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RF-3II OR Heresy II


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Oh, ok-thru the b/b folks here seem to really like the old Heresys , although anything in the Heritage line is great. There seem to me to be two camps on this b/b the Ref camp and the Heritage camp...........IMO

I am truly envious of you, being able to get New Heresy's , (at cost)!!

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Craig, you're a moron9.gif

Yeesh, what every happened to giving an objective opinion?

If you were running most anything else besides the solid state, lower powered Luxman -- I would say go with the RF-3's. However, you're keeping the Luxman -- and I think it will do well with the Heresies.

Now, something to consider here. It's not just a matter of the RF-3 having a meatier low end (which is a definite plus if you plan on doing movies through the system), but the overall presentation of the midrange from the Heresies. The open and forward nature is a shock to some people initially, but in all honesty -- it is very accurate.

An easy way to understand the difference between these two speakers in the midrange is by using the goofy little 5 band equalizer on your car stereo. If you take the middle slider and move it to +1 -- that would be more like the Heresy. If you take it and move it to -1 -- that would be like the RF-3. Not a perfect analogy, but close enough.

I think the upper treble is cleaner with the titanium domes behind the horn (Reference) -- that's just what I hear.

The Heresy actually has a really good sounding bass, especially if you stay close to walls or corners. At high SPL's, you might find the midrange horn taking over a bit. Think live, amplified music here.

The RF-3's will go louder without pinning your ears back. The Heresies will deliver better low level detail and dynamics at low to moderate listening levels. The RF-3's image better -- but Heresies will fill a room up with sound right quick.

People used to three-way horns find Reference lacking. People used to 'audiophile' type speakers and two-ways -- find Heritage somewhat aggressive.

Help any?

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Well Dean gave the 'objective' thoroughly detailed and critical analysis. The short and sweet of it is the Heresy smokes the RF3 if you value listening to live performances in your living room. Want to feel the singer standing in front of you? Heresy. Period.

I have no dog in this race. When purchasing my stuff, I was going with the RF series - I had a deal in place to purchase them. I liked them very much until... I opted first to get KSP400's and then opted to get Heresy. My Heresies will never depart unless it is to get Cornwalls.

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What are you saying, that the Tractrix lens isn't "horn", since the lens isn't a mile long? Or are you saying this because there is no squawker in Reference?

"The Tractrix horn is designed to produce a hemispherical wave front and to have less coloration than other horns. In October 5, 1927 P.G.A. Voight got the British patent 278,078 for a horn based on the tractrix curve.

The following is an excerpt from his patent application:

"In a horn constructed according to this invention, the taper at any point is as nearly as possible such that the sound is expanding as if the source was at a fixed distance which is at least a quarter wavelength, of the lowest frequency at which full efficiency is required, away..."Since according to this invention, the rate of expansion shall be as if the source was a fixed distance away, it follows that the length of the tangent is equal to this distance. The property of this curve is therefore that the length of tangents is constant."

"At the point where the tangent is at right angles to the centre line, it becomes the radius. I call this point the "mouth" and prefer either to terminate the curve at this point, or to continue the plane (baffle) at right angle to the centre line. The curve whose tangent to the centre is of constant length is called the "Tractrix", and may be drawn by drawing a small portion of one tangent after the other."

"In the case of a square horn, the tangent to the corners is longer than that to the middle of the sides and a compromise is unavoidable. I prefer to make the section correspond to the tractrix. The shortest tangent is then correct, but the area is 4/pi=1.27 times that of the corresponding tractrix. If the area is made equal to the corresponding tractrix, the tangent at the sides will be short, a defect which is partly compensated for by the excess length of the tangent to the corners."

"If the horn is assumed to have a horizontal partition along the centre which is preferably continued for some distance in front of the mouth, the sound will still expand perfectly in each half. When the sound is not required to expand downwards, as for example in a table gramophone , the lower half of the horn can be omitted and considerable space will be saved."

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Dean,

I know your going to blow your top on this one but..... To me a speaker with one Tractrix horn is a wanna be horn speaker. If you really want a true Horn speaker you need at the very least a squawker and a tweeter. This is my story and I am sticking to it.

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agree with most here ...get the heresys! I had a pair of 1990 heresy 2s but I sold them. Stupid move! I;ve been unhappy since.

They are sweet!

Better yet scour your local ad papers for a pair of cornwalls. A couple hunder more maybe ...but well worth it. 6.gif

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I think the heresies work great for most kinds of music.

They don't have the deepest bottom end but the bass that they do have is (imo) fairly articulate.

This being the case I absolutely love the midrange and highs that the heresies have.

The heresies seem to have a midrange that reaches out and pokes me with a palpable force.

I haven't heard any of the reference series but I can say I feel the heresy is a great speaker for most types of music.

For other types of music that you feel require more bass slam and low end impact, you might consider using some heresies with a high quality sub.

Peace, Josh

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Thanks so much for the feedback guys. I believe I have my mind set on the Heresy II. I will be buying within the next one and a half months. I'm waiting to also talk to the Klipsch rep.

Im hoping I can sell my Cerwin Vega E-708 (I officially freaking hate Cerwin.) and Harmon/Kardon 3370 sometime soon. If I sell them now...I can order the Heresy's now. Other than that I've got to wait another month and a half for some money to flow into the bank (ah. i love being a poor student. this is the life.)

--J

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The rear portion of my home theater is in a state of flux right now, I can get a nice photo of the front portion. I just added the Khorns and I have actually sold the Belle's since they are too wide for me to keep as rears. I will be putting a pair of La Scala's in their place since they are narrower. I'll try and add a photo tonight. I can't wait to get everything back in place! I am going to pick up the La Scala's on the weekend of the 25th and the buyer for the Belle's is picking them up on the 19th. Lots of moving around, should be awesome when I get done though!

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