Klipsch Forte IIIs vs. Heresy III with a sub

the stereophile measurements for these! yikes!

Helps to listen though and it also depends on the room settings. The issue too is so many audio enthusiasts are just relying on flat audio settings.  In my opinion this whole thing about playing music flat is for the birds. That means one assumes that one setting works for every album and  that’s absurd.  When I buy records at store I’m not gonna know how well the recording really is until I play it.  Every room has a different sound and every album has a different sound.  If a person has an amplifier that has harsh characteristics, it’s just going to get transmitted through the speaker.  Tone controls help tone it down.  Some music is very warm like Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith.  On the other hand Herb Alpert albums typically sound more harsh.  With tone control I can make  adjustments to bass and treble.  I don’t think it’s practical to find amazingly well recorded albums all the time.  Some have a good bass extension and some don’t.  I’d still love to hear the Forte  side by side.

The Forte IIIs really lay recordings bare.   The difference from good to bad ones on  the Forte IIIs is about as big as I've heard.    Not sure the Heresy's are similar in that regard.   

It's absolutely true that crappy recording won't be masked by Heresy IIIs or Forte IIIs, nor will crappy gear upstream, or at least if not "crappy" per se, gear with characteristics you don't like such as uncomfortable treble tone won't make it with these speaker designs as they sort of toss the sound at yer earballs with speed lacking apology.