Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review

[MZKM]

I was quite shocked when I looked up the price of them in the UK, £3,500.00. Judging by the fit and finish I was expecting them to be less than half that.

The binding posts at first glance look rather cheap, the Duratex coating on the front & rear panels as well.

 

[dougi]

Wow, I was super interested in reading this and assumed that, given the price, that Klipsch would have attempted a loud but accurate speaker. Dissapointed. I'll keep my new retro Wharefdale Lintons then. Not as loud but reasonable and flatter, more bass and less distortion.

 

[q3cpma]

Of course they can go loud with this lack of extension. $3000 for this is a bad joke, to be honest. Thanks a lot for the extra detail, anyway, really appreciated.

 

[oivavoi]

Excellent review. Thanks. Looks like they should have kept it sealed and made it active in order to fix some of the tonal anomalies.

 

[Vini darko]

Wow truly comprehensive to the point alot went over my head. Great work Erin your reviews are top quality.

 

[jtwrace]

Incredible effort! Just imagine if all speaker designers could and would provide this to themselves.

 

[AnalogSteph]

The speaker was measured without the grille in place. I did not have the time to measure with the grille removed.

??? Please clarify.

 

[hardisj]

??? Please clarify.

LOL. I literally just edited that.

 

[pozz]

I feel like I've been hit with the best landslide possible.

Brushing myself off, I can see why people like them, honestly. If I had a pair and listened to music only very quietly, it'd be nice.

Turn-offs are that I wouldn't want to turn them up and the price is

 

[Vintage57]

FWIW. I have a pair of Heresy’s 1st generation, plywood cabinets in black paint. They’re in my garage on a high shelf upside down, woofer near ceiling.
They rock when all garage doors are open and I’m washing my car. They coast me $300 and are worth every penny. Garage is 11 x 7 meters and they fill the space without strain.
If you can find an old pair they can have their place vs bluetooth coffee can speakers.

 

[hardisj]

A particular YouTube review who has tens of thousands of views per video (I won't mention his name or link him here because I don't want to give him the business) literally said this about the Heresy IV:

... arguably one of the best all around loudspeakers at this price point and likely higher that I have ever heard ... it's amazing
...
no subwoofer required
...
it is completely and utterly satisfying in the low end

 

[GDK]

These are not the quintessence of hi-fi.

That about sums it up nicely...

 

[muad]

A particular YouTube review who has tens of thousands of views per video (I won't mention his name or link him here because I don't want to give him the business) literally said this about the Heresy IV:

Which one was it? I'm trying to figure this out

 

[peanuts]

probably andrew robinson or what his name is

 

[RealityCheck18]

Great test and review!

Not exactly what I have in mind for a speaker although my boxes are also quite high in efficiency. Good to know they won't hide in shame with the Heresy folks--quite the opposite in reality. Back in the day....errr, decade or around 1990, I took a sniff at the Klipsch Forte II I believe--liked them but they had a rather crisp high end which I found annoying after awhile. I wonder if Klipsch wll attempt to solve those issues since the measurements show it or will attempt to wow random Youtubers instead?

Nothing against Klipsch, just wonder about attempts to improve due to the evil Klippel NFS spilling the beans. Oh yeah, I'm "new" but not improved in any way....keep it between the curbs! Thanks again.

 

[mhardy6647]

Rcornieoly by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Heh, as a moderately long-time (10 years) but decidedly former Cornwall owner... I understand completely.
I looked at the FR curves and thought "well, claims by others to the contrary, these are still gonna sound like Heresys".
Very cool to see a thorough assessment of the new ones!
(If you ever really get bored, the current Cornwalls would be interesting to assess, too -- a bit pricey, though)

 

[Helicopter]

Very interesting to see this. I love the way these look. 3/4 plywood is one of my favorite materials, and the book matched American walnut is really nicely done. The new Klipsch fives have a little Jamo DNA in their look now, which isn't a bad thing. Impedance looks like it should be friendly to tube amps with output transformer windings for 4 ohms, which will be an important consideration for some people. Seems like it might do better with some bass bounce positioned closer to the wall or corner. It pains me to say this here on ASR, but these could be a really good pairing (eek) with a low-powered SET amp like a 300B, or maybe even a 2A3, and the FR mostly stays in a 3dB window... there are lots of speakers that do way better, but this one is not too bad compared to some other very old designs like paper-cone full range speakers and such. I have a pair of old Heresys and love them. They are way worse than the IVs BTW. Yeah Focal Arias are way better most of the time, but it's nice to have choices. Klipsch speakers are fun if you are into tubes and vintage gear and stuff. I certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone without some caveats.

Yes, Klipsch pays the youtubers. c'mon guys.

 

[mhardy6647]

Based on my experience with the 1974 Cornies I had -- yes, they'll sound less bad with SE triode amplification. My Cornies were profoundly (unlistenably, IMO) ear-gouging driven by a McIntosh MC-2100 (autoformer-coupled ss) amplifier; much less so with SE EL84 or (ultimately) SE 2A3 amplification.

 

[Ericglo]

Is that dude paid by Klipsch to market their loudspeakers?

YouTube's bad AI keeps recommending his Klipsch reviews to me.

It is difficult to understand how he can make a living as an audio "journalist" (presumably he is making a living from this activity) while being so uninformed about his field.

He isn't the only one.

I should note that when I did a search the first video that came up of him was "Am I a fraud?"

 

[thewas]

Well the measurements show that its a retro loudspeaker which despite of being now in its 4th generation is reference/state of the art in horn loudspeakers...

Spoiler: Spoiler

...but only for the 1970s when the first generation was released...