As stated in the title, this thread is my review on the ALK Engineering Forte I crossovers. I've only had them installed for about 10 days now. I have titanium tweeter diaphragms also, just an FYI.
If you'd like to see the build thread, it's right here.
I was using Bob Crites' crossovers prior to the ALK's for about 3.5 years and loved them. I listen to all kinds of music and have used all types of gear with the Fortes...always preferred tubes, though I'm forced to use solid-state for the time being, but I'm not complainingl. My system during review consists of a Marantz SA8003 SACD player that I've been using since 2009 (only thing that has never left my system), Denon DP-3000 w/ Acos Lustre GST-1 arm and Shure M97xE cart, Yamaha C-60 pre, Yamaha M-60 and a 60GB iPod which feeds FLAC files to the Marantz. Kimber Kable 8VS and Hero are used for connections.
I was used to the high frequencies being very crisp and detailed at low volume levels, which I didn't get from the ALK crossovers at first. They sounded slightly laid back to me at first, which I then grew to appreciate the more I listened and the more I turned the volume up. This is from less overlap in the mid/high frequencies according to Al. You can really crank these without smearing the soundstage now, but they still sound great down low. The midrange grabbed me right away as being very smooth and less "honky" than I remember, which wasn't that much anyways, but notable. A lot of the little differences I'll describe are subtle at first but then become apparent as you listen to your favorite source material. That being said, this new found clarity and depth in the midrange is as much of an upgrade as you'd get from changing to higher quality ancillary gear, I kid you not. I do listen to FLAC files often but now I get the sense that I can hear more of the digital compression, even thought it's 1:1 (lossless). Switching to the same album on CD proved me right in the fact that I couldn't hear the slight grainy-ness as I did with the iPod. I couldn't really tell the difference before, except with my Alon IV's.
The soundstage they create is pinpoint accurate to the point where a local friend who has heard these speakers a ton of times said, "I feel like I can reach out and touch the instruments." I felt the same way and it was a recording we had heard many times. The imaginary center channel they create is more precise than before. They seem to represent the recordings better, in a more natural way...the instruments actually do sound just a little more real than before. The tones of hollow bodies, strings and wind instruments really come to life with the right material. Vocals have more air and throaty-ness. The graphs that Al shows in the construction of these shows a flatter frequency response, which is where I think some of this more natural sound is coming from. That, and the fact that Klipsch's stock design doesn't even use the first few hundred hertz of the midrange crossover point. So, I'm actually gaining crucial midrange information with the ALK's. Bad recordings don't benefit from the upgrade though, in fact, more of their shortcomings are now audible.
When the low end is needed they are no slouch, thanks in part to the larger gauge inductors. I sealed the cabinets up from air when I installed the ALK crossovers, so that might have helped out too. Now I get tighter bass and I feel it really can hit those low end frequency specs with ease. The bass isn't boomey at all but it can rattle the walls when the music calls for it. I think it is slightly stronger than before with better tone definition and the mid-bass carries a little more weight too.
Across the board I'm pretty impressed with this redesigned crossover for an old speaker. This is a case where an old dog really can learn new tricks. As I said above, these changes come off as subtle at first, but then become very noticeable once you dig in to some well known recordings. The midrange smoothness is the most notable of all, definitely the main attraction in this upgrade. Another really nice feature is their near ruler flat resistance (5.5ohm +/- 0.5ohm) which makes them a way better match with Single-Ended tube amps than the stock crossover. Any amp will benefit from this but the lower the power, the more this comes into play.
I tried not to exaggerate...but your ears and gear might get slightly different results. Hopefully this helps anyone thinking of trying these crossovers out, I know there's not much out there to read up on. If you have any questions about stuff I didn't cover, let me know and I'll try to answer them as best I can. I'd recommend them if you've got the upgrade bug and want to kick the Forte up a notch. :yes:
Thanks for reading!
Cory
If you'd like to see the build thread, it's right here.
I was using Bob Crites' crossovers prior to the ALK's for about 3.5 years and loved them. I listen to all kinds of music and have used all types of gear with the Fortes...always preferred tubes, though I'm forced to use solid-state for the time being, but I'm not complainingl. My system during review consists of a Marantz SA8003 SACD player that I've been using since 2009 (only thing that has never left my system), Denon DP-3000 w/ Acos Lustre GST-1 arm and Shure M97xE cart, Yamaha C-60 pre, Yamaha M-60 and a 60GB iPod which feeds FLAC files to the Marantz. Kimber Kable 8VS and Hero are used for connections.
I was used to the high frequencies being very crisp and detailed at low volume levels, which I didn't get from the ALK crossovers at first. They sounded slightly laid back to me at first, which I then grew to appreciate the more I listened and the more I turned the volume up. This is from less overlap in the mid/high frequencies according to Al. You can really crank these without smearing the soundstage now, but they still sound great down low. The midrange grabbed me right away as being very smooth and less "honky" than I remember, which wasn't that much anyways, but notable. A lot of the little differences I'll describe are subtle at first but then become apparent as you listen to your favorite source material. That being said, this new found clarity and depth in the midrange is as much of an upgrade as you'd get from changing to higher quality ancillary gear, I kid you not. I do listen to FLAC files often but now I get the sense that I can hear more of the digital compression, even thought it's 1:1 (lossless). Switching to the same album on CD proved me right in the fact that I couldn't hear the slight grainy-ness as I did with the iPod. I couldn't really tell the difference before, except with my Alon IV's.
The soundstage they create is pinpoint accurate to the point where a local friend who has heard these speakers a ton of times said, "I feel like I can reach out and touch the instruments." I felt the same way and it was a recording we had heard many times. The imaginary center channel they create is more precise than before. They seem to represent the recordings better, in a more natural way...the instruments actually do sound just a little more real than before. The tones of hollow bodies, strings and wind instruments really come to life with the right material. Vocals have more air and throaty-ness. The graphs that Al shows in the construction of these shows a flatter frequency response, which is where I think some of this more natural sound is coming from. That, and the fact that Klipsch's stock design doesn't even use the first few hundred hertz of the midrange crossover point. So, I'm actually gaining crucial midrange information with the ALK's. Bad recordings don't benefit from the upgrade though, in fact, more of their shortcomings are now audible.
When the low end is needed they are no slouch, thanks in part to the larger gauge inductors. I sealed the cabinets up from air when I installed the ALK crossovers, so that might have helped out too. Now I get tighter bass and I feel it really can hit those low end frequency specs with ease. The bass isn't boomey at all but it can rattle the walls when the music calls for it. I think it is slightly stronger than before with better tone definition and the mid-bass carries a little more weight too.
Across the board I'm pretty impressed with this redesigned crossover for an old speaker. This is a case where an old dog really can learn new tricks. As I said above, these changes come off as subtle at first, but then become very noticeable once you dig in to some well known recordings. The midrange smoothness is the most notable of all, definitely the main attraction in this upgrade. Another really nice feature is their near ruler flat resistance (5.5ohm +/- 0.5ohm) which makes them a way better match with Single-Ended tube amps than the stock crossover. Any amp will benefit from this but the lower the power, the more this comes into play.
I tried not to exaggerate...but your ears and gear might get slightly different results. Hopefully this helps anyone thinking of trying these crossovers out, I know there's not much out there to read up on. If you have any questions about stuff I didn't cover, let me know and I'll try to answer them as best I can. I'd recommend them if you've got the upgrade bug and want to kick the Forte up a notch. :yes:
Thanks for reading!
Cory
) to build them with, just for the hell of it. But, like Al said, the benefits of the redesigned network is already leaps and bounds ahead of a stock network w/ boutique parts. 
