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Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review
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avanti1960
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Volti Audio makes some critically and user acclaimed HE speakers. Not cheap but more refined sounding than the Klipsh Heritage. Cabinet construction and bracing are top notch leading to outstanding freedom from coloration.Certainly a worthy goal would be to find a viable alternative to the Klipsch Heritage speakers at a similar or lower price point that measures better while satisfying the audio preferences of those who love that sound. Beyond measurements though it may require a blind test to convince those who know the best sounding speaker when they see it.
https://voltiaudio.com/
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The Volti Vittora is one of the worst sounding and most incompetently designed speakers I have ever heard.
these oldtimers should get in DSP asap
Helicopter
Major Contributor
Rival doesn't look too bad as a tube amp load, or as a headphone. Maybe good for a SET amp in extreme radical nearfield touching ears. Might only work this way without the constraint of gravity.
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Yikes! Hard to get much worse than that
. That arguably looks even worse than the bose acoustimass speakers.3-way cornscala is $1857 ready to play. i have not done any measurements but it must be better than the volti in my subjective evaluation
https://critesspeakers.com/crites-speaker-style-a.html
https://critesspeakers.com/crites-speaker-style-a.html
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Yikes! Hard to get much worse than that
Have they been measured? If so, would be very curious to see..
watchnerd
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You can haul them out to your deck and use them as PA speakers for your BBQ / pool party.
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The thing is, no one looking for an idealized Klippelized two way powered monkey coffin that they can set on their desk is going to want anything made by Klipsch. No one. If the 'Harman curve' is what one is looking for, why would one even bother with these, or others like them?For more lively comments I would suggest K-horn or LaScala over Cornwall.
However, things are not so cut and dry. With different loudspeaker designs there are audible differences anyone can hear. Unlike amps and DACs, one doesn't need to make up stuff about sonic differences. An amp (and even a DAC) can easily be considered a 'black box'. If you know the electrical properties going in, you can measure the difference coming out. It's not that simple with a loudspeaker, since what is going in is not what is coming out.
The Klipsch sound is an 'antique' sound. It is a remnant of, or a throwback to, a time past. Nevertheless, for large speakers in a large room, and even with these smaller ones, their appeal remains solid enough for the company to continue making the product. And they don't give them away, that's for sure. One can say that there is no accounting for sonic taste, but then again, in matters of taste one has to allow for differing sensibilities. How people get so worked up over something like this is something I'll never hope to understand.
Klipschological information is not a new thing. Richard Heyser took apart a Klipschorn in 1986.
http://www.soundhifi.com/klipsch/86horn.htm
witchdoctor
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You inspired me, I found one (actually Klipsch THE One) is perfect for that purpose:
https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Heri...eywords=klipsch+the+one&qid=1607263549&sr=8-3
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Brings back memories. A neighbor replaced his Stromberg Carlson integrated amp with some solid state stuff, and gave me the old tube unit. I didn't have any stereo speakers, or speakers at all, but decided to improvise. It was my first 'audio' project. 1967 or '68.
I found a round (probably 5" or so, I don't recall where I got it) paper cone driver, mounted it in an empty Maxwell House tin (the larger can), stuffed it with insulation I scavenged from a house under construction, poked holes in the tin's lid with a nail, using that as a grill. Sounded horrible, but I was very proud of it.
I used it with a pocket transistor radio headphone out jack, into the Stromberg's line input. AM Top 40 never sounded so bad. No bluetooth, because that hadn't been invented yet!
avanti1960
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they sure do look bad. i heard the rival at an audio show and was most impressed though. the razz does have excellent enclosure resonance control.
just as a reference neither these or the klipsch heritage are what i would prefer or own.
i heard the newer forte iii model driven by a mcintosh amplifier and except for the technicoloration of the midrange, they sounded pleasant and fun.
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That's true, especially for a large speaker. Wonder why there's such a difference between that and the Rival.
I'm sure this dealer has the oposite sensibilities of most members here, but at 6:22 he claims they are required to have a setup with tubes and a turntable. And that's how I do most of my listening to my previous Heresy III's and current Forte III's.
One day I will buy myself a pair of this large woody Tannoy. The woodwork is amazing. Canterbury For me ...
mhardy6647
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Like, do you have to sign a pledge or something when you purchase a pair?
I will say from my Cornwall experience, that a good sounding vacuum tube amplifier does help considerably to smooth off the very rough edges of the "Heritage Klipsch" sound.
- They sound horrible (nigh on unlistenable) with a McIntosh MC-2100 (early ss, autoformer coupled stereo power amp)
- They sound good with a Fisher 500C (receiver push-pull Class AB 7591 outputs).
- They sound quite good with a fair to middlin' quality single-ended "triode" amplifier (to wit, a Decware "Zen" SE-84B that uses power output pentodes wired as triodes).
- They sound as good as they can possibly sound with a Marantz 8B (push-pull EL34 with world-class output iron and carefully and thoughtfully designed and implemented circuitry).
(and I am sure I've posted some of this before -- but I am too lazy to go back & look)
I have the Heresy 1's and I have to admit they were my third speaker that you could actually google to find information about (the first being Klipsch rf82II's that hurt my ears at louder volumes, and the second being Elac Debut 6's). I listened mostly nearfield to the Heresy speakers and they were always paired with an SVS sb2000 sub. I couldn't get enough of their sound! They were so efficient, especially compared to my Elac's.
So much of this makes sense now. Accurate, no. Fun, yes! Those inconsistencies that are measured are probably a big part of my "double-take experience" with these speakers. They are irregularities in the speaker's off-axis response (and on) that made certain things jump out of the recordings. I would be staring off into space and then I would hear something like I'd never heard it before and stare at the speaker in disbelief. I thought this was due to their superior 3-way design and those horns. Now I surmise it was due to inaccuracy and not something all hi-fi speakers do.
So now what the hell do with all the new data in the last few months from scouring the interwebs and using REW and measuring and measure and measuring? I have since compared these to RP600m's (with 1840hz 5.6db boost EQ'd) and an open baffle Lii F-15 full range speaker (that needs an ungodly amount of EQ.)
RP600's sound sublime with the EQ changes
The response with the Lii is all over the place and I EQ'd above the Schroder which is a no-no, but....I LOVE the sound. Placement is the biggest issue as they have to be waaaaay into the room. They sound alive.
The biggest difference, however, is the sound from the Heresy can sound like it's coming from a box. The imaging "trick" has been exposed. They lack the richness the others provide and with their ( I must imagine far worse than the IV's) completely nonlinear off-axis response you just don't know how they will sound in your room.
Had I not heard any other speakers I wouldn't know any better. Ignorance is actually bliss in this case. My wife hates my newfound obsession.....
So much of this makes sense now. Accurate, no. Fun, yes! Those inconsistencies that are measured are probably a big part of my "double-take experience" with these speakers. They are irregularities in the speaker's off-axis response (and on) that made certain things jump out of the recordings. I would be staring off into space and then I would hear something like I'd never heard it before and stare at the speaker in disbelief. I thought this was due to their superior 3-way design and those horns. Now I surmise it was due to inaccuracy and not something all hi-fi speakers do.
So now what the hell do with all the new data in the last few months from scouring the interwebs and using REW and measuring and measure and measuring? I have since compared these to RP600m's (with 1840hz 5.6db boost EQ'd) and an open baffle Lii F-15 full range speaker (that needs an ungodly amount of EQ.)
RP600's sound sublime with the EQ changes
The response with the Lii is all over the place and I EQ'd above the Schroder which is a no-no, but....I LOVE the sound. Placement is the biggest issue as they have to be waaaaay into the room. They sound alive.
The biggest difference, however, is the sound from the Heresy can sound like it's coming from a box. The imaging "trick" has been exposed. They lack the richness the others provide and with their ( I must imagine far worse than the IV's) completely nonlinear off-axis response you just don't know how they will sound in your room.
Had I not heard any other speakers I wouldn't know any better. Ignorance is actually bliss in this case. My wife hates my newfound obsession.....
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