Black Friday Live
Klipsch Heritage – New to PJ HiFi
With the turntable revival showing no signs of slowing down there has been a renewal of interest in other vintage HiFi products. Reel to reel is booming in the second-hand market, and valve amplification enjoying a resurgence. Vintage speaker designs too are enjoying a renaissance, with multiple manufacturers releasing updates of classic designs. For PJ HiFi this means a new speaker brand has come into the fold in the shape of the Klipsch Heritage range.
The Klipsch Heritage speakers are essentially updated releases of speakers which the company founder Paul W. Klipsch played a role in the design, development and engineering of. This has the range drawing from designs from the 1940s all the way through to the 1980s.
All the speakers in the Heritage range are built on Klipsch’s four guiding principles High Efficiency / Low Distortion, Controlled Directivity, Wide Dynamic range and Flat Frequency response. When put together these principles produce a speaker giving louder, cleaner audio with a lifelike soundstage in which the greatest range is produced between soft and loud sounds without colouring the music.
An investment in Klipsch Heritage speakers is to buy a timeless design which enjoys all of the advantages of modern materials, as well updated manufacturing techniques and cutting-edge audio engineering.
There are five models in the range, Heresy IV, Forte III, Cornwall IV, La Scala AL5 and the Klipschorn AK6. All feature grain matched wood veneers which come from the same timber.
The Heresy, first released in 1947, is an easily driven three-way horn-loaded loudspeaker. It features a 12” fibre-composite cone, 1.75” midrange compression driver and a 1” titanium diaphragm high frequency driver. This all leads to a frequency range of 48Hz to 20kHz. The cabinet utilises a rear ported design for fast air transfer.
The Forte, released in 1985 was the most popular Klipsch model of the era. The midrange and high frequency drivers are shared with the Heresy, however while the main low frequency driver is a 12” fibre-composite cone, there is the addition of a substantial 15” sub-bass passive radiator in the rear of the cabinet. This leads to full range performance and a drop to 38Hz in the frequency range.
The Cornwall is easy to think of as the bigger brother to the Heresy introduced in 1959. Larger in all respects, the Cornwall increases from a 1” high frequency driver to a 1.75” the low frequency driver moves from 12” to 15” and frequency range expands again, covering 34Hz to 20 kHz.
Originally designed for professional use in 1963 the La Scala is exceptionally east to drive, producing 105 decibels sound pressure from a single watt of power allowing a huge degree of flexibility with amplification. A three-way fully horn-loaded design with a neodymium tweeter, the La Scala brings the most dynamic sound possible.
The peak of the Klipsch Heritage range the Klipschorn has the longest production run of any loudspeaker, over 65 years. Known as “A Legend in Sound®” the Klipschorn can span nine full octaves. Another three-way fully horn-loaded speaker, it has been updated with a neodymium tweeter and covers a frequency range of 33Hz to 20kHz. The sound quality is exceptional.
Call today to hear the retro revolution in store or at home.
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