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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
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,484 posts
 
I listened to the Forte,  i thought they sounded great but they were too large for my room due to needing some distance from the wall.  The Heresy were the perfect size for my room, can go close to the wall, roll off higher than my room mode which is a nasty peak around 40 hz.   Its why I sold my last floorstanders and used monitors and a sub.  I had a pair of Klipsch CF4 and they were awesome but  I could never get floorstanders to sound good in this room. 

Its for those reasons that I think the Heresys work so well in my room.  They have decent enough low frequency response that I can turn my sub off at night,  but with the sub on they rock.   

I never really thought speaker break in was noticeable,  I thought it was more of your ears acclimating to a new presentation of the music.  Maybe it's a little of both,  but right before selling my monitors,  I hooked them back up and while they were great speakers I have no regrets swapping them out for the Heresys.
widespreadpanic
19 posts
 
I don’t know what kind of warranty you have but it might be easier to upgrade the wife
mn2422
37 posts
 
Klipsch Heritage with Primaluna Dialogue and a sub...perfect...
joefish's avatar
joefish
66 posts
 
brooklynluke,

I've had a pair of the Ohm 1000's for a number of years now, and find them to be one of the most satisfying speakers around.  The soundstage remains intact, even at lower volumes, and does not shrink into the speakers. They fill the room with sound at just about any volume'

The other plus that I notice is that even though they do all music beautifully, they excel in the reproduction of piano and acoustic guitar.

Please don't let these sit in a closet unused.  Set them up in another room with a mid priced receiver and continue to enjoy their special qualities.  
wolf_garcia
6,631 posts
 
Ohm speakers seem interesting but none seem to be high efficiency unless I missed something (entirely possible, if not utterly likely).
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