Modified Forte 1 Upgrades-Bob Crites Autotransformers and Titanium Tweeters

Help with initial tweeter install step: Remove Horn from Forte I

Have Bob's Tweeters in hand. Sorry if I missed something obvious, newbie. Looking for instructions on removing the Tweeter horns from the Forte I. I see instruction once the horns are out, but I removed the horn screws and couldn't figure out how to get it out of the cabinet. Do I need to got in through the passive sub to push it out? Or can the tweeter horn be removed from the front?
Link apperciated!
 
Its been a few years since I last had my tweeters out of the cabinets but they of course come out. I think there is a cut out along the mounting hole but I can't remember if it is for the mid horn or the tweeter. I can't find any of my photo's and I see all the photo's I up loaded to AK from image shack are now gone! So I can't look at those.

Perhaps some one will chime in!

One thing you might do is replace all the original wiring as it is stranded wire which makes the speaker sound very dark with age, the Forte is approaching some 30yrs old. I went with Audio Quest solid core wire, this should ensure no tonal changes at all.

The stock networks are pretty bad sounding IMO mostly due to the very small inductors and of course the fact that an iron core is used for the woofer just shrinks and compresses the sound.

It all depends on how much sound quality you want of course, but in the end its been well worth my trouble.

Good Luck!

SET12
 
I have purchased Forte's with the 4 ohm crossovers. I am upgrading with Crites ti tweets and his handcrafted crossovers. My question is...can I run the Fortes with HPM 100's at the same time on my beloved Sansui 9090? Bob Crites says the Fortes were never really 4 ohm speakers and that is why Klipsch made a change to the Forte and later rating them at 8 ohms. Bob says they are all really running 6 ohms. Can anyone shed light on this? I insist on running two pairs of speakers on A+B and do not want to destroy my 9090.
 
Bob is right. The six ohm load wont likely pose a problem for you but all amplifiers are different so best to check the amp when you play it with yourHPM100. Simply play the two sets together on your Sansui and after a half hour at normal (for you ) play levels check the amp and then check again every half hour til you reach the three hour point of play. So long as you can hold you hands on the heat sink indefinitely You are fine even it it seems really hot as long as you can keep you hand on the heat sinks it is not too hot for a solid state amp. I expect that it will be fine.
 
Earlier this summer, I bought a pair of Forte I in great condition at an awesome (to me) price. I've since upgraded to Crites titanium tweeter diaphragm and a new mid-horn diaphragm also supplied by Crites. This thread is awesome, but I has no monies right now to go further. If I did, I'd like an ALK bi-amp'able crossover...

(not sure why the different woofer colors, but they sound great)

23482014176_d22d1a5833_b.jpg
 
Looks good. Do you have to use a balance control on your amp to center the image between your speakers? I ask, because it looks like the speaker to side wall distance varies quite a bit between the 2 sides.
 
Thanks for the all the help

Updated crossovers without removing board. If anyone is interested I could provide more detail.
Pictures of the upgrade process here, but not in order, will provide more detail if others are interested,
ping me at graham.poor@gmail.com
https://community.klipsch.com/index...-x-over-replaced-inplace-on-a-forte-ii-board/

They sound great... and the upgrade improved them.
...but with some others on hearing some harshness in the upper range, hoped the crossover and tweeter upgrade would change that, but it didn't.

The rest of my system is entry level maybe that is the issue. Onkyo 8050 and Apple TV.

Still love the sound
.
index.php

index.php

IMG_20150930_104410.jpg
IMG_20150930_112837.jpg
 
Earlier this summer, I bought a pair of Forte I in great condition at an awesome (to me) price. I've since upgraded to Crites titanium tweeter diaphragm and a new mid-horn diaphragm also supplied by Crites. This thread is awesome, but I has no monies right now to go further. If I did, I'd like an ALK bi-amp'able crossover...

(not sure why the different woofer colors, but they sound great)

23482014176_d22d1a5833_b.jpg

Damn...that's a beautiful setup there. I love the teak console - and the rug really ties the room together, man.

-D
 
Damn...that's a beautiful setup there. I love the teak console - and the rug really ties the room together, man.

-D
Thank you, I appreciate it. Ironically enough, I'm now attempting to sell the teak cabinet. Too wide, too low, not enough storage. :/
 
All my cd's sounded better with tubes with my LaScallas. The top end is where I heard the most improvement. 18 year old Wally World cd player, under $20.00 My Lp playback stayed about the same. SS preamp. Later I am going to try a Tube pre.
 
(not sure why the different woofer colors, but they sound great)

23482014176_d22d1a5833_b.jpg

The left speaker mostly likely had its woofer replaced and the right speaker's is the original. I had to replace an original woofer, luckily finding a brand new original, a year or two ago. Definitely different shade between the NOS one and the near-30 year old one.
 
Hello friends

I picked up a pair of Klipsch Forte Is. (tag on back says: TYPE: FOR WO RV, SERIAL NO.: 8840820 355 / 71 E0720 3 [0801])

I think they were built in 1985. I was totally shocked at how good they sound.

Then I wandered through this post and I was again shocked by the depth of knowledge of some of the posters here. (Hello SET12!)

Problem is I an an electro-dolt and although I am very excited by the prospect of greatly improving the sound quality of speakers I think already sound great, I got a bit lost in the detail.

I have a Conrad Johnson MV60SE (KT120s), a Sonic Frontiers SLF1 preamp. ( I include this detail in the hope someone here as tried the Fortes with a similar system.)

Could someone help me with a step by step of upgrades that my vintage audio guru could perform for me (mostly of plug-and-play variety)?

My Fortes were in pretty decent cosmetic shape, but I rubbed them down with 0000 steel wool, Formby wood cleaner, then 5 coats of Cherry Restore Finish, 2 coats of bees wax, 6 coats of minwax paste furniture polish. They look good!!

I've been using photobucket and can no longer use them for 3rd party hosting or I would post pictures.

By the way, I have a pair of Emerald Physics EP2.8s, which may have a problem, but the Fortes sound better!!

I appreciate any help you all can provide.

Thanks and nice to be here.
 
Last edited:
Hello friends

I picked up a pair of Klipsch Forte Is. (tag on back says: TYPE: FOR WO RV, SERIAL NO.: 8840820 355 / 71 E0720 3 [0801])

I think they were built in 1985. I was totally shocked at how good they sound.

Then I wandered through this post and I was again shocked by the depth of knowledge of some of the posters here. (Hello SET12!)

Problem is I an an electro-dolt and although I am very excited by the prospect of greatly improving the sound quality of speakers I think already sound great, I got a bit lost in the detail.

I have a Conrad Johnson MV60SE (KT120s), a Sonic Frontiers SLF1 preamp. ( I include this detail in the hope someone here as tried the Fortes with a similar system.)

Could someone help me with a step by step of upgrades that my vintage audio guru could perform for me (mostly of plug-and-play variety)?

My Fortes were in pretty decent cosmetic shape, but I rubbed them down with 0000 steel wool, Formby wood cleaner, then 5 coats of Cherry Restore Finish, 2 coats of bees wax, 6 coats of minwax paste furniture polish. They look good!!

I've been using photobucket and can no longer use them for 3rd party hosting or I would post pictures.

By the way, I have a pair of Emerald Physics EP2.8s, which may have a problem, but the Fortes sound better!!

I appreciate any help you all can provide.

Thanks and nice to be here.


I have Forte 1s as well. Have only done three upgrades. Recapped the xovers, and braced the cabinets internally and resealed every opening. Super cheap to do and a great way to start, imo. I stopped there, so far, happy with the results. About $50 for caps and some time.
 
Thank you Musichal !

I took the easy way. I ordered the titanium diaphragms and cross-overs from Bob Crites. I'm pretty excited at the prospect of these Fortes sounding even better.

I'll seal them up and do some bracing as well.

Do you have any pictures of your bracing, and may I ask, what did you use to seal them up?
 
Thank you Musichal !

I took the easy way. I ordered the titanium diaphragms and cross-overs from Bob Crites. I'm pretty excited at the prospect of these Fortes sounding even better.

I'll seal them up and do some bracing as well.

Do you have any pictures of your bracing, and may I ask, what did you use to seal them up?

I used duct putty, aka electrician's dope, to reseal all drivers, radiators and connector cups. Sorry, no pics. You brace internally from the front to the rear baffles between woofer and mid-range horn; most use two braces offset laterally since the drivers are so close, but I used a single, wider brace. Two may be the way to go, but I didn't want any new screw heads showing. Bracing makes a bigger difference than many folks anticipate. To see the no-holds-barred upgrade approach, read Moray James' posts about Forte upgrades. He's the expert, due to a lot of experience doing it - I'm just a piker by comparison, and a cheapskate to boot.
 
Love the Crites' cross-over/tweeter combination. I had to pop a solder joint to get the old cross-over off the speaker terminal cup.

I listened to them before I reinstalled the passive radiators and after.

Could it be that the Forte I's sound better without the passive radiators? I think they do, but who wants to look into the guts of the speaker.
 
Back
Top Bottom