Klipsch THX Ultra2 System - Page 2

Anyone here compared the Heresy III's to the Ultra 2's?

I've been doing alot of speaker setups lately and really like the Heresy III's as long as you've got a good sub. They sound dynamic and detailed...But, the Ultra 2's aren't that much more expensive. Hmm

Thoughts?

RBH 661 SE/R's vs. Klipsch KL-650's???
Anyone with info on these, could you please chime in?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1042264

they do need quite a bit of power to open them up. they are not as efficient as some of their other designs. they also have a tendency to be very directional. the height differences were dramatic to me. less so in the width but still very directional.

Alright, not alot of people have this system it looks like or they are stuck in the klipsch thread. I just bought this system and right now it is not setup in an ideal configuration...sitting on the floor. But I like it so far, not love just like. I know though that I will love it once I get it all setup correctly. I dont have a sub hooked up right now either. My living room is small, with the speakers on the floor leaves no room for a sub and all the new baby stuff. But, I am in the process of building a cabinet to house all my electronics and the front three speakers. The cabinet is made out of 3/4" pine, and I would like to know if anyone knows anything about cabinet resonance or how these speakers will react inside the cabinet? There will be about an inch above the speakers and about 2 inch on each side of each speaker. There will be dividers between each speaker, so like three individual areas. Anyone have any ideas?

The Ultra 2's are one of the few speakers which react well to an install like that. You'll probably want to line the space around the speakers with something reasonably dense to absorb any resonances (acoustic cotton or Linacoustic work well). Note, you will change the frequency response, you may end up needing to tweak the crossover (perhaps a bit lower) by doing this as you've created somewhat of a baffle setup. Crossover point can probably be lowered to 63 hz with the Ultra 2 woofers. Ultra 2 woofers will need to be highly isolated. Auralex Platfoam perhaps (same stuff they use under the Subdude/Gramma isolation base).

What kind of material like what you are talking about can I get at the local Lowes or Home Depot? I am planning on finishing the staining on my cabinet tomorrow and hopefully have it installed saturday. let me know what you think. Thanks for your help.

Rob

HD or Lowes probably won't carry either. You could try some of the acoustic board they sell in sheets. Cut and fit. It is pretty dense. Only issue is that it makes a lot of chunks, won't hold up that well if you take the speakers in and out. Roxul Rock wool insulation (try a local insulation house) also works but if it gets free it is itchy as hell. For Linacoustic, try a local HVAC supply house...it is flexible duct liner.

You can get acoustical cotton in several thickness's here:
http://www.sensiblesoundsolutions.com/
It would be a great product to do what you are considering. You could get the 1" thickness and place it all around each speaker. Then cover the openings with a frame and some speaker grill cloth. It would look great and the acoustical cotton would isolate the speakers from the cabinet.

Craig

Thanks to both of you. What king of speaker grill cloth would be really sound transparent? Like what is a good brand. Thank Craig for the idea about surrounding the speakers with the cotton, I think I might give it a shot. I want to see what the speakers look like sitting in the cabinet before I go changing stuff, you know for the WAF. Thanks guys.

do you two have these speakers?

So I went on the website to order some cotton and I did order it but it didnt charge me anything, is this normal? Anyone got any idea how this works with this company?

I don't own these speakers, but I have heard them multiple times. I have a friend who owns them, and I helped him install and calibrate them. I have listened to the many times. Also, there is a shop in town that has had them in their high end HT room off and on several times over the last few years. I'm friends with the owner of that shop and I've heard them there on multiple occasions. They are an excellent sounding speaker system and they do HT extremely well, IMO. They definitely benefit from a well treated room and by being powered by good amplification.

Craig

I ordered mine over the phone directly from the owner, Bryan Pape. Try e-mailing him directly to ensure your order went through:
info@sensiblesoundsolutions.com

Craig

Craig, what would you consider a good power amp? I will tell you what I have now, I have the Anthem D2 and the PVA 7 amp. I like the amp and it is very clear sounding and right now, esp after paying for these speakers (got a great deal) I will have to save up some money and probably have to go back to Iraq to get the tax free in order to get something else. I used my tax free from this past trip(7 months) to get these speakers. So tell me what you think. Robert

The PVA-7 is good amp, but it's not as powerful as one would like to see mated with high output speakers, such as the Klipsch THX Ultra2's. The Ultra2's are very sensitive speakers, but to drive them to the levels they deserve, I would suggest a minimum of 200 wpc.

My firend is powering his with the Emotiva MPS-2, (http://www.emotiva.com/mps2.html). When he first got the speakers, he had an 140 wpc Integra receiver driving them. When he replaced the power amps with the MPS-2, the speakers really opened up. They sounded more full and dynamic.

If you want even more power, I suggest the Earthquake Sound Cinenova 7. With over 300 wpc and large amounts of headroom, it should really make those speakers sing, (http://www.earthquakesound.com/cng_7.htm). Although the MSRP is $6K, it can be purchased for a lot less. I bought mine from Federal Stereo, (http://www.federalstereo.com/earthquakeamps.html). I have this amp mated to the Atlantic Technology 8200e THX Ultra2 speakers. The AT's are less sensitive than the Klipsch's, but the Cinenova drives them to levels louder than I can stand with no audible compression or distortion.

Craig

alright craig, I now have my setup, setup...one to many setups... Anyway, I put my system to the test today, I played my favorite scene, the opening to Top Gun, and I have to say, I am shocked at how easy on the ears these speakers are. I turned it up alot and even with my new born sitting close, she didnt wake up and the house didnt rattle like before with my other system. I think it has to do with the quality of the speakers and subs. But I am also wondering what a higher powered amp will do for my system. I would love the P5 and P2 from anthem but those amps are outrageously priced and power hungry and in my current house i dont think it would work. I think i will have to keep what i have until i can get the p5/2 setup. I am collecting what i can when i can get deals like i have gotten. I will post a pic of what i just made for my equpiment and front speakers soon. I like it but it is huge and over takes everything in the room, esp the tv, that used to be the big object in the room. Thanks

Still the best.
I got a KL-650-THX pair to try as a L/R.
I then A/B'd them with my current Klipsch RB-61ii's.
They made the RB-61ii's sound like tin cans.
Then, after much research, I ordered a pair of ID speakers at $1000 each that were returnable just to make sure I wasn't missing anything.
They were very highly regarded on the boards.
After the 3rd A/B round (about 30 seconds) I knew I was sending them back and eating $200 in freight.
They sounded OK but the Klipsch sounded just wide open and transparent... effortless.
I could almost count how many chimes were in the Rippington's percussionist's set.
I could barely hear them at all on the $2K ID set.
I'm sure I would have loved them if I didn't have the luxury of the A/B opportunity.
The more I A/B'd, the worse the high end ID's sounded.
The Klipsch made them sound... well... constipated sort of.
I packed them up that night.
I then got the two subs with the amp (I'll have an extra Paradigm DSP-3400) and two THX-U2 ceiling surrounds for a 5.2 setup.
My center has to be a RC-62ii unfortunately due to space constraints but surprisingly it is a really good match especially from a sensitivity standpoint.
The Pioneer Elite ran them nicely but a got an Emotiva 200WPC x 5.
I've had the fronts going but I fire it all up tomorrow.

Hi,

Nice post resurrection... of a GREAT product.

Then I don't know if it's the best ... but personally since 5 yrs now I own a Klipsch THX Ultra 2 system.

And since more than 3 yrs, the installation is 11.2, where all 7 fronts are Klipsch THX Ultra2 KL650 and all 4 rears are Klipsch THX Ultra 2 KS525. Recently I changed 4 initial KW120 powered by 2 KA1000 (too much transformer buzzing noise) for 2 SVS PB13 Ultra.

The processor is the new Marantz AV8801 (Audyssey Pro calibrated) driving - through XLR connections - 2 (two) Onkyo PA MC5500 power amps.

This combination produces an exceptional sound... and there's nothing else to add, apart: BRAVO Klipsch!

Hugo

Nice system

Would love to see pictures of this set up please?

Ok pics on the way

Actually I already posted the picture bellow, but it didn't and won't remain, as this is not a showcase, but my home.

Hugo
Edited by Hugo S - 2/14/13 at 4:40am

Well the two KW-120s didn't quite cut it. The amp that went with them was a bit hard to drive. I had to turn the volume up to -20db (quite loud) to get the amp to turn on with the signal sense capability. My Paradigm turns on immediately at a whisper of a volume level. The Paradigm also seemed to have just as much output for my needs. It is possible that my ears aren't that discerning when it comes to LFE. I demoed my Paradigm side by side against a $3800 JL Audio F113 and at reasonable and sane output levels, I could barely discern any audible difference in sound quality. I'm sure that may change if turned up but I like my LFE output balanced with the rest of the system.

For theater, I have had ed c12's, jtrs t8's, jtr t12's and sho 10's and the klipsches are anything but bright...outstanding system as long as you find some deals on it...there are plenty out there.

I would take a trio of older, used La Scalas or Cornwalls over the Ultra2 setup any day of the week. Don't get me wrong, the Ultra2 setup is good, but for its price, it is one of the worst bargains in audio, I believe at $12,000 for the set, unless the price has recently came down. A much better option over the Ultra2's and La Scala are a trio of Corn-Scalas. You could build a trio Fi Corn-Scalas for less than half of the cost of a trio of KL-650's.

I have spent a sigificant amout of time demo'ing the Ultra2's against the CornWalls and Herseys as of late, and the Ultra2's just simply lack the sound-stage, clarity, detail, and mid-bass of the heritage series.
I

Used La Scalas would be hard to beat anyways. The only thing that comes close would be DIY seos and IMHO my DR's.

Hi,

For sure... but impossible to integrate into a 11.x configuration where all 7 fronts are identical.

Ah compromise...

Hugo

Relatively new to all this and not sure where to turn. I am very interested KL-650's and was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help me please with a basic question.

I have a power amp which is rated at 500watt per channel at 8 ohms.

My question is if I where to purchase the 650's would I face any issues with my amplifier powering them? My current speakers have had a couple of mid-bass drivers blow and would like to avoid any potential issues with the new purchase. I do like to run the system loud anywhere from -5 to 0db depending on the film.

The speakers will be sitting behind a Seymour acoustically transparent screen which is 10 feet away from the main listening position.

Ben

If you calibrate correctly reference level should not be a problem. The amp only puts out what the speaker will draw but if course if you turn it up to loud then the speakers will give first. These are 4 ohm speakers so you will have lots of power on tap but if 0 dBs is the goal at 10 feet away then you won't use all that power anyways. I run subs that are limited to 1300 watts each and I have 6 of them. So 7800 watts is all they will take to be under x-max at 5 hz but they are hooked up to a 14000 watt amp with no problems. What amp do you have?

Thanks for the reply MK much appreciated

The amplifier is an AB Systems 5500 which will put out 750 watts at 4ohms will this still be ok? Reference is my ultimate goal without causing problems to the speakers.

In the rest of the system I have a duo duo stack (4 in total) of Ken Kreisel's DXD-12012's and a Marantz AV8801 Processor on which I use Audyssey Pro to EQ the room. My current speakers are MK Sound MP150's for the fronts which are the ones I'm having the mid-bass problems with(although it was the same speaker on two separate occasions), S150's as side surrounds and 550THX's for rears.

Trying to build a shortlist for replacements something like the JBL 3678's may be also an option but I need to do a bit of research on where to go next. All the reviews I have seen for the Klipsch have been very positive and with limited space behind the screen fit the criteria very nicely.
Edited by MaDBeN - 3/24/13 at 12:01am