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Found some Klipsch Forte, need advice.

Squidward

Squidward

Scrappy Mod
Subscriber
In my ever continuing quest for some speakers that play well with homebrew tube amps, I ran across some Klipsch Fortes on my local Craigslist. I went and picked them up today, but I've got some questions and concerns.

First off, the ad was for Forte IIs, but these are most certainly the original Forte. I was reading here and elsewhere about the Forte model before my purchase, it would seem that both modes are well regarded, if maybe the original slightly more so.

I think all drivers worked in the 30 second audition I had. Both passive radiators have their dust caps pushed in. One has busted input terminals. I consider both minor issues, as the dustcaps shouldn't affedt sound quality, and I planned on re-doing the crossovers and terminal hardware, anyway.

One of the woofers doesn't appear to be original. It has a pleated paper surround instead of the rubber surround that I expected. It might be a Klipsch part, it has a sticker on it that says in part "K28E" and "4 OHM" on it. Might this be from another Klipsch product? I plan on calling Klipsch tomorrow to see if they have a proper replacement woofer, but would anyone like to hazard odds of Klipsch still stocking a replacement woofer?

Just for the curious, here's Klipsch's web page about the Forte:

http://www.klipsch.com/products/discontinued/details/forte.aspx

I saw this excellent thread about re-capping the Forte, thanks to Redboy and BECtoo!

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81071&highlight=forte

Here's another thead with the Forete crossover schematic, thanks again BECtoo!

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=88559&highlight=forte

Here's some pics of the woofer, and the Forete it came out of. Any advice on how to restore/upgrade them is appreciated.

Thanks!
 

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Well, I do belive congratulations are in order.

Nice find, I'm sure you got them for a song.

Keep us updated on your progress with them, ed.:thmbsp:
 
Nice find,
I have had a few pairs of those before however I have never done any mods to them. Please keep us update on what you do. :yes:
 
Clarence said:
Well, I do belive congratulations are in order.

Nice find, I'm sure you got them for a song.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the congratulations, but unfortunately I didn't get them for a song. Looks like in their current condition I'll have to spend even more before I'm through! I bought them because I always wanted a pair of Forte or Forte IIs, heard they played well with tubes and were a pretty good sounding speaker!
 
Squidward said:
Thanks for the congratulations, but unfortunately I didn't get them for a song. Looks like in their current condition I'll have to spend even more before I'm through! I bought them because I always wanted a pair of Forte or Forte IIs, heard they played well with tubes and were a pretty good sounding speaker!
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Nice find, I think that Fortes are keepers and well worth the $ and effort to restore. Good luck! :music:
 
I believe that Klipsch is still selling woofers, etc. for their older products.Another trip to their website might be just the ticket for you....



David
 
I have the Forte' and I think it is one of the best sounding Klipsch speakers, excellent with smaller systems. I am using a pair now with my McIntosh system. I am considering recapping also. Good luck with your rebuild. I use Watco Oil on my cabinets.
 
Well, I contacted Klipsch, and the news is not great. They no longer have any original Forte' woofers, and it seems that I have the replacement. But, both the guy I talked to on the phone and some email customer service representitive hinted that differences in the sound might require replacing the remaining original woofer. The replacement part is roughly $110, shipped, which is more than I'd want to spend but admittedly less than what I expected a manufacturer part to cost. I guess that I could watch Ebay for an original woofer, but it would seem that while there are lots of Forte sales, there aren't a lot of them getting parted out. And then if I bought an original woofer for close to $110 with shipping, and it had problems, I'd be back to square one. I'm leaning towards the replacement woofer from Klipsch. Comments, anyone? :dunno:
 
Why don't you see if the guys over on the Klipsch site forum have some spares, or at least other options? I know there's some info there about swapping out La Scala woofers, but the Forte isn't as popular, so there may not be as many tweaks for it as some of the other Heritage line.
The worst case is that you can always flip one of them and use the proceeds to defray the cost of matching up which one you keep. Let us know when you get them hooked up; I'd love to hear them with you!!
 
Replacement woofer

Hi, don't know if you are interested, but I have a pair of the replacement woofers that Klipsch sells for the Forte', they are model number KP-28-E, same units that they use in the Heresy III I think, they only support original drivers for 5 years after the model leaves production. If you send me the woofers you have and they are both in good operating condition, I will send you the KP-28-E's. Reason is I need a K-23-K (original Forte' woofer), for one of my pairs and the KP-28-E's are just sitting on the shelf, I think the price is more like $140.00 each for them if you buy them today.
 
alteklipsch said:
If you send me the woofers you have and they are both in good operating condition, I will send you the KP-28-E's.
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I would not be looking for replacement drivers for my Fortes if I had both woofers and they worked. If you re-read my original post, you will see that I only have 1 Forte woofer.

Reason is I need a K-23-K (original Forte' woofer), for one of my pairs and the KP-28-E's are just sitting on the shelf, I think the price is more like $140.00 each for them if you buy them today.
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If you re-read my earlier post, you will see that Klipsch was selling them for $110 just yesterday. I doubt that's changed.

Go ahead and PM me if you want to swap things. Don't post trade/swap deals in the main forum.
 
It looks to me like you've got one K23, which was original, and one K28E , which is the current Klipsch replacement part and the best you can do without sourcing another used 23.
Sounds to me like alteklipsch is basically in the same boat you are and needs another 23 too. I don't know why he wants to send you 2 woofers though when you already have one of the 28s? Why not just send one 28 for your 23??
It does sound though like he prefers the 23s over the 28s though. :yes:

Well, at least you don't have an RS woofer in there. No tricks from over on the Klipsch forums????
 
Stepping into a mine field

Squidman, not sure why your post seems somewhat confrontational, just a friendly offering, you mentioned that you had a good K-23-K, and a good K-28-E. Look at the Klipsch forum, the replacment Klipsch sells is a KP-28-E, I am not sure if it the same woofer as your K-28-E that is why I offered to trade both straight across for your woofers, a very good deal in my mind...
Anyway good look with your Forte's, with the crossover mods you want to do and the woofer mess straightened out you will have some fine speakers. I payed $1000.00, for my set a few years back when they were fetching a premium, so do not get discouraged if you have to throw a few bucks at them.

*** Moderator please delete if this or my other post are not in the spirit of the forum.
 
alteklipsch said:
Squidman, not sure why your post seems somewhat confrontational, just a friendly offering, you mentioned that you had a good K-23-K, and a good K-28-E. Look at the Klipsch forum, the replacment Klipsch sells is a KP-28-E, I am not sure if it the same woofer as your K-28-E that is why I offered to trade both straight across for your woofers, a very good deal in my mind...
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Sorry if my post seemed confrontational, that wasn't my intention. I didn't understand that you wanted to trade my K-28-E, that is a very good deal. Quite generous of you. Thank you very much. I'll PM you and see if we can work out details.

Anyway good look with your Forte's, with the crossover mods you want to do and the woofer mess straightened out you will have some fine speakers. I payed $1000.00, for my set a few years back when they were fetching a premium, so do not get discouraged if you have to throw a few bucks at them.
Click to expand...

The Forte is one of the Klipsch speakers that I've always wanted to try out. I like it's smaller footprint, and promise of more bass than a Heresy (which I had but "moved on" from). I bid on a local pair of Fortes on Ebay a while back, but the bidding got out of my league. I jumped on this local pair when I saw them for a reasonable price, even tho they're more cosmetically challenged than I prefer and with the mis-mached woofers. I have Klipsch KG 5.2s, I would like to compare them. The 5.2s are kinda harsh in the treble region, even with tubes. I was hopeing the Fortes would be smoother, and still have the bass I want. Granted, the 5.2s might also need crossover help, but they're a much newer speaker, and maybe I expected more from them...
 
Squidward, I think you'll like those once you get them up to speed. Klipsch is a very polarizing brand to say the least, but there are far fewer Forte-haters. It's a seriously underrated speaker.

If you've read any of my posts on them, you already know what I think of them.
 
Redboy said:
Squidward, I think you'll like those once you get them up to speed. Klipsch is a very polarizing brand to say the least, but there are far fewer Forte-haters. It's a seriously underrated speaker.

If you've read any of my posts on them, you already know what I think of them.
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Frankly your enthusiasm is contagious! I had wanted to try the Forte for a while, and after reading your posts there was really no doubt in my mind. I plan on doing the capacitor replacement like you did. I've read about some more expensive mods to the crossover, but I think I'll see how things are with the simple rout first, tho I'm tempted...

Just so I can be sure, your cabinets aren't stuffed are they? Mine have a strategic piece of foam on a wood baffle in the bottom of the box, but not much more than that.

Thanks again for any help/insight!
 
Squidward said:
Just so I can be sure, your cabinets aren't stuffed are they? Mine have a strategic piece of foam on a wood baffle in the bottom of the box, but not much more than that.
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Nope, not much in there. I was a little surprised myself when I opened them up the first time.

Frankly your enthusiasm is contagious! I had wanted to try the Forte for a while, and after reading your posts there was really no doubt in my mind.
Click to expand...
Well, at least you'll have someone to swear at if you really despise them! :D
 
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