Now I know how good Klipsch speakers are....

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Blue Nile Fan, Dec 29, 2014.

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  1. EasterEverywhere

    EasterEverywhere Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    I can see where using Heresys with solid state would not be ideal,but I can never see myself listening to any piece of solid state gear and enjoying it.The Asians get it right.Vintage tube/valve amps with horns,and a fine turntable are the best you can get.
     
    russk likes this.
  2. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    The Heresys sound great (through solid state) when playing records or well mastered cds. I'm sure they would sound better with a tube amp, but I have to find something
    affordable and not worry about having to switch out tubes. Sometimes it becomes a "slippery slope", and I can't afford to play around with hardware. I did re-cap the horns,
    replace the cross-overs and rotate the woofers a few years ago, so I should be good for a while. Maybe I can find a good deal on a used tube amp some day.
     
    sunrayjack likes this.
  3. Wngnt90

    Wngnt90 Forum Resident

    Well...better sound with tube amps? Different yes....the jury is still out on better. Pretty subjective subject.
     
    sunrayjack likes this.
  4. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    As an owner of BOTH, Paradigm Studio 100 V2's and Klipsch Chorus I's (with new Crites crossovers and diaphram's) and I love both of them for different reasons. Those Klipsch speakers need a low powered tube amp and those Crites upgrades, before they proved themselves to me and the Paradigm's sound perfect on my old DENON AVR-5800 receiver.

    Clearly, any speaker's best performance is with proper amplification. I've heard the same speakers on different amps and the results can be night and day! For years, I can say with confidence that my Paradigm Studio 100's V2's were a very good speaker for the money and that my search to better them, with the finances that I had at the time, was a complete failure. I am not a very big fan of any of the later Paradigm Studio speakers, as I feel that they have cheapened them somehow, in quality and in looks.
     
  5. Blue Nile Fan

    Blue Nile Fan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Akron, Ohio
    The guy that rebuilt the driver told me that the older Paradigm's are the bomb, the newer ones not so much. After a week or so of listening, I do like the sound of the Paradigms. It is different - I would say deeper and some good imaging. Speaker placement is critical as any speaker is, but these maybe a bit more so. I also placed them on thick solid maple boards and that has helped big time. I put all my speaks on maple and get great results. I tried my Denon AVR-1804 receiver and they sounded pretty good. I still prefer the Onkyo Integra receiver though. This summer I am going to do something with the amp, not sure what. The Paradigms sound good with vinyl, CD and SACD. My Onkyo is only 80 wpc, so I think more power will yield better results.
     
  6. sunrayjack

    sunrayjack Forum Resident

    I have a pair of klipsch khorns, I have used them with tubes and ss, they are great no matter what you feed them, such a honor and pleasure to own such great speakers.
    I bought them used , but still new in the boxes from a guy that had never set them up , a man with lots of interest and money to boot.
    My good fortune, once in a life time purchase for me, I will never regret spending that cash.
    I saw an interview with Norm Abrams, from TV's Yankee work shop, he said a guy told him once, he could build furniture like him if he had all those expensive tools.
    Norm told him , for the price of a good bass boat , you could have all these tools, it's all about your passion.
    He did say tools do not matter as much as experience and skill when it comes to wood working, and I would agree with that 100%.
    Love those Klipsch!
     
    762rob, Wngnt90 and Jimi Floyd like this.
  7. Blue Nile Fan

    Blue Nile Fan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Akron, Ohio
    UPDATE: A couple months back I purchased an Onkyo Integra TX-890 receiver, with 125wpc and WOW what a difference. Those Paradigms sure do pop now. Very glad I made the move, although at times I still miss the Klipsch's. I could not have both systems - no where to put them. I have moved some stuff around in the cabinet and have played around with my cables, and I think I have the perfect set up for me (at least at this point in time). Everything sounds great, whatever I spin or play is great. I just needed to put the right amount of power to the Paradigms to make them sing. I bought the amp from an E-bay lister not far from home, and he is now a friend - win/win!
     
    brew ziggins likes this.
  8. Rockos

    Rockos Forum Resident

    Is that to tame the high end brightness?
     
  9. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    My experience with people that claim Klipsch are bright is that quite often they heard them mated with a cheap home theater receiver. Klipsch managed to work themselves into many Circuit City type big box stores in the 80s and I can't imagine how many people that never took a deeper dive into hi-fi just grabbed whatever cheap Sony receiver they sold to power them. Every Klipsch Heritage setup I've heard with low to medium powered tubes has been far from bright.
     
  10. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    It's a sad day when a speaker manufacture can't get bass out of a 15".
     
  11. Tore Pedersen

    Tore Pedersen Member

    Location:
    Norway
    Yeah, they're not "bright". They're more "forward". My Heresy III's puts me in the front row. Some people like that, some don't. 2x8w and dynamics galore! Love it.
     
  12. bhazen

    bhazen ANNOYING BEATLES FAN

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    Am I correct in thinking that the love for Klipsch is limited to the old designs using horns? Are the new(er) designs (with those gold-coloured woofers and Tractrix-loaded tweeters) not part of the magic?
     
  13. Tony L

    Tony L Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    It's more to do with damping factor IMO. One needs to remember that the Heritage Klipsch range are vintage designs and were voiced when the only amps available were small single ended triodes or small push-pull tube amps. Partner these speakers with modern highly damped ultra-tight solid state and they just sound wrong.

    If you must use solid state with Klipsch I'd personally recommend something with fairly a low damping factor, e.g. a Quad 303 (capacitor coupled), a nicely restored vintage receiver or even a decent TA2020 T-Amp. I'm currently driving my pair of La Scalas (ALK Universal crossovers) with a little Amptastic T-Amp and they sound rather good. Not as good as with a tube amp (I have a Leak Stereo 20 and have tried and liked a Decware Zen), but the T-Amp is surprisingly competent in this context, certainly not in anyway bright or harsh in any way, just not quite as warm and full as a good tube amp. The reason I use it is my La Scalas are the 'office streaming/TV' rig, so in use for much of the day, it's just not practical to burn tubes for that length of time.
     
    McLover likes this.
  14. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    [QUOTE="Synthfreek, [/QUOTE]
    [QUOTE

    I would sooner drink a nice tall glass of Drano,than willingly listen to solid state gear...of any kind.[/QUOTE]



    A bit of a narrow minded view isn't it ?
    I have both quality tube and solid state systems so can tell you "if you don't like solid state you haven't heard good solid state ".
     
    911s55, SandAndGlass, mwb and 2 others like this.
  15. Slick Willie

    Slick Willie Decisively Indecisive

    Location:
    sweet VA.
    Just IMO, but the copper colored coned ones fatigued me. I spent a few hours with them one day auditioning other equipment. I can only say they do not sound quite the same as my old KLF 20's.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  16. Synthfreek

    Synthfreek I’m a ray of sunshine & bastion of positivity

    @tmsorosk

    Thanks for mangling that quote so badly that it makes it look like I said that.
     
  17. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Sorry if I miss quoted you. :ignore:
    What were you saying ?
     
  18. Linger63

    Linger63 Forum Resident

    Location:
    AUSTRALIA
    Tim 2 likes this.
  19. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    LOL
     
  20. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I have Studio 40's and 100's and they really blossom with ample power. When I went from an integrated that was pushing 100w to a separate that has 220w it was like hearing them for the first time.
     
    Linger63 likes this.
  21. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Another one saw the light. Any Klipsch speaker is an awesome speaker. Klipsch rules ! :edthumbs:
     
  22. Tore Pedersen

    Tore Pedersen Member

    Location:
    Norway
    I think that for the money, the Reference series is pretty dang good. If I was shopping in that pricerange, there really isn't much else I'd be interested in.
    It's not for everyone though, if you like a laid back mellow approach; look elsewere.
     
  23. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Yeah the average forumite here loves the vintage Klipschs. As a proud owner of a Synergy F2 modern pair of towers I can tell you they rock !! The Tractix ARE horns !!
     
    utahusker likes this.
  24. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I have Heresy II with Crites X-overs and titanium tweeters. I also have a set of Rogers Studio 1s. My ENTEC SW-1 Subwoofer takes care of the 20hz-80hz (bottom 2 octaves) quite well. My power amp is a John Iverson Electron Kinetics Eagle 2c. For some reason the Heresys just do not have much in the upper bass region. I hear much more visceral punch in the upper bass with the Rogers. It is frustrating. What I like about the Heresys is the clean crystal clarity, the forwardness. The Rogers stereo image extends deeper and beyond the outer edge of the speakers. And the bass integrates with the subwoofer better.

    Other speakers I have owned are Rogers Studio 1A (well I still have them, but they are for sale), DLK3s, Paradigm Studio 20 v3, ProAc EBT (Extend Bass Tablette) which were awesome, except they had even less upper bass than the Heresys. I cannot decide if what I am hearing in the Rogers is less natural, and more colored in the upper bass region and the Heresys are actually more accurate in that area, or if the Heresys are lacking. It is driving me crazy. Maybe Klipsch Forte's are my answer?
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2015
  25. Tore Pedersen

    Tore Pedersen Member

    Location:
    Norway
    It must be "lower bass" you mean, right? Because if there is one thing Heresy's do right, it's the midbass.
     
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