Klipsch - Heritage Vs Reference - RF7III VS Heresy IV 

From what I could tell the Heresy blew the 7s away on every single song y'all played. Heresy for the win 💯

I decided on the RF7 III's over the Heresy IV. After watching this video I was a little bit worried, and started second guessing my initial listening tests of both speakers. For anyone wondering why the RF7's sound crap through the youtube recording, and also wondering why the team wasnt flat out saying Heresy won every track, it's because of the RF7 being a flawed speaker by design, but a great speaker in realistic listening environments. If your ear (or mic) is at tweeter level or above, there is a suck out in the midrange due to phase and time alignments between the acoustic centre of the dual 10s and the tweeter. If youre sitting on a normal couch, your ears are more likely to be in line with the top woofer...at that level there really isnt (much) of a midrange suck out. Technically the frequency response is choppy and not "audiophile" flat. But honestly it might be -2 or -3db at 1.3KHZ... Back to the video, the mic is pretty darn close to the tweeter level on the rf7s, and therefore WE are hearing the flaw in this speaker (midrange suck out). Where as the team are seated slightly lower and dont experience this phenomenon. Also, it is near field recording of a massively disaggregated acoustic centre. Such a large speaker, the further away you are, the better the midrange flaw will be.. to the point where it actually isn't a suck out anymore. The speaker performance is closer than this youtube audience would think. And it really is a matter of preference. I went with the RF7, tall speaker and I'll always be seated lower amd further than the mic was placed in this video. So for my use there isnt a "flaw" ... the heritage range sounds overly LIVE which is awesome, but if you want just a little bit more "live" than say polk, focal, b&w, the Rf7 fits the build. Heritage is somewhat of an acquired taste (I like it), one day I'll own the La Scala, just not today.

In fairness although I prefer the Heresy regardless, it just seemed like there wasn’t enough juice to wake up the RF7’s. Nice work guys! Really appreciate the rime and effort you guys put into these great videos.

this was fun , looking forward to these next few vids!!!

To me, the $3,200 list, Heresy outperformed the, $4400 list, RF7III on each song. I'm listening to the RU-vid video on Klispchhorns not my iPhone. Even still, you picked the RF7III a couple of times and I trust your ears in the room. Can't wait for the Fortes and beyond. Thanks for doing these.

I think Trey nailed it when he said the H4's sound live and the 7's sound studio. I have H4's and RF7ii's and totally agree

Yes, a comparison of H3 to H4 would be great!

Holy moly what a difference! I am thinking about buying the RF-7 III but I don't know after this video 😱

Great comparison. I really enjoyed this. Of course I’m no closer to knowing which is “better” but that’s the beauty I thunk.

My personal opinion, Heritage Heresy out perform the Reference RF7 ! It is more natural and musical. RF7 may be just good for movie only. Not for audiophile. Thank you for good comparison 👍

In the video I preferred the Heresys. The 7s sounded somewhat lean and weak. I have the 7iis and they don't sound lean and weak at all. They sound great. It appeared to me the Heresys produce higher dbs with same power input. That may be why I preferred the Heresys in this video. I would like to see a comparison when both sets of speakers are set up to produce the same db output.

Ya the impedance drops crazy amount as you start to turn them up how loud I’m not sure but it drops to around 1.9ohms. Which is a massive dip. But wow I love these videos, this is uncharted territory and it’s so fun to watch. Great job guys. I feel like I kinda single handedly drove these comparisons lol I’m sure there were other people that wanted it too but props to doing this. Can’t wait for the next comparison. Was just blasting my rf7iiis last night having a late night listening seshhhh… I run 2 up front and 2 in the back for surrounds rc64iii in the middle and two more rb51ii for backs which I put on top of the rear rf7iiis and turn them pointing behind me. I drive the front stage with a parasound a31 and the rears with an anthem mrx720. This system is for ht and music which it’s used quite heavily for both tbh. I run 2 channel when listening to music and surround, both are amazing in short. I run a jtr captivator4000ulf lp for my sub and wow when you pair those two up it takes everything to a whole other level. You can check it out on my yt channel. Love the vids keep ‘em coming. O btw I forget if you mentioned or not but how many watts is that avr you’re using pumping to dem boys, and it’s an avr right or? Seems alot of people are picking the heresy’s here, I should of played this vid over my system but did so on my phone. When trey said one sounded more live and the rf were more studio he hit the nail on the head so to say. I liked them both very much. But I feel in person it would be a much different story for how they sound alone and compared, lol the phone doesn’t do them justice but I understand why people are quick to jump towards one or another even if It is through RU-vid. Rf7iii for the win all day long.

You guys are listening pretty loud. That’s at least 10db over most of my listening though I’ll occasionally crank it to that level. BTW got my CW4s in from you guys on Thursday. Amazing speakers! They have easily beaten my KLF 20s and sent them downstairs to the home theater. And I really like the KLFs.

RF-7 III has no bass like they are out of phase from one another. In addition, I auditioned the RF-7 III vs the Forte III. RF-7 III sounded like there was no midrange hardly.

Great video now Can’t wait to watch the same comparison the only difference is comparing to Cornwall iv :)

Great video! I have been thinking about the RF-7s for a while now and if they would be a good choice for just 2 channel music as I dont do home theater anymore. I currently have Heresy 1s from 1979 and KG 5.5s from the mid 90s. They both still perform great and look great but the 7s and Cornwalls have my interest. I'm waiting for that match up. Thanks guys

I owned the older version of the Heresys and still own the RF7| and in my main room the RF7 |||s . Way more bass out Heresy but on my end one would swear there is a phase issue with your RF7s ,with that said I have separates running my RF7 ||| s with a powerful Parasound JC 5 so either way you cant go wrong with either speaker but for Home theater as well as 2 channel its a no brainer the RF7 ||| 's are the dragon .👍

Honestly the heresy sounds way better plus it has a good mid range with more depth and full body more thickness more meat on the bone figure of speech the other ones sounds more harsh more echoey less dampened and very thin less soul and body Pass for sure. The heresy for stereo listening specifically as well take the win ! I could even feel the bass surprisingly considering the other one has a bigger more woofers wow ! Good video now the Cornwall iv to the rf-7 3s now that’s interesting!!

I have the RF7III and they sound nothing like this. Granted my power amps are D-Sonic's M3a 600m 800 watt, Pre amp AR LS26. RF7 III really does like lots of current.

I have some F3s and matching 7.2 surrounds W/ 12" and 15" subs(model?). The F3s don't do much until they are about 1/2 way up. I imagine the RF7 even more so. Surrounds wake right up and subs are perfect. It's cheap, but I love them.

It would be cool to pull in some movie tracks, like the train crash scene in Super Eight, or some racing scenes from Ford vs Ferrari. No center channel or sub just listening in two channel. Great job on the comparison. Now I’m watching this on a tablet with Apple ear buds, but for what it’s worth I thought the Hersey sounded better.

Yes…I’d like to see a H3 and H4 comparison. I’ll take your word for how both in this comparison really sounded there in the room. On this end, though, the H4’s had balls whereas the RF3’s had been castrated. Maybe they did need more power.

Is it just me or does the heresy’s sound “fuller”?

For me it's a no-brainer, heresy iv all day long

As always, excellent comparison, thank you very much. My Mac pro received the signal from an ethernet cable and then transmited the signal to an external DAC via a pangea USB cable; then, from the DAC to a NAD preamp feeding a PrimaLuna EVO400 poweramp and then to a pair of Klipsch RP-280F. Does this arrangement reflect the exact sound that you were listening in the room?, of course not but it can tell where the differences are and the magnitude of those differences. The sound stage of the heresies was as tall, deeper and wider, in all of the tracks, than the RF7III’s one. The RF7IIIs sounded way too tamed and that was very surprising. I did not find the Heresies way too bright, they were sharper (not aggressive) and faithful but NOT bright to my taste. Out of these two, by far, the Heresies for me.

Looking forward to the RF-7 III vs Cornwall IV. I just bought a pair of Cornwall IVs and have them sitting next to my RF-7's right now. Let me know if you're looking to add some gen 1 RF-7's to the comparisons.

I got to thinking. Is there any possibility you guys could use a stronger amplifier at some point? I think it would prove your thoughts were correct.

On the recording it sounds like the heresy is so much fuller. Something I didn’t expect at all. I thought the rf7iii’s would hit much harder. That makes sense about power but that being said I was just listening while driving and thought the deeper sound was the RF7s. Like I was feeling 100% on that and then I looked and couldn’t believe my eyes. Well now I have to reevaluate what I want now haha if I added an extra amp with more power would that difference go away in the bass or is the heresy just that much better despite being rated for way less low end? :0

Sounds like the 8k vs 7iii video but the 7iii here sounds much worse than the 8k did in that video. Something isn't right with something in the chain.

I have a pair of the original RF7 speakers and have sent my son a pair of the Heresy IV speakers.. I should have kept the Heresy and sent him the RF7.

Kool

Listening through headphones the Heresy sounds a little bit more lively. RF-7 III would benefit from more power. Sounds like the Heresys’ are getting the upper end of their RMS power rating where the RF-7 is at the lower end of its RMS power rating. Based on what I’m hearing I’d buy the Heresys solely on this video. What kind of power is each getting?

Sounds so different between the two sets of speakers off you tube, if I were to go strictly of this video it would be the Heresy's

I have to agree with some of the other comments here, something didn’t seem right in the hook up, were the 7’s out of phase?

I thought that was PETER FRAMPTON sitting there.

Q: What was the cross-over set to on the heresy's ?

No contest on the first one . Heresy

I could not believe the difference but it seems to me the RF7s are out of phase.

I have the rf7 first series with Sansui au alpha 907dr and they sound much better than the rf7III of the video: more' full-bodied, present in the middle and as low, there is a problem in the video, I do not think that the RF7III are inferior to the one

I don't know the setup (amplifier, etc) and the placement of the RF7 doesn't seem correct for those speakers but in these conditions the difference appears clearly audible even via phone; the Heresys outperform the 7s. The lack of medium of the RF7 here Is clearly audible, compared to the Heresys...

Too bad the heresy protective cover is not in black, for my video projection room!

Is it okay to put the Heresy IV on bookshelf and upside down?

If you all don't match up percieved volume for us out here, this is just a circus. But you must already know that.

Heresy IV is the winner here.

The HERESY sounded FULLER on every song....I felt the RF-7 III sounded "out of phase"???? or something.

Why, certainly we would.

The Heresy....my dream speaker I will never own.

Heresy is my choice. With a big advantage over RF

Bands: we hate using the speakers that the live venue provides "Audiophiles": I need those speakers from the live show Car audio enthusiasts: I need 4 15" subs and 20 10" subs

Sounds like the RF-7 III bass speakers are disconnected hahha

Heresy through and through. Not close. On a side note, it really is true, if you’ve heard one country song, you’ve heard them all. :/

I'll take the Heresy iv's all day everyday over the RF-7III.

On RU-vid the heresy is much richer and better sounding.

Heresy's all the way better depth clarity and soundstage

plz dont go with the bs white wall!! get those walls behinde, and around the screen. in some nice black, or gray tones. so the screens brigthness, dont destroy your movie experience. its such a ez thing to do, and makes an so much better experience! so dumb to not do it, when you invested so much into gear.. why fall of, on these small but really big game changers?