are all heresy's the same

[pulmoguy]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your input on Forte's, RF's, etc. I'm still shopping, and am confused. I think I understand the difference between Heresy & Heresy II. Are there different models such as Heresy "HBR" or "HO"? Also, someone listed a "heresy KG-4"...is that a smaller speaker?

Please educate.

Thanks.

PS: I showed my wife a picture of RF-7's and she said. "HOW tall are they!?" We prob will stay more traditional.

[Piranha]

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On 1/31/2004 3:14:33 PM pulmoguy wrote:

Hi guys,

Thanks for your input on Forte's, RF's, etc. I'm still shopping, and am confused. I think I understand the difference between Heresy & Heresy II. Are there different models such as Heresy "HBR" or "HO"? Also, someone listed a "heresy KG-4"...is that a smaller speaker?

Please educate.

Thanks.

PS: I showed my wife a picture of RF-7's and she said. "HOW tall are they!?" We prob will stay more traditional.

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There are different finishes on the Heresy's as with all Heritage Klipsch loudspeakers.

HBR = Heresy Birch Raw, HWO = Heresy Walnut Oil, etc., etc.

Hope this helps.

[3dzapper]

pulmoguy,

There is no such thing as a Heresy Kg-4. They are different models. The KG-4 is not a Heritage line speaker. However those on ebay right now are indeed Heresys made in 1987. HBR SRB= Heresy Birch Raw Slanted Risers Birch.

The most desireable Heresys were built from 1970 to 1980 IMHO. Very early Heresys were shallower and had lower bass output by design and were meant soley to be used between a pair of Klipschorns. Also, somewhere around 1981 Klipch switched from K55 Atlas Alnico squaker drivers to in house built ceramic magnet squakers. Notice that mine are 1984s and sound great for a "small" speaker. I pair mine with an SW-15 subwoofer below 50Hz mostly for HT.

Rick

[Daddy Dee]

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On 1/31/2004 3:14:33 PM pulmoguy wrote:

Hi guys,

Thanks for your input on Forte's, RF's, etc. I'm still shopping, and am confused. I think I understand the difference between Heresy & Heresy II. Are there different models such as Heresy "HBR" or "HO"? Also, someone listed a "heresy KG-4"...is that a smaller speaker?

Please educate.

Thanks.

PS: I showed my wife a picture of RF-7's and she said. "HOW tall are they!?" We prob will stay more traditional.

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Pulmoguy, Welcome to the forum.

Yep, The Heresy's are fine speakers. You've noted the difference between the Heresy and Heresy II. All the other designations on Heresy's refer to the type of wood and finish. There are alot of speakers out on Ebay that the sellers unknowingly list with incorrect discriptions. For example, it is common to see a Heresy described as having an oak or walnut finish. While there are Heresy's finished in both those veneers, there seem to be quite a few Heresy's that started off life as unfinished or "raw birch" that have been stained with oak or walnut colored stain and sold as oak or walnut. That's not a big deal, as long as you know what you are getting. One thing helpful about this forum, if you are considering Ebay as a source for your speakers, during the auction period you have got plenty of time to draw on the knowledge base of this forum as to the value of the speakers listed and any questions that would be appropriate to direct to the seller.

These are the dimensions: 21.375" x 15.5" x 13.25" While they are floor standing speakers, of all the speakers in the Klipsch Heritage line, they will least "dominate" a room.

Another thing good about Heresy's is the durability of their build and components. One can purchase "vintage" Heresy's and have speakers that will perform as new for many years to come.

One other consideration about the suitability of Heresy's would have to do with your music preferences. They are very clean and clear. I listen to alot of vocals and instrumentals, piano solos, etc. and am very pleased. Some folks who listen to music loud and prefer ALOT of bass content sometimes find them lacking in the bass dept. However, I've got friends who have been listening to Heresy's since they were college students 30 years ago and have been always happy with them.

[Daddy Dee]

A couple of more thoughts on Heresy's.

You will notice some older versions (which are unfinished birch, originally, I think) are constructed of plywood with butt joints, and the plywood layers are visible on the ends. These are identical sonically to other original Heresy speakers, but do not have the more elegant appearance of the mitered joints of the Oak or Walnut veneers, which do not show any plywood edges. There are lots of the butt jointed with plywood edges that have been nicely stained and finished. Some people just prefer the more finished look of the mitered edges. There are also Heresy II speakers in raw birch which also have the mitered edges.

[Woodog]

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On 1/31/2004 8:24:52 PM DaddyDee wrote:

Yep, The Heresy's are fine speakers.

Another thing good about Heresy's is the durability of their build and components. One can purchase "vintage" Heresy's and have speakers that will perform as new for many years to come.

One other consideration about the suitability of Heresy's would have to do with your music preferences. They are very clean and clear.

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I have a pair of Cornwalls (1976) and a pair of Heresys (1980) at my church, and the Heresys are nearly 40 feet apart. Ususally I run them with the Cornwalls, but today I listened to the Heresys by themselves, and they throw out an awesomely clean and transparent soundstage! The bass wasn't that shallow either.

If you get them you'll certainly be happy.

Forrest

[pulmoguy]

Yes, that explains the HBR, HWO, etc.

[Malcolm]

There were Heresys with furniture grade cabinets. They had model numbers that started with HWO (Heresy walnut oil), HOO (Heresy oak oil), HWL (Heresy walnut lacquer), etc. There were also models like HDBR (Heresy decorator birch raw). Those were the ones with the exposed plywood edges and no recess for a grill. All of those mentioned so far that I have seen were built of 3/4" plywood, although some had 1/2" backs. There were also theater grade models built like my HDBs (Heresy decorator black) which were built of 1/2" fir plywood.

Ignoring cabinet details, the Heresys built between the early to mid 60s and the early 80s went through many different woofers and three crossover networks. The amazing thing is that they all sound very much alike, primarily I think, because they all used the same K-55-V squakwer driver on a K-700 horn, and the same tweeter which although it came in two flavors, an alnico one and a later ceramic one with slightly better high end response, sounded the same. The only sonic advantage of the newer ones I can see is that the woofers can be driven louder before they reach their limits because they have a larger Xmax and can handle more power before melting down.

The earliest Heresys, those from the late 50s to the early 60s or so, sound different because there was no attempt to pad the squawker and tweeter level to match the lower efficiency woofer, and I believe, because they used University squawker and tweeter drivers. This generally isn't an issue because they seldom show up. I think I can remember one pair of them showing up on eBay in the many years that I have been using it.

The very last of the original Heresy series sound a bit different because a switch was made to the K-53-K squawker driver. This is the same driver used in the Heresys II. And IMHO these last Heresys sound more like Heresy IIs than Heresys.

[ernie42]

There's a definite difference in sound between a Heresy and a Heresy II. The so-called Heresy 1.5 that was spoken about in an above post is a transition model, which was made before Heresy II production began. Klipsch ran out of the Heresy midrange drivers and resorted to using the yet-to-be-released Heresy II midrange driver. This created a speaker that used a Heresy tweeter and woofer but with a Heresy II midrange. They did this to be able to use up their stock of Heresy tweeters and midranges before releasing the Heresy II model.

I would stay away from that particular Heresy 1.5 speaker myself.

But let's talk about the "straight" Heresy and Heresy II models.

If you were to A/B the speakers together on the same amp, you'd most likely walk away with the same impression as did I, which is to say the following:

The Heresy I sounds more shrill, more in your face, with less bass, while the Heresy II sounds more refined, less shrill, with more bass.

This makes the Heresy II sound more like a modernized, "tamed" loudspeaker.

Keep this in perspective though. Saying that a Heresy II is tamed and refined is akin to saying the same about a captive great white shark. If you're looking for a tame fish, go find a dolphin. If you're looking for a tamed speaker, look for something other then a Klipsch Heritage model.

You really owe it to yourself to A/B a pair of Heresy and Heresy II models in order to appreciate the differences.

I tend to like the Heresy model myself, over the Heresy II.

The mid to late 70s Heresy models are held in high regard.

[HDBRbuilder]

"The mid to late 1970's Heresys are held in high regard"

That's because I was building them then....LOL!

Modesty is my best quality!