Accurate Details, Pleasant to listen to for hours and hours, at low or high levels, Quick Bass, Very Open Sound.

Need for good placing in your listening room. The Quality of the Source and the Amplifier is very important.

In many reviews, the opinion is that the Heresy (II) speakers have a little lack in the Bass. I did wonder
why some people tried to modify the Heresy. I think you
have to be careful with such things. Okay, you can achieve
some differents, but isn't easier to experiment with placing
these speakers in your room? That makes a lot of difference
with these Klipsch Speakers! And it is less riscfull and much cheaper. If you don't like the sound after these
'little' experiments, maybe you don't have the right room, or the right amp for these Klipsch. Trying to get more Bass
out of it, seems to me the worsest you can do with Heresy.
If you don't like this Quick, but not that heavy deep bass
you are normally used to in your second hand car, then buy
something else and wave your hand goodbuy to Klipsch Heresy
before you will do some expensive and stupid things!

In my opinion, the bass is very very good, not very deep,
but very quick. In many rooms, many speakers can be too
'Bassy', so the sound is too thick or too Fat. It's a
difficult thing to letting play any speaker deep Bass with
a good quality. Mostly first you have to hire an architect for your house for designing a good audio room. After that
you can think about deep bassing speakers. If you don't,
don't matter about Klipsch Heresy and do not assume that
other speakers can do better because of their capability
for lower frequencies. If you are very lucky, those speakers
can do it reasonably good, but how is your room? I realize
that this is the most difficult thing to test and to describe because it's very relative. Testing audio equipment
is not easy, allthough you can compare brands, but there
are no different brands of audio rooms for sale. So what
are we audioreviewers talking about if we don't know from
each other in what kind of room we listen to our 'audio toys'?

The High and the Mid of the Heresies are very very good. Furthermore no comment about the Horns for the Mid and High.

As i mentioned above, good placing the Klipsch Heresy well
is one of the most important things you can do with your
speakers. I'm afraid that the most rooms are far from audio
ideal, and so mine is... But it's worth to try some speaker
placing experiments, at most with these Heresy speakers.
Allthough i noticed that the Heresy is not that critical
as the Rogers LS35A, which i did use before i felled in
love with the Heresies.

Klipsch Speakers don't need big amplifiers. With little
electrical power they play loud. But, they are good enough
to let you hear the big and the little differences between
audio equipment. Little differences between interlink cables
are very good hearable. Never hear the difference between
a CD and it's burned copy? The Heresies will let you hear
it without mercy, if you have the right equipment.

But enough about 'differences talk'. It's like buying
shoes, in the beginning you are very critical, and after
hours of shopping, finally you found the right choice.
But are you thinking about that, a few weeks later?
I don't think so. It's more important to have pleasure
after a longer period with your shoes or with your
loudspeakers, and then you can judge if you did make
the right choice.

Some people in the audioreviews mentioned that the
Heresies can go loud. Yes, also my carspeakers can do,
and they can do it much more louder! What are you talking
about??? Of course, they have Horn speakers, and i know
that they can play loud while sounding pleasantly. That's
a very good quality. But the biggest quality is that they
can also play very good at low levels, with clarity. That's
one of the most important things. The differences between
low and loud levels makes the sound 'open'. The quick silences after and between the notes, that's impressive!

Why i love Horns since o met Klipsch Heresies...
Due to the horns, i think that the sound is quick and open
because horns don't need much electrical power, delivered
by big amplifiers. So the job for the amp is much more
easier. The distortion will be lower. Also due to the little movements the speakerunits have to make. Because
the horns will amplify the low level sound to a higher
level. Due to these little movements, these speakers can
go quickly accelerate from silence to high levels! And,..
they also can accelerate from high level sound to quick
silence! If there is some colourisation of the resonating materials, any speaker has, expensive or not, it will be overblown by the horns. So i think the resonation will be there, but it is a lesser percentage of the total amount
of sound, produced by the high outputting horns.

What kind of Music sounds well with the Heresies?
Well, i don't know, because untill now i did not
notice any preferation of the Heresies. I don't
believe that there have to be typically speakers for
rock, pop or classic music. If a speaker can only sound
good with only pop, or with only classic music, i will
have my doubts. Expensive or not. I don't believe
that expensive speakers exceptionally do sound
well with classic music, and cheaper speakers only can
sound good with pop music. Lucky for me the Heresies do
sound good with all kinds of music, because i'v a various
collection of CD's from pop, rock and country to Classic.

So there are no really weaknesses? Of course there are, but i don't know them. The more i know them, the more i like them. Improvement of sound will be sooner achieved by a
better amplifier and another 'audio' room then by purchasing other loudspeakers. 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Rogers LS35A, for many years

Incredibly nuanced, huge soundstage, will play loud enough to make your ears bleed.

Lack of very low bass

The first time I heard these speakers, I was auditioning speakers for a friend at a high-end shop. They hadn't set up the speakers that we had asked to see yet, and still had the Heresys hooked up from a previous audition. We didn't know, and started to listen to them with a variety of music we had brought for the occasion.

All I had to hear was a few notes of piano. Simply put, they took my breath away. I was hooked. I initially couldn't afford them (I was in college at the time), and settled for a pair of Klipsch KG2 speakers. They were very good, but they weren't the Heresys. To make a long story short, I traded the KG2s for the Heresys after about a month. I still haven't heard anything that can compare top the Heresy speakers, even at much higher price points.

I've had the Heresys for almost 12 years now. Klipsch has more than earned the money I spent on them, and I will probably have them till I (or the speakers) drop dead (whichever comes first).

- very well finished cabinet
- strong, durable components
- excellent range and sound reproduction

- none observed

I have owned these speakers for over 15 years, during this time I have never had any problems with the product. We use the speakers extensively and there is a wide range of music tasts in our household. I am pleased to say that all types of music sound great on these speakers.

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- JBL
- Cerwin Vega

Musical clarity, the size and durability of the speaker housing

If anything, the bass output of the woofer

There is a small audio shop in Columbia SC run by a gentleman getting on in years, a Mr Frawley. He deals in Klipsch speakers and Harman-Kardon audio equipment. I always shop around at both high-end audio shops, discount stores and pawn shops, but I wasn't impressed by the smallness of Frawley's store so I passed it by a number of times. One day with time on my hands I stopped in to see what might actually be in the little shop. It was hot that day, the door was open to the street, the listening area was just the center of the front part of the shop with the door 8 feet from your left ear as you face the speaker sets.
Mr Frawley simply played the Heresy's using a classical disc first, then a Willy Nelson. I was remarkably impressed. At $800 for a set it was the largest speaker purchase I had ever made, but I see from other comments that my price was lower than most pay. I took the speakers home and replaced my Yamaha set which I had matched to my DSP-A1 in preference to much higher priced speakers I had tested when we lived in San Antonio. Played the 1912 Overture on the DVD sample disc, heard the distinct sounds of chorus and instruments better than ever before anywhere (I had a subwoofer in my system, so bass was no problem).
Then I went hogwild and began to replace much of my speaker setup with Klipsch to the point that I have only four non-klipsch left. The Heresy speakers became my surround speakers when a Air Force sergeant going overseas sold me a set of Forte's (no bass problem there) for $250. In my living room, I've created a 6.1 sound system. The Heresy's and an Olympus Pro CS-5 are powered by a Harman-Kardon AV10 receiver. Three sets of audio line between the DSP-A1 and the AV10 allow me to use either end as A of an A-B setup or the Heresy's and CS-5 are used as a three-logic translation of the surround output of 5.1 DVD's and Laser discs. My wife, whose ears are much sharper than mine, says she's never heard such distinction in sounds before. Listening to a classical violin selection she thought she could hear individual strings she'd never noticed before. That;s the best recommendation I know.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Forte, C-5 center, KG 1.5 bookshelf speakers

Cheap

no bass, muffled highs

The salesman (Fred) seemed to know what he was talking about, he assured me that the gaping hole in the woofer wouldn't detract the speaker's bass output, and the caked on crud on the horns would make the highs sound crisper. I took these baby's home and couldn't wait to crank them up. Boy was I disappointed. They sounded like crap and I feel just as stupid as the reviewers that bought 20 year old junk that have seen better days expecting them to sound like factory fresh speakers. How I can fairly grade a product based on the garbage that I bought...I don't know but I'll try to give my worthless opinion to skew the grade on these speakers.(end of sarcasm)

These can be ordered new for $800, they're still around after all these years for a reason. Great speakers.

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Optimus Prime by Radio Shack

Quick, Fast Bass. High Output.

Lack of low bass

Quite possibly the best $300 I have ever spent. These things do ALMOST everything beautifully. Exceptionally high output. Highs are detailed and clean, midrange is exceptionally open and resonant, and the bass is tighter and faster than any other speaker I have ever heard. They're tight to the point where they make me feel badly about my other systems. As people have already mentioned, this speed and accuracy has been achieved at the expense of range. Low bass is definately lacking. I would say that, for me anyway, a subwoofer is a MUST. The problem is that most of the subs I've constructed for the purpose are way too slow to keep up with the klipschs. Smaller, quicker subs would match better, but would require tons of power to match the output of these speakers. Bi-amped sub, sat system anyone?

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Klipsch cornwall, forte, klipschorn

clearity, presence, efficiency, quickness, accuracy, it goes on

Bought these new when in college in 1990 (Heresey II). At the time I needed something indestructable. I got a great deal by buying the cabinets unfinished. I can finish real woodwork, so I saved about $400. I'm powering them with a 100 watt adcom amp and mating that with a proton pre-amp.

I'm only going to add what hasn't already been said. These are obviosly fantastic speakers that once heard, other speakers will disappoint at even much higher price ranges.

I do not use them for surround, I have a separate system using infinity's for this. The Heresy's are for music (great for rock, orchestra strings - especially cellos, piano).

Couple of notes on the bass. It does help to use the Klipch speaker stand made for the heresys. This triangle raises them about 2 inches in the front, angling back to 1/2 inch at the back. The key is they are completely surrounded and create a pocket. I noticed improvement before and after installation (they screw in). Also, I purchased the proton preamp because of a presence control. This is between the bass and treble. It allows me to turn the midrange down, which I may do for surtain types of music. I think the bass is very solid, but perhaps the midrange horns drowned it out a bit. The presence control helps, but I still use it sparingly and never on strings...

Recently I moved to an older home. The Heresey's are now on a hard wood floor. This really adds to their presence (on carpet before). They have always sounded excellent, now their even better. I do not use the subwoofer, except at low volumes, because it is simply underpowered. The Yamaha (small dual woofers)is quick enough, just not enough power when really driving the Klipsch.

These are incredible speakers, I miss seeing them in stores. The new "sleak" line of Klipsch available in fort wayne is nothing like the line of the heresy/Forte/Klipsch Horn.

I recently bought all new equipment to upgrade the home theatre section of my home, but all of my CDs remain in the room with the klipch. Its for serious music lovers. I'm sure its great for home theatre, but it seems perfectly matched to the adcom and proton. They would be heart broken without each other. If your looking to start a system, buy these first, you can upgrade the rest of your component to them in a few years. I'm negotiating to buy an olddddMcIntosh tube amp, wish me luck.

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Infinity 2000.6, other infinity, yamaha powered servo sub

sound stage, clear mid and high

woofer may crack at the edge if it is 15+ years old

I bought two pairs of Heresy II from eBay. They both were 15 years old, and both sounded good at the begining. But in a few months, I noticed some strange noice from the speakers. After took off the grill, I found that the 12" woofer cracked at the edge. I trashed the first pair, then bought the second pair, thinking I would not be so unlucky. Seemed I was wrong. The same thing happened to my second pair. I agree Heresy II sounds well, but I would not by a pair which are 15 years old.

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NHT 2.9

none

everything

I don't know why somebody here would have paid $1300 for the speakers, since the MSRP is only $1000 or so. Any body can easily buy these speakers online for $800 or so (Yes, they are still selling this old model new. For example, http://www.supplymyhifi.com/klipsch.html Note: Others are selling KLF-30 online for $1199 or so, this place is selling at $1599. So I have a good reason to believe they overprice HeresyII also).

One day I went to a local audio store to do my usual auditions. By the day's end, I brought back a pair of 1986 Heresy II. I simply surrendered to two persuasive old gentlemen. These speakers were sent to the store by somebody to exchange for a pair of KLF-20s. I hurried back and connected them to my Krell. What a disappointment! I sold them the next day at eBay. I don't know why so many people here like these speakers. To me, they are very SO-SO. A pair of $350 new Klipsch models are much better. Really.

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too many to list

Detail in the mid and high ranges and an overall smooth transition between low-mid-high ranges

Bass will not go as low as some other similarly sized and priced speakers.

I always heard and read praises about Klipsch speakers, but I had never auditioned them for myself. The Hersey always interested me because of the smallish size, beautiful real wood cabinetry (my stereo system is a prominent fixture in my living room) and outstanding efficiency rating. Finding a dealer that had a pair was difficult, so I my first venture into Klipsch-land was with a pair of KG 5.5s. A beautiful sounding and looking speaker in its own. When I finally had the opportunity to hear a pair of Heresys, I was immediately sold. What impressed me the most about them was their smooth and beautifully blended sound, but with great definition. Vocals are outstanding on them. Any kind of persussion music is crystal clear. Strings and horns are clean and tight. I never tire of their sound. Granted, they don't reach way down into the lower bass range, but if that's necessary (such as for home theatre), add a sub. The quality of the speaker construction is outstanding also. The cabinets are beautifully veneered and solid as a rock. These little gems (approx 15" square and 20" high) weight about 60 lbs. And, like all the Klipsch "heritage" models, you can pick your finish (or have them built unfinished) and your grill cloth. It's like a custom-built unit. All this for about $1100, retail (you can find them for less on the net). I highly recommend giving a listen to these speakers before you spend a grand on some others.

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Klipsch KG 5.5, Bose 501 (original)