klipschguy101 Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 As some of you in this forum know, I recently struggled with whetherto purchase and thereafter stop from returning a new pair of KlipschHeresy IIIs. After living with a thirty year old memory of Heresys I heard but couldn't afford, I purchased some on line in an impulsive moment. For the next several weeks I struggled with the prudence of the whim and received helpful input from many members of this forum. Thanks for all the advice, again. In the meantime, I read with great interest the controversy about theHeritage line of speakers, particularly the Heresy (witness thedisparate views expressed by "thermalup" and the responses to hispostings - "Heresy - not for me."). After my speakers arrived in the mail several days ago, I feellike I personally ran the gamut from Klipsch fan, to foe, and back again. Because of that, I feel like I might have a differentperspective than many who are either unfamiliar or far more familiarthese speakers than I. For what its worth, at the risk of preaching tothe choir, here's the aural observations of a new Klipsch owner: The Heresy IIIs (I have never heard the larger Heritage line)leave little margin for error. Because they are so loud, and so crisp,anything "wrong" with the music becomes obvious immediately. Theyremind me somehow of a camera with fine lenses, whose images are sosharp that anything out of focus is truly undeniable. When thesespeakers are out of focus, they are not just bad, they are annoying. Most cheap speakers can create unrealistic sounding music. Thesespeakers can create noise. Loud noise. And they are not particularly "accurate" as that term is typically defined. Part of the "magic" of the studio is to try to create the impression ofa sound stage by careful manipulation during production. Many"high-end" speakers can recreate the subtle nuances of thisproduction. Some are simply scary. A Magnepan reproduces the breaths taken in the millisecondbefore Miles Davis blows out a run of sixteenth notes so well we knowif he had a cold. And we can hear Eric Clapton's fingers slip fromchord to chord so wellon a pair of Martin-Logans that know if he needed a manicure. Wehavecome to call the reproduction of these studio details "accurate." Andwe feel justified in this view by pointing to the charts showing "flat"frequency response. After all, its scientifically objective, right? And its true. Klipsch Heresys do not produce thesame discernable separation between instruments or quite the soundstage as some. But then, you know what? Neither does a band. Closeyour eyes the next time you are listening to live music and see if youcan tell exactly where a guitar is positioned, or the drums, or thevoices. In my experience, the sound you hear at a concert is chieflycoming directly from one or both of two large stacks of speakers(which, I might add, typically are replete with horns) and indirectlyfrom numerous sound reflecting surfaces (the recreation of which is, ofcourse, the idea behind Bose products). And the same holds true formost non-amplified concerts. The sound you hear from an orchestra islargely just as ambient (non-focused), unless you have the pricey seatsclose enough to the concert mistress to see up her skirt. A jazzconcert, with brass and woodwind instruments capable of focused soundprojection, has some natural sound "staging." But that's theexception. (And, as we all well know, the Heresys actually image thoseinstruments quite well anyway). Any "staging" that we "hear" at a realconcert is usually in our heads, created by the image we see of where aperformer is standing on the stage. A "sound stage" is really anartificialcreation of the studio intended to give the impression of a liveperformance. So a speaker's ability to recreate this doesn'tnecessarily make it more "accurate" compared to a live performance. Itmight just make it more artificial. Andwhy does anyone ever point to a chart when measuring speakers anyway? Listening to music isn't a science experiment. Music is an art. Itsall about emotion. And passion doesn't come from a really flat line onthe charts. It comes from imagining the expressions on the faces of the performers, the movement of their bodies while playing and the weird sense of community the audience feels while simultaneously moving to the same beat. That emotion comes from the stage, not the studio. I think "accuracy" should be measured by how close aspeaker comes to moving the audience,as the performers might on stage. Neither the studio nor the laboratory have much to do with that. That may be news to alot of folks, but Bose knows, and has for a while. We can stick our audio noses in the air all we want, but if a flat line response meant two figs to most audiences, Bose wouldn't be the number one speaker manufacturer and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. When Klipsch Heresys are mated to the proper amp (and perhaps broken in a little) they do something that no other speaker I have heard can do. They reproduce sound like you would hear if you closed your eyes and listened at a concert. The crash of the cymbals. The pounding of the drums. The power of the guitarchord. The passion of the voice. Its the feeling of being there, nearthe stage, not the studio. Sure, those charts are hard to argue with. But I'm not trying to think logically when I'm listening to music. I'mtrying to get lost in the emotion. And as even a cursory review of this forum will show, no other speaker evokes emotion more than Klipsch. Yeah, for now at least, I sound like a bad Klipsch commercial. I know, I know. But on the outside chance someone reading thisfeels just confident enough to make the purchase, it was worth sharingmy passion for an old flame with whom I have just been reunited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted March 6, 2007 Moderators Share Posted March 6, 2007 You are most welcome. It was a genuine pleasure helping you rekindle your "old flame". And thank you for taking the time to write a most sincere post for those of us here on the Forum. I, as many others here knew you would be happy with your purchase once you ironed some of the wrinkles out. Good luck and we sure hope you stick around. Die hard Klipsch fans are hard to come by on this Forum.[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Welcome KG101. Do you practice or are you a professor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Good post. BTW, I don't think my Martin Logans are particularly accurate. But like horn speakers, they are very fast, so you get that immediacy that many other speakers lack. I've listened to many so-called super flat monitors, and frankly they sound just that. Flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thanks for posting that - certainly made interesting reading. Just a few comments really: You have not had these speakers very long. IME Heresy's take a long while to settle in. I am not talking about burn in - I am talking about finding the ideal setup for them including source, amps, room treatments, positioning etc. etc. You will know when you get it right and it will affect both the soundstaging you think you are not getting now and the accuracy. Remember accuracy is a function of speaker and room together. From the picture in your avatar it looks like you have the Heresy's on risers and therefore, I would guess, on the floor. I have always been of the opinion that this is not the best location for Heresy's. If you can place them on something to gain a little height you will notice a dramatic change. In a room with 9 foot ceilings I found the ideal height to be about 18 inches - YMMV. I can say that at that height the whole soundstage improved dramatically and there was very little, if any, cost to the bass. In fact the bass appeared to clean up dramatically - probably through reduced reflections (or changed reflections from the floor). Other than that - enjoy them - they are a great speaker for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Damn, I guess you don't want to swap your H3's for my H2's .......shucks!!!!!! The longer you own them, the more you will like them, and take another look at them, how small they are, and the sound they put out,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,A Great Speaker....................ENJOY.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwhaples Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Thanks for sharing,nice write up. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 Very nicely said. You a gift with words sir. Thank you for the very asute and heartfelt writeup. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilMays Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 After reading and following the post you referenced, it was refreshing to read your very honest personal take on the Hersey III. It also joy's me to see you did not try to resolve in comparing them in a dollar-for-dollar war against other products on the market. They are what they are, and you sir have found that balance! In this thread I will not make reference to a scotch in an attempt to spin humor on a ludicrus thought process! Well done! Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flannj Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 When Klipsch Heresys are mated to the proper amp (and perhaps broken in a little) they do something that no other speaker I have heard can do. They reproduce sound like you would hear if you closed your eyes and listened at a concert. The crash of the cymbals. The pounding of the drums. The power of the guitar chord. The passion of the voice. Its the feeling of being there, near the stage, not the studio. Sure, those charts are hard to argue with. But I'm not trying to think logically when I'm listening to music. I'm trying to get lost in the emotion. And as even a cursory review of this forum will show, no other speaker evokes emotion more than Klipsch. Very good post. I particularly like the paragraph quoted above. It captures for me what is the essence of the Heritage and Extended Heritage speakers. You feel like you are there at a live musical performance. More than all the other qualities of these speakers, efficiency, dynamic range, low distortion (or maybe it is because of the sum of these qualities) the impression of music being played is what makes them what they are. As noted by others here placement and more importantly to me room treatment are absolutely key to getting the most out of these speakers. That is most likely why some listeners come away with an incorrect impression when auditioning in a store that doesn't take the effort to set them up correctly. They are unforgiving in the wrong environment. Enjoy - Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipschguy101 Posted March 8, 2007 Author Share Posted March 8, 2007 Arky, I practice and practice but I'm still far from perfect. How about U? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 Arky, I practice and practice but I'm still far from perfect. How about U? LOL, most of my friends are, just curious. I'm a small R/E developer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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