Klipsch love them or hate them.

I recall a Klipsch ad from 1987. It was for the Heresy II. In short, the ad showed a picture of the Heresy II with the grill off, so you could get a good view of the midrange and tweeter horns. It went on to talk about how most other speaker manufacturers didn't use horns and if you took a look at them, most of their drivers looked pretty much the same and as a result, most gave the same kind of sound. It then stated how Klipsch didn't use "coventional" drivers like the "other guys." Rather, they used compression drivers mated to horns and they're about the only people who did. Consequently, they afforded the buyer a distinct DIFFERENCE...a difference he could literally HEAR. Klipsch heritage products have always been super-sensitive (97dBs with just one watt @ 1 meter for the Heresy IIs; 104 dBs with just 1 watt @ 1 meter for the Khorns & La Scalas). Most other speakers just can't even come CLOSE to that kind of efficiency! The thing to remember about Klipsch is that they sound DIFFERENT compared to other speakers due to design - they're *supposed* to sound DIFFERENT for God's sake! Now, whether or not somebody likes the Klipsch "sound" is a personal issue. Down through the years, many, many people have liked the sound put out by their "heritage" products, as they've now become known. I own a pair of Heresy IIs and a pair of La Scalas and people are always blown away by how clean, loud, and "in-your-face" they sound. And when I show them I'm running them with an old 70s-era Harman Kardon 430 solid-state reciever with just 25 wpc they simply shake their heads and generally mutter something to the effect that they just can't believe it. I've heard the newer Klipsch offerings (the RF-7s in particular) and at 102 dBs with 1 watt, they are very efficient indeed. However, they don't have the traditional (read: heritage) Klipsch sound that made me buy my Heresy IIs and La Scalas years ago so therefore I don't really care for them regardless of their sensitivity. My fear is that Klipsch is bowing to those who want a more colorless and thus less Klipsch-like loudspeaker. I guess it's all subjective again, but Klipsch have always sounded different then other speakers and I hope Klipsch doesn't "sell-out" and in effect emasculate, or tame the distinct Klipsch sound that made the company so famous in order to make more bucks. The day Klipsch stops making their Heritage line is the day, to me, when I'll consider the company dead. This unfortunately might be closer then even I want to admit when I ask myself this simple question: Why can't I find any of the Heritage line on display for audition in audio stores any more?

Klipsch,to me is for loud rock and roll. I had the Chorus 2's for about ten years and for a long time loved them. I did not go in a stereo shop for a long time. Made the mistake of going to a Tweeter and listening to the Vienna Acoutics line. The Vienna's do not play as loud as the Klipsch do,but I am also 15 yrs older.

Tim

I have owned a pair of Klipsch Chorus II's for over 10 years,and I am aware of better speakers out there (Vandersteen and ESL, perhaps BW) but if positioned properly with a subwoofer supliment, these speakers image and sound as well as speakers costing many times their modest price (I paid $1,600 PR in 1990)

These speakers image like crazy throwing out a wide soundstage reasonably precise. They need to be heavily towed in to the listening area. I am lucky perhaps,they sit 13-14 feet apart.

it is important to match up components that do not indulge their harsher brighter sound prevalence, but I have found this to be a problem only on a few recordings, suprsingly, they can have a very warm and natural tone most of the time.

Never have my Klipsch's sounded strained or pushed too hard, I have not found a volume that the listener wouldn't give in first. Yet, they are capable of sounding good at lower volumes, but I have met very few speakers which don't sound better driven well and at least normal listening volumes.

I use an 18" Velodyne sub to help the lower end, and my goodness does it come thru,I feel no shame in using a subwoofer along with my main 2 speakers, though no reviewer would agree.

One last thing, sound i sso subjective, but I upgraded my cables to the PS Audio Statements, and I was astounded at how much difference they made, these same KLipsch's which failed to cover that low end were humming with bass I never thought them possible of. And the new cables have additionally "warmed" up the sound.

Sure, always fun to figure how any stsyem can be upgraded to sound better in so many various ways, but more times than not, I close my eyes and relax on my sofa to all kinds of music and think to myself, what more would I want to hear?

I had a pair of Cornwalls in the 70's, then Chorus I's later matched with a Carver M4.0t Silver Seven transfer function amp & it was truly great to my ears. Moved on but still love em.....

IM A KLIPSCH NUT FOR SURE,UP UNTIL A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO IF YOU SAID ANYTHING BAD ABOUT KLIPSCH HERITAGE SPEAKERS I WOULD FLIP OUT,I OWN K-HORNS,CORNWALLS,HERESYS,KG4S & QUINTETS,I AM FINDING OUT THAT THE BETTER THE GEAR YOUR RUNNING THE WORSE THE KLIPSCH LINE IS,I STARTED OUT WITH HARMAN KARDON CITATION TUBES & THEY DID GREAT,I TRIED CARVER
& WHAT A MESS THAT WAS,CARVER IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE WORST FRAUD IN AUDIO,THEN I MOVED INTO MCINTOSH,AS I TRADED GEAR & MOVED UP IN QUALITY WITHIN THE MCINTOSH LINE I STARTED TO NOTICE ALL THE WEAKNESSES THAT ALL MY KLIPSCH GEAR HAVE,ITS AT THE POINT NOW THAT MY HERESYS HAVE BEEN STORED & THE CORNWALLS ARE SOUNDING MUDDY,THE K-HORNS ARE STILL HOLDING THEIR OWN & WILL ALWAYS BE A PART OF MY SYSTEM BUT IM SURE AT THIS POINT THAT ALL OTHER KLIPSCH MUST GO,I GUESS WHAT IM SAYING IS IF YOU ARE INTO A BUDGET SYSTEM THEN KLIPSCH IS THE WAY TO GO BUT IF YOU INTEND TO MOVE UP INTO HIFI THEN TRYING TO MATCH TODAYS TECH WITH YESTERYEARS SPEAKERS YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR,IM TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF OVERHAULING MY CORNWALLS WITH CURRENT JBL DRIVERS THAT ARE FASTER & MORE RESPONSIVE TO MY HIGH POWER MAC AMPS BUT IF THAT DONT WORK THEN ITS TIME TO MOVE ON TO MAGGIES AS I THINK THAT THE COMBINATION OF THE KLIPSCH STRONG BOTTOM END & THE MAGGIES GLORIOUS MIDS & HIGH WOULD BE UNBEATABLE.