KLIPSCH

Heritage HP-3 Headphone Review

THE HIGH NOTES

• Classic Klipsch Sound
• Impeccable Build Quality
• Super Easy to Drive

Company & Product Overview

When Paul Klipsch founded the company in 1946, his goal was to produce music with all the authority and emotion of a live concert. His first speaker, the Klipschorn, with its classic horn loaded design, is still in production today. Klipsch has such a devoted group of fans that every year they make a pilgrimage to the original factory in Hope, Arkansas, which is still in operation.

To celebrate all of their classic speaker designs over the past 70 years, Klipsch has created a designation for these icons of sound called the Heritage series. It consists of some of their best-selling speakers from the past 7 decades.

But they didn’t stop there. In today’s world, many music lovers have moved beyond large floor-standing speakers to smaller all-in-one wireless speakers as well as headphones. Klipsch wanted to come up with a headphone design that paid homage to the look and sound of their classic horn speakers. In late 2017, the Heritage HP-3 Headphone was born.

Unboxing

The HP-3 is a large, over-ear headphone featuring a semi-open back design. They’re available in three gorgeous milled wood finishes -- walnut, ebony, and oak. We’ll discuss the design more in a second, but first, let’s talk a little about the unboxing experience.

It’s clear that Klipsch understands what they have with the HP-3. They’re beautiful headphones, ideal for an extravagant unboxing experience. No matter which headphone you choose, they come in the same dark wood box. The front has an acrylic window pane that features the classic Klipsch PWK logo. It’s sealed with a copper sticker. Once you remove it, the top slides off to reveal two compartments.

You won't need to worry about how to store your new HP-3 --  included in the box is a beautiful black steel headphone stand with copper accents. A great way to display them while still keeping them in reach. The stand screws into a heavy metal base with a rubberized top. No need to tuck these beauties away in a drawer; show them off!

Next, you’ll find two different braided headphone cables -- one 2.5 meters long and the other just over 1 meter long. This is a great touch, as each has its place. Both of these cables are made the same way, with separate connections for each earcup. These are pretty easy to identify with a clearly labeled “L” or “R”, plus the headphones themselves also have an “L” and “R” etched into the inside of the metal part of the headband.

The two small cables that connect to the earcups terminate at a round junction box, which then has a cloth retro looking tangle-free cable. The braiding on the cable varies based on the headphone you choose. The ebony and walnut come with black cables with copper accents, while the oak comes with white cables with copper accents. They also include a tight-fitting ¼” adapter.

The bottom compartment also contains the owner's manual and a Certificate of Authenticity with the date it was built printed on the card.

The top compartment features the headphones, laying flat in a piece of dense molded foam and strapped in with three leather straps featuring copper snaps. Unsnap the straps to remove the headphones. The moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived.

Design & Build Quality

There is no question when you hold an HP-3 in your hand, you can instantly tell that a lot of love and care went into its design.

Attention was paid to every detail. The headphones are a stunning combination of die-cast steel, milled wood, premium leathers, and machined aluminum components, and each of the three wood finishes has a unique look. Not only do the earcup colors differ, but the pads and even the fine leather stitching are different on each model! In fact, the only thing that does not change from an appearance standpoint are the beautiful copper screws.

The oak HP-3 has light oak earcups with anodized aluminum accents and tan leather on the ear pads and headband.

For the ebony, the entire headphone is dark, with black anodized aluminum and leather. The wood is so dark that it almost looks black from far away, but when you get up close it’s easy to see the beautiful wood grain detail.

Finally, the classic looking walnut features chocolate brown leather and an almost antique gunmetal finish on the aluminum. Each of these headphones is unique, but they’re all beautiful. No matter your personal taste, you’re sure to find a pair that fit your style.

The materials, craftsmanship, and build quality are all top notch. They remind us of a combination of a luxury automobile interior or a classic piece of handmade furniture. It’s clear that Klipsch spared no expense here, creating a headphone that they expect you to not only enjoy for decades but possibly even pass down to your children one day. They’re as much a piece of art as they are a piece of gear.

Comfort

There are a few factors that play into how comfortable a headphone is. The first is adjustability. This not only helps with comfort but also allows you to fine-tune how the headphones fit so that they sound best. Some headphones do a good job with this, while others leave us disappointed. Klipsch nailed it with the HP-3.

First, the soft lambskin ear pads are tapered and offset, allowing the headphones to settle into the ideal driver position. On the outside of each headband is a precise ruler scale. Not only does this look incredibly cool and retro, but it allows you to size the headphones within 1mm. Once you get them set, they stay put too. We had them on and off for the better part of half a day and the settings never shifted until we changed them intentionally.

Speaking of the earpads, they’re held onto the earcups magnetically. A gentle pull will remove them. We do have one small suggestion for Klipsch here. The inside of the ear cups has three small bumps that align with the female ends on the earpad. Because the pads are tapered, there is only one way to put them on properly. A small colored dot to align the pad to the right connection on the cup would be helpful.

The HP-3 is heavier than some other headphones we’ve listened to, but we’ve also listened to many that are much heavier and don’t sound nearly as good. The weight is enough for them to feel substantial but never gave us any kind of fatigue. The fact that the headband is padded and covered in the same soft lambskin as the earpads probably helps with this.

The openings in the inside of the ear cups are oval-shaped like our ears. If you have smaller to average sized ears, they can be incredibly comfortable, but if your ears are larger than average size, you may feel a little pressure near the top and bottom of your ear after a few hours.

Ultimately, we do feel that the HP-3 is one of the more comfortable headphones we’ve heard. We’re very picky about comfort, as we test assuming that you’re in it for marathon listening sessions or a full day at your desk.

In this price range, and at this sound quality, the only options that we feel beat the HP-3 are the higher-end Focal models, like the Elear, the Clear, and the Utopia. They are lighter and have larger openings in the earpads. Other than that, these are as comfortable as you’ll find.

Features & Technology

Remove the ear pads and you’ll see the beautiful full-range driver that Klipsch is using in the HP-3. This is actually one of the largest drivers we have seen in a headphone, measuring in at 52mm! Klipsch developed what they call a “biomagnetic driver” for this headphone. It is made of biocellulose and inorganic fiber with a urethane rubber surround. It has almost perfect pistoning characteristics, which greatly reduces distortion.

Klipsch chose to house their unique driver in a semi-open back design. In the world of large, over-the-ear headphones, you’ll see both full open-back and totally sealed designs. The open-backs typically offer a bigger and wider sound presentation. However, totally open-back designs let the sounds from the outside world in (and also let your co-workers hear that embarrassing ‘70s disco cut you just put on).

A semi-open back still allows the driver to breathe, yet pretty well isolates you from external sounds and vice versa. The Klipsch team spent a lot of time figuring out just the right way to vent the driver to provide the most dynamic sound.

Klipsch is known for producing speakers that are incredibly efficient and easy to drive. Not surprisingly, they chose to carry this over to their HP-3 headphones. Unlike many high-performance headphones that require a powerful amp, these guys will get up and go with very little power.

You’ll have no problem rocking them with your phone, though you can certainly get some extra “umph” out of them with a nice headphone amplifier. Luckily, Klipsch makes a Heritage Headphone Amplifier that matches the look of the headphones and pairs perfectly with the HP-3.

Performance

Klipsch has been true to their distinctive sound for over 70 years. Think live concert. You’ll get extreme amounts of dynamic punch on the HP-3. Bass also comes through with tons of impact, and like Klipsch speakers, you’ll never be lacking for high-end sparkle.

One remarkable sonic characteristic you will immediately notice on the HP-3 is how wide the soundstage is. We felt like we were listening to the very best open ear designs from this perspective, as the sound field is super wide left to right.

The first cut we tried out was a classic Stones song “Dead Flowers”. We picked the version from “Stripped” (a live performance) and cranked up the volume. The sense of dynamics on this cut was just staggering. When Charlie Watt’s drumstick hits the snare drum head, you really feel like you are hearing it live. There is just so much impact. This is another cut where the soundstage is huge.

Next was “Caribbean Blue” from Enya. This starts out with some deep electronic sounds. The dynamic contrast presented here is pretty amazing. It goes from quiet to pretty loud very quickly, and when those deep bass notes hit, you can really feel it.

We followed up with “Feel Like Going Home” from Muddy Waters. This is from the 1964 Album Folk Singer, a classic in our book. The beginning starts out with some amazing fretwork on the guitar, and then Muddy comes in with his deep voice. We got so into the guitar sounds that his voice actually gave us a small scare when it came in.

Since we were getting into old rock, next up was “All Along the Watchtower” from Jimi Hendrix. This cut really epitomizes everything these headphones do so well. There is a percussion instrument in the first few bars that appears in both the left and right channels. Separation there is just fantastic. But better yet is just that sense of a live concert. We were tapping both feet and cranking up the volume as the song progressed.

In case you might be thinking these are just rock and roll headphones (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and not capable of revealing the little details, we did run them through our classic subtle details test. This one is pretty interesting to try at home. We use “Hot Rocks” from the Stones. The cut is “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. This begins with a big choir singing the lyrics. Pretty soon, you can easily hear a horned instrument in the left channel that should sound like it is in the background. If you know your instruments, you can tell it is a french horn. While the french horn is playing, you will hear what sounds like overdubbing in the background. Just about any good system can reveal all of this, but here is the hard part. Just as the french horn fades away, a trombone comes in playing the exact same note. It takes a pretty decent system to pick this apart and the HP-3 did so with flying colors. Then when Jagger comes in with his very emotional presentation of the lyrics, you’ll be forced to keep on listening.

We fully enjoyed our time with the HP-3 headphones. The sound definitely leans toward dynamics and live concert presentation which we just found to be a lot of fun.

Overall Recommendation

At $1,199 a pair, the Heritage HP-3 is certainly not a budget headphone. However, if you own a pair of Klipsch speakers in the Heritage series, you’ve already decided you like your music presented with a live feel. If this is you, just buy these -- you will love them!

If you enjoy the emotion and feeling of a live performance, you should also check these out. There are lots of choices out there in this price range, but these guys do some things we have not heard many headphones do. They’re just fun to listen to.

HIGH NOTES UNPACKED

Super Easy To Drive

While we feel like any good headphone could benefit from a great headphone amp, the HP-3  is efficient enough to be used with a smartphone.

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