Quick and easy mod for Klipsch Heresy!

Anyone else have good results with the tweeter upgrade? I'm always after improvement - but "not bright enough" is not an issue for me. If anything, my Fortes can be a little too aggressive.

 

The tweeter upgrade is supposed to tame that. Unfortunately I put them in last weekend and have been out of town since Sunday afternoon so really haven't focused on it or have an opinion as of yet.

I do know I very much like what was coming out of my speakers after the upgrades. I don't think that will change once I listen to them sober.

 

Yes but what about the bass response?

 

I am considering getting the crossover/cap replacements for my Heresys from Bob Crites.
I have not listened to these speakers in a while, they are the mid-80's Heresy II model
in great condition (I bought them new). I hope I can install these myself. Do other types
of speakers require crossover/cap replacement? If I had not read this thread, I would have
not thought about doing this, because as far as I can tell, these speakers still sound fine.

 

One thing you probably do need is treble attenuation and the popular way to do it is with a small autoformer for the treble. PWK used only caps and inductors, not resistors, whenever possible in his crossovers, and the autoformer provides reduced drive without dissipation. Al Klappenberg's page covers this well as do others. The autoformer is a small affair and not expensive since it only handles the HF signal.

The stock treble drivers used in Klassic Klipsch systems were inexpensive and for the big ones at least the JBL or Beyma is probably the way to go. The Beymas are not hugely expensive. The JBLs are several hundred dollars apiece but at least they are a legitimate product and not a tweak affair, and you can always resell them for much of their cost if you don't like them. And they are very rebuildable if you somehow blow one.

 

Yes, most speakers can use a cap upgrade at any time since most speakers use cheap caps. The higher end speakers generally fair much better but many still only last about ten to twenty years, not many decades in case the rest of the system does manage to make it that long. The Klipsch Heritage speakers at least the older ones from the early eighties that I have seen had very high quality caps for a speaker system, generally industrial stuff. They are not always the best types for audio applications however and a popular upgrade is to bypass one or two of them with a really nice, but very small value cap.

Not to knock Mr. Crites' x-overs, as they look very nice, but I don't think that is something that I would do personally. It's much more cost effective to just replace a couple of needy caps. You don't need the whole thing reworked. In any case, you'll still have a set of Heresys and you'll either like them or not. New caps will just make them a little cleaner sounding, with better imaging perhaps but they will still have all of their other qualities and flaws. The rest of the crossover is basically just wire and an inductor or two and as I just said, the stock ones are actually very good. I'll recap really old speakers to recycle them for others, but personally when I want better speakers, I buy better speakers...
-Bill

 

Thanks for your input Bill. I will need to listen to my Heresys more critically, and think about
what I really want to do. I don't see the point of having these speakers if they are not
up to specifications. I wish I knew someone that could really look these over and tell me
what they really need. They are very nice speakers, but I don't want to just throw money
at them.

 

Chris, you may only need to replace the caps as Bill says. Bob Crites supplies caps in kit form for DIY. Or you can just send him your crossovers and upon inspection he'll do it for you. Replacing the caps will bring the speakers back up to factory spec. Replacing the crossover entirely will take them above factory spec, making them smoother. That's what Bob's crossover mod does.
As far as replacing the entire crossover there is another school of thought to this. You then would still have the originals that have never been tapered with, which can be a good selling point if you decide to get rid of them on eBay, Audiogon, or whatever. One can reap benefits from this when selling. And you'd have Bob's new crossovers to sell as well. Very highly regarded.

If I were you, I'd go hang out over at the Klipsch Forum . You can even sometimes talk to Bob himself there. But I still recommend you call or email him in the mean time. He will not do you wrong.

 

Thanks Gregory Earl. I am going to contact Bob and see what he says. I am a Audiokarma
forum member (Klipsch Forum) and have posted there, but they are not as active in their
responses as we are here.

 

What else is there to do......? Hold on, I've got to flip the record and get a beer.

 

You must be playing some Jim Morrison if you are having a beer for breakfast.

 

I work at night, so this is my evening. A tough life I hope to change in the near future.

Cheers.

 

I hooked up my Heresys last night, had not listened to them for a while (been using my Boston Acoustic T830 towers) - I nearly fried my ears! These speakers are hot, especially when playing c.d.s. I played some records and found the sound much more tolerable, and even nice sounding with older vinyl. You really need a big room (or a theater) for these speakers. I have to put something over the horn tweeter, it is quite sharp!

 

UPDATE: I got the refurbished crossovers for my '86 Heresy II's back from Bob Crites a week or two ago, and have had plenty of time to evaluate the difference.

WOW!! What a difference the new caps have made! These speakers sound wonderful! The overall tonal spectrum is much smoother. Yes, these speakers are leaning towards the bright side, but they aren't shouting anymore. The top is now blended perfectly into the overall sound instead of overriding it, if that makes sense. I can even listen at higher volume without fatigue. The speakers have also lost the box-y characteristic that they had before. (Perhaps the midrange was too pronounced before?)

Before the cap job, an album like "A Hard Day's Night" was all but unlistenable - Ringo's bright, swishy open hi-hats were just too unpleasant. Now they fit into the mix right where they're supposed to be.

Forget the tissue paper trick, just make sure your Heresys are up to spec!

 

I have a pair of Altec Lansing Model 19 and they have one big horn in the top. They are very effiicient and very clean. I used to use them from front channel speakers but I now have them in the rear of my living room.

They are for the rear surround but I can also play them as a stereo (2 channel) arrangement.

But, when they were in the front, I had them angled inwards but in the rear, they sit straight forward sitting in each corner. They sound less "over the top" being they aren't aimed at my head.

I don't know how you have your Klipish set-up but you might want to try turning them away from you a bit; if you have them like that now. I don't prefer to cover horns or speakers up cause I feel like I taking away from their design and losing something in the process.

And in my avitar, that is the top of my Altec that I have the amp and TT sitting on.

 

Yeah, gotta get mine done. I don't like feeling that they may not be "what they should be".

 

Go for it, Chris. It really makes a difference.

I have experimented quite a bit with placement, and in my little room, I like the sound best with toe-in aiming towards the center of the facing wall. Otherwise, I lose detail.

In my 9 x 11 room I have them firing down the long walls, placed about 12" from the rear wall and about 6" from the side walls. The corner placement reinforces the bass just enough to not sound muddy. If the speakers are pushed any further back, the soundstage becomes 1-dimensional and flat.

The ADS L9e 3-way bookshelf speakers I have in the basement on top of some record shelves at ear level sound better to me with a wider toe-in, so go figure.

 

Are Heresys bigger than Fortes? I have a small room (12X10), but mine fire toward a mostly open "wall." I am generally happy with them, but there is a shout factor on some recordings, which makes upgrades tempting. After much tweaking, they're toed-in pretty good, a little farther from the rear and side walls than you have it; I think they're pretty dialed in.

 

No, Fortes are like big Heresys.

 

Hi, Does anyone have the dimentions of the heresy risers ? thanx ,Scott

 

Bob Crites of Crites Speakers is the only name you need to know on Klipsch upgrades. Do his crossovers and you'll see improvements.

 

Last year I installed Crites crossovers in Cornwall I's and have been pleased with the results. The degree of improvement realized by new crossovers is directly proportional to how much out of spec the old crossovers are.
Before replacement the Klipsch's were adding the "duophonic" effect to mono recordings.