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Klipsch Heresy Owners Group


wuzzzer

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14 hours ago, Howard Emerson said:

My proof of membership started out as a very, very rough pair of Heresy I that a good friend gave me back in March of 2021. They'd been used as a PA system for a local guitarist/singer we knew, and they had been beat up, but still worked fine. I refurbished them in white oak veneer and Tru-Oil, and along with a Sony STR-7045 & Tascam CD200BT I'm enjoying them a lot! I did post a build thread about them while it was happening if anyone is interested. 

 

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Those look very nice. I’ll track down the build thread. 

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I know that Paul Klipsch said not to keep Heresy on stands, but the sound in our room is definitely better this way, for now.

System is presently: Esoteric K-07Xs, rega P2, TEAC A-H500i, Heresy IIIs. The TEAC amp is amazingly good, it drives the Klipsch with ease and an open, dynamic voice. I really wonder what more could be asked for. Especially since I paid €220 for it and it's mint.

Best

Max

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  • 1 month later...

Finally got around to finishing up a (slightly) crude refurb of a pair of Heresy I rescued.  Turns out they were mismatched cabinets, likely used in a commercial setting.  Both tweeters were blown, the cabinets had been painted with a THICK black gooey industrial paint that took me days to strip, there were 1/2" holes (for bolts to hang from the ceiling?) on every side but the front! 
Interesting thing; one is a HBR, the other HFB, but they were built within a couple weeks of each other.
One of them has a "R" replacement woofer, but the rest seems all original components.

I replaced the tweeter diaphragms and a few caps on the crossovers that were bulging.

Now playing them in my office and they really sound pretty good.
Had the cabinets been matched I may have put the effort in to try new veneer, but decided to try gloss black.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Just got a pair of Heresys....my first Klipsch i've owned!

 

So they have been abused visually...terribly painted with white over black stain.  Removing the paint was easy. The black stain is DEEP into the veneer and I can't remove it all without going through the veneer. I've decided that painting is the best way to finish these speakers. But...what kind of paint?  Has anyone painted their Heresys?  How do they look?  What kind of paint?  Any tips for a finish?

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On 6/24/2022 at 4:44 PM, NOVA Rob said:

Just got a pair of Heresys....my first Klipsch i've owned!

 

So they have been abused visually...terribly painted with white over black stain.  Removing the paint was easy. The black stain is DEEP into the veneer and I can't remove it all without going through the veneer. I've decided that painting is the best way to finish these speakers. But...what kind of paint?  Has anyone painted their Heresys?  How do they look?  What kind of paint?  Any tips for a finish?

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I've done a couple.  I'm partial to black Satin (rattle can).  Tried black gloss on my last pair and didn't really like it.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Esoteric K-07Xs has gone, a TEAC PD-H500c came. A Technics SL-1510 completed the system. In another room - or another house, the Heresy will go back on their slanted bases. The TEAC electronics sound magnificent with the Klipsch, and TT, cartridge, CDP and amp costed me €700. 

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  • 1 month later...

On Monday this week I picked up a pair of 1968 Heresies for FREE!  O_o

 

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Rough cabs but the grills and badges are pretty nice. All six drivers work and they sound good together. Serials are 1F597 and 1F599.

 

Oddity #1: one measures 12 ohms at DC, the other measures 16 ohms.

 

Oddity #2: the polarity markings on one of them is reversed. If you hook them up "correctly" the sound is out of phase, reversing the leads to either one brings it into proper phase. Huh. Either it left the factory with a bug (inconceivable!) or someone's been in there messing about. I'll have to QC the internals.

 

They sound great and they sound alike. They throw a nice sound stage. Now my living room can finally sound like a Chipotle 😉

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  • 3 months later...

Hi!  I'm new here, but I'm glad to have stumbled across this.  I recently got back into 2 channel listening when my folks bought me a new turntable to replace mine that had died years ago.  I had an old simple Sony setup that now lives in my shop.  I've wanted Heresy's for years, but they always eluded me.  I picked up a cool little setup with a Pioneer SA-5200 and a pair of Infinity Qa's to get me by while I kept looking.  Finally this summer, I found a pair.  He wanted a lot for them, but I kept an eye on them and asked a few questions.  The already had the titanium Crites upgrades and new Crites crossovers, he dropped the price, and I drove from small town South Dakota to Minneapolis and got them.  The serial numbers match, 1978's, HD-BR.  I read the HD-BRs didn't come with grills and as a result, didn't have the front baffle.  I don't know when mine were augmented, but they have a "bullnose" or a quarter round installed on the front and a grill in a color I've never seen on another set of Heresy's.  The thing is, I also got the original boxes from the guy I purchased them from (He bought them from the original owner, but didn't have answers for my endless amount of questions).  The boxes show a fabric type, so am I to assume maybe that they were custom from the factory?  

Anyway, I absolutely love these things and they were great with my little 10wpc Pioneer until this week when I picked up a Cambridge Audio CXA81.  HOLY COW!  What a difference!!  

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3 hours ago, drivesabike said:

Hi!  I'm new here, but I'm glad to have stumbled across this.  I recently got back into 2 channel listening when my folks bought me a new turntable to replace mine that had died years ago.  I had an old simple Sony setup that now lives in my shop.  I've wanted Heresy's for years, but they always eluded me.  I picked up a cool little setup with a Pioneer SA-5200 and a pair of Infinity Qa's to get me by while I kept looking.  Finally this summer, I found a pair.  He wanted a lot for them, but I kept an eye on them and asked a few questions.  The already had the titanium Crites upgrades and new Crites crossovers, he dropped the price, and I drove from small town South Dakota to Minneapolis and got them.  The serial numbers match, 1978's, HD-BR.  I read the HD-BRs didn't come with grills and as a result, didn't have the front baffle.  I don't know when mine were augmented, but they have a "bullnose" or a quarter round installed on the front and a grill in a color I've never seen on another set of Heresy's.  The thing is, I also got the original boxes from the guy I purchased them from (He bought them from the original owner, but didn't have answers for my endless amount of questions).  The boxes show a fabric type, so am I to assume maybe that they were custom from the factory?


Very nice!  Post some pics of the labels on the speakers and the boxes if you get a chance.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi all,
I just joined the Klipsch Community after wanting to try "true" Klipsch speakers for a long time.  I bought a McIntosh MA2275 integrated fully tube amp 15 years ago (the only all tube integrated that McIntosh has ever made and well...they discontinued it...) and I knew then that tubes and Klipsch go hand n' hand like beans and cornbread.  But finding the right Klipsch?  I was able to try a pair of KG2s and returned them to the seller, because they weren't any better than my Paradigms and they didn't have Klipsch horns so I wasn't really getting that Klipsch signature sound.

 

I was using Paradigm Monitor 3s (small, 2 way with 8" woofers and rear ported, so they were boomy) and then in 2021 an old college audio professor of mine sold me his trusty JBL 4411 studio monitors (12" woofers, 3 way and front ported).  I LOVE the JBLs and they sound fantastic, but...what about Klipsch?  Horns and tubes?  I've been intrigued with the Heresy for many years...reading about them and seeing them come up for sale once in a while.  I always had a reason not to buy them.  I'm happy with my JBLs.  I don't have floor space in my record room for Heresys.  JBLs are better for near-field listening than the Heresys, etc.  Then last week, a guy who lives across the Common from me, lists a pair of Heresy 1s on FB.  I try to hold back, but my wife urges me to open a dialog.  I do and the guy offers to let me try them before I buy them.  Well, I can't say no to THAT offer.  

 

His parents were the only owners.  By the serials, it looks like they are 1984/5.  The cabinets are in really good shape, just need a little oil.  I hate the tiny screw speaker terminals, but hey, that's how Klipsch did it at the time, so I'm cool with it.  They have all stock parts, so my first thought was that I'd upgrade the caps and crossovers and then I set them up. 

 

WOW!  The highs and mids don't sound like the caps are bad.  They are smooth and 3-D sounding.  Since they don't appear to need the caps replaced, maybe I should just leave them stock, the way Klipsch intended them to be?  Of course all I've ever read is that the Heresys lack in the bass department.  They aren't lacking THAT much compared to the front ported JBLs, but the bass is tighter and a little leaner.  My small Paradigm Monitor 3s with the 8" woofer had much deeper bass due to their rear ports, but I'm evaluating now how much bass is really needed.  As you can see in the pics, my speakers are not near walls.  I know that Heresys are meant to sit on the floor, so I did try that and a whole lot of bass came back, BUT for my room, I just can't place them on the floor.  Raising them up isn't the worst thing though.  The McIntosh drives them well with 75 watts of KT88 power.  I have boosted the bass a bit using the tone controls, which I try to stay away from, but it doesn't seem to hurt the mids and highs at all.

 

I spent a lot of time messing with the toe-in and I've found that a slight toe-in has improved bass reproduction, created a wide soundstage with a fantastic phantom center image.  Are they better than my JBL 4411s?  I just don't know.  They are a bit different.  They are livelier and very fun to listen to so that alone justifies my purchase...maybe?

 

I do have a question about the risers.  As you can see in the pic, they are raised 1" off the surface.  Did they come this way or is this something that was installed either by the dealer or the previous owner?  They are not removable, but rather look tacked on.  When I look at pics of other Heresy 1s, I don't see a small riser on those.  Does having them up 1" impact bass? 

 

One final note: looking around the web, man do these speakers get a lot of hate thrown at them.  Lots of love too, but man, some people out there absolutely despise Heresys and I just can't understand why?

 

Thanks for reading.

Matt 

Salem, MA

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@soulcat Congrats!  Your Heresys were made in 1984 and are Walnut Oil finished.  Lots of people use Watco Rejuvenating Oil on Klipsch speakers with an oil finish.

 

More than likely yours are the Heresy “1.5” version which uses the midrange driver from the Heresy II.  It was kind of a transitional model.

 

As far as I know, the only factory riser offered for the Heresy is a slanted riser that tilts them up in front to aim the speaker up a little.  Any factory riser is easily removed with four screws accessed from the bottom.

 

I would just listen and enjoy them before you start any crossover work.  One thing I would suggest and that I’ve done with all my vintage Klipsch is to remove the cabinet backs, locate the crossover and loosen and tighten all the screws on it.  This will remove years of oxidation and give a better signal path to everything.

 

I think some people see a Heresy and its 12” woofer and think man these things should pound out the bass!  These are usually people who have had cheap speakers with big woofers and are used to bloated, overemphasized bass.

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20 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:

@soulcat Congrats!  Your Heresys were made in 1984 and are Walnut Oil finished.  Lots of people use Watco Rejuvenating Oil on Klipsch speakers with an oil finish.

 

More than likely yours are the Heresy “1.5” version which uses the midrange driver from the Heresy II.  It was kind of a transitional model.

 

As far as I know, the only factory riser offered for the Heresy is a slanted riser that tilts them up in front to aim the speaker up a little.  Any factory riser is easily removed with four screws accessed from the bottom.

 

I would just listen and enjoy them before you start any crossover work.  One thing I would suggest and that I’ve done with all my vintage Klipsch is to remove the cabinet backs, locate the crossover and loosen and tighten all the screws on it.  This will remove years of oxidation and give a better signal path to everything.

 

I think some people see a Heresy and its 12” woofer and think man these things should pound out the bass!  These are usually people who have had cheap speakers with big woofers and are used to bloated, overemphasized bass.

Hey thanks wuzzzer!  I appreciate the response.  I'm waiting on some spade adapters to crimp onto my speaker cables to provide a better connection to the Heresy terminals.  When I install those, I'm going to really clean the terminals, oil up the cabinets and I'll open them up and take some pics and loosen and tighten the screws like you advised.  That sounds like a great idea.  Thanks.  

 

So this riser looks like it's got giant thumb tack feet.  Maybe it has screws too as I guess I really didn't look too close.  I'll see when I take 'em down for a good cleanin'.  Do you think I'd benefit from removing this riser and planting them right on my shelves or am I splitting hairs?

 

When I take the Heresys down for the cleaning, I'm going to set up the JBLs again as I'll need music while I work on them and that'll give me a chance to better compare the sound of the 2 speakers.  The guy I'm buying the Heresys from hasn't come by to pick up the money yet, so they still don't feel like mine, which also plants a few seeds of doubt.  I really like them, but man do they make so-so recordings sound bad and great sounding recordings sound phenomenal.  I also collect 78s, so I'm nervous about running 78s through them, but I should...who knows, maybe they'll sound fantastic?  

Matt

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51 minutes ago, wuzzzer said:

@soulcat If the risers don't have an obvious way to to be removed I'd just leave them there.  Good call on the spade connectors, I use them also and it makes connection a lot easier.

 

Do you mind if I ask what you're paying for them?

 

Oh yeah...if I can't just unscrew them, I'm leaving them.  I mean, it's prob a good thing that they are slightly elevated anyway.  I mean, you're hearing more of the speaker and less outside resonance, I would think.

 

So these were really well taken care of, all stock and he wants $400!  I thought that was a solid deal.

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30 minutes ago, soulcat said:

Oh yeah...if I can't just unscrew them, I'm leaving them.  I mean, it's prob a good thing that they are slightly elevated anyway.  I mean, you're hearing more of the speaker and less outside resonance, I would think.

 

So these were really well taken care of, all stock and he wants $400!  I thought that was a solid deal.


Excellent deal!  I’d be all over them.

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14 hours ago, soulcat said:

I really like them, but man do they make so-so recordings sound bad and great sounding recordings sound phenomenal. 

Welcome to the Forum! And congrats on a pair of nice H1´s and the nice man-cave they will live in!

What You describe is what Klipsch is known for. I call it the "honest sound", good source in – good sound out; bad source in .... Also some people new to horns call them harsh at times. Enjoy!

 

P.S.: You seem to lack space, but it would be interesting to set up the Heresys and the JBLs together and A/B them.

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