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1980 Heresy


MC39693

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S/N 110U129 and 110U130.  Is there a way to know the exact date of manufacture.  Also, shout out to Deronda Beavess and NW Bradford per the tags!

I purchased these in June or maybe July 1980.  They are still all original, except, I built new E crossover.  When I opened them in 2017, 37 years after purchase, they were other than dusty, in outstanding condition.  No issues whatsoever, not a screw loose, no rust on oil can caps, no leaks, no loose solder, no weak spots on cabinet... thank you to all Klipsch staff who may have worked on these, 40 years next month and they will go another 40 without breaking a sweat.

 

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On 5/30/2020 at 12:28 PM, MC39693 said:

S/N 110U129 and 110U130.  Is there a way to know the exact date of manufacture.  Also, shout out to Deronda Beavess and NW Bradford per the tags!

I purchased these in June or maybe July 1980.  They are still all original, except, I built new E crossover.  When I opened them in 2017, 37 years after purchase, they were other than dusty, in outstanding condition.  No issues whatsoever, not a screw loose, no rust on oil can caps, no leaks, no loose solder, no weak spots on cabinet... thank you to all Klipsch staff who may have worked on these, 40 years next month and they will go another 40 without breaking a sweat.

 

 

the quality in these speakers is impressive , wood cabs ---raw birch -k55V-k77M-k22- -----it may not be a brand new H4 , but they still are great speakers

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I’ll check pictures tomorrow but I don’t recall any initials stamped on the frame. Speakers are in BC right now and I’m in Alberta.

 

Yes they have been great speakers for me. My criteria when I purchased them; great sound, reliable, budget friendly and portable. I moved 4 times in less than 3 years when I first started working and moved these speakers all around Alberta with me. They have a couple of bumps to show for their travels but not bad.  The Klipsch staff built a lasting set of speakers. 

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2 hours ago, MC39693 said:

I’ll check pictures tomorrow but I don’t recall any initials stamped on the frame. Speakers are in BC right now and I’m in Alberta.

 

Yes they have been great speakers for me. My criteria when I purchased them; great sound, reliable, budget friendly and portable. I moved 4 times in less than 3 years when I first started working and moved these speakers all around Alberta with me. They have a couple of bumps to show for their travels but not bad.  The Klipsch staff built a lasting set of speakers. 

THe initials won't just jump out at you...you actually have to look for them.  facing the rear of the speaker cabinet, look at the rear edge of the side panel to your left...about one inch beloow the top of that panel.  You should see two individual sets of two-letters one set above the other.  IOne set may have filled wuith wood puty prior to ethe sanduing of the rear edges in the sanding room...then that set of letters may be filled with wood putty or be much fainter to make out due to its having been sanded. That set or single letter will be the builder code  The other set will normally have no putty in it, and will normally be more prominent in its depth. since it was stamped-into the edge after the sander was finished.  If you see the letter "A" at all, then I built them!  I was the only builder who had ever had "A" for a code up through about the 4th quarter of 1983, when I left Klipsch.  If you can take pics of the letters there, I can probably also tell you who the sander was for those speakers!  I was the primary builder of the birch plywood Heresy speakers AND all of the Cornwalls from late 1976 thru the time I left the company...so it is very highly likely that you will find the letter "A" on your speakers.  If you do not, then they were built on a day I took off from work or was on vacation, most likely. For birch plywood Heresys, I often built solo...which means I had no helper...so you very well may find just a single letter "A" in stead of a pair of letters for the builder code.  When working solo, I could often build 100 or more Heresy's in a day solo, but normally averaged upwards of 80 to around 100.   With a helper, the daily tally would be between 100 and up to 140+ Heresys a day.  Which kinda should tell you that having a helper wasn't really having much help for the time it took to build birch Heresys.  The primary builder was always doing most of the work, if not all of it, since the helper tended to fall behind, and the primary builder had to help him(or her) get caught-up!  When the Cornwall worktable wasn't in use, many more Heresys COULD HAVE BEEN BUILT in a day with two solo workers both building...but my suggestion for that was pretty much ignored by the cabinet-shop foreman!  It is what it...was!

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@HDBRbuilder, thanks for your note. I only have one picture of the full back and other than the S/N  110U129, there are two stamps “USA”, one on bottom left and one on top right.  I’ll see if I can get my daughter to take a picture of the full frame of 110U130.

 

I purchased them in Edmonton Alberta from a shop on Jasper Ave, which is long gone. That was in June or July 1980 when we were paid once per month. They barely fit in my 1979 Trans AM. My company was paying for me to live in an executive suite hotel on a lab automation project for over a year. I don’t recall “neighbours”, so I enjoyed  my stereo at any volume I liked.  Next they went to Ft. McMurray Alberta with me and moved after a couple months within the city to a townhouse. At that point I stained them, light oak IIRC and multiple coats of clear satin verathane.  They are a bit darker with 40 years of age. Back to Edmonton, then back to Ft. McMurray and then in 2008 to Calgary.  In 2017 I opened them up, after reading everything I could on this forum. As I noted above they were in amazing condition. I decided to keep this set as original as possible, so cleaned them up, sealed internal joints and built/installed a new E crossover, and installed 5 way binding posts (I have the original terminals). I have a pair of 1984 that I have modified a lot so I actually use the 1980 as my baseline. The 1980s were moved one more time to a house I hope to retire to in Victoria. There will be a home theatre based on the 4 Heresy. Of course my “sound quality” memory of 40 years past is suspect, but the 1980 set sound just as they did when I first heard them. Are there “better” speakers, yes in some attributes but not in meeting all my needs.

 

It is hard to imagine, in this day and age, a purchased asset that stays with the original owner for 40 years. That is a real testament to the quality and reliability of both the design and the build. 

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Daughter took some more pictures ... @HDBRbuilder built my 1980 Heresy.  Very nice to make that connection.  110U130 is clear as can be, 110U129 is harder to see.  What is the small E on the bottom of the tag?  And, I thank you for the quality work you put into them, along with Deondra and NW! 

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@JRH thanks for the picture and Deronda’s name.  There was a shipment earlier in 1980 or end of 1979, as I bought mine in June or July.  Great connection after 40 years.  If you ever cross paths let them know the speakers are well cared for and enjoying Victoria BC!

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Deronda did the final assembly on those....meaning she was the one who installed all the components inside of them, then sealed the double=chjecked her work before installing the rear cabinet panel.  Mr. Bradford tested them in the testing booth using frequency sweeps! which he compared with what they were supposed to be, using a saved record of the correct frequency response in those sweeps. Mr. Bradford also was listening for any air leaks from the cabinet when he did that!

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  • 2 months later...

New to this. Hopefully responding in the right area. Think you may have built these.

 

Purchased my Hersey's in the early 80's, sadly sold them to a relative. But very happy to say, bought them back the other day. 

 

Want to understand numbers on back:

 

First speaker 74T657 with letters OD in upper left corner. On bottom right just the letter S. Letters USA bottom left corner and upper right corner.

Second speaker 74T652 with Letters OD and AS in upper left corner. Letters USA upper right.

 

Why are numbers not sequential?

 

Was going to add more pic but I am limited by file size, sorry. Don't know how to correct.

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Welcome!

 

They're not sequential because the dealer they were purchased from didn't bother to match them up at the time of purchase.  Happened a lot.

 

There's a Klipsch serial number decoder if you do a Google search for it. 

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4 hours ago, Dirtyface said:

 

First speaker 74T657 with letters OD in upper left corner. On bottom right just the letter S. Letters USA bottom left corner and upper right corner.

Second speaker 74T652 with Letters OD and AS in upper left corner. Letters USA upper right.

 

 

these speakers were made in 1979 -----

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, wife and I were cleaning out storage room and found the original documentation for the 1980 (and also my 1984) Heresy.  I was wrong.  I bought a Sony TA-F55 integrated amp, a STJ-55 AM/FM tuner and Koss headphones in summer 1980.  I bought the 1980 Heresy Jan. 30, 1981 for $1,057 Cdn.  They were distributed by Kuehne & Nagel distribution services to Disco Sound Distributors in Edmonton.  Wow... me at Disco Sound!  I've attached the warranty cards ... my handwriting but it says I have Lifetime warranty.  Um, maybe not. I also have the original brochure from Klipsch with intro by PWK, and page of information for each of Klipshorns, Heresy, La Scala, Belle and Cornwall speakers.  Fun to see these old documents, thanks again @HDBRbuilder and @JRH

 

Warrant cards.jpg

Brochure cover.jpg

Brochure Intro.jpg

Heresy Info.jpg

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@JRH attached front side of warranty card, both for the two 1980 Heresy are the same.  Klipsch Lifetime!  Well, not for mine although I bet Klipsch doesn't have too many original owners who have the documentation I have and a set of speakers after (nearly) 40 years. 

Warranty Card Side 1.jpg

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Thanks!  I've often wondered where that nasty rumor originated. If you'd like to get rid of an original, the Klipsch Museum would be glad to archive it.  Short of that, a good scan would be appreciated.

 

Jim

jim@klipschmuseum.org

www.klipschmuseum.org

 

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