New Forte III "nerfed"

I don't understand everyone wetting their pants over printed specs. They don't tell you how a speaker "sounds". I have a pair of synergy f30 towers that spec much better than heresy or forte. But I have sense enough to know the heritage speakers sound much better, and yes I have heard it with my own ears. Sweating specs is the hobby of fanboys over at the Crutchfield site.
 
No. It isn't stock. I added them myself.

C7248A59-44CE-47F7-A3D4-C9A48FC87D09_zpsfro9ti9u.jpg

I love my Forte speakers, in walnut as god intended. However, the mighty Khorns in the den prevent them from being the best Klipsch in my house, much less the line. Yeah, larger footprint, but you get to shove them up against the wall, in the corner and out of the way, where they sound their very best. By contrast, the Fortes in the bedroom could use just a little more distance between them and the front wall. They do sound great to me, but the placement isn't ideal. So from a real estate standpoint, while the cornerhorns are larger, they take up less usable space while also providing attractive surfaces on which art or other decorative items can be displayed. Bottom line though, for me anyway, is that the Khorns emanate a larger presentation, and a presence that the Forte can't fully duplicate, even in a smaller room, and certainly not in the same room where my horns supplanted them.

First of all, that grille over the passive radiator is a knockout! Secondly, you guys would seem to be the ones to ask this:

Forte-III-placement.jpg

(From the product manual.) One inch?! Two to ten inches? How close can you get before running into trouble, practically speaking?

That's the closest I can remember ever seeing a recommendation w/r/t proximity to the wall behind the speaker.
And this one has that big honking passive driver there. Interesting to say the least. TIA for your opinions.
 
I would say 1' to a foot and a half give or take with any Klipsch rear radiator speaker...you should experiment with placement as just a little change CAN yield big results...good luck

Bill
 
That 1" must be a misprint. If all you want is boomy bass than close to the wall works. If you want imaging and soundstage they will probably need a foot or more. it doesn't take long to find the sweet spot.
 
First of all, that grille over the passive radiator is a knockout! Secondly, you guys would seem to be the ones to ask this:

View attachment 1216472

(From the product manual.) One inch?! Two to ten inches? How close can you get before running into trouble, practically speaking?

That's the closest I can remember ever seeing a recommendation w/r/t proximity to the wall behind the speaker.
And this one has that big honking passive driver there. Interesting to say the least. TIA for your opinions.

I have mine 10” - 12” (toed in) from the wall.
 
Definitely wasn't a typo, though I can't make much sense of it. Here are the placement instructions for the KG4. I don't even think it's possible to get a speaker that close to a wall. There are things like baseboards not to mention connectors. It's just weird if you ask me.

KLIPSCH-KG4-INSTRS.jpg

Someone on another forum is claiming that his speakers are 12 ft from the front wall. I bet it sounds great but I didn't ask if perhaps he lives in an airplane hangar. I kind of wish I did, actually. There'd be room for everything including cars. Though it would be a task to damp the reflections I guess. OTOH, the floor is probably the only surface nearby, and you could put down a giant carpet remnant.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-desert-plane-designer-lives-plane--guns.html

His ceilings aren't high enough for me. ETA: My favorite comment--"Very smart guy, unfortunately obsessed with badgers."
 
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I love my Forte speakers, in walnut as god intended. However, the mighty Khorns in the den prevent them from being the best Klipsch in my house, much less the line. Yeah, larger footprint, but you get to shove them up against the wall, in the corner and out of the way, where they sound their very best. By contrast, the Fortes in the bedroom could use just a little more distance between them and the front wall. They do sound great to me, but the placement isn't ideal. So from a real estate standpoint, while the cornerhorns are larger, they take up less usable space while also providing attractive surfaces on which art or other decorative items can be displayed. Bottom line though, for me anyway, is that the Khorns emanate a larger presentation, and a presence that the Forte can't fully duplicate, even in a smaller room, and certainly not in the same room where my horns supplanted them.

Yes...because scale matters. Often times it’s the difference between great and breathtaking.
But I’ve banged that drum incessantly here in the past...so you’re perfectly aware of my feelings on this. Regardless, Khorns will do scale nicely and congrats on the Khorn acquisition!
 
I’m not sure my Chorus II’s even get below 40 Hz regardless of wall to speaker proximity and for me it doesn’t even matter anyway. So long as I can accommodate it, I’ll always use at least a pair of matching subs with digital room correction filtering to cover the lowest octave regardless of what the mains are capable of in that region. Room acoustics will most always be a formidable adversary in the battle for balanced and complete LF reproduction and I’ve found the only effective weapon to combat that stubborn force of physics is multiple subs strategically placed and with DRC filtering. One thing I enjoy about my Chorus II’s is what that 15” driver does with all the mid bass content it’s tasked to reproduce...which, for me, is of greater relevance than a 7 Hz difference at the very bottom. Let the subs carry that load. They’ll do it and mix you a drink at the same time. Hehe

The Forte III’s look great and I appreciate Klipsch keeping the design concept alive in an industry that largely ignores horn based designs. I’d love to hear a pair.
 
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Yes...because scale matters. Often times it’s the difference between great and breathtaking.
But I’ve banged that drum incessantly here in the past...so you’re perfectly aware of my feelings on this. Regardless, Khorns will do scale nicely and congrats on the Khorn acquisition!

Thanks, Michael, but this post is now rather dated. Sold the Khorns, because I couldn't place the left one properly into a corner, and a false wall wasn't feasible because they were already too close together. I had to face it - my room wasn't really large enough, and shaped wrong, for cornerhorns. Still have the Fortes you sourced for me, and they still remind me of the time I visited you and heard those QRS-1 (model?) - those big Infinities. And I still am amazed at the Watkins woofer they used.

I have since put together what is in my sig as the main rig, but also use the Forte in the bedroom daily, where they sound PDG.

Nice to hear from you again - I know you're a busy guy with many irons in the fire at all times. Hope you and yours are all doing well.
 
I don't understand everyone wetting their pants over printed specs. They don't tell you how a speaker "sounds". I have a pair of synergy f30 towers that spec much better than heresy or forte. But I have sense enough to know the heritage speakers sound much better, and yes I have heard it with my own ears. Sweating specs is the hobby of fanboys over at the Crutchfield site.
Printed specs are even more important today than they used to be. You can't go to a electronic store and listen to speakers and compare (true for 90 percent of buyers) so you have to rely on specs and reputation.

I like Klipsch, since 1985, "why", because I got to hear the Heresy, the Forte, the Cornwall, the La Scala and the Klipschorns, side by side, on the top of the line Denon pre, amp and cd player and in 1985 with my 19 year old ears, I decided that I liked the Klipschorn the best and then the Forte next. I couldn't buy them then because I was a poor college student buying books, paying tuition and room/board, jobless (no jobs in Santa Cruz in 1985 for a student).
It's 2018 and I can't do the same, so I have to rely on specs. I already own Forte Is and IIs, I also own Chorus IIs, Heresy Is, 1.5s and IIs and I've just got rid of Cornwall II and Quartets(almost bought Klipschorns but in an apartment it would be ridiculous), so I know what Klipsch's heritage sounds like.

Klipsch never should have gotten rid of the Forte (not too big and great sound) so I was very excited when these were announced. The first thing I did was compare the specs, printed by Klipsch, between the Forte Is, that are my favorite, the Forte IIs, which I also own, and the new forte IIIs, which I wanted to buy and the bass, that was part of what made the Forte's great, is gone(more like the Chorus II). Klipsch printed the specs for all three of these speakers, it's not like I'm comparing JBL 4312s(that are still made for the Japanese market and cost about the same) to Forte III. What Klipsch is telling me, is that the new Forte IIIs don't have the bass of the Forte Is. I don't know the frequency response of the IIIs since they didn't publish it (is it horrible or did they not bother to test). So to me it says not to buy these IIIs. I won't even bother to drive to the bay area to listen to them (and also have to deal with the hard sell, no one approach 2 college students in 1985, one man just nodded when I said they sounded great and prices were listed, hand written in black marker). So yeah, specs matter. If you get to listen to them and decide that you like them then buy them.

One more thing, since everything is mail order, Klipsch should just sell direct (perhaps lower the price since there's no middleman, use better packing material or use that money to improve the CIII horn).
 
Thanks, Michael, but this post is now rather dated. Sold the Khorns, because I couldn't place the left one properly into a corner, and a false wall wasn't feasible because they were already too close together. I had to face it - my room wasn't really large enough, and shaped wrong, for cornerhorns. Still have the Fortes you sourced for me, and they still remind me of the time I visited you and heard those QRS-1 (model?) - those big Infinities. And I still am amazed at the Watkins woofer they used.

I have since put together what is in my sig as the main rig, but also use the Forte in the bedroom daily, where they sound PDG.

Nice to hear from you again - I know you're a busy guy with many irons in the fire at all times. Hope you and yours are all doing well.

Oh hell...I didn't even pay attention to age of the thread. Seems I've perhaps lost some of my discussion forum savvy. lol :rolleyes:

Well I'm sorry to hear the Khorns didn't work out for you, Roy. I've heard them both loaded in corners as intended and otherwise and no doubt about it, both loaded in a corner is superior in every way. But the Monitor Audios with the pair of SVS subs in your sig certainly sound like a recipe for hifi goodness. I've read the Monitor audio house sound has much in common with a pair of Evergy Veritas 3-ways I have (always been a fan of the Candian approach)...and the Veritas supplemented with a pair of subs create an outstanding audio experience.

All going well here, thank you and hope you can say the same. And yes, I'm shamefully busy but smelling lots of roses while on the run. Trying to squeeze some hifi in here and there but playing in a working band simply absorbs most all of the free time I could once allocate toward my hifi journey. I still have the QLS-1's but haven't listened to them in probably four or five years. I'm ready for a reunion. Stay tuned. hehe
 
I liked it best when it was still klipsch. How much of the new product will still be in use 50 or more years from now...
I will keep my vintage klipsch speakers with drivers not made of plastic nor my cabs of pressboard.
 
I liked it best when it was still klipsch. How much of the new product will still be in use 50 or more years from now...
I will keep my vintage klipsch speakers with drivers not made of plastic nor my cabs of pressboard.

...of course Klipsch has been using those materials for a long time and the "new" version of the Klipsch company has reintroduced the Forte' III as well as still making improvements to their other Heritage line speakers just as Paul did throughout their lifetime...I suspect they will still be with us for a long time to come...

Bill
 
I had Forte IIIs for a while and I can assure you the quality of craftsmanship of this speaker bodes well for it being passed on for generations.
 
How does the III compare to the I and II in terms of build quality? Were any corners cut? I'm interested in the III's, but I noticed in the promo photos for the IIIs, the speaker connectors on the back protrude because they are flush with the cabinet and are no longer protectively sunken like the earlier Forte generations. Was that a cost cutting move by Klipsch on the new version? Seems like the speaker plugs on the IIIs could more easily be broken when moving the speaker since they are no longer protectively recessed. Even the Cornwall III and Heresy III recess the plugs on the back. Not sure why Klipsch made the change.

Here are some photos to illustrate

s-l300.jpg

test-klipsch-forte-iii-001.jpg
 
So I'm still up (don't ask) and I get this email from Kipsch about the new Forte III. Interested, I opened it up. Great special edition in colors I don't like for 2000 each. No info on the regular edition, I was wondering if pricing would be better. But behold, the specs are up. I know the specs for the I and the II (since they've always been my favorites) so I check and I have immediate disappointment. They "nerfed" the speakers.

I don't know how they did it, 12 in woofer check, new midrange design with titanium drivers (hopefully big magnets and not like the Heresy) check, the Heresy tweeter (what I expected) check and the large 15 in passive check. So everything the same as the IIs (don't expect the midrange to be much better since new horn designs is just a marketing ploy) except the frequency range. The ones go from 32hz to 20khz and I can verify with my 20 year old ears back in 85 that you can hear the difference in bass and only the Klipschorns went lower. The IIs also go from 32hz to 20khz but have better efficiency at 99 db at 1 watt vs 98 db for the Is. The new 2000 dollar III only go from 38hz to 20khz with the same efficiency as the IIs.

Why would I spend 4000 for a speaker that is not the Forte that I have always loved??? I'm guessing that they didn't want to the Forte to compete with the Cornwall nor the La Scala which sell for more but the Forte was always better on specs and people bought what sounded good to them. I would like to hear them but I would like to hear them next to a Forte I and then laugh at the Klipsch staff. Boo for Voxx.
That’s horrible my lower end klipsch towers go down to 33 or 38 hz for a. $4000 speaker it should go down to 20 hz. Not long you will need a sub with alll if there Speakers, at the rate they nerf them . I mean you really already do except the vintage modes .
I couldn’t dream of affording fortes I can’t find a job right now sadly .
 
Not meaning to be a slight on the designers of the III

Seems they followed or were inspired by many of the Upgrades/Mods made and posted here over the yrs by members of AK with older Forte
 
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