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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
ps
763 posts
 
OP:
OHM speakers are pretty much set ’em and forget ’em, as you already likely know. They are not fussy nor do they require "exotic" wires and/or special electronics to sound good.  Most recently I had a pair of Micros which sounded pretty good with a basic Onkyo receiver but spectacular with my excellent tube gear.

With regard to cosmetics, I think their smaller models are some of the the most visually unobtrusive speakers out there. Perhaps you can point this out to your spouse.  :)

I don’t think there are many speakers which will sound their best when placed on either side of a sofa. I could be wrong.

One speaker which has intrigued me is the Larsens, which are designed to be placed up against the front wall. They are cosmetically appealing and unobtrusive as well. Not inexpensive, however, and like most speakers will benefit from better electronics. Good luck!

Food for thought?


boband212's avatar
boband212
62 posts
 
very different from my experience with these speakers. maybe try the rp260f if you want more bass. a tube amp will not give you more bass. solid state amps do bass better than tubes. I listen to these speakers at low volumes all the time. use good copper speaker wire- 14 guage is good. i use these often with a 30wpc amp, a 20wpc amp, and a 45 wpc amp- solid state, tube, and hybrid amps. the rp260f will give more bass if that is what you must have.
helomech
1,730 posts
 
The RP and RF series speakers don’t hold a candle to the Heritage line with music playback (I’ve owned both). It’s not difficult to figure out why. The RP/RF series don’t possess the midrange horn. Their porting also sacrifices bass speed and definition for sheer output. Those speakers are really intended for home theater use.



willland's avatar
willland
846 posts
 
"The RP and RF series speakers don’t hold a candle to the Heritage line with music playback"

@helomech,

Can't say much about the RP line since I have never heard them but some, specifically the RF-63's and RB-75's do a jam up job with music.  I have owned my 63's for almost 10 years and just can't seem to pull the trigger to "upgrade" to another model or brand.  They are very musical and do a lot of things right.  Don't get me wrong, I love me some Klipsch Heritage but these 63's are dynamic, fast and punchy, detailed, and just smooth from top to bottom.  I just can't find much wrong with them with any genre of music.

Bill


oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,985 posts
 
I listened to the Forte,  i thought they sounded great but they were too large for my room due to needing some distance from the wall.  The Heresy were the perfect size for my room, can go close to the wall, roll off higher than my room mode which is a nasty peak around 40 hz.   Its why I sold my last floorstanders and used monitors and a sub.  I had a pair of Klipsch CF4 and they were awesome but  I could never get floorstanders to sound good in this room. 

Its for those reasons that I think the Heresys work so well in my room.  They have decent enough low frequency response that I can turn my sub off at night,  but with the sub on they rock.   

I never really thought speaker break in was noticeable,  I thought it was more of your ears acclimating to a new presentation of the music.  Maybe it's a little of both,  but right before selling my monitors,  I hooked them back up and while they were great speakers I have no regrets swapping them out for the Heresys.
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