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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
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
One-third out into the room, or from the front wall as it's referred to, is where my speakers have been situated for the last 7-8 years, since I put them together (they being custom-built Tannoy HPD's,12" Dual Concentric). Class D, for me, has worked out incredibly well. I use them for about 98% of my listening. They are two amp modules run in bridged mono, for 500 Wpc. Many think I'm nuts using that much power, when they can be powered quite nicely by 9 Wpc SET power.

If you heard them with that much power, you would understand why. Last weekend, I had my first audio-oriented visitor in years, a person that is well-respected here, and has an exceptional system of his own, was very favorably impressed by what he heard. When I told him the cost of the amp (around $450), he just shook his head in wonder. It's an option that is affordable, and although there are many naysayers, until you try it yourself, you won't know what you may be potentially missing.

Regards,
Dan
brooklynluke OP
21 posts
 
Dan, good idea about trying them without regard to WAF, just to see if they can ever be made to work. Will do. As for class D, I love the idea of it —especially the complicity and low cost — but what about that ineffable sense of aliveness? Do they have it? Also, which ones do you like? And do you use preamp? What kind? Thanks again!
jond's avatar
jond
5,660 posts
 
Luke are the speakers at least level with the front of the couch? Meaning not recessed at all. Also I would very much concur with others these speakers really want tubes is there any chance to borrow a tube amp to try out? Did you buy the Heresy's from a dealer? You live in Brooklyn, at least I assume you do, so lots of good dealers relative to other parts of the country.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
Bad choice for your application. Horns all have a narrow dispersion pattern compared to other designs and especially Ohm designs. This means there is a sweet spot that is tightly defined. 

Think of your room and your family. You want pleasant sound at low volumes from a multitude of positions. Similarly you want even lighting in the room. The Klipsch horns behave like a spotlight. They do not evenly light up the room and this is very noticeable at low levels. Jack up the light intensity and the room will start to have more even lighting from reflections of the spotlight on the far wall. This is why it sounds better when you jack up the volume. 

You need wide dispersion speakers which are like a regular light bulb - they evenly light up the room!!! Sorry but there is nothing you can do. A spotlight behaves very differently from a regular bulb and there is nothing you can do to get enough even light in the room except to jack up the volume.
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