Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review

[Angsty]

Yeah, “satisfaction” and “fidelity” are two different concepts.

 

[NormB]

So glad I’m reading this AFTER buying a pair of these speakers six months ago.

It’s been a GREAT six months’ listening pleasure.

What I replaced was a pair of Ohm 4 speakers - about 35 years old - I’d been using for nearly 3 years. Even with relatively new (5 years) drivers courtesy of the seller (confirmed by a call to the factory), I felt there was something lacking in the Ohm 4’s. Presence, mostly, and a somewhat distorted soundstage; after buying a cheap chicom tube amp (Willsenton R8) and doing some major updates/upgrades internally, there was a MAJOR improvement in overall performance and listening pleasure, then a year later I went and bought the Heresies (or is it Heresys ? Sounds like an anatomical label).

I ALMOST returned them. Harsh, shrill, WAY too much top-end, midrange RIGHT IN MY FACE, bass unfocused, weak… but that all changed after running them for a week, then two, then… I like them just fine.

No, I don’t have “measurements,” which I find intriguing, and helpful in general in buying equipment, but aren’t the sole criteria.

I actually listened to LP’s that have been with me for 50 years or more, even 1950’s mono jazz discs and FELT the improvements.

Measurements? I had them right there and could HEAR them. No, I don’t have “golden ears” (VA tested me, SPLs under 8k are in the 15-30 dB range which is good for my age), I’d like to think I’m just an average consumer, not a HiFi fanatic, but I DID want better (don’t we all?). I think they Klipsch Heresy IV’s ARE “better.” For me and the thousands who own the brand.

It’s like a LOT of things in life, things many people enjoy, make, purchase, own, share which they really really like but some people really really DON’T.

In making the decision I read reviews, and comments, and looked at a boatload of videos where people were USING the Heresies and it was a LOT of them. For the pricepoint (not quite a “fell off the truck” price, but beat the heck out of MSRP by about 25%), they fit into my budget (who am I kidding, I bought them on credit).

Based on my experience with the Ohm 4’s, I’d LIKE to own a new pair of German Physik speakers based on that design and overall performance, I think, but the $18-20k pricetag is WAY outside this disabled veteran’s income bracket; even used at $10k is an “I gotta win the lottery” dream.

Moving into a new home soon, with a self-designed man cave of 15x24 feet, somewhat sound-proofed/isolated from rest of house. After getting things set up, I’ll try the Ohms again, the the Klipsch again and flip a coin.

Maybe I can sell blood plasma.


BUT, thank you for a very enlightening, in-depth, THOROUGH review.

 

[Nwickliff]

So glad I’m reading this AFTER buying a pair of these speakers six months ago.

It’s been a GREAT six months’ listening pleasure.

What I replaced was a pair of Ohm 4 speakers - about 35 years old - I’d been using for nearly 3 years. Even with relatively new (5 years) drivers courtesy of the seller (confirmed by a call to the factory), I felt there was something lacking in the Ohm 4’s. Presence, mostly, and a somewhat distorted soundstage; after buying a cheap chicom tube amp (Willsenton R8) and doing some major updates/upgrades internally, there was a MAJOR improvement in overall performance and listening pleasure, then a year later I went and bought the Heresies (or is it Heresys ? Sounds like an anatomical label).

I ALMOST returned them. Harsh, shrill, WAY too much top-end, midrange RIGHT IN MY FACE, bass unfocused, weak… but that all changed after running them for a week, then two, then… I like them just fine.

No, I don’t have “measurements,” which I find intriguing, and helpful in general in buying equipment, but aren’t the sole criteria.

I actually listened to LP’s that have been with me for 50 years or more, even 1950’s mono jazz discs and FELT the improvements.

Measurements? I had them right there and could HEAR them. No, I don’t have “golden ears” (VA tested me, SPLs under 8k are in the 15-30 dB range which is good for my age), I’d like to think I’m just an average consumer, not a HiFi fanatic, but I DID want better (don’t we all?). I think they Klipsch Heresy IV’s ARE “better.” For me and the thousands who own the brand.

It’s like a LOT of things in life, things many people enjoy, make, purchase, own, share which they really really like but some people really really DON’T.

In making the decision I read reviews, and comments, and looked at a boatload of videos where people were USING the Heresies and it was a LOT of them. For the pricepoint (not quite a “fell off the truck” price, but beat the heck out of MSRP by about 25%), they fit into my budget (who am I kidding, I bought them on credit).

Based on my experience with the Ohm 4’s, I’d LIKE to own a new pair of German Physik speakers based on that design and overall performance, I think, but the $18-20k pricetag is WAY outside this disabled veteran’s income bracket; even used at $10k is an “I gotta win the lottery” dream.

Moving into a new home soon, with a self-designed man cave of 15x24 feet, somewhat sound-proofed/isolated from rest of house. After getting things set up, I’ll try the Ohms again, the the Klipsch again and flip a coin.

Maybe I can sell blood plasma.


BUT, thank you for a very enlightening, in-depth, THOROUGH review.

If you like them, great! Are brains are incredibly powerful and adaptable! The speakers got better because you guy used to the sound. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you truly want audio bliss you might try some Clayton Shaw Open baffle speakers.

The Heresy’s response is all over the place but honestly I find the most offensive part to be the resonance inside those big boxes and the lack of bass. A subwoofer goes a long way paired with the heresy but they can’t touch the sound of open baffle IMO. Everyone’s got opinions though. Thank you for your service.

 

[mhardy6647]

Yeah, “satisfaction” and “fidelity” are two different concepts.

Indeed.
The Rolling Stones don't have any songs about fidelity, AFAIK.

 

[Sal1950]

What I replaced was a pair of Ohm 4 speakers - about 35 years old - I’d been using for nearly 3 years. Even with relatively new (5 years) drivers courtesy of the seller (confirmed by a call to the factory), I felt there was something lacking in the Ohm 4’s.

I can't think of any 2 speakers more dis-similar in design&goals than the Ohm 4 and Heresy's. In-room responce and imaging WILL be drastically different. I'll admit my bias up front and just say the Ohm's were never my cup of tea even back in the day.
The Heresy's do have some fairly serious problems but also some engaging strengths.
If I were you, I would highly recommend an investment in a way to inject some quality digital room correction (Audyssey, Dirac, etc), room treatment, and a good strong subwoofer that combs the depths. Play with positioning for the best image, etc..
Then after a year of so, if all that hasn't brought you audio nirvana, a more (flat measurement based) design like some Revels will do the trick and all the added goodies will still be very desirable additions.
Best of luck!
Sal

 

[beagleman]

I have heard these many times, and all versions over the years.

I think what irks me, are guys "Imagining" they are accurate or "Live sounding", when in reality, they are simply mildly efficient Sound reinforcement speakers. They do what a decent SMALL Pa speaker system does. Loud big sound, but not accurate and often with resonances and response irregularities.
They are far from accurate, but far from horrible also.

A friend built a Heresy "Clone", using an eminence sound reinforcement 12" woofer and some random horns, forget the makes, and honestly it sounded a good "Bit" better than the real Heresy, but at only a few hundred dollars each for his plain plywood copies.

 

[mhardy6647]

I have heard these many times, and all versions over the years.

I think what irks me, are guys "Imagining" they are accurate or "Live sounding", when in reality, they are simply mildly efficient Sound reinforcement speakers. They do what a decent SMALL Pa speaker system does. Loud big sound, but not accurate and often with resonances and response irregularities.
They are far from accurate, but far from horrible also.

A friend built a Heresy "Clone", using an eminence sound reinforcement 12" woofer and some random horns, forget the makes, and honestly it sounded a good "Bit" better than the real Heresy, but at only a few hundred dollars each for his plain plywood copies.

Electrovoice's early 1960s Esquire sounds a good bit better than (at least the earlier) Heresy models, too.
Every bit as much fun, too.

 

[beagleman]

Electrovoice's early 1960s Esquire sounds a good bit better than (at least the earlier) Heresy models, too.
Every bit as much fun, too.

EV made some truly unique and very good speakers at least during the 60s!

That looks to be the T35 tweeter used on many. And the 8" full range I "think" was used in the EV Six speaker and the outdoor music caster also. Or at least one extremely similar with a whizzer cone etc.

 

[mhardy6647]

EV made some truly unique and very good speakers at least during the 60s!

That looks to be the T35 tweeter used on many. And the 8" full range I "think" was used in the EV Six speaker and the outdoor music caster also. Or at least one extremely similar with a whizzer cone etc.

Actually the slightly less sensitive (and cheaper) T35B... but, yes. The midrange/fullrange is the EV "Wolverine" LS-8 EDIT and the woofer is the EV 12BW. The quality of the MR from the LS-8 is markedly superior to the horn & driver used (at least) in the 1960s and 1970s Heresy. Klipsch, early on, used EV woofers (and good quality Jensen woofers as well - and perhaps some University drivers, too), but had moved to much less expensive woofers by the 1970s. In fairness to Klipsch, Paul W. Klipsch firmly and sincerely believed that the enclosure was the important part of a loudspeaker system -- the drivers, from his perspective, were strictly commodities.

I can't say I agree, FWIW.

The LS-8 ex vivo, so to speak



The EV Sonocaster used the EV "Michigan" MC-8, with a 3/4" VC rather than the LS-8's 2" VC. The Musicasters used 12" drivers, AFAIK (and, again, FWIW).
I've got a pair of MC-8s in the basement someplace but I don't have a photo handy -- here's a borrowed, random internet image showing the obverse and reverse sides of the MC-8.

 

[Nwickliff]

I have heard these many times, and all versions over the years.

I think what irks me, are guys "Imagining" they are accurate or "Live sounding", when in reality, they are simply mildly efficient Sound reinforcement speakers. They do what a decent SMALL Pa speaker system does. Loud big sound, but not accurate and often with resonances and response irregularities.
They are far from accurate, but far from horrible also.

A friend built a Heresy "Clone", using an eminence sound reinforcement 12" woofer and some random horns, forget the makes, and honestly it sounded a good "Bit" better than the real Heresy, but at only a few hundred dollars each for his plain plywood copies.

They are fun and pretty dang effecient. They made me do double takes while lisetning to music because some frequencies just jumped out of the speakers. I later found that this was because of frequency response anamolies and directivity errors. It ruined the speakers for some time but then I came back to them realizing their faults and thought of them as the speakers charm. Once I heard open baffle, however, I couldn’t unhear the Heresy box/bloom/resonance.

 

[beagleman]

Actually the slightly less sensitive (and cheaper) T35B... but, yes. The midrange/fullrange is the EV "Wolverine" LS-8 EDIT and the woofer is the EV 12BW. The quality of the MR from the LS-8 is markedly superior to the horn & driver used (at least) in the 1960s and 1970s Heresy. Klipsch, early on, used EV woofers (and good quality Jensen woofers as well - and perhaps some University drivers, too), but had moved to much less expensive woofers by the 1970s. In fairness to Klipsch, Paul W. Klipsch firmly and sincerely believed that the enclosure was the important part of a loudspeaker system -- the drivers, from his perspective, were strictly commodities.

I can't say I agree, FWIW.

The LS-8 ex vivo, so to speak



The EV Sonocaster used the EV "Michigan" MC-8, with a 3/4" VC rather than the LS-8's 2" VC. The Musicasters used 12" drivers, AFAIK (and, again, FWIW).
I've got a pair of MC-8s in the basement someplace but I don't have a photo handy -- here's a borrowed, random internet image showing the obverse and reverse sides of the MC-8.

There were actually 3 different Musicaster speakers by EV. One you mention with the 12" woofer, and one I owned years ago with a 8" with whizzer cone and a slight horn loading on the front, it also used the t35 tweeter on the side as option.

 

[mhardy6647]

I knew there were a couple of different flavors of Musicasters, but I didn't know the details (nor that there were three). Thanks, @beagleman !
This EV chatter's not all that off-topic. Besides the use by Klipsch of certain EV drivers, EV sold "Klipsch-licensed" enclosure designs (generally folded horns, of course) in the glory days of home hifi (late 1950s/early 1960s) -- as did other brands! The Klipsch corner horn(s) were a big, big deal for some time.

E.g., a bevy-of "Klipsch" licensed enclosures from EV in the 1959 Radio Shack catalog.
source: https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/flipbook/1959_radioshack_catalog.html pg. 23
Generally a "K" in EV parlance (e.g., the 15WK and 18 WK woofers) meant "Klipsch" (although sometimes it probably meant "kit" ).

The 15 WK was a redoubtable piece of hardware -- quite worthy of installation in a K-horn (and vice versa).

source: https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/118575-ev-15wk-only-horn-loaded/

 

[Rmar]

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.

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.

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.

I like data measurements as much as the next guy, but as a forum with "science" as its middle name, the amount of "not-science" written into this review is shocking. The over generalizations, the personal beliefs and opinions; and the ad hominem style categorizations in the "conclusion" are juvenile.

"These are not an accurate speaker. I do not believe others expect that to be the case. I just want to make that clear up front. They may very well play your favorite rock n’ roll album with the zest you love, but they are not a reference speaker. Their response is too unbalanced for that task (both subjectively and certainly objectively). In my opinion, these are party speakers. They are show-off speakers when your neighbor comes over bragging about his Bose setup. The Heresy IV is what I would call a Jekyll/Hyde speaker. Sometimes they make your music fun and sometimes they make it boring. Heck, sometimes they make it aggravating. It’s a grab bag depending on what track you come across and your mood at the time."

If we are going to have a scientific, data-driven review of equipment, let's stick to the expected standards from beginning to end. Save the silly commentary for happy-hour.

 

[levimax]

I like data measurements as much as the next guy, but as a forum with "science" as its middle name, the amount of "not-science" written into this review is shocking. The over generalizations, the personal beliefs and opinions; and the ad hominem style categorizations in the "conclusion" are juvenile.

"These are not an accurate speaker. I do not believe others expect that to be the case. I just want to make that clear up front. They may very well play your favorite rock n’ roll album with the zest you love, but they are not a reference speaker. Their response is too unbalanced for that task (both subjectively and certainly objectively). In my opinion, these are party speakers. They are show-off speakers when your neighbor comes over bragging about his Bose setup. The Heresy IV is what I would call a Jekyll/Hyde speaker. Sometimes they make your music fun and sometimes they make it boring. Heck, sometimes they make it aggravating. It’s a grab bag depending on what track you come across and your mood at the time."

If we are going to have a scientific, data-driven review of equipment, let's stick to the expected standards from beginning to end. Save the silly commentary for happy-hour.

I agree about not having a highly accurate FR and this suits some songs better than others. However these speakers do have one measured strength which exceeds all other speakers tested by Erin which is they can put out high SPL. How you balance FR accuracy vs high SPL capability is again going to depend a lot on the music and room and your mood but I would contend that even with all the talk about "cheap power" and the like that efficient speakers with high SPL capability can create dynamics that he vast majority of speakers simply can not regardless of how much power you pump into them.

 

[mhardy6647]

The current Heresys aren't particularly sensitive (and Klipsch is notorious for overstating sensitivity) compared to the commercial sound and domestic loudspeakers of JBL's and Altec's heyday.

My own Altecs are capable of ca. 102 dB SPL per watt at 1 meter -- no need for the wastefulness of high-powered amplifiers!

 

[Angsty]

The current Heresys aren't particularly sensitive (and Klipsch is notorious for overstating sensitivity) compared to the commercial sound and domestic loudspeakers of JBL's and Altec's heyday.

My own Altecs are capable of ca. 102 dB SPL per watt at 1 meter -- no need for the wastefulness of high-powered amplifiers!

But aren’t those Altecs giants compared the the Heresy?

 

[mhardy6647]

But aren’t those Altecs giants compared the the Heresy?

Yes, but they also actually produce some LF. The Heresy historically was reasonably sensitive (the IV, not as much) but very much lacking in bass.

 

[Anton D]

Thank you for such an informative and helpful review,

It will be especially helpful to sit down and listen to a pair of these speakers, while I reference your review. It was really terrific!

 

[Sal1950]

Yes, but they also actually produce some LF. The Heresy historically was reasonably sensitive (the IV, not as much) but very much lacking in bass.

But aren’t those Altecs giants compared the the Heresy?

NO ONE can change the laws of physics. ; LOL

 

[mhardy6647]

NO ONE can change the laws of physics. ; LOL

1. Hoffman's Iron Law. (Anton Hoffman having been the "H" in KLH)bt
2. There's no replacement for displacement.

It is fricking trivial to build a high-sensitivity loudspeaker with very limited bandwidth and poor performance. It's not even hard to build one that's very efficient (i.e., skip the high-level crossover and go "fullrange"). I can do it in a half-hour with any of two dozen* "fullrange" drivers in the basement and a box. Such contrivances can be fun, but they're not hifi.

It's not difficult even to build a multi-way loudspeaker system that'll scream up a storm within limited bandwidth and with compromised performance.
That's pretty much what the Heresy is -- or at was in its first two, if not three, iterations. It's a shrunken Cornwall and it sounds the part. I have no doubt that the fourth generation Heresy is better. I don't think it could be worse without actively trying to make it worse.

The heritage Klipsch get bashed because they're bright, harsh, aggressive sounding loudspeakers. The K-horn was OK, and actually the Cornwall does a pretty good job of sensitivity, dynamics, and LF extension -- but the proliferation of mods and improvements for the heritage Klipsch models speaks volumes (pun!) of the shortcomings of the factory products.

EDIT: In fairness, Altec was their own worst enemy when it came to crossover design and implementation.
... but boy howdy did they make some fine drivers and horns.

_________________
* Probably more than two dozen.