Klipsch Heresy IV vs Heresy II

[SteveAudioFan]

The Heresy IV is so far above the II and III for me, with my room and gear that it's not even up for any debate. The room makes the most difference, followed by how you set up the speakers for said room. Then your listening spot has to be dialed in along with the setup. The AMP, DAC, PRE AMP, and yes, even cables make changes to the sound. Then we have our ears, which are all different as well. I have spoken with many who have Klipsch and most of them never think about the quality of their amplification or upstream gear. Most feel it is "all the same", with it is 100% not. For example, my $3000 Naim Atom sounds better wit my Heresy IV than a $26,000 Integrated amp does. It's synergy but the Iv's have a much wider soundstage, much better imaging and they disappear easily. Bass is slightly better than the III but just enough to make it more cohesive. The II's for me sounded muffled yet hard and had no real qualities I enjoyed. 

The III's are darker sounding and lack that big midrange presence that the IV has. 

 

So these will sound different for everyone, in every space and some amps, gear, etc will NOT get along with them well. What I get from the Heresy IV when powered with an amp that loves them is a huge wall of sound that is detailed yet leans slightly warm. The midrange is preheated out and voices are huge, full and 3 dimensional. The soundstage for me expands to the walls, and the voices float a good 2-3 feet above the speakers right in between them. They disappear completely and only lack in that "oomph" lower bass region where they do nicely but will not blow you out of the water with bass. 

 

I prefer the HIV qualities more than the CWIV but the CWIV paints a much bigger musical picture and has more of that "oomph" some of us like. I review gear but also always mention that the room and setup matter most of all followed by quality amplification, DAC, etc. For example, I placed some $6500 speaker cables on my HIV's and they turned nasty bright and harsh. Slapped on some $25 copper cables and they sounded amazing. Synergy matters. 

[angelaudio]

On 6/14/2020 at 11:45 AM, SteveAudioFan said:

The Heresy IV is so far above the II and III for me, with my room and gear that it's not even up for any debate. The room makes the most difference, followed by how you set up the speakers for said room. Then your listening spot has to be dialed in along with the setup. The AMP, DAC, PRE AMP, and yes, even cables make changes to the sound. Then we have our ears, which are all different as well. I have spoken with many who have Klipsch and most of them never think about the quality of their amplification or upstream gear. Most feel it is "all the same", with it is 100% not. For example, my $3000 Naim Atom sounds better wit my Heresy IV than a $26,000 Integrated amp does. It's synergy but the Iv's have a much wider soundstage, much better imaging and they disappear easily. Bass is slightly better than the III but just enough to make it more cohesive. The II's for me sounded muffled yet hard and had no real qualities I enjoyed. 

The III's are darker sounding and lack that big midrange presence that the IV has. 

 

So these will sound different for everyone, in every space and some amps, gear, etc will NOT get along with them well. What I get from the Heresy IV when powered with an amp that loves them is a huge wall of sound that is detailed yet leans slightly warm. The midrange is preheated out and voices are huge, full and 3 dimensional. The soundstage for me expands to the walls, and the voices float a good 2-3 feet above the speakers right in between them. They disappear completely and only lack in that "oomph" lower bass region where they do nicely but will not blow you out of the water with bass. 

 

I prefer the HIV qualities more than the CWIV but the CWIV paints a much bigger musical picture and has more of that "oomph" some of us like. I review gear but also always mention that the room and setup matter most of all followed by quality amplification, DAC, etc. For example, I placed some $6500 speaker cables on my HIV's and they turned nasty bright and harsh. Slapped on some $25 copper cables and they sounded amazing. Synergy matters. 

 

Thank you for the feedback, I enjoy your reviews. I agree with you regarding the room but nobody seems to address the idea that the IV appears to sound unquestionably less efficient. I highly doubt they are 99db efficient as claimed and that is still being ignored. They sound more like 96db. As such, my little 2.6 watt a channel Decware integrated amp, which works sensational with my Klipsch II has to work harder with the IV and it was audible. You can also hear the relative differences in volume In the comparison video. The volume is set the same with both speakers, yet, one video is noticeably louder than the other. The other thing is the room acoustics are certainly important as you stated, but I'm talking about the "relative" differences. Another thing you mentioned which is not what I experienced is that the II's sound muffled compared to the IV's, yet I get slightly the opposite. Isn't that interesting how you indicate the sound is more muffled in the II compared to the IV? I ask myself, why is that?  I feel almost compelled to wonder if maybe the issue in the II might have been an old crossover or a tweeter? Not sure, I'm not experienced compared to you guys. I can only go based on what I heard while comparing the two speakers in the exact same position. The II's just seemed so airy and effortless. I honestly think the II sounds a little nicer. I don't care for muffled speakers either but that's not how my II's sound.  Reminds me why I sold my Yamaha S501 integrated amp and went to tubes. It was like a whole new emotion to the music opened up. To me, if anything was muffled, that S501 integrated amp was from a "relative" point of view. I checked out that Naim Atom, but for that kind of money and all that digital stuff, it will be worthless in several years, where-is good tube amps will remain timeless investments, yes?  

 

[AuditMan]

I was all set to shell out $3k for Heresy IV's but after reading all the comments here, I think I will stick with the II''s.  Espcially since my room is not ideal for ported speakers. 

[ClaudeJ1]

On 6/14/2020 at 2:45 PM, SteveAudioFan said:

The Heresy IV is so far above the II and III for me, with my room and gear that it's not even up for any debate. The room makes the most difference, followed by how you set up the speakers for said room. Then your listening spot has to be dialed in along with the setup.

I have said this for years, which became even more readily apparent the first time I listened to the original pair of Super Heresy 1.0's. I could not believe how much better the bass and overall sound was. On my bass test recording (provided by the Chief himself) the pair clearly dug down to that 31 Hz. Fat B string on the electric bass, so I went and measured it. The ears detected the room gain boost on the speaker, long before a measurement was used to verify it. Only then was the mod published.

[OO1]

22 hours ago, AuditMan said:

I was all set to shell out $3k for Heresy IV's but after reading all the comments here, I think I will stick with the II''s.  Espcially since my room is not ideal for ported speakers. 

Audition a pair of Heresy IV 's , Then make a decision ,  you can't  really appreciate the sound of these speakers unless you're in the same room - And opinions vary -

[boband212]

I found the latest Heresy model to be lacking in bass and the latest Cornwall as well. I find the

reference premier series- either 250 or 260 to have excellent bass and very clear. If you can

live with a vinyl finish rather than real wood. I sell Jolida (now Black Ice Audio ) tube amps

and once sold Klipsch speakers. These speakers go very well with a low to modest powered

tube amp. The Black Ice Audio F11 and F22 amps would be great with the Klipsch speakers.

In my own  system I replaced the Heresy IV speakers with RP-250F speakers and I am happy.

Find me on FB- Anderson Audio Gallery. I am always happy to talk about audio gear and

music.