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Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review

Ducatiktm1260

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I purchased Cornwall 4’s about 8 months ago and they are my favorite speaker ever (40 years of audio listening) I drive them with a Cinepro 3k6 amp and a Yaquin tube. No complaints with either.
 

kevin52

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Speakers like the Klipsch Heritage is why Dirac was invented. ;). Although if they were run through the Dirac software would they lose the thing so many like aboput them?
 

watchnerd

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Speakers like the Klipsch Heritage is why Dirac was invented. ;). Although if they were run through the Dirac software would they lose the thing so many like aboput them?

Are you running Dirac only below 300 Hz?

If so, I wouldn't expect a major change in midrange and higher tonality.

And I don't think Dirac would negatively effect the sensitivity in any major way.
 

Ducatiktm1260

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I’m always amused when somebody tells another person what speaker they think sounds best, wait let me correct that “they know sounds best” and what doesn’t. Perhaps their hearing just sucks? Or their equipment, Or their room? Or maybe they just can’t stand if somebody likes something different than them? Who am I to say what somebody else will like, if you enjoy it that’s all that matters. Even when I read certain reviews I look at the music they listen to and if it something that I would never listen to their opinion is almost mute to me.
 
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Nwickliff

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I’m always amused when somebody tells another person what speaker they think sounds best, wait let me correct that “they know sounds best” and what doesn’t. Perhaps their hearing just sucks? Or their equipment, Or their room? Or maybe they just can’t stand if somebody like something different than them? Who am I to say what somebody else will like, if you enjoy it that’s all that matters. Even when I read certain reviews I look at the music they listen to and if it something that I would never listen to their opinion is almost mute to me.
It's hard to resist. When we hear something that rings so true to us we can't believe that others can't hear it too. They must be doing something wrong, haha!
 

Ducatiktm1260

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Yup and at the end of the day it’s all just about the enjoyment, after all this is supposed to be fun right :)
 

direstraitsfan98

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I’m not sure if this has been addressed already but is it true that with Klipsh speakers that tube amps will sound too hot compared to the bass? Does that correlate with the spike in the impedance in the treble? JA mentioned this in the review of the Klipshorn AK6 and I noticed the impedance curve is similar to it. Now I’m wondering if the reason why Klipsh owners like tubes is that it makes the treble louder and that’s just the sound signature they prefer. And if so I wonder why. Reduced hearing capability in that region, so a pretence for a tilted up top end? Makes sense... Kevin Deal has major hearing loss I reckon. Dude went to a lot of rock concerts in the day and I doubt he wore hearing protection.
 

John Galt

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hardisj

hardisj

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FWIW, I finally got a reply back from Klipsch regarding aiming and if tube amps are a must (about 2 months after my last email to them). Here were my two questions:
Erin said:
How do you recommend positioning the Heresy IV speakers? I looked in your manual but it doesn’t say. Should these be placed on the ground angled up, or positioned on stands? Ear at tweeter axis?

Erin said:
I'm looking at the Heresy IV and I've been trying to figure out if I need to budget for a tube amp or if I can use a standard receiver. I've looked on the forums and see differing opinions. Some say you have to have a tube amp for the Heresy. Others say you do not. I need to know if I need to budget for a tube amp or if a solid state amp or regular receiver will be fine. Thank you.

And here is their reply:
Klipsch Customer Support said:
Hi there.

Thank you for contacting Klipsch! Our sincerest apologies for the extremely delayed response, we've been experiencing substantial traffic increases.
You may use the speakers with the built in stand, they are designed to be angled upward a little so they reach your listening perspective properly.Arranging Speakers for Best Sound
this article could be helpful as well.
As far as amps go - there are many great amps out there, tubes and solid state, our speakers work well with either, they are extremely efficient and do not require much power and sound good with most amps including integrated AVR's That being said, a high end amplifier could make a big difference in overall experience. Tube style amps are well regarded in audiophile community but there are many great sounding options that are solid state as well.
Talk to your favorite hi-fi dealer for more specific recommendations.

Thank you.
 
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BDWoody

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Kevin Deal has major hearing loss I reckon. Dude went to a lot of rock concerts in the day and I doubt he wore hearing protection.

I don't think a lot of people were wearing protection of any kind at those concerts...
 

Steve Dallas

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Who wants to be that dork?

At about the age of 40, I stopped caring about being that dork, and started wearing dad socks with sandals, cargo shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and sombreros to rock concerts. I also had molded ear plugs made with -12dB broadband reduction. You have no idea how much more enjoyable that makes concert-going. 90dB is loud enough. :)
 

watchnerd

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At about the age of 40, I stopped caring about being that dork, and started wearing dad socks with sandals, cargo shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and sombreros to rock concerts. I also had molded ear plugs made with -12dB broadband reduction. You have no idea how much more enjoyable that makes concert-going. 90dB is loud enough. :)

Oh, I just stopped going to rock concerts after...I dunno...30.

Jazz clubs and symphonies are most of my live music these days, and they aren't usually as loud in a sustained fashion, although they can have loud peaks. Blues bars can get pretty loud, though.
 

kevin52

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Are you running Dirac only below 300 Hz?

If so, I wouldn't expect a major change in midrange and higher tonality.

And I don't think Dirac would negatively effect the sensitivity in any major way.


I don't run Dirac at all nor do I own Klipsch speakers. I was broaching the idea of changing the response of the Speakers to have the sloping response from the lower to higher frequencies.

I believe speakers are especially hard to quantify, I am not criticizing the OP here. His work is excellent. The Klipsch speakers have a dynamic quality that most monkey coffin speakers cannot approach. Electrostatics like the Sound Labs have an ability to reproduce details that other speakers cannot and I don't think our measurement can identify why that is.
 

watchnerd

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Electrostatics like the Sound Labs have an ability to reproduce details that other speakers cannot and I don't think our measurement can identify why that is.

Having owned electrostats, aside from their unusual radiation patterns, they are also very low distortion in the mids and treble.

Absent an FR emphasis, subjective experiences of more low level detail can be measured and explained via lowering distortion, due to reduction in masking effect.

I've experienced the same effect with better, lower distortion dome tweeters.
 
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kevin52

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The Controlled radiation pattern of Horns can do a lot to help out with room interactions and some horn designs have low distortion compared to normal dome tweeters. See the JBL M2 and Geddes Horns for example, The Sound Labs are also controlled reflectivity. Which can help with the Haas effect of reflections in the first 10-20ms reflections.
 
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