Forte iii

[steve p]

Brought forte iii’s home to audition(looking to replace my Cambridge SoundWorks)man I don’t want to bring them back. But I want to try out the Cornwall’s before I make a purchase. Have to wait til they get a pair in, might be a couple weeks. It’s going to be a long couple weeks.

 

[biscuithead]

Brought forte iii’s home to audition(looking to replace my Cambridge SoundWorks)man I don’t want to bring them back. But I want to try out the Cornwall’s before I make a purchase. Have to wait til they get a pair in, might be a couple weeks. It’s going to be a long couple weeks.

Very cool.

I have Forte II and 1983 Cornwalls. I'd love to hear the new ones... I just can't imagine what they are going for these days... I worship my Cornwalls and EL34 30WPC... but the foot-print of the Fortes is hard to beat. GL with your choice.

 

[steve p]

Thanks, ya they are definitely pricey. But I plan on keeping them for a long time so worth the money to me. I haven’t seen Cornwalls in person but salesman told me they were massive. Size won’t be a issue so it’ll just come down to which one Sounds better to me.

 

[biscuithead]

Thanks, ya they are definitely pricey. But I plan on keeping them for a long time so worth the money to me. I haven’t seen Cornwalls in person but salesman told me they were massive. Size won’t be a issue so it’ll just come down to which one Sounds better to me.

I will be very interested in your opinion after you've spent some time with both. Can you share some other info...

Room size ?
Source?
Musical taste?
Amplification?

 

[steve p]

room is 22x13. With cathedral ceiling. I need to make some acoustic panels. Been saying for years I’m going to do it just haven’t yet. I play mostly vinyl, with a music hall mmf-5, dynavector pk5 phono preamp Parasound p5 pre amp, Parasound A21 power amp. Listen mostly to classis rock and jazz.

 

[biscuithead]

room is 22x13. With cathedral ceiling. I need to make some acoustic panels. Been saying for years I’m going to do it just haven’t yet. I play mostly vinyl, with a music hall mmf-5, dynavector pk5 phono preamp Parasound p5 pre amp, Parasound A21 power amp. Listen mostly to classis rock and jazz.

sounds like the Klipsch sound should work for you. I Imagine you know and understand the Horn Fatigue issues that some have... and some claim that tubes help with that. I personally have discovered the shortcomings of my Klipsch when it comes to strings.... so I augment with something else.

Its a journey, and I tip my cap to you on your Klipsch path.

 

[steve p]

I was a little leary on the klipsch because of the horns, so far I find these to be very smooth.

 

[zebra03]

Can't go wrong with Klipsch . Congrats !

 

[biscuithead]

I was a little leary on the klipsch because of the horns, so far I find these to be very smooth.

Your room will effect that... and the volume you listen. I love my Klipsch Horns with Jazz, and pop, and Rock...
It's just when I listen to a good acoustical string set, or symphony... or Bela Fleck...

Comparing the Fortes and the Cornwalls will be like comparing two 5 carat diamonds... you'll have to inspect the tiny details... and whatever you choose, you'll still have a 5 carat diamond.

 

[wcward]

I have listened to both in my small 12x10 office setup. Both are very nice sounding but I have to give the edge to the Cornwalls (this is for my listening tastes others may differ). I found the Cornwalls just have a deeper voice than the Fortes and if you like classic rock like I do the base is just better. The Fortes sound superb on voice, horn, piano etc, so if your tastes in music runs more to music that features that kind of sound the Fortes would be killers.

This is for Cornwall 3 and Forte 3.

 

[steve p]

Ya thats why I want to try out the cornwalls for a little more on the low end.

 

[wcward]

 

[wcward]

Heh, I bought the Cornwalls sight unseen and did not really picture how much space they would occupy. Then the Forte 3 came out and I thought they might fit the room better so I bought a pair and set them up and spent a couple of days listening to them....then moved the Cornwalls back in and decided I would just live with the size lol.

 

[steve p]

Lol

 

[hugeroost]

Agree with WC, i have both ll's, would love to hear the lll's. Corns to me are deeper. or more depth, which kinda makes sense considering the size difference. If you remember back in the day the knock on Corns was the big print, so they came out with the Chorus and discontinued the Corn, then the children of the Corn flipped out. raised hell. burned buildings etc till they came back out with Corn ll, then Chorus ll with passive came out, i have a set of Cll's and they DO compare to the Corn l and ll. When i compare i like to use a female vocal, to me it tells more, reveals more, and x10 with horns speaks. I am not into country but i found this song couple years ago and use it quite often to compare, and i hope i dont get heated up for this but ....LeAnn Rimes Some Say Love, not live but her original recorded version is the clearest most powerful voice i have ever heard, i can run that through my LaScala's and bring everyone in the room to tears, its that powerful...Roost

 

[twiiii]

I know those of us who are either sporting white hair or starting to grey that remember prices from the 80's are shocked by todays prices. How do you think I feel when I bought an 89 Ford F-350 Crew cab diesel loaded for 20,000 and they want close to $65,000 today. I can remember my room mate paid less than $400 each for his Cornwalls back in the 60's. So the prices of today are a real shock to me. But its all relative I guess. Gas was 23 cents a gallon and I paid less than $3000.00 for my pre-owned 6 month old 71 LTD with all the bells and whistles. I Just paid close to $50,000 for my MDX with the same comfort and better performance level. I pulled off the factory carb. Installed an Elederbrock intake manifold, thompson headers, dual exhaust and Holley 4 barrel double pumper carb on a 390 V8. The car weighted 5500 lbs, got 18 mpg at 72 mph and turned quarters at 90 mph. Boy were the Michelin tires and Koni stocks pricey back then. The MDX beats it in all respects. I get 29 mpg at 72, and will turn a quarter mile at 100 mph. Well it only weighs 4150 lbs. Its quieter, and has all the bell and whistles. I can even take it off the pavement, something I would never do with the LTD. and I didn't have spend even more money like I did to make the LTD go.

Lets see current Cornwalls will handle 3 to 4 times the power of the 60's models, that's 6 db more. The diaphragms of the mids and tweeters are much superior and the woofer is sure to have been improved though not much has been said lately. Unfortunately physics laws don't change and the bass hasn't been extended, But thats OK the efficiency has been improved a few db making the need for larger amplifiers not necessary. Imagine you can invest in a pair of classic vintage MC 30 Mac amplifiers and experience a dream come true. Try that with speakers that require 10 to 15 times the power two achieve hopefully the same level performance. Anyone want to buy two MC 2301 power amps driving two Magico S5 speakers and still not be able to achieve the same level performance. So the price of two new Cornwalls doesn't look so bad, does it??

 

[dmckean]

I know those of us who are either sporting white hair or starting to grey that remember prices from the 80's are shocked by todays prices.

No one buys large speakers or heavy amplifiers anymore so the distribution networks that were set up for stereo stores to keep things cheap fell apart. Today's lower volume dealers have to pay rent and most of the time when you buy a pair of Cornwalls they're individually shipped via freight from Klipsch either to your dealer or directly to your house and that's not cheap either. Considering how few Klipsch dealers there are these days and how little Klipsch Heritage products they stock, Klipsch would probably be better off selling the Heritage line direct only and knocking 30% off the price.

 

[darkblue94]

No one buys large speakers or heavy amplifiers anymore

Hogwash.

 

[steve p]

I’m waiting for my dealer to get the Corns in so I can give them a listen

 

[biscuithead]

I’m waiting for my dealer to get the Corns in so I can give them a listen

Light a fire under that guy !