Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review

[DonH56]

You mean, if you like something that doesn’t measure well you’re not a bad person?

I am not sure you can correlate cause and effect for that case... Doesn't mean you are a bad person, but doesn't mean you are not...

 

[Angsty]

It's not voodoo mysterious stuff. Some peeps like them and that's a normal part of being different.

I agree - just because a speaker measures poorly does not mean that no one will enjoy it. The Heresy has been selling for many decades, longer than the vast majority of models even as it has seen incremental improvements.

It’s not my cup of tea, but I’d love to get my hands on its poorly measuring big sibling, the La Scala.

 

[Rmar]

It's all the basis of reporting scientific procedure.
Presented evidence must be repeatable and verifiable or vs versa. LOL

Fake science is as popular today as fake news. Especially if it's what some call "motivated science....."

 

[Rmar]

When he uses the term opinion, no it's not science. Still the measurements are objective, so what's the point here? They're less than accurate speakers and the data backs up his opinion, whether he measures in his garage, or sacrifices a room in his home like this..

 

[richard12511]

It is unfortunate this young fellow spent all that time doing his charts and graphs with a set up that was sub-optimal. It is also too bad for Klipsch, because when people pass off "science" as gospel, and when that "science" is based on the wrong assumptions or the wrong test set-up, it misleads others. All trained scientists know that before they start testing, they are required to "review the literature," to find out what others know, before they jump to hypothesis making or testing. Finding out what others know about the Heresy seems to have been missed in this case.

I agree that setting these up to cross in front of the listener is optimal, but his Klippel NFS fully captures the entire 3d sound/time field of the speaker that it measures and exposes all strengths and weaknesses. The fact that the logistics of his subjective impressions were flawed in no way compromises the value of the measurements provided by that machine.

His subjective impressions are there as sprinkles on top of the cake, and the measurements are the cake and icing, and the measurements show us that this speaker has many flaws.

His impressions are not science, but the measurements are, and we have many years of real scientific research that suggests the speakers that measure the best will also be the ones that are most preferred in subjective blind listening tests. The measurements of this speaker tell us that it would likely not do very well in those blind listening tests.

Sure enough, here are the results of a 2023 blind shootout with this speaker.

"Here are the cumulative scores for all speakers in the under $10K category, ranked in order of preference:

• Revel F226Be: Total Score 684, divided by number of listeners (11) = 62.18, with an average track score of 7.77
• JBL HDI-3800: Total Score = 586 / 11 = 53.27, with an average track score of 6.66
• Triad Gold In-Room LCR: Total Score 532 / 11 = 48.36, with an average track score of 6.05
• Klipsch Heresy with upgraded Crites crossovers: Total Score 345 /11 = 31.36, with an average track score of 3.92"

 

[richard12511]

How certain are you that the facts are true, and what is your basis for believing it? To make a claim, you must have a logical basis. Who can give one?

At least with regards to this question, we have an answer. The Klippel NFS has a mathematical way to calculate % error for a given frequency. I don't remember particular examples, but there have been a few where Amir has mentioned that there is sufficient % error above a certain frequency(ex: 10kHz) that the data shouldn't be fully trusted.

 

[Sal1950]

Fake science is as popular today as fake news. Especially if it's what some call "motivated science....."

If you can present evidence that any of the measurements as done by the Klippel equipment are "fake" or that Erin has
fudged anything he presented do to "motivation" or are "fake" in any way, please present it.
Otherwise I would call a foul on your post, and present an opinion that you sir are FOS.

 

[Rmar]

At least with regards to this question, we have an answer. The Klippel NFS has a mathematical way to calculate % error for a given frequency. I don't remember particular examples, but there have been a few where Amir has mentioned that there is sufficient % error above a certain frequency(ex: 10kHz) that the data shouldn't be fully trusted.

I think you are on to it, Richard. I appreciate your thoughtful and professional reply. Reading though the manuals on the Klippel NFS they use "near field" measurements to develop a formula they can then estimate the accuracy of the speaker in a average listening environment at a normal "far field" distance. The "formula" used is a type of multivariate regression model. All regression models fall short of 100% accuracy in their ability to estimate, so it leaves us wondering what is missing.

 

[Everett T]

The estimated response is just that and we know that everyone's room has it's own low frequency characteristics, the rest of the measurements are more accurate then any other method, including anechoic chamber, which has its own set of issues with low frequency with rear mounted woofers and ports..

 

[Rmar]

If you can present evidence that any of the measurements as done by the Klippel equipment are "fake" or that Erin has
fudged anything he presented do to "motivation" or are "fake" in any way, please present it.
Otherwise I would call a foul on your post, and present an opinion that you sir are FOS.

Name calling is a child's game. Your first two lines were much better.

 

[Sal1950]

Name calling is a child's game. Your first two lines were much better.

No name calling was done, simply a reflection of you calling other peoples work "fake or motivated".
IOW liars, now that's name calling.

 

[Ludovic]

Hi all,
This conversation is totally crazy. I've had the Klipsch Heresy for at least 3 years.
I love them. The biggest liar here is the one who says here that these are bad speakers.
They have their real and measured faults, which for some are also their qualities to my ears.
Following Erin's measurements which I respect, I confronted them in the same room with qacoustics at 6000 euros and especially with the famous kef ls 50 meta well rated here.
I will never exchange my heresy for these kef or qacoustics.
Of course we have the right to hate them, and that they are not faithful. In reality, speakers are no longer loud as soon as you put them in an untreated living room. certainly bose and klipsch do not make audio monitors, but even here we can see that there are very popular audio monitors with unfortunate measurements. There are always productions that I find mediocre yet produced on very high-end equipment. Bose equips your air force and Klipsch is present in Formula 1. You should instead be proud of your know-how.

 

[Nwickliff]

The biggest liar here is the one who says here that these are bad speakers.

This statement is a little crazy. Because people have pointed out that they don't like the speakers and have factual evidence to back up why they don't like them they are lying? huh?

I confronted them in the same room with qacoustics at 6000 euros and especially with the famous kef ls 50 meta well rated here.
I will never exchange my heresy for these kef or qacoustics.

You have a sample size of three and because they come up ahead of two other speakers (in a field of thousands of speakers) you conclude your speakers are the bees knees... Again makes no sense.

speakers are no longer loud as soon as you put them in an untreated living room.

Gonna chalk this one up to a language barrier. Not sure what you are saying here.

Bose equips your air force and Klipsch is present in Formula 1.

We're talking headphones here...not really a comparison to loudspeakers. And just because a company purchases another companies product does not mean it is the best. There are other factors, mainly cost that are considered in this purchase. I'm sure they receive a particularly beneficial deal that helps to serve both side's bottom end (think sponsorship/free advertising).

It's fine that you love your Heresy Speakers, and I enjoyed my OG Heresy's as well, but this is the wrong group to try and persuade or call liars for following the data and listening with our own ears.

 

[Ludovic]

I Saïd the liar IS the one who Saïd these are Bad speakers.
Not the one who Saïd that they are not high fidelity...
And of course, you can hate them

 

[Doodski]

I Saïd the liar IS the one who Saïd these are Bad speakers.
Not the one who Saïd that they are not high fidelity...
And of course, you can hate them

The Klipsch line has had a live sound quality to it for decades. If one prefers that then so be it. It does not make peeps that dislike them liars.

 

[Ludovic]

Cette déclaration est un peu folle. Parce que les gens ont souligné qu'ils n'aimaient pas les haut-parleurs et ont des preuves factuelles pour étayer pourquoi ils ne les aiment pas, ils mentent ? hein ?


Vous avez un échantillon de trois personnes et parce qu'elles arrivent en tête devant deux autres intervenants (dans un groupe de milliers d'intervenants), vous concluez que vos intervenants sont les meilleurs... Encore une fois, cela n'a aucun sens.


Je vais mettre ça sur le compte de la barrière de la langue. Je ne suis pas sûr de ce que tu dis là.


Nous parlons ici d'écouteurs... pas vraiment de comparaison avec des enceintes. Et ce n'est pas parce qu'une entreprise achète le produit d'une autre entreprise que celui-ci est forcément le meilleur. D'autres facteurs, notamment le coût, sont pris en compte dans cet achat. Je suis sûr qu'ils bénéficient d'un accord particulièrement avantageux qui contribue à servir les intérêts des deux parties (pensez au parrainage/à la publicité gratuite).

C'est bien que vous aimiez vos conférenciers sur l'hérésie, et j'ai également apprécié mes hérésies OG, mais ce n'est pas le bon groupe pour essayer de persuader ou d'appeler des menteurs pour suivre les données et écouter avec nos propres oreilles.

The Klipsch line has had a live sound quality to it for decades. If one prefers that then so be it. Ii does not make peeps that dislike them liars.

Please I repeat, ive never said that people who dislike klipsch heresy IV sound are liars.
I said that people who Say its a bad speaker are liars. Try them against kef ls50 in the same room, you will see. Its not night and day.
I was very surprised.
Honestly I though I will be punched in the head by the kef meta after their reviews.

 

[Doodski]

Please I repeat, ive never said that people who dislike klipsch heresy IV sound are liars.
I said that people who Say its a bad speaker are liars. Try them against kef ls50 in the same room, you will see. Its not night and day.
I was very surprised.
Honestly I though I will be punched in the head by the kef meta after their reviews.

The KEF sound and the Klipsch sound are very different for me. I like both for different applications. The KEFs sound good on pretty much anything and due to me having decades of business dealings with KEF I am partial to KEF but the Klipsch sound I really enjoy for stuff like AC/DC, Deep Purple, The Who and other groups that have that live rocking loud sound.

 

[Ludovic]

I'm not here to say that klipsch sound is better than anyone.
I like kef sound too, but in this room, I do prefer heresy. But I repeat it was not night and day.
Qacoustic for exemple was very different, very shy.
In an another room, monitor audio and dynaudio were very similar too.
The heresy are my favorite speakers so far. But I admit that my Cabasse speakers are more refined.
I mostly listen to indie rock, alternative rock and synth pop. But for listening to ambient or idm, I do prefer other speakers.

 

[Doodski]

I repeat it was not night and day.

I believe you and that is a H U G E change from some years ago when they where very very different.

I mostly listen to indie rock, alternative rock and synth pop. But for listening to ambient or idm, I do prefer other speakers.

Having multiple pairs of speakers is really cool. I've had that luxury in the past and loved having them for various uses and different recordings that sound different.

 

[jkasch]

Please I repeat, ive never said that people who dislike klipsch heresy IV sound are liars.
I said that people who Say its a bad speaker are liars. Try them against kef ls50 in the same room, you will see. Its not night and day.
I was very surprised.
Honestly I thought I will be punched in the head by the kef meta after their reviews.

Lying implies intent to deceive. You may believe they are incorrect. That doesn’t make them liars.