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Disappointed w/ Klipsch Heresy III. Now what?

I'd be very grateful for some help with a quandary.

I recently replaced my Ohm Walsh 1000 speakers with Heresy III speakers, running two-channel from a Rega Brio. I was pretty excited about the Heresy IIIs based on reviews — they were efficient, so my 35-watt amp would get the job done; they were supposed to have real punch in the low mid-range, so I could hear the upright bass clearly; they reportedly had excellent imaging; and best of all, they were supposed to sound great at low volumes. They are also indisputably beautiful, which was an important factor for my wife. (The Ohms are elegant, but you have to be an audio lover to see their beauty.)

I set them up, and . . . not so bad, pretty good. Especially loud. In fact the louder the better. Crank them up and they sing. But loud is not really an option with a new baby. So how do they sound quiet? They sound like the band is trapped in shoe box. Really in two shoe boxes because the L and R don't merge that well. The sound stage is tiny. All the detail is gone, the joy is gone. They are no fun at all. Music just seems like a bunch of noise.

But I want to believe! I want to make these speakers work. So I am faced with a quandary. I could:

1. Buy stands, a subwoofer and a tube amp, all of which people in various forums have recommended to improve the various failings I hear now.

2. Replace the Rega with something much more powerful and pull the Ohms out of the closet. (Suboptimal because it will make my wife sad because of the aforementioned perceived ugliness.)

3. Just start all over again. Different amp, different speakers.

I'd kind of prefer number 1. But I don't want to end up with a bunch of stuff designed to solve a problem and then not have that problem solved! (And I'd also just as soon avoid getting a subwoofer.)

Final note. Positioning is an intractable nightmare. It is the one thing that I can't really change, because of how our living room is layed out. It is obviously a big problem though. The living room is a big rectangle, 18 x 40 feet, and the speakers are near the corners of the 18-foot ends, on either side of a couch. I can move them around — closer or further from the couch, closer or further from the wall. But I can't raise them above the height of the couch or move them out in front or over to another wall. That discussion went nowhere!

What should I do?

 



brooklynluke
helomech
1,669 posts
 
Heresys won’t give you much below 50 Hz, that’s correct.

The claim that they don’t open up at low volume is compete bull. They accomplish that feat better than almost any modern design. They’re also far more revealing of amp differences than many other speakers.

And the Rogue Sphinx suggestion is about the worst on this thread. Those amps have terrible low frequency performance, especially at low volumes. Yes, I owned the Rogue Sphinx, in addition to the Pharaoh, neither reaches well into the nether regions unless cranked loud.

The Heresys do mid-bass quite well and with a sub crossed at 80 Hz (the omni-directional threshold) you shouldn’t have any dips if the speakers are placed within reason. Heresys have no problem reaching clear down to 65 Hz, unless one’s room is producing bass nodes, which was the case when I first heard a pair of Cornwalls. I too thought they had no bass until they were properly positioned and amplified.
32blownhemi's avatar
32blownhemi
6 posts
 
I might have missed it but I don't think you mentioned what kind of floor the speakers are on. If they are on anything other than carpet put a thick carpet sample under the speakers. My Klipsch La Scala's sound much better on carpet versus a wood floor... And I use McIntosh tube amps. Mc275...   Bill
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
Is anyone considering the size of the listening room? 18' x 40' is nearly the area of a 4-car garage, and we don't know if it's a standard ceiling, raised, or cathedral.

With an 8' ceiling, the volume would be 5,760 cu. ft; with a 15' cathedral ceiling, volume would be around 8,280 cu. ft.

This would be a match for Ohm's *largest* tall speaker, the Ohm 4000, whose recommended room volume range is 4500 to 8500 cu. ft. The OP's Ohm 1000 probably work out OK because they're omnidirectional, pulls the reflected sound of the room into the equation.

In that environment you'd have to listen to Heresys in the nearfield to get a decent tonal balance, and given that they're only 2 feet tall, the OP's room has furniture blocking some of the sound, and raising the speakers on stands isn't an option, that's a lot of fussing and tweaking when you have a  pair of 38" tall Ohm 1000 omnis in storage.
jay23
210 posts
 
I agree with everyone that the speakers are going to need break-in. If you can get the imaging to your liking, a device like the Quantum Physics's Noise Disrupters Small on your amp or source will help with the harshness. You can try one for 30 days, and the potential shipping costs from The Cable Co. https://www.thecableco.com/Product/Noise-Disrupters-Small--Single-

If that works, you could then try a tube amp or the Lyngdorf TDAi 2170.

If you can't get the imaging to your liking, it's time to get a more powerful amp for the Ohms, or audition some new speakers.

Best of luck with your adventure!
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tsugury
251 posts
 
I agree with the others on break in. They may need more time. One thing I would do which ever way you go is to get a better dac. The dragonfly might be good for headphones , but for a few hundred more you could improve your system with a better dac.
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