I was in Daytona Beach recently and was able to audition at Stereotypes. If you're in the area, you should check them out.
First off, without hearing anything, you are taken back by the sheer size and presence of the speakers. There is no hiding this in your living room, it's one that you just have to embrace - with an understanding wife. Having said that, they don't look bad. The wood finish quality is what you can find on their other Heritage products.
The Jubilees were paired with a couple of stereo Paradigm amplifiers. One stereo amplifer is for the high frequencies, and the other is for the low frequencies. Feeding those was a Paradigm pre-amplifer. I was able to stream Tidel, though it was through Bluetooth, and I don't believe it was full fidelity for some of the songs I played (up to 192 kHz/24-bit). I don't know anything about Paradigm; pairing it with higher-end equipment may have yielded better results.
The first impression was that, even though they are large, the sound is well controlled and precise. The balance of both horns was even, and I couldn't pinpoint the exact crossover point between the two. It blended together nicely, which I contribute to the active crossover that's in the mix. These are definitely full-range speakers and have authority at all frequencies.
Listening to a handful of my go-to auditioning songs (ask me which ones if interested), you can tell that they are very dynamic and musical. There wasn't any sense of force or struggle at any frequencies at any reasonable volume level. They sound very similar to the rest of the Klipsch Heritage range, just larger and cleaner. That's not a bad thing! Pair these up with a tube pre-amplifer and/or tube amplifer, and you'll be golden.
Being as large as they are, not a lot of people can fit them into their homes. If you can, lucky you! If you like the Heritage sound and are looking for the ultimate, these are for you.
Have you listened to these? If so, what are your thoughts?
