Modified Klipsch Heresy inspired build, now with bass!

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About 15 years ago, I pulled a pair of Klipsch H700 Heresy speakers out of the dumpster at a job site I was managing. I wasn't an audiophile; at the time, a pair of Infinity SM125s that I'd bought at the PX on a private's salary, were the nicest things I'd owned. I knew the "Klipsch Heresy" name, but I didn't know much more than that. I hooked them up to my mid-range Marantz AV amp and thought they just sounded ok...

Life got in the way and about 10 years ago, I gave them to a buddy who had a bitchin' stereo and a nice record collection. I got rid of the rest of my hi-fi and ultimately settled on a bose wave radio that I'd also saved from the trashmen. My pal consigned the speakers to his unheated garage and sometime about 2-4 years ago, I got them back and stored them in my unconditioned carriage house next door. Every time I had to move them, I considered putting them back on the curb; they were definitely worse for wear, with a torn woofer and cabinets that looked like they'd been cobbled together out of scrap.

Recently, I was cleaning out my carriage house to make room for some new tools and the urge to toss them came up again, but I stopped myself and thought "what if I restored them?" so I disassembled them and began to bring them back to life.

First, I sanded the cabinets down, then filled the myriad scratches, dings, chips and dents, then sanded them again to 320 grit, and applied sanding sealer and grain filler. I gave them another light sanding, then applied 6 coats of aklyd enamel.

 

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While the cabinets were curing, I got another pair of K-22K woofers to replace the ones that were in there, cleaned the tweeters, touched up the mid horns with a spritz of Rustoleum, painted the screw heads metallic copper and made a pair of risers for them.

I assembled them with the stock Type C network (with 51 year-old oil in paper resistors!)

Sealed and insulated the cabinets:

I tested them out in 2 channel stereo on a Denon AVR 1804 receiver, with a Pro-Ject Audio Systems Debut Carbon Turntable. First thoughts: as expected and the many Klipsch detractors will be keen to the bass response was a bit weak, with a significant roll off at 60 Hz, but with a little Mirage FRx S8 subwoofer, with the crossover set around 80Hz and the EQ flat, it was pretty nice. I'm just recovering from COVID, so my tinnitus is off the charts, but my impression was that the mids were a little on the harsh side. This may be a result of the ancient capacitors degrading off spec, or the fact that the Type C network was optimized for the earlier, 16 ohm, K-22 & K-22-E woofers; I acquired these with 8 ohm K-22-K woofers that had a big "R" stamped on them, indicating that they may have been replaced at some point & they were replaced with like. At any rate, my next step is to update the network- I considered simply replacing the caps with equivalant value metal film capacitors, but given the woofers are from the later Heresy 1 speakers, I feel upgrading to Type E is a better move.

 

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I converted a tired pair of Type A networks...

To Type E:

right away, the mids are warmer, less sibilant. Overall, the speakers sound less harsh, and much warmer. It’s a definite improvement!

for giggles, I put 3/4” thick, ported MDF backs on the cabinets, with the K-22-K woofers still installed. A-B-ing between the stock speaker, the ported one seems louder, with more presence in the midrange and just a hair more bass. I wish I had the analytics kit to measure my perceptions, but it definitely seems like an improvement.

Next step is to install these Eminence Delta Pro-12A fowoofers that I nabbed for $200 for the pair, one is in an unopened box!

Now things get interesting... now that I've swapped the stock woofers for a set of Eminence Delta Pro 12A's, the same spec as a Klipsch K-42, with the 4"x4" port in the rear, no subwoofer required! This is the speaker I wanted all along! it now has all of the features that people who like the Klipsch sound crave, but with BASS! Granted, this isn't Cerwin Vega boom, I'm more than ok with that, but rather a more full-bodied sound that remains tight and musical to the bottom of its range. now, the total investment at this point, is somewhere in the ballpark of $365.

 

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Finally, the crown jewel to the mod series that was developed through extensive testing by @claudej12000, over at the Klipsch forums before mods and hot rodding was shut down: @Dave Tennesseee's gorgeous sMAHL tweeters & horn lenses

Oh. My. Dog!!!

The sound, even with the not broken-in DE120’s, is simply incredible. The K77’s had a harsh sibilance that led me to be overly obsessive about cleaning my LP’s and I was constantly checking the stylus for dust accumulation. While the Ortophon Red cartridge on my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon has its shortcomings, that’s clearly not the issue, as the sMAHLs have laid it all bare. High ends are crisp, although there is a slight harshness that I anticipate will ease as the drivers break in over the weekend. Listening to Tortoise’s eponymous debut LP, even the basses have a renewed clarity that I’d not heard before through these speakers. Next, I cued up Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” soundtrack. On the track, “T Plays It Cool,” the drum trap seems impossibly tight, with amazing presence, the Moog and Rhodes piano lines have an incredible live quality to them, the bass is even more propulsive and the sax has an urgency that I’ve never heard before in the decades I’ve been listening to this record. Following that was Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto’s 1964 collaboration Getz/Gilberto: I can’t add anything new that I haven’t already said, although Astrud Gilberto’s voice has never sounded better. “Hallelujah,” the classic Leonard Cohen cover on Jeff Buckley’s LP, “Grace” sounds almost the same as when I saw him perform live in 1995, except it might sound better. Moving on to electronica, Boards of Canada’s dub- heavy, hypnotic track “Aquarius” shines in ways I’ve never experienced, except perhaps back in grad school, with a 4’ graphix and a nugget of Humboldt county’s finest at my disposal. Part of what I think I may be experiencing, is that after playing bands in my teens and twenties, a tour of duty in a US Army 8” howitzer unit and 3 decades of working with power tools, I’m heading high frequencies and transients that I haven’t heard since my salad says; I’m not sure they sounded this good back then! Final track in this listening session was Steely Dan’s “Any Major Dude Well Tell You”; all I can say is this must be exactly what they had in mind when the track was produced.

based on the reports I’d read from others who’d built Super Heresies, I knew they were great sounding, but I still had some apprehensions: I’d built these speakers on the cheap, I pulled them out of the dumpster after a fire ravaged a house that i was renovating, the tweeters cost as much as what I paid for the other upgrades, combined; the refreshed networks, woofers and ports had worked miracles, could the sMAHLs make such a huge difference, too? it turns out that they did.

 

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the modded Heresies exceeded my expectations so much that I arrived at the conclusion that they deserved their own enclosures.

It begins with a pair of Crites motor boards and a stack of Baltic birch…

While it’s entirely within my skill set to do the motor boards myself, for what Crites charges, I’d start going into the red just setting up to cut them. It’s a great deal and Crites’ customer service is outstanding.

I got the cabinets preliminarily done. Next, sand, fill and a first for me, veneering...

 

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before the veneer, I thought it might be prudent to mock up the motor boards and test fit the components. Since the sMAHLs and Delta Pro woofers are currently in my H700 Heresies and will stay there until I’m done finishing these cabinets, I mocked them up with a pair of K-77 tweeters, the K-701/K53 squawkers that I plan on using and a pair of cheap import woofers that I had laying around. Now that the holes are drilled, next step is to sand and finish the driver openings, build the bases, then prep for veneer.

 

[AllenB]

This was a monumental effort, and (so far ) a good read. Thanks for sharing.

 

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There’s more to come.

 

[claudej12000]

The sound, even with the not broken-in DE120’s, is simply incredible.

Gee, now you make me blush a little. Another of my Super H VICTIMS!! It started with the idea of getting better midrange from a High BL product woofer with a light cone. I also knew I would be giving up too much bass unless I ported it after. Checking my port size in 3 different Bass Reflex software programs, I found the correct port size. I used bed foam to absorb the unwanted midrange bouncing around the box while increasing the adiabatic performance that make the box seem larger than it is. It went beyond mine and everyone else expectations. I'm glad I shared the Joy, so to speak! I'll await you final with the new box!

 

[fatmarley]

Threads like these are right up my street. Looking forward to the finished result with the new cabinets...

 

[raymondj]

A very interesting refurb, with lots of insight on how things progressed.
Nice shop too.
And you say there is More

 

[gigantic]

Threads like these are right up my street. Looking forward to the finished result with the new cabinets...

almost literally... you're like 8-1/2 miles away from me.

 

[korpberget]

That is a proper dumpster find!!
Lucky you!

 

[wesayso]

Lucky set of Klipsch speakers to be found
(and to be appreciated)

 

[fabricadetabaco]

Will follow thread!

 

[claudej12000]

almost literally... you're like 8-1/2 miles away from me.

Time to invite fatmarley over for a listening session with his test music! The only way to experience dynamic excellence in that small of a box!

 

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As soon as the new boxes are ready!

 

[fatmarley]

almost literally... you're like 8-1/2 miles away from me.

I live in Cheltenham, UK. Are you not in Philadelphia, USA?

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[mdpaudio]

The part I love is there is almost no Klipsch left! very inspiring job to get the most out of them. You’ve been bitten by the bug niw and will mess with everything you get your hands on!

 

[gigantic]

I live in Cheltenham, UK. Are you not in Philadelphia, USA?

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Oh… Cheltenham is also a Philadelphia suburb. 😁