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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

Showing 6 responses by tls49

tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

"Oh, and as for break-in, I'm at maybe 100 hours? That seems like it should be enough to get a sense of where things are headed no?"

No. The Heritage Series of Klipsch needs a lot of time to break in. I'm thinking 200 hours is not nearly enough, and you should leave them playing as much as possible, even when you're not at home.

Are you using the risers with them? If not, then you should. Also, position them slightly in front of the couch, or at least even with it.

tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

You don't need stands to decouple from the floor. Just put a cone shaped spike under each corner of the riser.

Also, the book idea will not decouple from the floor.

tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

Atmasphere, please correct me if I am wrong. There is a couch in between the speakers. If he pushes the speakers closer to the wall, that means more of the couch is in front of the speaker. Will that not mess with the imaging? I was suggesting to position the speaker just slightly in front of the couch.

tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

"Right now the speakers are positioned about a foot away from the couch on each side — that is, ten feet apart — and back about six inches from the front of the couch, and toed in significantly, so I can see down the horns from my listening chair, which is maybe 8 feet from the front of the couch."

Brooklynluke have you tried positioning the speakers slightly in front of the couch? Considering the dispersion pattern of the speaker in the above position, sound must be hitting the front edge of the couch. Sound from the tweeter may not be affected, but no doubt, sound from the woofer is affected.


tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

Brooklynluke, what are you using for a source, turntable, CD, streaming to a dac?

tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 
I'm still thinking that speaker break in is definitely a problem. I worked in the audio/video industry for over 25 years and have experienced speaker break in with many brands, Klipsch being one of them. Most will say 200 hours for break in and that will hold true for many speakers, however some will take much longer, 400-600 hours, and as I previously said, the Klipsch Heritage Series falls into this category. Before break in, a speaker will sound tight and congested. Try to be patient, and play the system as much as possible, even when you're away from home.

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