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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
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,835 posts
 
Its a very good idea to experiment with placement to get a better handle on the room acoustics. In most cases things are far from optimal when waf is a big factor and that is often tricky to address well with just eqiuipment changes. 

wolf_garcia
6,598 posts
 
With my listening room I'd have to build a set of moveable corners…The Heresy IIIs I listened to recently were powered by a cool little SS Luxman M-200 25 watt per side (did not know that amp existed, but then I don't get out much) amp that sounded great, and that amp has a display that will show you how many watts it's using. Cool indeed. I think it hit maybe 3 or 4 watts.
whatjd
1,139 posts
 
If you listen to Jazz and good acoustic music, Magnepans. 
handymann
380 posts
 
I feel your pain. As a owner of Klipschorns and Cornwalls, I can tell u Klipsch speakers are very efficient, but not necessarily pleasing. From your post, youre wishing they were not as "loud" as they are. Unfortunately, that's the sound of a horn loaded speaker.  EQ may help, but there are a lot of purists that think EQ is a four letter word. The only way I know to get a warmer sound is to get a high current tube amp. The extra power is needed for those Cymbel hits and deep woofer sounds. I don't think u will ever get rid of the loud sound without it, and probably won't even then. That's just the sound of a horn.  Room treatment is sometimes overlooked. Absorbers and diffusers may help. Try to cover any glass, such as windows or pictures. I recently removed all the glass from my pictures. I realize the wife factor, but just saying. Try to make a triangle of your speakers and listening position, with no glass coffee tables etc. Place them out from the walls and try an intimate triangle with your listening position and the speakers. One inch in placement can make all the difference, as well as toeing them in. However in the long run, you're still going to have horn loaded tweeters. 
helomech
1,494 posts
 
I have Heresy IIIs and have used them with a number of amps.

They do not like high power SS amps, nor will they do well with any class D amps or cheap AVRs. Contrary to popular belief, they’re not best with low power SET amps either.

They perform very well with a moderate powered tube amp, something around 25 to 45 watts, such as KT88 based amps.

If you want an affordable tube amp that’s built as well as any other and can make the Heresys sing, look for a Cayin amp such as the A70T or A88T. One of these will really show you what detail retrieval is all about.

Heresys do have a narrow sweet spot, there’s no real getting around that, especially at your listening distance. I personally don’t mind it, but I can understand why it’s a deal breaker for some. Most speakers sound brighter with excessive tow-in, so experiment with reducing that some.

If you think Heresys are harsh or fatiguing, you won’t like Harbeth C7s. I know many will claim otherwise, but I’ve had both speakers in my system for extended periods and the C7s are the more fatiguing speakers. They’re not the slam-dunk, can’t-go-wrong speakers that many would lead you to believe. I know all the Harbeth fanboys will get bent reading this, but IMHO, the Heresys are a better speaker except for the narrow sweet spot. They are far more dynamic and detailed at lower volumes, especially with a tube amp.

Heresys will expose weak points in your chain as well. In my case, it was my DAC that was making the Heresys just a tad unrefined. Once I switched to a different, albeit still budget DAC, things vastly improved.

I’ve owned and auditioned quite a few sub $3k speakers over the last few years and the Heresys are the best at low volumes by a country mile. Of course, you may just decide you hate them. No speaker is the perfect solution for everyone.




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