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Klipsch Heresy IV Speaker Review

Helicopter

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Yeah those are hardly wide-beam designs ha ha! Then again they are probably played at a low background level so it's more an aesthetic retro choice.
Agree. Chipotle is a loud and reflective space, at least by me, so without DRC, frequency response will be a mess anyway. Heresys are loud too, albeit overrated in official specs. Actually a good choice I would say. Better looking than PA / sound reinforcement, and probably not much worse sounding in that space. If they are bright, it won't carry into adjacent spaces as much as a neutral speaker, which might have more bass, especially below 100Hz.
 

Koeitje

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If only they performed as well as they looked. I really like this retro look, but I don't like the retro performance.
 

Dialectic

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https://www.klipsch.com/blog/klipsch-install-stories-chipotle-adds-heresy-iii

These are the Heresy III's, but close enough. I've been curious about about the speakers hidden by the wooden panels at Chipotle, and now I know. One wonders whose idea it was to put horns like these way above ear level...
Agree. Chipotle is a loud and reflective space, at least by me, so without DRC, frequency response will be a mess anyway. Heresys are loud too, albeit overrated in official specs. Actually a good choice I would say. Better looking than PA / sound reinforcement, and probably not much worse sounding in that space. If they are bright, it won't carry into adjacent spaces as much as a neutral speaker, which might have more bass, especially below 100Hz.
This explains why I get a migraine every time I set foot in a Chipotle.
 

111db

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I love horns. Have them in my home theater. JBL Pro speakers with horns half as big as this overall speaker height. DIY'd cabs with 15-inch mid/woofers. Sensitivity >98dB (legit; no Klipsch numbers). Ran actively via a Rane RPM88 and a stack of Crown amplifiers.
That is the same basic approach I opportunistically stumbled into via take-a-chance Craigslist uber-bargain pro components and an unwillingness to master passive crossover design and construction (my air core coil hand-winding days are long past), and though most of my tweaking is by ear and primitive measurements, I'm in bliss. They make my once-beloved Klipsch Forte 1s sound like, well, loudspeakers.
 

111db

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The Forte’s are also notable for their very low distortion, as well as high sensitivity. I’d be willing to give them a shot as they have also been widely positively reviewed.

An example from Julian Hirsch:
http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/klipsch-forte-168.html
I wish they were still $1100. WAF was, if you build another addition... :rolleyes: By the time my hobby budget has room for speakers, she wont care though.

I would probably be more interested in Cornwall IV than anything else Klipsch.
Well I have owned and erstwhile loved Forte 1s since y2k. Many a friend has listened to them and immediately gone shopping. For most men on the street they are well above their previous in-home experience and bring a lot to the table. Mine are also near mint and will fetch a higher price than I paid for them if and when... But as I have posted elsewhere, IME one can do considerably better at everything the Fortes do well via larger pro drivers (Cornwalls on steroids), better horn lenses, a capable sub, and DSP active multiamping. Just be prepared to spend a lot of time burnishing the sound---for me, an enticing and thus perpetual prospect. :D

However, I often wonder how much the Fortes could be improved with a similar upstream signal path plus maybe some bracing and stuffing. Quite a bit, I would guess. But IMO the MR horn lens would ideally be replaced with something more like an econowave lens.

BTW I can attest that J. Hirsch got the Forte power handling right; they can take some serious abuse! And the bass distortion is quite low.
 

111db

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You know speakers are like woman. And if i love that part of her, i dont care a shiit what others say. You can love so much things in a speaker and others would not even care. Maybe a little bit more tolerance what other like would be ok. Give me a 4inch genelec or this speakers. I would say "itsi bitsi short drimel dingel 4inch, no no no Party.“ ;)
The only thing wrong with 4 inch Genelecs is they don't include a headband.
 

111db

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Now, who wants to send me some Cornwall IV's to review? :D :D:p

source.gif
In a just world, Klipsch would do so, since you appear to be 2/3 of their testing lab and working for peanuts!
 
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111db

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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! :facepalm:
Well, you went large. About the same time I was making cigar box extension speakers. Clumsy and grossly underinformed, but they still sounded better than the stuff in the tabletop radio!
 

111db

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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 I just so happen to have right over here..."
 

111db

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Wayne Parham's Pi Speakers might (?????) be a modern implementation of a Klipsch-esque philosophy.
I know opinions about him/them are mixed -- and I've never heard 'em (full disclosure) -- but there are definitely folks who like them.
View attachment 97154
source: https://hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/π4-speaker-builds-here-for-testing.6626/

source:
In the same vein, Earl Geddes' speakers are probably worth a serious look, as his work launched the Econowave movement. It appears he is out of production but looking for someone to start it back up. I would think he would be very interested in the Klippel stuff given his impressive BG in acoustical engineering and his theoretical work in horn geometries.
 
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hardisj

hardisj

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Since I still have this speaker at my house I decided to put it on the NFS to see how my results from my non-NFS measurements compared. To my naked eye they are quite close.

That said, do you guys want me to post the NFS results here or start a new thread? It might get lost in this thread but whatever. FWIW, I am considering doing a "Klipsch Heresy IV … Revisted" video to address the questions/concerns people had about my initial review.
 

Koeitje

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Since I still have this speaker at my house I decided to put it on the NFS to see how my results from my non-NFS measurements compared. To my naked eye they are quite close.

That said, do you guys want me to post the NFS results here or start a new thread? It might get lost in this thread but whatever. FWIW, I am considering doing a "Klipsch Heresy IV … Revisted" video to address the questions/concerns people had about my initial review.
I'd put it in a new topic. Makes Googling for reviews also easier.
 

ctrl

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That said, do you guys want me to post the NFS results here or start a new thread? It might get lost in this thread but whatever. FWIW, I am considering doing a "Klipsch Heresy IV … Revisted" video to address the questions/concerns people had about my initial review.
A new thread for the NFS measurements along with the new video?
Having been able to "hear" the Klipsch Heresy indirectly, I would be very interested in your "Revisited" assessment - you won't have mellowed some with age, will you? ;)
 
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hardisj

hardisj

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A new thread for the NFS measurements along with the new video?
Having been able to "hear" the Klipsch Heresy indirectly, I would be very interested in your "Revisited" assessment - you won't have mellowed some with age, will you? ;)

No. It still sounds like poop. And there is no excuse for having the resonances it has at $3k/pair. But maybe I'll be less harsh on how I present the data. ;)

The video would be to address the comments like "you can't use xyz amplifier with these, you have to use zyx amplifier" or "you can't put these in that room, you have to put them in this room". Things I had directly asked Klipsch about before my review but they didn't reply to for 3 months. :)
 
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hardisj

hardisj

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Long shot here but if anyone has an "in" with Mcintosh and might be able to help me out with a contact, please PM me.
 

Lorenzo74

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Since I still have this speaker at my house I decided to put it on the NFS to see how my results from my non-NFS measurements compared. To my naked eye they are quite close.

That said, do you guys want me to post the NFS results here or start a new thread? It might get lost in this thread but whatever. FWIW, I am considering doing a "Klipsch Heresy IV … Revisted" video to address the questions/concerns people had about my initial review.

new thread, new thread, new thread, new thread, new thread,...
did we reach the threshold...? even if I'm not specifically interested into this speaker (I'm a kii three, D&D fan) I'm interested into the potential difference between the full stack (NFS) vs your previous objective measurement setup (close to what we can achieve at home).

your work is really appreciated here.
it's like a NASA scientist (they must be the best..;)) looks at signal from the space and propose us a plausible theory: ok/ not ok / why ....
all the best
Lorenzo
 

MZKM

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Since I still have this speaker at my house I decided to put it on the NFS to see how my results from my non-NFS measurements compared. To my naked eye they are quite close.

That said, do you guys want me to post the NFS results here or start a new thread? It might get lost in this thread but whatever. FWIW, I am considering doing a "Klipsch Heresy IV … Revisted" video to address the questions/concerns people had about my initial review.
Did the guy you lent it to you not want to return them (or did he buy it used)?
 
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hardisj

hardisj

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Did the guy you lent it to you not want to return them (or did he buy it used)?

He still hasn't picked them up. In fact, the Focal Twin6 Be's I just posted are also his.
 
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hardisj

hardisj

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I'm interested into the potential difference between the full stack (NFS) vs your previous objective measurement setup (close to what we can achieve at home).

Here is a sneak peak. The NFS is in black. The teal is my original measurement. Not a bad job on my part. Especially when you consider the resolution of the NFS measurements is higher and explains a lot of the variations in magnitude/width the peaks/dips. :)

1617895399216.png
 
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