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My Heresy IV at 168 hours w/ a change of tubes.

Wow, what speakers.

We've all seen the gushing reviews from Steve Huff and others on youtube and the forums. It seems today everything is given 5 A+'s in the reviewisphere these days even though  90% of what is reviewed s not even adaquit. Reading and viewing these over the top reviews about The Heresy IV's, I was skeptical, but the ridiculous replies rebuking these reviews by people that obviously had neither experience nor interest in the Heresy IV's made me say, hmmmmmm.

After two years in consideration I pulled the trigger. I purchased the Heresey IV'sfrom HiFi Heaven in Greenbay for $2,500 with free one day shipping. I turn my system on and let it running for 5 days straight. The speakers sounded quite nice but it was missing a soul. I was disappointed and thinking of the possibility of returning them, then I read the review on Stereonet. The reviewer described what I was hearing and had a solution. He switched from a 200 watt amp which I believe ran KT88"s to an e34 amp. He described the relationship between the amp and the speakers as being a meeting of soulmates and spoiler, this is what happened to me.

 

I am a Quicksilver guy. Ive been sucking on the Quicksilver tit since something like 1995 or so.....I think. For the last 10 years Ive been running MidMono's with......KT88's even though they were built with e34's in mind. I needed the juice for the speakers Ive been using for years. These speakers were Boston Acoustic Lynnfield Project VR950's. The 950's are either ignored or pooh poohed by many, but they are some very detailed lively speakers. During my years with the Bostons I had several extended demo sessions with other much more expensive speakers and although they were better certainly, they were not change my life better, surely not worth the high costs associated with the upgrades, so I kept the Bostons. The Bostons can be quite deep soundstage and sideways they can through percussion into the next room. The I believe the caps started to go bad and the voices within the soundstage started to wander; this is why I started looking for replacements.

So, Im using MidMonos, a Quicksilver 12AT7 preamp, a PSAudio DirectStream Sr., and 2012 Mac Mini as a NaAS and a HSU Sub used very sparingly. Again with the 88"s the Heresy IV's sounded, not bad but sterile and many pieces sounded like the had been taken apart and rearranged in wonky fashion, very odd indeed. The bass was generally not mushy, but undecided. The midrange could easily get cluttered. There was nothing to celebrate and started to miss the Bostons.

Pieces I loved and knew intimately were disassembled. Things like Peo Alfonsi's Amada or Alma, or Pietropaoli's Le Notte, Likewise, etc. Virtually everything in DSD. Bass-line segments would all of a sudden be pushed into the background in mid phrase and a guitar would jump out front a third louder that it should have been. I tried to tame this with my sub and speaker position to no affect. It was very weird. Even if other pieces sounded fine, they still lacked soul. The kind of soul that makes you smile uncontrollably. The sound was, wide yes, but not enveloping, it was like looking at a photograph taped to the wall. A nice pho, but not reality. The depth was only to the wall....all around disappointing. It reminded me of what almost every positive reviewer had said, "the speak is Fun." and it was, but I thought, I don't want Fun, I want it to sound like it's the most important thing in my life.

I was in a quandary. I thought maybe it is just break-in. I sold a beloved VPI Classic to fund my Direct Stream Sr. which sounded like absolute crap until after like 800 hours running 24hours a day, maybe 1,000 hours, I can't remember and then all of a sudden KA....BOOOOOM !!! Magic. The final software update, I believe is Windom is unbelievably great. I think they started with this software and purposely lessened the initial dozen or so versions so they could upgrade the DS Sr. in increments for several years, but I am a cynic. Anyway,  I figured the problem with the Heresy's was a burn-in issue so I would wait, but then again if I waited for the full 500 hours I would miss my return deadline........ 

Then I read the review by Rafael Todes

https://www.stereonet.com/reviews/klipsch-heresy-iv-floorstanding-loudspeaker-review 

I'm sure I'd read it before, maybe many times, but what he said didn't gel with me until I experienced his issues myself.

"I also found that changing my power amplifiers lessened the effect. I substituted another valve amplifier in my collection – a restored Marantz 8B running EL34s, and dating from 1962. This was one of the finest amplifiers of this period and would have been a regular partner for Klipsch loudspeakers back in the day. What a combination! Those sweet little EL34 power valves brought more air to the proceedings than the KT88s of the VAC, and I heard an energy and life to the recording that jumped right out at me. I’ve never heard the Marantz sound so good; it was as if it had found its life partner. The rhythmic tension was excellent, as it delivered fast and accurate transients with toe-tapping drive."

 

So I looked for my original Quicksilver e34's which I hadn't seen in a decade and most likely never will. I couldn't find them so I ordered a set of e34L's from Tube Depot three days ago. They came today. I figured another 24 hours to burn these in then I would start making the decision to return the Heresy's or not.

I knew they were arriving today so I turned the system off allowing the 88's to  cool. The tubes came and I plugged them in and started Alma by Alfonsi and.......

B.O.O.M. !!!! Immediately... Glorious beautiful gorgeous enveloping soulful sound covered me and every cubic micron of my room exploded in perfect sound. It was like getting punched in the face with joy and contentment. It was a revelation. Now I know what Steve Huff and Tode were on about.

 

Apparently it's not all recordings LOL, as Im writing this, Amada ended and Audirvana cued a FLAC of Al Demeola by random and it sounded like crap, so be warned. You can't have any weak links in the system. Keep in mind Amada was my reference.

 

What's all this mean?

It means these speakers are exactly what Steve Huff said they are. If you try them out and they don't change your life, there is something wrong with your system, not the speakers. If you're using SS, use a low watt tube rig and if you can, DSD.

 

T

128x128tonydennison

Showing 1 response by curtdr

curtdr
348 posts
 

I agree with the OP and Huff’s and Robinson’s reviews overall. I am frequently taken aback by how fresh and lively and new all my supposedly-familiar music now sounds with the H4. As a bonus, they retain their dynamism at low volumes. And man do those things project; I have no need for "surround sound" for movies... helicopters sound overhead, and I (and my cats get confused by this sometimes) even hear things that sound like coming from behind me. I run ’em through a Marantz Ruby amp.

That said, I have enjoyed my trusty "linear sound" Epi 100s for decades, now upgraded w Human Speakers caps, and they are the reference standard for anything else that I hear. They still stand up against even much more expensive speakers, generally thanks to the near-perfect tweeter but the sweet tight bass is excellent as well. So, do the Heresy IV kick the Epi to the curb? No. But the Heresy provide me something fresh and different through which to re-explore old musical loves of all genres.

So, I’m still in search of "the one" that’ll do it all, one modern speaker that has both the rich seductive long-term magic that even works well off-axis combined with modern technological stable imaging, clarity, and speed. I just purchased Q Acoustics Concept 50, finally, and I haven’t set ’em up yet, but from everything I’ve read about ’em I believe they may be my goldilocks. I mean, supposedly the "tech" has advanced, but I’ve yet to hear a tweeter that I prefer over the Epi. But we’ll see... the Concepts are up against some stiff competition that I already have in my house.

So... that’s the background and why I agree not only with the OP but I also agree with @perkadin +1 "The H4 best fits someone who has another set of speakers to rotate in and wants something unique and different."

That sums it up nicely... all the other supposedly "high end" speakers that I auditioned, even much more expensive ones, didn’t impress me as being worth seven-to-ten thousand of dollars or even being that different nor much if at all superior (at least in the high end, and I can augment the lows with a modest sub) than my old Epi... But the H4 grabbed me by its freshness. I anticipate the Concept 50 as my primary main, the Epi in the office, and the H4 rotated in the primary role  from time to time to provide that fresh perspective.  Or maybe the H4 in the office, where I do spend a lot of time... Epi in the bedroom or on the porch, where I also spend a lot of time. I think I might have a winning combo. We’ll see. I haven’t fully executed yet.

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