Forte I woofer options/suggestions

910ken

Active Member
I recently bought a pair of Forte I's, dated 1989. There was some water damage to one speaker from the original owner but it is something I can live with. visually. Don't think there is any damage inside.

The second owner had a K-23-K woofer die on him and ordered a pair of Goldwood GW-1244. These are not expensive speakers. The speakers sound decent but am I getting the "Forte" experience? Or even Close? The bass is there but it is somewhat thuddy.

Ok, so I got the good woofer and the bad one. The good measures 3.9 ohms, the bad is open. No rub when I push in and out. I cut the dust cap off but everything seams connected. The good one also plays well connected by it self to my Pioneer SX 550.

What are my options? Can I have the bad one rebuilt? Klipsch doesn't make this anymore. is the " 31 " the best replacement or the "24". What do those generally go for? Is a rebuild kit available? At this point I don't want to dump a lot of money into these unless I could find an empty cab. Then I would rebuild the crossovers and do the Crites Ti Diaphragms. I guess I wanted to see how I liked these before I really got aggressive.

So I am turning this over to the experts. I am a novice at this still. 20180815_233744[1].jpg 20180815_233757[1].jpg 20180815_233813.jpg 20180815_233821.jpg 20180815_233835.jpg 20180815_233842.jpg 20180815_233849.jpg 20180815_233919.jpg 20180815_233941.jpg 20180815_233946.jpg
 
Some more pics.20180815_234015.jpg 20180815_234022.jpg 20180815_234618.jpg
I am driving these with this 4xEL84 Harmon Kardon that sounds great with other speakers, KLH 30's, Mission bookshelf. All electrolytics are replaced.

The good speaker is very good.Please help. I have wanted to try a decent Klipsch for some time now.

Thanks, Ken
 
Get a genuine original Klipsch woofer to match the other, nothing else will work correctly. They do come up for sale from time to time on eBay and other sites. The Fortes are excellent speakers and deserve to be correct. The titanium diaphragms are a no-brainer and at least recap the crossovers or go full throttle and get the Crites replacement crossovers too. :)
 
Thanks for the reply. I think you are correct that I should do it right.

I did talk to Michael Crites and their replacement woofers are pretty reasonable. Does any one have experience with these? Is it the same Forte sound or does it take me away from what a Forte sounds like? I know they are reputable and he was very helpful. I will probably get the crossover kit and the tweeter diaphragms . If I go that route I might re veneer that cab.
 
looking at the photos again, the woofer doesn't appear to be stock, anyway. post a larger photo of it so we can see the surround better. should be rubber and concave (looks convex) and the dust cap is shiny where it ought to be matte like the passive's.
 
like this one -
1862724-original-12-inch-klipsch-woofers-k23kpair.jpg




ribbed cone also, obviously.
 
I vote for replacing the woofers with originals and doing all of the Crites upgrades--they make a huge difference. Also, Klipsch has re-introduced the Forte as the Forte III as part of their Heritage series, so you could source new woofers from Klipsch. Crites has appropriate replacements as well, if you don't want to wait around for a used one to turn up.
 
I did talk to Michael Crites. New woofers are very reasonable. It seams a couple of my posts and a few replies are just gone. Maybe it's from the problems they have been having with the site.

My woofer does look like these pictured, it just doesn't show up in mine. I will snap some more pics later.
 
Actually some of my PM conversations are gone too. Someone sent me info on a reconer in Canton and some speakers he had. I did write down the reconer name but lost the other info. Please write back.
 
Thanks SP3.
1973, I did talk to Klipsch and they were much less than helpful. They said they had NO recommendation for a replacement. Nothing they had would work.

Actually I do like the way they sound now. They bass is just thuddy. The other aspects are fine. I have KG 3.5 s and though I just use them with the SX 550 and for TV I AM Very impressed. I hear everything and the sound tracks come through great. I believe I will like these Forte s.

Still debating on which way to get but if I go the Crites woofers these could last me a long long time.

I sampled some JBL L56 s and that was not my thing. They were completely rebuilt too. It was the guy that I bought my KLH 30s from.

Again, thanks for all the feedback. Ken
 
Here are some better pics. It does look like the rubber surround is convex but it is concave.20180820_195046.jpg 20180820_195059.jpg 20180820_195121.jpg
 

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OK, I finally got some time to put the one K-23-K back into one of the speakers and do a comparison. I put on Chicago's greatest hits and the difference is stark. It is similar to comparing my KG 3.5's to some Prodigy Towers. I like the sound of the prodigy but with the 3.5's the music is around you, like you are sitting in the middle of the band playing. The prodigy sound is simply in front of you, not bad but not open. Also the bass is deeper and more resonant. Not thuddy at all.

I did check the radiators and as I push the woofers in the radiators push out. This was a tip from Michael Crites.
 
if you can source the new woofers from Bob/Michael Crites, I'd go with him...Bob is a member on this Forum (BECToo) and he listens to Klipsch speakers or modified ones himself...his woofers, if applicable will not make your speakers sound different than original and if at all they may sound a touch better (as they are new)...

I had answered this twice before but see my responses disappeared and it was during the recent issue over the weekend...

I am a big fan of Bob's parts and have used him since he started doing updates, crossovers and tweeter mods and all...I have done this to kg2s, kg4s, Quartets, Chorus lls, Heresys, Heresy lls, KLF-C7 and on...no worries at all (I have never changed woofers but done crossovers, tweeters, titanium tweeter diaphragms, etc...)

Bill
 
Other possibility would be to get on the Klipsch forums, and see if someone might have a spare Forte 1 woofer. They're friendly and helpful!
 
Thanks again for the replies.
Bill, I did order the Crites woofers. I talked to Michael today and they are on there way along with the ti diaphragms, and the rebuild kit. I would say these are good to go for another 30 years. The only other thing I might do is get their entire crossover boards. A little pricey for now but certainly worth it if I keep these around for a while .

Thanks Kent for your suggestion . Now I have a spare woofer . :÷)

What a great sound these speakers have.
 
YUP--and glad to see that the Forte III has been added to the "Heritage" line. The three sisters--Quartet, Chorus and Forte IMO were always "better" than the K-horn, LaScala, Cornwall and Heresy. The three sisters finally found that last octave that the others were lacking and still managed a smaller footprint. Because of the rear passive radiator, get those puppies a little ways off the backing wall and ENJOY!
 
I did almost buy a pair of Quartets here locally in the early Spring but I wan't quite ready to move on them and they really went quick. 3 or 4 days I think. I am glad with my Fortes and I will have a new set of speakers practically , with the new woofers and all the upgrades, for 1/10 the price of the new III's. Just listening to the reloaded ( original woofer ) speaker was all it took.

Ken
 
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