skeg1967 Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 Hi, I'm new here and I live Down Under. I've been listening to Klipsch speakers for the last five years. I was lucky enough to mind my mate's 1989 Klipsch Tangent 40s but unfortunately he wanted them back leaving me with no main speakers. I thought it would be a pretty easy process selecting a set of new main speakers but I was wrong. After three months and listening to over a dozen pairs in showrooms and bringing home four pairs to try at home I'm still no closer to making a decision. The speakers to make the short list were the Aurum Cantus Melody 102, Orpheus Aurora 3 Aussie speaker, Mirage Omnisat V2 and the Klipsch RF63. The amp I'm using to test these speakers is the Denon AVC A1 SR the Aussie equivilent to the Denon 5803. My local audio shop sourced me a pair of brand new RF63 to demo at home for two weeks, after unpacking them and setting them up I turned on the amp set the volume at low to medium and put in a CD. Instantly I was amazed at the super high frequencies hearing things I hadn't heard on all the other speakers I had tested, at these lower volumes it seemed to lack real bass but I knew I had to run these speakers in for 100 hours. After the 100 hours of running them in I started to crank the volume and they did still seem to lack bass, lucky i'm running 2 x 15'' Velodyne subs to help out. Another problem is the RF63 are the most fatigueing speaker I have ever heard, 2 - 3 minutes at near reference levels and you want to turn it down or leave the room, so I was disappointed because the old Tangent 40s could handle this for 4 - 6 hours with no fatigue at all. Are all the new Reference Series like this? So I'm either going to buy the Mirage V2 or try and source a nice pair of Klipsch Tangent 40s or similar from this board or Ebay. I didn't realise these old Klipsch speakers sounded so good until I compared with what was on the market today, There is plenty of crappy speakers out there. BTW Klipsch now owns Mirage Speakers. Regards Skeg 1967. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwhaples Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 Welcome to the Forum! I must say you are lucky to be able to demo at home. Good Luck in your quest for GOOD sounding speakers. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 Can you audition any of the "Hertitage" line??? Some Heresy IIIs would sound great I bet...Cornwall IIIs even better but I was VERY impressed by Heresy IIIs...good luck with your search and welcome. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 Welcome, There are many here who could better answer your question than myself so I'll leave that to them. Klipsch are a very revealing speaker of amp, source, and room treatments. Jackson Bart has the same amp as you I believe...........Goodluck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted November 24, 2006 Share Posted November 24, 2006 You need to try a different amplifier than that Denon. When talking a/v amplifiers I find Yamaha to be a better match soundwise. I think the 5803 has been replaced by the 5805. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeg1967 Posted November 27, 2006 Author Share Posted November 27, 2006 Thank you for the warm welcome to this great and imformative forum. I would like to demo the Heresy III but I don't like my chances of getting my hands on a pair to listen to. I hope they are not as fatigueing to listen to as the RF63's at louder levels of volume. After returning the RF63's to the audio shop they hooked them up using a large NAD two channel amp and preamp and they sounded the same as when I was using my Denon 5803 so I think my amp wasn't a problem, the Denon 5803 is a really great amp. So after months of testing the old KlipschTangent 40's out perform all the speakers I tested with the Mirage Omnisat V2 FS close behind. They have a very nice sound and a great soundstage but a sub is required for deep bass, amazing sound for a speaker with such a small footprint. I will let you all know how my quest for speakers go shortly. Regards Skeg1967. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeg1967 Posted November 29, 2006 Author Share Posted November 29, 2006 Just a quick update, I returned the Mirage V2 FS yesterday and explained my likes and dislikes of the speakers to the shop manager telling him I want a pair of speakers to last me for a long time. The last thing I want is to replace the speakers after a year or two because I made a poor decesion now! I told him I wanted to listen to a pair of Heresy III and he is going to source me a pair to demo. I have never heard the Heresy's in action but the shop manager owned a pair during the 80's and 90's and he told me they were one of the best sounding speakers he ever owned and he regreted ever selling them. After reading a lot of reviews and threads a common statement about these speakers is they lack a bit of deep bass, I'm not to concerned about that as I will be running two 15" Velodyne subs to help out. I will be looking forward to giving these speakers a decent work out when I get them. He also wants me to try the Bose 901 but I'm unsure about these speakers even though I have heard this before and was impressed by the sound. Have any Heresy owners owned 901's to give any comparsion. Regards Skeg1967. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeg1967 Posted December 19, 2006 Author Share Posted December 19, 2006 I recently purchased a pair of Klipsch Heresy II 2005 in black off Ebay Australia last week. After a 200 mile round trip I got these Heresys home and set them up. Instantly I was impressed with the sound, it sounded totally different to the RF63's no harshness of fatigueing sound and more like the Klipsch Tangent 40's I've been using for the last 5 years but with more detail and clarity. I knew my search for speakers was over after listening to these Heresys but I started thinking I wonder what the Klipsch Heresy III sounded like so I rang my local audio shop and he ordered me a new pair for me to demo over the Christmas break, hopefully they should arrive tomorrow. I will set up the H III as front left and right and one of the H II as a centre channel for surround, but I'll mainly test in two channel. Regards Skeg1967. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted December 19, 2006 Share Posted December 19, 2006 Congrats on the purchase of the Heresy IIs. There's a reason why these sealed 3-way Heritage horns have lasted as long as they have with as little change as they've had (although all the minor improvements have added greatly to their overall sonics). The new IIIs should be the icing on the cake...it'll be interesting to know what differences you'll hear between the two models. Enjoy, and happy listening.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Yes, I'm interested in the comparison myself. Please post and let us know your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 the 63 need to be in the corner for max bass and how loud is your refence level??? yes they can be bright but revealing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted December 25, 2006 Share Posted December 25, 2006 I have an older ('84) pair of Heresys. After some tweaking back to metal K-700s and K-55vs and judiciously adding my SW-15 subwoofer, I was surprized at how close the sound came to my '77 Klipschorns. Just "smaller". 2/3s of a Klipschorn the old ads read. Enjoy!!!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.