About ready to order...

TommyC · « **on:** 14 Oct 2005, 08:43 am »

Hi guys. I have been lurking here for a while reading all the great info and I am about ready to take the battery powered plunge. A series of unfortunate events (wasn't that a movie/book?) has left my system mostly dead. At this point all I have that actually Works is my speakers. They are Very late vintage Klipsch Heresies (made the month before the change to Heresy II's) I realize that these are speakers that people seem to love or hate, and I am in the Loves them camp. The only thing that is holding me back at this point is concern for how they will sound with the Clari-T amp. I understand that it needs to be matched to appropriate speakers and I have learned from experience that my Heresies can sound Awful when mated to some amps. Any experience with this combo? Your thoughts on the compatibility between these speakers and the Clari-T would really be appreciated.

Thanks!
Tommy C

JLM · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Oct 2005, 09:18 am »

I have the Clari-T (no performance upgrades, yet) and a friend about an hour away that owned the Heresies. He sold them before I got the Clari-T, so the two have never mated. I did listen to them a couple of times, but only with tube amps. The Heresies as you elluded to have a very forward/typical horn presentation. IMO all of the classic Klipsch speakers need (and were designed decades ago) with tubes (warm, deep soundstage, "soft on the edges" sort of sound) in mind. But the Clari-T's high resolution (clarity) may be too much of a good thing with them.

You could try a stock Sonic Impact to get an idea of how a Clari-T might sound. I'd also try to get some tubes somewhere into the mix (maybe a nice Eastern Electric CD player or one of the great for the price cheap universal players with a tube buffer, like a Mapletree tubed pre-amp).

The Clari-T should have the guts to get nasty loud with the Heresies. I have tried it with a few higher efficiency speakers (unfortunately none were front loaded horns) and it worked great with all of them.

TommyC · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Oct 2005, 09:52 am »

JLM,

That is kind of what I was affraid of. I have tried quite a few tube amps with my Heresies and, while I love the sound, I am not really crazy about the little hassles involved with tube gear. That plus a house full of pets and small kids makes tube gear a little bit of a risk. I was hoping to find an alternative that sounds good without the negatives. I will have to think about it a bit more I guess, because as you said, the Heresies do not have much middle ground. They either sound good or they sound Bad. Thanks for your insights!

Tommy C.

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Oct 2005, 10:18 am »

Hi Tommy,

With the 30 day money back policy I would give the ClariT a try or at least talk with Vinnie (http://www.redwineaudio.com/About_Us.html). You may be surprised at how well the battery powered amp works with your highly efficient speakers, considering your experience with tubes.

roymail · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Oct 2005, 11:16 pm »

Hi Tommy,

I have owned several models of Klipsch speakers but currently am using Omega Super 3's. But the Visaton B200s in some configuration are my future speakers.

I use a fully modded Clari-T with a Vinnie modded Toshiba 3950 cd player. The Clari-T is remarkable but also is the synergy between it and efficient single driver speakers.

You could try this. Contact Vinnie to see if there's someone who owns a Clari-T in your area .... the Dallas/Ft. Worth area is pretty big. Also, there's lots of real estate within 100 miles of Plano, TX. If you find someone, perhaps you guys could get together for a listen. Or, you could take advantage of Vinnie's 30 day trial option as Paul Bui suggested. But, whatever you do, contact Vinnie for his advice which is not only free, but he'll steer you in the right direction. He really knows his stuff!

I also tend to agree with JLM about what the vintage Klipsch speakers were designed for... primarily amps with a warm sonic presentation. Many were sold by dealers who also sold the older McIntosh gear like the MC2105 SS and lots of Mac tube gear as well.

But, you'll never know for certain until you listen to this combo in your home environment. Then all your questions will be answered. Of course, you could get the Clari-T amp w/out volume control and put a nice tube preamp in front of it. That just might do it! Just my 2 cents worth.

-- Roy

miklorsmith · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Oct 2005, 11:27 pm »

I sold my first Clari-T (dual-mono in the house now) to a Klipsch owner. His first-round comment to me was it was the best SS he'd heard and an excellent match for the Klipsches. Don't know the model, sorry.

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Oct 2005, 12:07 am »

Sounds like you should try the ClariT sans volume control. If you need a preamp, I would ask Vinnie to build an active DACT buffered linestage. Alternatively, can always add an excellent tube pre like the MiniMax.

jkelly · « **Reply #7 on:** 15 Oct 2005, 02:56 am »

I very much enjoyed running the Clari-T with my stand-by KLF-20's. (100db).
These speakers are stock except for lining the cabinets with Black Hole 5.
Usually I would match up a warmer cable to soften the "Klipsch" sound a bit
but with the Clari-T I wound up using the hotest cables I had. The sonic detail
of the Clari-T is intoxicating and the Klipsch's really delivered it.
As it turned out the mid and lower bass of the KLF-20's started to bother me
so back they went into storage!

From my experience one of the first things you will notice is that the Clari-T
gives your speakers more resolution than they ever had.

Jeff
Via Xandros

TommyC · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Oct 2005, 08:14 am »

Thanks for the insights, guys. I have had these speakers for 20 years and will probably have them until I am gone or until something unforseen happens. Over these last 20 years I have tried a LOT of different types/brands/layouts of amplification. Unfortunately, the ones that sound the best are pretty much All out of my price range. Kids in college, 45 year old house, etc. put audio equipment a bit down the priorty scale for the near term. I do kind of enjoy the actual search though. I will probably give the Clari-T a try and see how it sounds. Those 30 day money back garantees sure are nice!

If I don't like it, the search will go on. Eventually I will solve the amplification question and then it will be on to the source question!

Thanks again!
Tommy C.

JLM · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Oct 2005, 10:34 am »

You won't need 30 days to know one way or the other. The Clari-T is a wonderful balance between the best of tube and solid state sound. That said, several here have raved about the advantages of adding tubes into the mix, but that puts you back on the AC grid.