Hello! 

I'm a Klipsch fan from Norway and I'm currently on the edge of arranging a shipment of a pair of vintage Klipsch. I've found two candidates: 

1980 Heresy - Great condition, but with a small chip and and a stain. 

1985 KG-4 - Perfect condition. Original box, looks amazing. 

 Price is the same for both pairs. What to choose?

Because of the very limited selection of old Klipsch in Oslo I am going to buy these 'unheard'. Yep, thats right. 

Here is a plan of the appartment in which one of the two pairs will live a happy life.  Because of the limited space I'm not going to buy a sub. I had a REL sub earlier which was impossible to set up 100%. 2 way is the only way :) 

And here is a summary of todays setup. I have 52's.

My music taste is varied. You might  want to take a look at my last.fm.

Best regards, 

Brasse

(1st post)

Welcome to the Forum. Both are great candidates; personally I would take the Heresy's, but only because I'm partial to the Heresy. The KG, however, may be a better choice due to condition, age and the sound. The KG's timbre would be somewhat a better match for the 52's.

 Oh yes, one of the pairs will replace the 52's. I've already got a buyer both on the 52's OR the import, depending on what i like the most. 

Call it a 'stunt' :) 

 like Grooms, I prefer the Heresy...prefer its 3 way sound...more ooomph to the middle BUT the kg4s should sound nice and have more bass than the Heresy...hard to pass up perfect but again...how they look might just disappear when compared to how they sound...good luck and welcome!

Bill

 Heresy (-damage)

Otherwise great shape. 

KG-4

I've found alot of spare parts for the Heresy on eBay (enough to make them as good as new - soundwise), and I've got a friend that is able to repair cabinet-damage like shown. How is the selection of spare parts for the KG-4? Woofers, crossovers, tweeters etc?

 I think the woofers will be much more difficult to replace but the other parts easier...of course the parts for an original Heresy will be FAR more easy to find...if your guy can fix those Heresys that would still be my pick but those kg4s look nice too...any chance you could swing both into your place???......good luck with your choice...

Bill

 I wish i could audition both pairs. But,  I'll have to choose one of them. I'm going to use Jetcarrier for shipment (Norwegian company), as they will ship from USA to Norway by sea for less than 150$. UPS gave an estimate - 550$.

 This is kind of an experiment, as vintage Klipsch are really hard to come by here in Norway, and is really expencive. I paid 888$ for my new RF-52s. 

Tough choice. The KG-4 has way more bass output, but slightly colored mid and highs. The heresy is more dynamic but lacks bass. I guess it comes down to what is more important of the above, unfortunately if you need bass, the heresy will not provide much.

It may be better to ask what your issue is with the RF-52 to better provide advice on your purchase.

 Nothing wrong with the RF52 at all! But i'm heading in direction of vintage. Tubes-and-vinyl-style! And life is far to short to NOT try the things i want to try :)

The bass in the KG is tempting, but its not Heritage is it? I think that I might feel that the KG is a bit in between.  Also 9 of 10 times, browsing this forum and reading threads like mine,  i see Heresy over KG. 

 personally the only time I found the Heresy lacking in bass is when I would A/B them against something with more bass...kgs are not Heritage...they were the next new thing but not the traditional Paul Klipsch designed 3 way Heritage...

Bill

 Hey Brasse,

If you are having them shipped from the U.S., why settle on that beat up pair of Heresys? They are very common in the states, so you should be able to find another, much cleaner, pair in the area where your shipper resides. That is, unless you are getting them for under a couple hundred bucks sans shipping. Otherwise, if you have a little patience, you should be able to find a decent pair in the $300 to $350 range, maybe even cheaper, if you're lucky.

Welcome to the forum.

Tough call. To my ears, the KG4's have killer bass, but the Heresy's are more articulate and musical in the mid to top end.

My preference would be Heresy, but that is strictly a subjective preference. To my ears, the Heresy does OK on bass. It's very clean, and won't be overwhelming.

There are some Heresy candidates in better condition.

Either way, you will have good sound.

 Yeah, maybe i'll hold my horses. All near-mint Heresys is around 5-600$ on eBay. 

If you are handy at all or have a friend with some shop space, the Heresy will probably give longer lasting happiness.

KG4 woofers are not available I don't think. 

Heresy with tubes will be heavenly in your space. Dig the groovy graphic of your system, what's the computer mini-box? 

I like the radio links you sent, I use Pandoras Box here in the US, it gives samples of 'music that sounds like' to suggest other bands you might listen to.

Welcome to the Madness!

Michael

Yeah, i think so too! Thanks for the headsup on the KG-4 woofers!

I've posted a WTB here on the forums - http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/p/117404/1183792.aspx#1183792

 OT: Here are my tubes - My god they play beautiful! Can't wait to get some  Heritage home.

The groovy box is an Apogee Duet. I'm going to have things room-corrected and with tons of tweaking possibilities from the Mac, but with an vintage sound. More on that later ;)