fritz@hpfclk.UUCP (02/16/84)
See if you can find a store that carries Boston Accoustics speakers. Their A400's are, I believe, in that price range, and I think they sound quite nice. I haven't heard Heresy's for about 7 years, so I can't provide a direct comparison. Gary Fritz ihnp4!hpfcla!fritz HP Ft. Collins
gj@know-eng.UUCP (George Jenkins) (02/23/84)
I have been thinking about buying a pair of Klipsch Heresy loudspeakers and am interested in what other people say about them. Specifically, are there any other speakers in the same price range (~$700) that I really ought to check out before buying them? Is $700 dollars too much to pay for the unfinished models? Has anyone had any problems with them? Any thoughts will be appreciated. George Jenkins Knowledge Engineering Inc.
shauns@vice.UUCP (02/26/84)
At $700/pair, I guarantee you can find much better speakers than the Heresys.
They were my first pair of "good" speakers when I got serious about this
hobby five years ago.
After taking them home and listening to music that I liked (not the salesman's
preference), I could not listen to them for more than an hour at a time
without getting a terrible headache; earstrain.
I owned them for all of 6 months, and sold them as fast as I could.
About the only thing these speakers are good on is horn reproduction.
In fact, everything, even strings, sounds like a damn horn. They beam like
crazy, and absolutely mangle midrange. Vocals are especially strident.
At $700/pair, there are several excellent, well balanced systems out that
"you'll respect in the morning", to paraphrase one famous ad. Check out
offerings by Boston Acoustics, ADS, B&W, KEF, and Magneplanar. They
may not sound as gosh whiz in the store as the Heresys but they are a LOT
cleaner and more accurate, something that is appreciated only after many hours
of cohabitation with your chosen transducer.
One thing that you can say for Klipsch is that he follows a different drummer.
A poor one. Power efficient, perhaps, but poor.
Cheers from the wandering squash.
--
Shaun Simpkins
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,chico,pur-ee,cbosg,ihnss}!teklabs!tekcad!vice!shauns
CSnet: shauns@tek
ARPAnet:shauns.tek@rand-relayrgh@inmet.UUCP (03/01/84)
#R:know-eng:-6000:inmet:2600038:000:701
inmet!rgh Feb 29 00:08:00 1984
$700 speakers:
About a year ago I bought a pair of DCM Time Window speakers; I
still think they're outstanding. They sound good at all volume levels
on all types of music, and I can listen to them for hours on end with
no fatigue. They're high efficiency speakers, physically rather large.
The other speakers in this price range I considered seriously at
the time (the dealer let me take them home on trial) were the smaller
Magnepans. They had a slightly better stereo image than the Time
Windows, but lacked both deep bass and high treble: percussion
sounded unconvincing through them. They are also pretty efficient
and VERY BIG.
Randy Hudson
{harpo, decvax!cca!ima}!inmet!rghsmb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (03/04/84)
Speaking of speakers in the $700 price range, does anyone have any comments on KEF's entry in that price class (I don't recall the model name -- Carrington? It was described to me as the successor to the 204.) I was rather impressed (except for the bass response) with a pair I heard a few weeks ago, but the listening conditions were far from ideal.
yraurb@hou2g.UUCP (G.DECKER) (03/08/84)
Just a word of clarification about the KANS. They are virtually the same in dimensions and appearance to the BBC specification LS3/5a monitor. They use a much simpler crossover and are much easier to drive than the BBC version. Subjectively, they are more aggressive than the LS3/5a and have less mid bass. They are designed for wall loading to augment their bass response. This is something that the BBC does not approve of because the direct and reflected sound arrive too close together. Both designs are great on voice. I own a pair of KANS and I am very happy with them.
rcd@opus.UUCP (03/09/84)
<> > At $700/pair, I guarantee you can find much better speakers than the Heresys. ...probably quite true, but then... > I could not listen to them for more than an hour at a time > without getting a terrible headache; earstrain. ...that starts to strain the imagination too, and... > About the only thing these speakers are good on is horn reproduction. > In fact, everything, even strings, sounds like a damn horn. ...that's a favorite claim of everyone whose personal tastes in music reproduction somehow run counter to the particular characteristics of horn-loaded drivers. This claim is unfortunately dredged up by salesmen who (should) know better but aren't selling horn-type speakers. There's a world of difference between a trumpet with human lips flapping in the breeze at one end and an unconstrained round brass bell at the other, and a linear-motor driving a diaphragm attached to a rigid, damped cast aluminum rectangular horn with the mouth constrained by its mounting. "Horn" refers to the shape, not the sound! > They beam like crazy, and absolutely mangle midrange. Interestingly, the directionality of horns is readily amenable to analysis, so of course they have been analyzed and they DON'T beam if properly designed. It's hard to get a handle on "mangle midrange" but I'd like to know if we can get more specifics here. Of course, you may not LIKE horns. Fine. You also may not like electrostatics. Fine also. But be careful that your problem isn't room placement, room acoustics, bad interconnections, or bad sources of sound. I'd guess that one of these (most likely the first two) was the real problem with this fellow's Heresy's. > One thing that you can say for Klipsch is that he follows a different > drummer. A poor one. Power efficient, perhaps, but poor. Yes, you can say that, but you'd be wrong. Klipsch has distinguished himself by developing a set of designs over the years that follow the same set of design principles. As a result, he's got something he can understand, analyze, and hence evolve. Klipschorns are like the old Volkswagen beetles (tho in a different price class!) - they look the same on the outside but there are ongoing little changes and fine-tunings. The Heresy is an attempt to get some part of the K'horn performance at a fraction of the price and size. It succeeds but it's overpriced, I think. Can't we leave it at that? Klipsch makes decent speakers (has for 40+ years) and so do a bunch of other folks. There are disreputable pseudo-high-end audio dealers who grow apoplectic at the idea that Paul hasn't come out with a "revolutionary, new, space age, ultra-high ..." (ad nauseam) product. That's their problem. It works. Don't fix it.
greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (03/09/84)
I would like to second the recommendation of the Vandersteen Model 2C. However, as of Jan. 1 of this year they are no longer in the $900-1000/pr. price bracket, having been raised to $1125/pr on the West Coast and slightly higher on the East Coast. - Greg Paley
rmd@hpfcla.UUCP (03/12/84)
I recently bought a pair of Magneplanars for approximately the same amount of money that you want to spend. I listened to quite a few speakers and I think the Magneplanars sound a LOT better (i.e. cleaner, tighter, better balanced, more spacious ) than anything else in this price range. However if you want high efficiency or if you prefer an emphasis on the bass and treble, they may not be for you. Rick Dow inhp4!hpfcla!rmd
meier@hp-dcd.UUCP (03/12/84)
A speaker definitely worth looking into is the Linn "Kans" speakers. They are made by the same folks that produce the Linn-Sondek turntable. They cost about $500. They sound like speakers 3 or 4 times their size (around 6 to 8 inches high) and like speakers well above their price. At the next price bracket above is the Vandersteen model 2 speakers at around $900 to $1000. Also a fine speaker for the price. Marcel Meier
barrett@hp-dcde.UUCP (03/16/84)
You might also check Polk Audio 10 speakers for $600. But some people do not like them. I listened to the Heresy's and they seemed a might harsh on the highs to me. The Cornwall's are so much better that you may also want to just listen to them to see where Klipsch meant those horn tweeters to go. Dave Barrett (hplabs!hp-dcd!barrett)