Heresy II modification questions

[CWOReilly]

I’m picking up (rescuing) some H II speakers today and I’m unsure of whether or not they came with road trim. Owner got them this way in early 90s. Anyone know if they may have come this way? Terminal cups say Heresy II, labels appear to be gone. I plan to check them over and possibly rebuild crossovers (probably JEM), titanium tweeter diaphragms, and some dynamat on inside of handles. If they were modified and not born this way would it really hurt to port them like the pro model? 

[billybob]

Man will say congrats when you get them. First thing will be to listen...lol.

Sure you will get some input.

Cool!

[Islander]

Agreed.  Even if you plan on modifying your Heresy IIs at some point, it’s a really good idea to get used to how they sound now, and maybe think about what seems less than perfect about their sound.  Give them at least a month.  As for their looks, they look great!  What’s the logic behind putting Dynamat on the insides of the handles?  If they’re firmly attached, there should be no noise or resonance issues.

 

Do your speakers have round or square terminal cups?  If they’re square, as found on 1986 or later speakers, an update/upgrade kit is available from Klipsch for only $290 or so, and it’s very easy to install.  It’s called the Heresy III update kit, and includes EVERYTHING you need to make your speakers Heresy IIIs.  It comes with a new K-28 woofer to replace the earlier K-24 type, as well as new squawkers and tweeters, plus a new crossover, literally everything but the cabinet.  BTW, the new tweeters have titanium diaphragms, and their sound is clearer than the old ones.

 

I converted one of my H-2s to H-3 spec to use it as a centre speaker between a pair of La Scalas, and the improvements were immediately obvious.  I plan to do the other speaker soon.  The bass response lower limit changes from 63 Hz to either 57 or 59 Hz, I forget which, and the sensitivity increases from 97 dB/watt/metre to 99 dB/W/m, which makes it easier to match their level with the 104-105 dB La Scalas.  It’s really worth doing, but again, you’ll want to get used to the ‘as found’ H-2 sound, so you can properly appreciate the upgraded sound.  

 

To prevent people from “creating” and selling Heresy IIs from the old bits and homemade cabinets, you might be asked for the serial number of your speakers.  If the paper tags are missing, there may be another way to spot them.  On the La Scalas at least, the serial numbers were punched into part of the cabinet, but it was a bit tricky to spot.

 

As for porting the cabinets, you should educate yourself, here on the Forum, about the pros and cons of doing that.  It’s rare to find any mods that don’t have cons as well as pros, so read up before taking a saw to your Heresy cabinets.

 

Finally, welcome to the Forum!

 

 

[Schu]

wow... those are awesome!

enjoy them

[CWOReilly]

8 minutes ago, Islander said:

Agreed.  Even if you plan on modifying your Heresy IIs at some point, it’s a really good idea to get used to how they sound now, and maybe think about what seems less than perfect about their sound.  Give them at least a month.  As for their looks, they look great!  What’s the logic behind putting Dynamat on the insides of the handles?  If they’re firmly attached, there should be no noise or resonance issues.

 

Do your speakers have round or square terminal cups?  If they’re square, as found on 1986 or later speakers, an update/upgrade kit is available from Klipsch for only $290 or so, and it’s very easy to install.  It’s called the Heresy III update kit, and includes EVERYTHING you need to make your speakers Heresy IIIs.  It comes with a new K-28 woofer to replace the earlier K-24 type, as well as new squawkers and tweeters, plus a new crossover, literally everything but the cabinet.  BTW, the new tweeters have titanium diaphragms, and their sound is clearer than the old ones.

 

I converted one of my H-2s to H-3 spec to use it as a centre speaker between a pair of La Scalas, and the improvements were immediately obvious.  I plan to do the other speaker soon.  The bass response lower limit changes from 63 Hz to either 57 or 59 Hz, I forget which, and the sensitivity increases from 97 dB/watt/metre to 99 dB/W/m, which makes it easier to match their level with the 104-105 dB La Scalas.  It’s really worth doing, but again, you’ll want to get used to the ‘as found’ H-2 sound, so you can properly appreciate the upgraded sound.  

 

To prevent people from “creating” and selling Heresy IIs from the old bits and homemade cabinets, you might be asked for the serial number of your speakers.  If the paper tags are missing, there may be another way to spot them.  On the La Scalas at least, the serial numbers were punched into part of the cabinet, but it was a bit tricky to spot.

 

As for porting the cabinets, you should educate yourself, here on the Forum, about the pros and cons of doing that.  It’s rare to find any mods that don’t have cons as well as pros, so read up before taking a saw to your Heresy cabinets.

 

Finally, welcome to the Forum!

 

 

Well I’ve been here a while. I’m no stranger to the “process”.  I plan to listen before any upgrades or changes. My assumption on the handles is that if they were owner installed they may leak or resonate. I won’t know for sure until later. I have another pair of H II and love them (Crites crossovers and titanium diaphragm in tweeters). They had a blown tweeter and a bad crossover when I got them. Not sure I wanna go the H III upgrade route, but not out of the realm and the have the rectangular cups. As for porting I figured I’d ask for advice since someone else has already cut out cabs for handles. 

[CWOReilly]

And the rest of the story…..

They appear to be birch veneer. Not sure they are sealed. 

They were once owned by a rental company. Name stenciled on backs. So they added the plastic edging, corners, and handles. 
 

A fraternity purchased them in the early 90s and used them for parties. 
 

Next owner purchased them from the frat. 
 

Now. All that said. They look pretty good. No drink rings… However there is some water damage that caused swelling in a few places. But no real staining. Bumps and bruises yes, but probably a lot better than if they had been naked. One broken binding post and missing one badge. I opened one and it looked clean and unmolested. Label on bottom of cabinet with checklist. I’m yet to do any real critical listening, but they sound good. All drivers work. 

[Islander]

When it comes to Heresys, there have been a number of different models available in a given year, including the wedge-shaped stage monitors, just right for the guitarist to put one foot on during a very soulful or very intense solo.  There may have been a Pro version with aluminum trim and steel mesh guards over the drivers.  It can be interesting to chase down the descriptions of the various models.

 

Not to push it too hard, but the crossover in the H-3 kit is a lot more technical-looking than the H-2 version, with two or three layers of parts.  It’s probably a significant contributor to the smooth H-3 sound.

 

You’ll notice that the Heresy bass is a bit limited, since it was originally designed to operate as a centre speaker between a pair of Klipschorns, possibly the world’s first centre speaker, way back in 1957.  Since its primary job was to provide the midrange fill between the full-range Left and Right speakers, deep bass wasn’t considered essential, so there’s not much there.  Depending on your taste in music and volume levels, you might want to consider a subwoofer or two, to fill in the bottom couple of octaves.  That would give you a true full-range speaker system.  Room size is a factor, plus placement makes a big difference.  Despite being sized like a medium-large bookshelf speaker, the Heresy is a floor speaker.  If you can place yours in 1/8th-space, like on the floor or a shelf in a corner of the room, you’ll get the strongest possible bass response.  Naturally it may take some experimentation to find the very best spots for them, which is part of the fun, right?

[CWOReilly]

18 minutes ago, Islander said:

When it comes to Heresys, there have been a number of different models available in a given year, including the wedge-shaped stage monitors, just right for the guitarist to put one foot on during a very soulful or very intense solo.  There may have been a Pro version with aluminum trim and steel mesh guards over the drivers.  It can be interesting to chase down the descriptions of the various models.

 

Not to push it too hard, but the crossover in the H-3 kit is a lot more technical-looking than the H-2 version, with two or three layers of parts.  It’s probably a significant contributor to the smooth H-3 sound.

 

You’ll notice that the Heresy bass is a bit limited, since it was originally designed to operate as a centre speaker between a pair of Klipschorns, possibly the world’s first centre speaker, way back in 1957.  Since its primary job was to provide the midrange fill between the full-range Left and Right speakers, deep bass wasn’t considered essential, so there’s not much there.  Depending on your taste in music and volume levels, you might want to consider a subwoofer or two, to fill in the bottom couple of octaves.  That would give you a true full-range speaker system.  Room size is a factor, plus placement makes a big difference.  Despite being sized like a medium-large bookshelf speaker, the Heresy is a floor speaker.  If you can place yours in 1/8th-space, like on the floor or a shelf in a corner of the room, you’ll get the strongest possible bass response.  Naturally it may take some experimentation to find the very best spots for them, which is part of the fun, right?

These will be in rotation with others in my basement listening area as well as possibly going out when we have cabin weekends with friends (rentals usually don’t have a sound system) etc. They’ll be easier to handle with handles. I usually use my other HII or r15 bookshelf and a sub for this. If I wanna go bigger I have 2 RW-12d subs I can put with them. 

[OO1]

8 hours ago, CWOReilly said:

I’m picking up (rescuing) some H II speakers today and I’m unsure of whether or not they came with road trim. Owner got them this way in early 90s. Anyone know if they may have come this way?

 

the trim was added , since the screws are not flush ,  factory trim would have had trim pre-drilled and flush , but either way , this is protection , so the cabs are in great shape ,  I would not drill the twin ports at the top Left/Right since, all these ports do is make the speaker louder , but this comes at the expense of bass output .

[CWOReilly]

5 minutes ago, RandyH said:

the trim was added , since the screws are not flush ,  factory trim would have had trim pre-drilled and flush , but either way , this is protection , so the cabs are in great shape ,  I would not drill the twin ports at the top Left/Right since, all these ports do is make the speaker louder , but this comes at the expense of bass output .

Thanks for the confirmation. I was leaning that way with the trim. Too bad it didn’t prevent the moisture swelling. 
 

They surely don’t need to be louder!  If that’s the only advantage I’ll pass. If I wanna be louder I have La Scalas upstairs. 😉

[OO1]

1 minute ago, CWOReilly said:

Thanks for the confirmation. I was leaning that way with the trim. Too bad it didn’t prevent the moisture swelling.

most likely the trim  was  added to cover the MDF swelling fascia

[Islander]

Sounds like you’ve got it figured, Mister O’Reilly.  As for cabin weekends the Heresys could be ideal.  Last month I lent my mismatched Heresy II and Heresy III to my nephew for a party at a friend’s place, to use with a Sony receiver.  When he brought the speakers back a couple of days later, I asked him if they were loud enough.  “Well, the cops came, so yeah.”

 

Yep, still pissing off the neighbours, even in the 21st century!

[CWOReilly]

14 minutes ago, RandyH said:

most likely the trim  was  added to cover the MDF swelling fascia

No. It was there before swelling. There’s faint water marks along the edges of the trim. Frat parties. Worse than houseplants. 

[CWOReilly]

5 minutes ago, Islander said:

Sounds like you’ve got it figured, Mister O’Reilly.  As for cabin weekends the Heresys could be ideal.  Last month I lent my mismatched Heresy II and Heresy III to my nephew for a party at a friend’s place, to use with a Sony receiver.  When he brought the speakers back a couple of days later, I asked him if they were loud enough.  “Well, the cops came, so yeah.”

 

Yep, still pissing off the neighbours, even in the 21st century!

Before Covid I took a pair to the mountains to a huge cabin with like 25 foot vaulted ceilings and they filled the space quite well. Wasn’t a hip hop kind of weekend so no one missed the bass. We didn’t have neighbors to piss off thank goodness.