Forte in the house!

Jenkster

Jenkster

When I had talent
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I just picked up a pair of Forte' 1's from a friend who was in need of cash. They are the older version with the round terminal cup and the crossover components glued to the back of it. I'm not a big fan of that set up but it is what it is. The drivers are in great shape, stock, work as they should with NO pushed in dust covers!:thmbsp: Even the phenolic diaphragms in the tweeters work great, kind of rare in my experience. They do need a good scrubbing.:yes: Some Andersen's is in order for the oiled oak cabinets which are overall in great shape. My Marantz 2325 drives them nicely. I had forgotten how good the low end is on these! May need some Crites crossovers in the near future.:scratch2: Here's a couple of pics. I know what I'm doing this weekend.
 
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Nice pick up. I have a pair myself. Replace the stock phenolic diaphrams with Bob Crites titanium ones. You'll like what you hear! :yes:
 
Congratulations, I have my eye on a pair and am waiting on when we can mutually schedule a pickup. They will be replacing some Cornwalls in my apartment setup, those bad boys are just overwhelming when you sit on the couch 8 feet in front of them. Really looking forward to getting them, I haven't listened to Fortes in years.
 
gatorvrx said:
Nice pick up. I have a pair myself. Replace the stock phenolic diaphrams with Bob Crites titanium ones. You'll like what you hear! :yes:
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I will consider the ti diaphragms but I do like the sound of the phenolics. They are better than the plastic, OK polymer, domes in the later models IMHO.

I see you have a pair of KG 5.2's. My friend who sold me the Forte's has a pair of those as well. He doesn't have them hooked up currently so I didn't listen to them. What is your opinion of them? In the same league as the Forte's?

Thanks
 
Not in the same league as the Fortes, but pretty darn close. I like them very much. All my Klipsch have the Ti diaphragms, even the KG 2's. I'm looking to add some KG 4's to the collection!
 
I just got today a pair of Forte IIs--I am absolutely blown away. For the moment I am driving them with a Marantz 2326b. What is so impressive to me is the fact that I do not have to mess with the tone controls to get the sound of the music the way it was intended by the artist. I am hearing the music and not the speaker: I think I have finally found the speakers that I've always wanted. Honestly I didn't know it would be Klipsch (these are my first).
 
My first true hifi purchase was a set of Fortes when I was stationed in Okinawa with the Air Force in the early 80s. Like the HiFi mag. review stated "these are the best speakers we have ever tested". Guess that says it all.
 
spkelly, I can guarentee they won't be your last! Welcome to the world of Klipsch.
 
I love my Fortes, and a full Crites tweeter/crossover refresh made em way better. See about getting some tubes to power them, theyll add a whole new dimension.
 
gatorvrx said:
Not in the same league as the Fortes, but pretty darn close. I like them very much. All my Klipsch have the Ti diaphragms, even the KG 2's. I'm looking to add some KG 4's to the collection!
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:scratch2:, may have to check those out as well. I have the remote speaker out on the Marantz that's just itchn' for another pair of speakers!:yes:
 
BadassBob said:
I love my Fortes, and a full Crites tweeter/crossover refresh made em way better. See about getting some tubes to power them, theyll add a whole new dimension.
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I will likely do the upgrade of the crossovers, tweeters maybe, but not the tubes. In fact I just sold my last tube amp, a nice Scott 299b. I just prefer the sound of vinatge SS, especially my completely restored Marantz 2325. Again, just my preference based upon personal experience with both worlds.
 
Jenkster said:
I will likely do the upgrade of the crossovers, tweeters maybe, but not the tubes. In fact I just sold my last tube amp, a nice Scott 299b. I just prefer the sound of vinatge SS, especially my completely restored Marantz 2325. Again, just my preference based upon personal experience with both worlds.
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Understood. Thats what makes this such a great hobby, theres just so much variety out there, and theres something for everybody.
 
I did an A/B test with the Forte's and the JBL 4430's with a variety of music, CD and vinyl. Overall, I could certainly live with either speaker and be very happy. I did hear some high end information better through the 3 way Forte's that were not as articulate with the 2 way JBLs.:scratch2: I think overall the JBL's are more accurate and have a tighter bass. The 4430's also have that monitor flat response, especially in the mid range, that is not as focussed and brighter in the Forte's. If "hot rod" crossovers could clean up most of those issues, the 4430's may have some competition?:scratch2::scratch2:
 
No one was home today so I decided to increase the decibles a bit. After some careful and loud listening, I think the JBL's are staying!:yes: The Forte's got quite harsh as the volume went up but the JBL's didn't break a sweat. It may be an unfair test as the compression driver in the JBL is a pro model attached to a big bi-radial horn with a heavy duty 15" driver. They were designed for the studio for mixing recordings. They are rated to take 300 watts as well. I will say that for realistic listening levels the Forte's are a very respectable speaker!
 
Jenkster said:
No one was home today so I decided to increase the decibles a bit. After some careful and loud listening, The Forte's got quite harsh as the volume went up
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My friend you have just discovered the difference between the original Forte and the Forte II. The tractrix is so smooth as you pour the volume to it. Headbangers should only consider the tractrix.

There are alot of different types of music out there that require different speakers for the job.

Best jazz speaker in the klipsch lineup is a Cornwall. I'm not even sure anyone on the planet would argue that. But once you start throttling on them they become a rumble box and screamers.

But if your an SPL nut and want to keep it smooth get a Chorus II/Forte II or Quartet.

This is all my opinion of course but I know what I'm talking about:yes:
 
No issues with opinions, but re-capping older Cornwalls and/or making sure the crossover is within spec cleans up most perceived issues: and they are much less placement sensitive than Fortes.

That said, I wonder if similar attention would improve the mentioned shrillness of the offending Fortes, in this case.
 
Zeke said:
No issues with opinions, but re-capping older Cornwalls and/or making sure the crossover is within spec cleans up most perceived issues: and they are much less placement sensitive than Fortes.

That said, I wonder if similar attention would improve the mentioned shrillness of the offending Fortes, in this case.
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The Cornwalls in my house had new Bob Crites crossovers installed. Its the nature of the horn itself that gives that shrill. Tractrix is a much differenent design.
 
Stormin said:
The Cornwalls in my house had new Bob Crites crossovers installed. Its the nature of the horn itself that gives that shrill. Tractrix is a much differenent design.
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see, I'm trying to decide between the forte and forte II and there's a fellow over on the Klipsch forum who says the tractix are too harsh.....it's getting very confusing to me
 
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