Pronouncing the name Klipsch makes shiver. Owning a pair of Klipsch loudspeakers delights you.
Moreover, if the speakers are a pair of Heresy first series of 1972 you ravish. The first production of the brand, personally worked by Colonel Paul, includes legendary models. If you bring home a vintage Horn or a Belle speaker in good conditions, that means being settled for an entire life of listening experience.
The Heresy I inserted in my system a couple of years ago are two jewels: sealed box design in birch solid wood, essential crossovers with double transformer and two capacitors, 12’’ K-22 woofer with suspension in treated red canvass, K-55V horn midrange by Atlas Sound and K-77 Electrovoice horn tweeter made out of Alnico.
With an adequate amplification the result is guaranteed: the music flows with extreme naturalness and strong emotional impact. I don’t mean that the Heresy are perfect. On the contrary they are a compromise to keep safe the features and the Klipsch qualitative standards in a version aimed to a budget market. Compromise means to modify some parameters. In our case it means, although in a harmonic and timbric contest of absolute excellence, a light bass, an unauthoritative mid and a high with a lack in refinement.
What to do to remedy? The first idea has been to predispose the Heresy for bi-amplification and to separate the bass from the mid-high range. In order to reinforce and widen the bass, I have thought to keep the original cabinet only for the woofer, so to retrieve litres of air where the driver could set free and express its huge potentialities. Thus, the horn drivers have been pulled out and fixed onto an external frame made of solid iroko wood, without side walls, far from standing waves and resonances.
In the same open structure, decoupled and on top of the speaker, I’ve put the new crossovers made by Bob Crites. The former wiring has been completely replaced with Western Electric cables of various sections. The binding posts have been replaced and integrated for bi-wiring. Also the supports are in solid iroko wood in order to preserve the aesthetic profile and individuate the right height of the components.
Since I’m not a technician, I haven’t kept into consideration any measurements or curves. I’ve just relayed on the listening sensations based on my hearing and sound taste.
The outcome is amazing.
The acoustic scene has exploded its three-dimensionality, the bass is energetic and deep, so extended that I’m still testing some solutions for a better control. The mid is coherent and precise, while the high is more delicate and less harsh. The upper frame, free to rotate, allows the calibration of a fine angle of the mid-high range with respect to the speakers body and to the listening spot.
The photo gallery shows all the manufacturing passages that have been made to realise the design.
Annex | Modified Klipsch Heresy One
and Sopranino ENIGMAcoustics supertweeter
The modification project of my Klipsch Heresy has got a further implementation with the Sopranino ENIGMAcoustics supertweeter. The Chief Editor Roberto Rocchi has written about in this recent article and besides exalting the qualities, he warned against a possible addiction. Well, I totally agree. The Sopranino are exceptional!
I’ve never heard a component affecting so deep the output and the quality of a Hi-End set. After a couple of months I can firmly say: I can’t do without them.
Look at the picture, they’re so beauty!
The project is not over. Next step will be the decoupling of the upper frame from the woofer cabinet through an air cushion sandwiched between the two structures.
Should someone be interested to a listening session can contact me at info@remusic.it.
For further info:
to Klipsch website
to ENIGMAcoustics website
