Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review

[sjeesjie]

Wow it hurts my heart to read all this. I find my Heresy’s quite enjoyable. They definitely need to be positioned good but to me they sound fantastic. I do have a sub for the low end extension though.
Weird how every review on the internet and youtube is very positive, but the measurements are not.

 

[hardisj]

Weird how every review on the internet and youtube is very positive, but the measurements are not.

Definitely not true. I’ve read others who don’t like them. In fact, the reason I tested these is because the owner hated how they sounded and wanted to know what the measurements showed.

That said, it’s been my experience that people don’t typically go out of their way to talk negatively about a product they purchased. And most reviewers - per their own admission - don’t do “negative” reviews at all.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Weird how every review on the internet and youtube is very positive, but the measurements are not.

What's weird with that?

 

[sjeesjie]

What's weird with that?

Well, how it’s somehow quite a pleasurable setup (I think so myself too) even though it measures horribly or so it seems.

 

[splattened]

If you're enjoying the speakers, then don't sweat it. ASR is such a fantastic resource for prospective buyers of audio equipment and for holding companies accountable for their claims. But if you already own a set of speakers, and it's a done deal, and you've been enjoying them this whole time, then mission accomplished on your part. 99.99999% of people (a statistic I just made up) listen to music on phone speakers and other imperfect listening equipment. The fact that you have a real stereo speaker setup in a room means your listening experience is already leagues above most people's. There are always EQ options you could explore to tame some of the quirks of the speakers and room too.

 

[levimax]

A close friend recently passed away and I helped his widow sell off his stereo equiptment and the speakers were an old pair of Klipsch Hereseys. I tried them in the house and wasn't super impressed but they sure played loud and dynamic and sounded great with some music less so with other music but on balance they sounded much better than you may think from looking at the measurements. I put them on ebay local pickup and had a huge response. Despite what ASR measurements say these speakers have strong demand. For people coming over to audition I set them up in my garage, which is a large 3.5 car garage mostly full of toys and junk. I set them on the floor away from the walls and put a chair about 10 feet away. For what ever reason they sounded fantastic in the garage... even their weak bass got stronger and the imaging was much better than in the house. The people that came to audition them were very impressed and they sold very quickly. I think effeciency of speakers is under rated and FR smoothness over rated. These speakers will stand out and impress people more than 99% of the standard small and accurate book shelf speakers. After this experience I am going to take another look effecient horn loaded speakers.

 

[Doodski]

I am going to take another look effecient horn loaded speakers.

They can be a lot of fun for sure.

 

[Sal1950]

A close friend recently passed away and I helped his widow sell off his stereo equiptment and the speakers were an old pair of Klipsch Hereseys.

Don't know which version you listened to but smoothness and lack of horn tint has improved greatly over their 65 year life span !

 

[Inner Space]

Don't know which version you listened to but smoothness and lack of horn tint has improved greatly over their 65 year life span !

True and under-appreciated. The current 4th gen in particular sound nothing like detractors expect. Still plenty to bitch about, but not that old stuff.

 

[posvibes]

I continually monitor whatever speakers I am using at the time with music I am not familiar with via streaming on purpose. I would feel quite comfortable auditioning speakers with music of any genre without having heard any of it before

I found I had built a web of expectations and audiophile lore about certain tracks that I played over again and again that would close my ears against other presentations and representations of how that music performed on other speakers.

 

[arthur1260]

A close friend recently passed away and I helped his widow sell off his stereo equiptment and the speakers were an old pair of Klipsch Hereseys. I tried them in the house and wasn't super impressed but they sure played loud and dynamic and sounded great with some music less so with other music but on balance they sounded much better than you may think from looking at the measurements. I put them on ebay local pickup and had a huge response. Despite what ASR measurements say these speakers have strong demand. For people coming over to audition I set them up in my garage, which is a large 3.5 car garage mostly full of toys and junk. I set them on the floor away from the walls and put a chair about 10 feet away. For what ever reason they sounded fantastic in the garage... even their weak bass got stronger and the imaging was much better than in the house. The people that came to audition them were very impressed and they sold very quickly. I think effeciency of speakers is under rated and FR smoothness over rated. These speakers will stand out and impress people more than 99% of the standard small and accurate book shelf speakers. After this experience I am going to take another look effecient horn loaded speakers.

Sorry for your loss, must have been difficult to sell his stuff.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the latest generation Heresy, but they were a bit too much of a good thing in my tiny listening room. I understand why they made such an impression in the garage, they need room to breathe. For the price they’re tremendous fun!

 

[sportklotz33]

Hey Guys,

had to register to this forum to leave a comment on this thread, that "evolved" like a "We hate the Klipsch Heresy IV speakers, no matter what"-Thread.

I own a pair of the Heresy IV for a year now - got it second hand from a pretty nice guy here in Germany.
It took me a while to get them up and running due to a complete renovation of our little house. Saying that, I handed over my complete Teufel Equipment as well as the Onkyo AVR to my brother and bought the Heresy IV and didn't regret anything. (Ok Teufel is not the top of the shelf, but did a great job the last couple of years)

Since 7 months I enjoy listening to Heresy's - I like the sound very much, lots of fun and "re-enjoying" songs I know for years through the new speakers.
I am not an "music analyst" a (music) journalist or a sound engineer. Just a musician in a band and grew up with music until today (39yrs).

The Heresy IV do a much better job imho than some of you here write.


Cheers from Germany,
sportklotz33

 

[DSJR]

I don't know the current version, but I do remember the version available around 1980 (so a very long time ago). No bass whatsoever back then in a free space setting and in that version, upper mids and highs which usually screamed at you relentlessly. Having said that, a chap I know has used a pair in a smallish well damped (carpet and curtains) UK living room environment (I think he's single so the size isn't an issue) and with gear which doesn't sound at all 'harsh' or 'hard' toned and he absolutely loved them, using vintage vinyl as well as digital for sources.

There does seem to be a 'way' that larger speakers communicate the music that small boxes no matter how good, just cannot 'do' as well, no matter how hard they try. I'll no doubt need to go to smaller speakers eventually and I'm dreading it frankly, wondering if the better Kippel-friendly small DSP-wonder-boxes by Genelec and Neumann actually do proper bass, or whether it's a kind of one-note-thump 'stunt bass' as I accused my 2000 era ATC 20ASL pro's of doing even with their bass controls lifted a couple of notches to flatten them out a bit - it thumped along nicely but didn't 'breathe' at all!

It does look as if Klipsch have come a long way and they do seem to know what their characterful products are doing. I suggest it's an evolutionary thing with them to tame the excesses (in the same way Harbeth seem to be gradually tautening and livening their products up a bit as time goes on from the other extreme of 'excess sweet/warm toned 'niceness'').

 

[Sal1950]

Klipsch has been the whipping boy of audiophiles for decades.
All the while they spend tens of thousands of dollars on tubes, vinyl, and power cords.

 

[Sonny1]

My friend had a pair of these in the late 80’s. I still remember my ears ringing days after the audition. Not because they were bad sounding, it was hard to tell because he played them at deafening levels. He upgraded to K-horns and dual Adcom GFA555’s and had to sell them when the police showed up to his house multiple times. I could feel my ears being damaged as I walked into the listening room.

I had a set of Forte II’s at that time. Never tried to play them as loudly as my friend because I feared hearing damage and lived in an apartment. They were impressive looking speakers and very efficient but after hearing more refined designs (including some by our resident expert Dennis Murphy!) I realized the Klipsch sound was not for me. Sold the Forte speakers for what I paid! Say what you want, I don’t recall doing that with any other brand. Thanks Klipsch!

My friend now lives in a beautiful large house and still talks about getting another set of Khorns in his massive HT. He has a very nice professionally constructed home theater system with unobtrusive in-wall speakers and hidden subs. They don’t sound that good for music but work well for movies and are invisible. No way his wife is going to allow giant horns in that place.

 

[Hapo]

...I have a single Adcom GFA 555 and am reading this because I was considering these speakers...

...I am keeping on with that amp but will probably pass on the Heresy...

...that said, an accurate speaker may be appealing to me, but with my hearing impairment such a speaker may no longer be my best choice...

...thanks for all the posts...

 

[JungleXray]

You're paying for something that been basically true to its original design since the late 1950's. It was good back then. It's still good today... But yes... theory, testing, materials, and technology have exploded since then. Speakers do much more now in terms of sound reproduction. But IMO that's not what the your paying for with this speaker. You're paying for something still made the same way. Still made in USA. That cost money. Beautiful matching walnut Veneer. More expensive every year. Heritage and character. It looks good too. I know that's subjective, but I find the Heresy much sexier than some piano black bookshelf speaker.

But I am a total klipsch heritage fanboy.

 

[Angsty]

I’ve never been a fan of the Heresy, but even I can acknowledge that the current IV version is quite a different design than the ones I experienced in the 80’s

 

[Jake McBride]

I've had my Heresy IV's mated with a Pioneer A90D for a year now and I have no complaints. Fidelity is subjective and singular to a location. The final measure is personal - do you enjoy listening to your music, in your spot, more or less then with your prior gear and are you satisfied. I think I am.

 

[mhardy6647]

Fidelity is subjective and singular to a location.

umm...