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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
1,715 posts
 
@willland

My experience with the RF/RP series was that they were competitive with other floorstanders in their price range such as Polks and B&Ws. Their bass extension was better than some of the competition, but their upper frequency performance was a bit harsh. They were the reason I was so apprehensive to try the Heresys. IMO, these model lines have a very different tonal balance. The RF series have respectable bass speed for an average floorstander but it can’t match that of the Heresy’s acoustic suspension + paper woofer design. This is what allows the Heritage line to produce such a convincing kick drum with realistic speed. For speakers that need to do double duty in a home theater/stereo setup, the RF/RPs are the better option. JMO.
grinccaffe's avatar
grinccaffe
13 posts
 
Hello everyone,
I am from Croatia, Zagreb city and I am a longtime fan of Klipsch.
First to report, my English is weak and I use a lot with google translation. So there may be a lot of mistakes or misunderstandings :)
Following an interesting topic about Klipsch Heresy lll, I want to give my opinion.
Yesterday, over eBay, I bought a pair of Klipsch Heresy lll and of course I'm interested in all I can hear about them.
One of my friends has these H3s and drives them with 3.5W (per channel) monoblocks . With great easiness, effortlessly, these weak blocks are doing a magnificent job.
Speakers are on the floor.
In my case, because of the items in the room, H3 will have to stand on the stands and I'm expecting low tone (bass) problems.
From my friend, Set up sounds awesome.
I've never heard anything better ( HI-FI fair does not count).
The room is average (approx. 5 x 4 meters).
There is no need for a subwoofer.
My current set up (Klipsch Palladium P37F with 12.5W monoblocks) is two or three times more expensive than Set up of my friend but his set up plays two or three times better, more musiclike, than mine :(
So I had to order Klipsch Heresy lll, to see how it would work in my room.
I'm expecting speakers for ten days and I'll report the result (with tears or laughing:).
Regards to everyone !!!
grinccaffe's avatar
grinccaffe
13 posts
 
P.S.
Has anyone, such a stand, tried it?

http://prntscr.com/ievwui
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,366 posts
 
Ohms are not high efficiency like Klipsch.

They do not require fuss to sound good but fussing to get them set up just right pays big dividends.  

helomech
1,715 posts
 
@grinccaffe 

Welcome to the Forum. I had no trouble understanding your post.

Some have reported improvements from using such stands, but others seem to prefer the floor risers. I use mine with the floor risers. They do lack a bit of soundstage height, but otherwise, I don't detect any shortcomings. The bass is plenty powerful within the speaker's limits. They do perform best with tubes, so you're all set in that regard. Please report back with your findings.
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