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heresy 3


jeverett

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I was wondering if anyone out there has heard the 3's and if they could tell me a little about them. There are no dealers in my area so I have no chance to audition them. I'm afraid they may be a little to bright for me (I've never liked metal tweets) or have poor base response, 58hz for a twelve inch woofer seems kind of light weight. Any suggestions on what kind of cables they like, silver vs copper. Right now I have a glow audio amp (5watts) and an arcam cd73 would this be a good combo. Any input would be appreciated. thanks

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I own Heresys and I found the Heresy IIIs to have more bass and not bright highs...but you gotta like horns...I like Heresys...Heresy IIIs are really nice...but that's me...you may get more feedback asking this in the two channel section...announcements is kinda quiet...unless you have an announcement to make!...[:D]

Bill

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi...moved this to 2-Channel where you'll likely get quite a few opinions on this speaker (or the previous Heresy versions in general).

Even I can comment. I had an opportunity about a year ago to audition a pair of H-III's at home. I'm currently running RB-81's and was at that time so that's what I compared them to. I am also using a pair of RW-8 subwoofers to pick up the bottom end roll off, however I listened to both pairs of speakers with and without the subs.

What I can say is that the audible differences between the speakers was mostly nuanced, as they're both really very good. The H-III is of course more sensitive at 99dB 1w/1m which is 3dB louder than the RB-81. At either sensitivity I think you'd be fine with your low wattage amp...but more so with the H-III. At 1/8th of a watt you'd be somewhere around 90dB at 1m and with 4 watts you'd be running something like 105dB which is pretty stupid loud.

One of the more curious tests I did was floor vs. stand placement of the H-III. The RB-81 of course really doesn't go on the floor it's supposed to be on a stand, bookshelf, or even wall mounted (you can do all that with an H-III too). However the H-III was interesting both on the floor with it's tilted-back riser and on a 30" stand. On the floor the bass response was enhanced and the midrange seemed warmer. On the stands the bass dried up a bit but on the whole everything sounded a tad more neutral...more analytical I suppose. While on the floor the H-III's imaged quite nicely, the soundstage (to me) floated above and in front of the speakers. Not at all what you'd expect with a speaker that small sitting on the floor. That said, I think both of these qualities improved immensely (to me) by stand placement. I got a more air...more depth in the soundfield to my ears on the stands.

As for brightness...well that's a subjective matter. Prior to my RB-81's I was running an old pair of ADS L-710's (which are 3-way dome-n-cone speakers) and I also have a lot of experience listening to electrostats as my dad is a fan of that type of speaker and has a huge pair of SoundLabs. When I started listening to Klipsch speakers it was like "There's the top-end I was missing!" I said earlier "analytical", I think the horn sound, well the Klipsch horn sound anyway is very accurate and detailed all through the mid and top frequencies. Of course I find this preferential, others might not. I will say that percussion, especially piano, sound excellent on horns.

And...yes the bass is a bit dry (on both speakers here) but the bass they do have is tight and musical. If you are trying to go with a full-range 2-ch solution I would higly recommend patching in a pair of subs...which as I mentioned is how I use my RB-81's.

Also, from a purely superficial standpoint, but I like the classic look of the Heresey. The real-wood veneer and classic black-weave grille I think look really good. I also like how it looks on the floor with the arch cut-out in the riser (even though if I had a pair I'd go with stands)

The only reason I don't have a pair of H-III's is because the RB-81 is so close and I'm saving up for something bigger in the Heritage line to upgrade to [:P].

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Any suggestions on what kind of cables they like, silver vs copper.

I think any cable that allows the electrons to make their way to the input terminals on the speaker will work fine. Coat hangers, lamp cord, and the like. [;)]

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I own a pair of H-3's which I have mounted on wall stands in my large garage. I have tried running them with both solid state and tube amplifiers and the Heresys seem to really warm up to the tubes best.It's most noticable in the lower end where the bass becomes full and rich and kick drums and toms sound as if they are right in the room with you, even if your room happens to be a 24' x 28' garage! I have heard them several times in an A/B comparison with Heresy IIs and the IIIs have it all over the IIs in my opinion.Frankly, I never cared for H-1's and H-2's. The H-3's highs are cleaner and more detailed and the mids more promenent and smooth. The bass is more pronounced too but not artificially so; it goes deeper on the IIIs. My regular system is an RF-7 based 7.1 system in our Home Theater, which I love. But for 2-channel listening, I would not trade my H-3's for anything of similar size. I have an old pair of ADS L-810s, which, like Paladin's L-710's, have dome midranges and tweeters. They always sounded excellent but lacked bass, and their poorer efficiency didn't not allow them to be played as nearly loud as the Heresys. I fried a lot of tweeters and mids on those ADS's (a few woofers, too) trying to get more volume and bass out of them. But, for their size, I love my H-3s! -Glenn

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That's interesting that you have (or had) some ADS speakers Picky. My 710's were picked up second hand. However they have the (apparently) desireable buff-colored metal grilles (finish is walnut) as well as the original Braun 6" woofers with the rubber surrounds. I've had some other people tell me they lusted after this or the 810 you mentioned back in the day. I haven't totally decided if I'm going to keep them or sell them...

Anyway...after thinking about this thread I remembered I took some pics of the H-III's while I had them. It might help to see them in an actual room, as while "compact" they aren't small. However you can see the beautiful cherry lacquer finish on them. Click the links below to view...all images are 800x600px.

http://paladinet.com/hostpics/H-III-Boxes.jpg (87K)

Those are the boxes they come in, I thought the PWK logo which wrapped around the side of the box, but also could be made by putting two boxes together was rather cool. These were apparently an early set which were initially sent to Mr. Kauffman, who was quite influential in the re-design of the H-III as I do believe.

http://paladinet.com/hostpics/H-III-Room.jpg (70K)

This shows the H-III's sitting in my living room, note I didn't play them spaced that far apart, that's just what I did after un-boxing...I moved the 81's out of the way (or replaced them with the H-III's on those stands).

http://paladinet.com/hostpics/H-III-and-RB-81-Front.jpg (85K)

Here's a front-on of the H-III and my RB-81 on a stand...note the classic Aragon equipment lurking just to the right...

http://paladinet.com/hostpics/H-III-and-RB-81-Side.jpg (85K)

This shows the side of the H-III and RB-81. Note the book matching of the veneer on the H-III (well...I think, either that or it was a really nice single piece of veneer on the side there), I also popped the grille off for this shot (they're magnetically attached now just like Ref, Icon, and Palladium).

Oh and by the way, I actually didn't borrow these speakers from Klipsch. Rather they were on loan from the "House of Klipsch" collection [;)]. Props to Mr. Colter for that.

Also, for the curious...the large floorstanders hanging out in the corners are vintage ESS AMT-3 Heil Rock Monitors...I was using those as mains for my surround system until I got the wood...er an Icon Wood system [:P] There are two systems in that room. The 81's are used for 2ch only.

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Paladin: I still own those ADS L-810s and I am the original owner. I plan to rebuild them some day soon as the drivers are now available from a place in California. I bought the L-810s in 1976 from The Tin Ear Sound Company in Reno, Nevada, which was about an hour from Fallon where I lived back then. I remember how impressed I was with them but I actually lusted after the Dahlquist DQ-10s that I auditioned next to them in the store but could not afford at the time. Those DQ-10s with their "Time-Aligned" speaker arrangement were nothing short of amazing, but very strange-looking speakers. I realize I have posted this picture here many times before, but below are my H-3s hung on their wall stands in the garage. -Glenn

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post-10177-1381939348495_thumb.jpg

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Below is a photo of the Dahlquist DQ-10s (not to be confused with the current DQ-TENSs made by the Canadian company who newly-acquired the Dahlquist name) I spoke of in my post above....

post-10177-1381938209712_thumb.jpg

post-10177-1381939348643_thumb.jpg

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And here's a photo of what the Braun ADS L810s look like (not mine). Notice the dome mid-range and dome tweeter. The woofers are 8" and the box is a sealed design, not ported. Mine are finished in Walnut which is what these look like. Mine need refinishing. The ADS holy grail for me back then where the L1290s that came out a few years later. I could not afford those either. [:(] ADS stood for Analog and Digital Systems.

post-10177-138193820994_thumb.jpg

post-10177-1381939348723_thumb.jpg

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That's exactly what my L-710's look like, except smaller of course. And two 6" drivers instead of 8".

Mine also need to be refinished there are a few scratches on them, and I think someone used mine on a dirty hard floor because the bottoms are really badly scratched up. They look good though.

My mid and tweet domes are somewhat sticky, "tacky" is a better word, if you touch them and look like silk. The tops of them (the high sides) are covered with dust and grit that I cannot remove. As I said I suspect these were used in a dirty environment (maybe an unfinished basement or something). I'm pretty sure it may be affecting sound quality.

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Palain: Those ADS dome drives are naturally tacky to the touch from the factory when new. It has something to do with how they are manufactured. I consider their tackiness to be normal. Yes, especially if the grilles are removed at some point, I suspect that they would become good "dust & grit magnets". -Glenn

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