klipsch speakers,be honest

Never play with the inside of the throat of the mid horn. There are other ways to tame the mids. Really ? You do not want to get me started.............Enjoy ! MrD.

Put acoustic foam in the cabinet to increase bass response and stuff a small bit in the throats of the mid horn to tame minds.

Spoken like someone who doesn't have a clue about horns. And judging from his post history, I'd say I am correct.

Oz

Klipsch = huge cabinets with large woofers that still somehow manage to need a subwoofer for any real bass. Oh, and flea watt tubes to tame the rising treble that people misunderstand for detail. So many better speaker choices out there

They are good speakers like many others but different mainly more sensitive. Just feed and set them up right.

I've owned a lot of speakers over many decades, and I bought a pair of Heresy IIIs last year and and found that they're amazing sounding fat little speakers...who knew?...they need a sub, but so what? A bargain.

I recently bought KH AK5.
My first listening was in the early 80's and I was pretty impressed.
The AK5 are simply a revelation to me.
When properly setup, the music just becomes a miracle.
These are the best speakers I have ever heard so far. At any price.

Are you being honest? Heh heh...By the way, my Heresy IIIs cost just under 1500 bucks shipped (list for these Capitol Editions is 2500), and I already owned the subs. I put stick-on Dynamat damping material on the mid horn due to intense peer pressure (you know who you are!). It may have made them sound better, and it gave me a weird project cutting up this gooey stuff into exact fitting pieces...little horn braces on the things with small curved surfaces...fiddly but hey...it improved my Klipsch tweak credibility by exactly 8.3%.

People have talked about putting mutes in the mid horn. I doubt that’s is better than a better crossover or improving the bass driver so that it is a longer throw driver.I get similar bass with my 1950s JBLs they are both short throw. In their day that was SOTA now it is wanting. If you want to maintain the sound that these things have you have to change your expectations. Also remember orchestral and classical music which was more dominant at that time, which made different demands on speakers.

The mid horns in Heresy IIIs are smooth and accurate as long as clean amps are driving them. The 12" woofers in these may be "short throw" only because they're designed for impact to 58hz only...my "long throw" subs add the throwiness component to the party, as long as nothing gets thrown at me.

Tatum

Klipschorns = no subwoofer need apply. If you don't agree, you've either never heard them in the right room, or never heard them at all.

My guess is the latter.

Oz

In Wolf's defense he is talking about the Heresy III.  I own the original Heresys (2 pair no less) and the bass clearly rolls off at the published 50 Hz +- 5Db. From a long time owner (since 1976) I always thought the bass could benefit from reinforcement, I can understand employing a subwoofer.
The Klipschorn however has a 20Hz bass frequency response, obviating the need for any bass reinforcement.

I'm glad I'm not the only person using the word "obviating." And I bristle at comments relative to musical style driving speaker preference... "Also remember orchestral and classical music which was more dominant at that time, which made different demands on speakers." No it didn't (make sound specific demands), and no it doesn't now, although I would imagine more financially successful classical (and jazz) freaks back in the day were more likely to have the money and space to buy gigantic folded horn cabinets for their parlors. Klipschorns and Altecs were dominant in movie theaters and concert halls...I had a pair of Altec A7s used for my band PA that were amazing when used for stereo things here and there (rarely) but were just too big for all but the grandest of homes. I once leant those to Loggins and Messina when we opened for them as they hadn't brought their "side fill" speakers to Hawaii for some reason (Clair Brothers were to blame)...that has nothing to do with this topic, but I threw it in anyway as it makes me feel "special."

Wolf weren't told as a child that everyone is special.Are Altec 7s the VOTT with those big multi cellular horns? I  wanted those years ago, but not now.  I could have put them or Klipschorns in my basement where my LaScalas were. Where my main system was.

Voice of many theaters, and I have no idea what Klipschorns sounded like then (or currently) as nobody I knew had them. The pro version of the Klipsch apparently had the tweeter, which could have helped the Altecs somewhat maybe...the A7s were very "woody" sounding with a 900hz or so crossover which meant that horn had a really wide range...not sure if ours had phase plugs, or at least I never noticed one when replacing the horn diaphragms. They were likely 1970 or 71ish versions.

I’ve heard several recent models recently and latest models are very good products overall and could make a lot of people happy including most likely me.

Have not heard any older models in recent years but the consensus seems to be those often need tweaks to compete with more modern designs, as is the case probably for many vintage speaker designs out there.

Klipsch has been around a long time so not reasonable to compare 50+ year old speakers to modern equivalents.

I have to comment. I have Klipsch Forte I with Crites x-overs and Ti tweeter diaphragms.  But the reoccurring theme on any forum discussing them seems to be "1. Modify, rebuilt or build your own cabinets from scratch, 2. Get newer, better drivers, 3. Dampen the horns, 4. Get newly designed crossovers and viola' they sound great and anyone who does not like how they sound don't know how to set them up properly.   

Well if you have to CHANGE them this much for them to be satisfactory, doesn't that suggest they aren't that great in stock form?   Heck any speaker can be great if you totally change them to your liking. 

As I have said many times on other threads, Klipsch, the Heritage line designed by PWK himself, were made with a price point, and, were made for tubes initially. When early ss came about, many folks were pairing the early Klipsch with monster ss amps, having 12, 16, 24 output transistors per channel, that did not compliment the speakers. Every speaker ever made, could have been improved, not just Klipsch. At their price point ( old and new ), the Heritage speakers are great for the money. Even the new ones, as wolf has mentioned, can be improved, even if the improvements results in less than 10 % ( btw, I was the peer pressure, but wolf was embarrassed to say so, as I am known to be crazy, with my tweaks, upgrades and modifications ). Look at any speaker out there. Better crossover components alone can be improved, all because of the price point in the initial design. If Klipsch are not the choice of the  ( horns in general ), it is ok. There are many choices, and many different sets of ears. Enjoy ! MrD.

I have owned a number of speakers over the past 35 years or so, always looking for the "perfect" sound.  Floor standers, monitors with subs, all very good.  PSB Platinum , several KEF both floorstanders and stand mount , Paradigm Studios, Revel 106, all nice , but no speaker has put a smile on my face or felt more like live music like my Heresy III except maybe the CF 4 I had 20 years ago.   Unfortunately those were just too big and honestly I like the signature of the Heresy better.  

I know there are a lot of Klipsch haters out there but I think the Heresy are solid value compared to a lot of what's out there .  They are paired with a c-j pre and Quicksilver Mid Monos which are 40 watts and it sounds REALLY good,  excellent live recordings sound just that, live.   

The Heresy IIIs are generally dismissed by people who haven't heard them with good ancillary gear, or had the older models 40 years ago. The only caveat is possibly the need for a sub with these as that makes 'em open up and really shine, but the overall tonal response they do produce down to 58hz or so is very coherent and clean. 1500 bucks for the "Capitol Records Anniversary" version was a steal maybe, but you have to admit there's nothing like these out there...short, fat, and fabulous.

But Wolf how do I get my 40 year old heresys to sound short fat and fabulous now! Can I believe that they are my first speakers and they are actually more than 40 OY.