that punch way above their weight class.  As far as Heresy(I,II, III), they just have that something special that stand the test of time.  I have version 1's and 2's and just love them.  I have owned RB-61s, RB-35s, RB-5s, and currently own RB-75s and have been impressed with all especially the 75s.  

 

Bill

 

 

[Peter P.]

You could have purchased a used pair of Heresy 1's or 2's at roughly the same price as your RP-160M's.

 

Interesting question, and after looking at the specs of the RP-160M's, I'd love to compare the two myself.

 

The one performance difference I see is the RP-160M's ported design vs. the Heresy's sealed design.

 

While a ported design extends the low frequency limit of the speaker and improves efficiency some, it reduces that taut bass that acoustic suspension speakers are known for, and eliminates any worry of port noise at higher volumes.

 

FYI; my main speakers are a pair of pre-owned Heresy II's.

[MeloManiac]

18 minutes ago, Peter P. said:

You could have purchased a used pair of Heresy 1's or 2's at roughly the same price as your RP-160M's.

 

 

Here in Belgium, where I live, Klipsch is hard to find, and the heritage series is even harder to find. The closest location where I could listen to Heresy IIIs was in LIlle (France). Heresy IIs and Is are extremely rare here in Europe, and what is rare, has a high price....

 

You are right about the ported design. Also: the diameter of the Heresy's woofer is much larger than the RP160M's.

[rockhound]

I have the H3 and the 160's. There is no comparison in my test the H3 has a much wider soundstage and everything just sound BIGGER. The 160's are great speakers and they do what they do very, very well. You will gain sonic improvements with the H3 but it will be up to you to decide if those improvements justify the cost increase, for me yes.

[JefDC]

3 hours ago, LeftEyeShooter said:

 

Here in Belgium, where I live, Klipsch is hard to find, and the heritage series is even harder to find. The closest location where I could listen to Heresy IIIs was in LIlle (France). Heresy IIs and Is are extremely rare here in Europe, and what is rare, has a high price....

 

You are right about the ported design. Also: the diameter of the Heresy's woofer is much larger than the RP160M's.

Hello LeftEyeShooter,

Mediaelectronics close to Mechelen has quiet a lot of Klipsch speakers including heritage permanent in demo.

But indeed the prices here are not comparable to the US.

Edited December 31, 2018 by JefDC

[wvu80]

7 hours ago, LeftEyeShooter said:

I'm a total newbie here. I recently purchased a pair of RP 160M speakers and I'm totally impressed by them

You made a great choice.  The RP-160's might have the best bang-for-the-buck sound in the Klipsch lineup.

 

There are bigger speakers but they also cost more, sometimes thousands more.  I have owned some of those bigger Klipsch speakers such as the Klipschorn, La Scala, CF-4 and RF-83.   I have the RP-600M which just replaced the RP-160M, but they are virtually identical.  I could listen to them all day and be happy, the sound is that good.

 

Here are the RP-600M speakers sitting on a 15" sub, beside the RF-83.

 

 

I've found with my RP-600M they are accurate with male and female vocals, can play loud and have a lifelike sound especially for jazz trumpet.  The only drawbacks I found is just what you would find with a smaller speaker versus a larger speaker.  The larger speaker does not need as much power, and although the smaller speaker can play loud, to play super loud it runs out of petrol.  Larger speakers sound better at higher Sound Pressure Levels (SPL) than the smaller ones do.  That's about it.

 

Enjoy your RP-160's, they are keepers.

[richieb]

 

=== I think it obvious that within the Klipsch lineup the bigger you go the more effortless the playback. Do my LS sound bigger than Quartets - yep. Do my Jubes sound bigger that LS - yep. Jubes make Khorns sound “small-ish”.

However lately I have put in several days with the RB75’s with just a skosh of sub and in fact they do a dam good job of filling a large area. Granted the 75 are in a different league both size and component wise to the 600’s and to call them “bookshelves” is also a stretch but while they really throw a big sound no doubt they need a bunch more on the volume pot that the Big Boys. 

[Panelhead]

  Dynamics is where the HIII shine. The differences in volume pop out. Extremely linear acoustic power response. 

[wuzzzer]

I have RB-5s and Heresy IIs, so a somewhat similar comparison.

 

The RB-5s are awesome, in fact they're the best voiced bookshelf Klipsch has ever made according to Roy Delgado of Klipsch.  They have great bass output, everything you play on them sounds wonderful.

 

With Heresy speakers you get a much bigger wall of sound in front of you.  The midrange horn really makes voices and anything reproduced by it sound awesome.  Bass is extremely tight and detailed.

 

I'm actually trading my RB-5s for some crossover rebuilding work for my Heresy and Academy speakers.