Klipsch Heresy II Floorstanding Speakers

Klipsch Heresy II Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

3-way Floor Stand Speaker 1 horn loaded tweeter, 1 horn loaded mid, 1 12"accustic loaded woofer

USER REVIEWS

Showing 31-40 of 56  
[Jun 19, 2001]
Jeff Eastman
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

everything

Weakness:

none

I don't know what the last couple of people were talking about. I don't think these people ever listened to heresy IIs. Wanna buy a pair at eBay? Then pay what you have to and what these babies deserve! These are by far the best speakers man ever made in their price range and beyond. I auditioned hundreds of speakers and have never found a pair of speakers with a sub $1500 tag sounded better. The horn high and mid are simply amazing! What a pity no one is making such expensive horns, even Klipsch itself. I have been using these speakers for the last 15 years, and I don't see any cracks or what so ever on the 12" woofers. They would surely laaaast for another 150 years. Five stars of course!

Similar Products Used:

all Klipsch, of course!

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 17, 2001]
Sid
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

not sure yet

Weakness:

not sure yet

i picked up an old set at a pawn shop for 35 bucks, I figured i couldnt go wrong. The cabinets were in poor shape, they had some kind of fake granit sticker on them, so i took them home, peed it off and found thet they had been painted black. I sanded and found (to my surprise) real wood! I stained them and finished them just yesterday night. I havent had allot of time listening to them but they definantly have their own sound. They almost sound harsh, raspy. I dont know how to explain it but i was wondering if they had been abused or something because they definantly sounded different. But i was running them on a junk system at the time (some technics hardware). I was wondering what would be sufficient to drive these speakers, would my harmonkardon AVR55 do the job? 55wats per ch . Or are these speakers broken?

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 23, 2001]
Mark

Strength:

Clarity of highs and midrange. Tight bass. Build quality. Price I paid.

Weakness:

Not for my type of music which is rock & roll.

I bought these at an Air Force Exchange in '87 (not 2000)while stationed in Spain. I had to do my own setup of speakers and audio source at this store so I could only get one each of the Heresy II, Bose 501 and a Cerwin-Vega. First was the Bose 501 which I knew needed a direct-reflecting soundstage but I also knew that I probably wouldn't be able to provide most of the time. I found them very dull sounding and too expensive for me. The Heresy II was a sparkling crystal compared to the Bose but bass light. The Cerwin-Vega (I don't remember the model) had a muddier sound than the Heresy II but sounded better for the rock and roll that I normally listen to. They were also less expensive. It took me awhile to decide on the Heresy II's and when I got them back to my dorm room and next to my Sansuii XPZ7-II's, I felt like I had wasted my money. But...that was until I turned up the volume. At a low volume (which is appreciated by most in the dorm community) the Sansuii speakers were almost the perfect match for my ears and music. When the volume was turned up though, the Heresy II's DID NOT DISTORT AT ALL! I owned a Sansuii 80 watt integrated amp and I doubt that it had real quality components in order to power these quality speakers.

All that said now...

I feel that for the music that I listen to and my like of deeper bass, these are not my preferred speakers. If I listened to Jazz or Classical much more than I do, I would not have any others. I am amazed at the quality compared to other speaker sets that I own. I am considering selling these to someone who would appreciate them more.

Similar Products Used:

Second hand Tangent 100's

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 03, 2002]
zaak
Casual Listener

Strength:

Klipsch...of course

Weakness:

A little small...maybe I need Cornwalls?

My 2 cents worth...I see a lot of controversy over the I's and II's...(including the "audiofile" group)...No bass?...Ringing from metal horns?...Plastic horns don't sound as good?...Mods?...What is this?...I have my II's on speaker stands about 4 or 5 inches off the floor and about 1 to 2 feet from the corner...I don't need any friggin'
modifications!!...These are the best speakers that you could ever own...and no, they are not for sale!!!

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega - Polk Audio - Paradigm - (and some other stuff)

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 25, 2001]
SID
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very eficient, look good, sound great.

Weakness:

a little light on the bass, but the bass it does have is tight and crisp. It holds on to the rythme.

I've spent some time with the herseys as my second set of speakers. They work very well, and i like the forward sound. But I have a question for anyone who has or has ever had a pair of hersey II's . I was just nosing around on the inside of my speakers and decided to pull the plastic horn off of the midrange driver. In doing so i noticed that on the inside of the horn where it's at its most narrow point, there seems to be a rough surface on the inside of the horn. Almost like that is where they injected the plastic for the horn mould and then someone drilled out the middle of the horn. The round diameter of the horn in the center is a rough non circular hole almost like it was drilled with three smaler drill bits in a triangle fashon. I know this description absolutely sucks but if anyone has any idea of what i'm trying to say, my question is "should i take a die grinder or what have you, and finish removing the extra that was not removed?" Also has anyone replaced the factory (crappy) binding posts with some good ones (say wbt posts?) If so was this mod worth doing, how much did it set you back and how did you do it? Thanks for any help you can give.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing it age. Maybe some older tannoys?

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Oct 07, 2001]
Jack
Audiophile

Strength:

QUALITY!!! Unsurpassed realism of horns, keyboards, strings.
Crank up to your hearts content. Have owned for 29 years No Problems!

Weakness:

HEAVY! Dropped on foot once!

I often hold gatherings outside in the woods. Other speakers I have tried performed well indoors but none can touch the output of the Heresy singing in the open air. I currently have them setup in a six channel surround driven by a Technics SA-AX6 amp and SH-AC500D decoder. Wonderful!
Buy them if you can find them. Beware of imitations that are being advertised! Would not advise use in a apartment situation. The power the Heresy requires to make it 'sing' may bring frowns from your landlord.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Advent, Altec-Lansing

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 21, 2001]
james elliot

Strength:

Lows are wonderful, perfect for a HOME theater. No noise, very well built.

Weakness:

has limitations, but everything does.
must match amplifier and pre-amp to make them shine.

O.k. Here's the deal, fellahs! If you buy a speaker, no matter what the brand, and you fail to check the condition of the horns and woofers before you shell out money, then the blame is yours. I have a pair of Chorus II klipsch speakers that i pick-up overseas. They were not new but not used. Therefore there was no previouse owner destroying them. You bought a ***USED*** pair of klipsch speakers! shell out some money for a new pair and then write a review. STOP BEING CHEAP, AND BITTER CAUSE YOU GOT TOOK!

Similar Products Used:

velodyne,jbl-home
jlaudio,eclipse, dynamobile horn,atomic sja, -car

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 12, 2001]
Craig Johnson
Audiophile

Strength:

In Person Sound...Best of the Klipsch line short of the KHorns.

Weakness:

Need a quality subwoofer.

My audio studio is now 28' by 32'. Former studio was 20' by 18'. In the present room I have listened to the above products and in my opinion, the Heresy II's along with my Velodyne ULD 15 II series subwoofer are as close to being there that one can get. I have Audioresearch pre/power amps and the sound is fantastic. I listen to 90% of the available music on the market. No matter what you throw at this system the sound is always the same: IN PERSON! Having been in radio broadcasting for thirty years I have seen and heard the best of the best and for an investment for under $6000 you just can't go wrong. I could go on about this legendary loudspeaker from Hope, Ak. However, what's the point. Every so many months I go and listen to what's out there and know when I come home a live concert is waiting for me in my audio studio! Pay a visit to your Klipsch dealer and give them a listen. Better yet, find a pair on the web and and save some $$$! I suggest the II's over the I's as the horns were updated and the crossover tweaked! My next quest is to add a second pair of II's and invert them and then you will have the slam and stage of a mega loudspeaker system!

Similar Products Used:

KLF-30's...RF-3...La Scala...Cornwall...Forte...Chorus...KHorn

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 13, 2001]
Todd Gourlie
Audiophile

Strength:

which one?

Weakness:

yeah right!

You just have to hear them. Thats all, you just have to hear them. Incredible!

Similar Products Used:

absolutely none

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 16, 1999]
tom
an Audio Enthusiast

I recently purchased a pair of Klipsch Heresy IIs, which I have used to replace a pair of JBL Horizon L 166s, a largish bookshelf speaker that I purchased over 20 years ago, and which I used with pleasure until the surrounds finally disintegrated. As fine as the JBLs were, I always had an unrequited love affair with Klipsch speakers, and jumped at a chance to get the Heresy IIs at a reasonable price. My comments are those of someone with no technical expertise or vocabulary.
When these speakers are good, they are great. The problem is that they are not great all the time. Their strengths are considerable: upper and midrange are incredible. The speakers have a musical quality, somewhat lacking in the JBLs, of which the sum of their parts often seemed somehow greater than the whole. As well, the stereo image is rivetting. The Heresy IIs communicate a great deal of nuance and detail on the right recording, and effective on a diverse selection of music, classical, voice, solo piano, rock, older recordings (the Everly Brothers never sounded better or more distinct). That's the good news.

The bad news is that these speakers do not like the sight of a bass guitar, even less an acoustic base or base drum. Small ensemble recordings of recent vintage are very difficult to listen to because of the quality of the base response which is muddy to the point of low-fi. The bass seems a good deal slower than the rest of sonic picture as well; it just sort of thumps away in a low grumble, one note barely distinguishable from the next.

I plan to eventually upgrade my Luxman CD player, though the problem is evident even on my Rega Planar turntable and high-end cartridge. On the right source, these speakers are superior to just about everything that I listened to including some Monitor Audio, Hales, B&W, Thiel, and Tannoy speakers that I auditioned which were also more expensive. But the bass response does compromise their excellence to some degree. While they clearly outclass my old JBLs in many ways, I have renewed respect for what good and versatile speakerrs those JBLs were.

I would give the Heresy II's five stars at the top of their game, but given the distracting bass problems, 4 stars seems like a fairer estimate.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
Showing 31-40 of 56  

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