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Klipsch Forte I appreciation

Jnevill

Jnevill

Super Tweeter
I picked up my Forte's about a year ago at a yard sale, the original versions, in walnut, stock as far as I can tell. I put them in the living room, displacing a really poor set of Technics, hooked up to my SX950. I never really spent any time playing with them, dialing them in, or trying to see if they "fit" my listening style.

I recently switched out the stock plinth of my PL-518 with a beautiful natural wood veneer upgrade, and decided to put it in the livingroom with the other nice gear.

Today I unwrapped a new copy of Stevie Ray Vaughan Couldn't Stand the Weather and sat down and listened, actually, it was supposed to be background noise while the wife got ready to go out, but about 20 seconds in the sound quality of the setup grabbed me and made me sit down and really listen, and wow, I was just blown away! The synergy between the Pioneer turntable, the re-capped 950 and the Forte's was amazing, I finally get what other people see in these beastly huge speakers. I could hear every note of Stevie's guitar like never before, and Double Trouble was as clear as if they were in the room with me. It really blew me away.
Maybe it is all the time I spend listening to HPM's or my little Dynaco A25's, but the Forte's were just in another league. I am finally impressed with the "good deal" I got last year, man, what have I been missing.

Anyone else have Forte's and love them?
 
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Welcome to the world of honky horns! (even if it's only a midrange/tweeter)

I don't have Forte's and don't know that I've ever heard a pair. I know that most who have them seem to really like them.

Klipsch is too bright, in your face and horns are honky, huh?!!! :rolleyes:

:rockon:
 
A friend of mine up in Chicago uses a pair of dead stock Fortes (no, you don't need to modify them) in an otherwise very esoteric high end system. He bought the Fortes on a whim to try horn sound and ending up selling his Magneplanars and keeping the Fortes. The sound has great clarity, realistic tone and a huge soundstage with immense depth. It might be the best sounding system using Fortes in existence as they're seldom used with gear of the quality used in this system.
 
Yeah, the soundstage is what sucked me in, I was moving around the room picking up dog toys (3 month old Rottie puppy) and I guess it is the dispersion of the horn setup, but wherever I went it sounded great, no hunting for "the sweet spot". I actually even had to do the unthinkable (for me), I had to turn the bass knob down from 3:00 to about 9:00 to get the sound right. Clean and clear bass, not boomy at all. The midrange, where Stevie's guitar and voice were, was just incredible and had depth of field, it was really tangible.

Any other Klipsch surprises out there? I've heard of LaScala, Cornwall and Khorn, how do these compare?
 
Jnevill said:
Any other Klipsch surprises out there? I've heard of LaScala, Cornwall and Khorn, how do these compare?
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IMO the Forte sounds better than any of them. I owned LaScalas, Hereseys and Cornwalls and I now think the LSs are pretty bad speakers because of their piercing midrange and poor tonal balance. The CWs and KHorn are pretty good with nice robust tone but not as smooth and refined as the Fortes. Note that all the speakers mentioned have better dynamics than the Forte (they get louder). Avoid Hereseys at all costs.

If you want turnkey hornish speakers better than your Fortes I suggest large Altecs such as the Model 19. It will provide better dynamics but not necessarily better tone and soundstage.

My opinions.
 
Tom Brennan said:
IMO the Forte sounds better than any of them. I owned LaScalas, Hereseys and Cornwalls and I now think the LSs are pretty bad speakers because of their piercing midrange and poor tonal balance. The CWs and KHorn are pretty good with nice robust tone but not as smooth and refined as the Fortes. Note that all the speakers mentioned have better dynamics than the Forte (they get louder). Avoid Hereseys at all costs.

If you want turnkey hornish speakers better than your Fortes I suggest large Altecs such as the Model 19. It will provide better dynamics but not necessarily better tone and soundstage.

My opinions.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input! I'll refinish the Forte's come springtime and post some pics.
 
I really like my Forte 1's, probably the best all around Klipsch speaker in my opinion. I enjoy my Belle's with certain tube equipment, but the Forte's do well no matter what I hook to them. My first set of Forte's 1's I installed ALK crossovers in, and I wish I never parted with them. Someone buying a receiver from me listened to them, and would not leave without me selling them to him also. So most likely I will do the crossovers again in these, it really smoothed out my previous pair.
 
My Heresy III's are positioned on the floor, up against the front wall, 10ft. apart, and toed in 45 degrees. (all things that PWK wrote about being necessary for his speakers to perform their best). The bass in my room measures very smooth and flat to 40hz. Without the subs, of course. No flamethrower midrange or earache inducing highs. Sorry, but I also call BS on the "avoid Heresy's at all costs" opinion.

I have owned Cornwalls, LaScalas, Klipschorns, KG2s and Heresy II's in addition to these Heresy's. IMO, the biggest mistake that is made with Klipsch Heritage speakers is not placing them as PWK intended.

And I think Forte's are excellent as well. My brother still has the pair I had him buy new way back when. As does a friend of mine.
 

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I have some KG2's that I never warmed up to, I'll have to dig them out and give them another try. Maybe hook them up to my SX737, that thing can make any speakers sound good.
 
I have a pair of Forte I in oiled oak in my living room that are bone stock, no mods. Powered with a pair of rebuilt Fisher 30A monoblocks and a Threshold FET One S2 preamp it is wonderful. I've also used my Mc c28/2105 setup on them and 12w tube power or 100w solid state they just sound great. With a frequency generator they produce sound down to 22hz cleanly. I've thought about replacing them and surely I have a fair share of speakers come and go at the shop new and vintage but the Fortes stay. The transparent soundstage they create is one of the best I've ever heard but I definitely like them more with tube power.

As far as Heresy's my brother has a pair of original Heresys with a Marantz 2216 and it is excellent. Lacks a little in the bass department but it is not harsh at all. If your listening go harsh Heresys maybe it's time for a recap.

I have heard Forte IIs and even did a Crites upgrade on them with all new diaphragms and crossover rebuild. Listened to them for several weeks in the shop and just never liked them as much as my home Forte I's. Maybe the room difference or the midrange just didn't do it for me. The tweeter diaphragms was a great upgrade though and the crossovers definitely tightened up the low end. If I didn't have mine is still have these.
 
HVHiFI said:
As far as Heresy's my brother has a pair of original Heresys with a Marantz 2216 and it is excellent. Lacks a little in the bass department but it is not harsh at all. If your listening go harsh Heresys maybe it's time for a recap.
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My late pal Max Potter measured several new Hereseys with a 7-9db flare in the upper midrange, no recap will cure that. And the Hereseys I owned weren't very old. That a speaker needs a recap is a common excuse for basic mediocrity.

When I bought the things I liked them and was taken with their clarity and dynamics but day to day use made their flaws intolerable. And they literally gave my wife a headache, no kidding. And I played with placement and used various amps including restored Fisher tube gear. I know the story.
 
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Tom Brennan said:
My late pal Max Potter measured several new Hereseys with a 7-9db flare in the upper midrange, no recap will cure that. And the Hereseys I owned weren't very old. That a speaker needs a recap is a common excuse for basic mediocrity.

When I bought the things I liked them and was taken with their clarity and dynamics but day to day use made their flaws intolerable. And they literally gave my wife a headache, no kidding. And I played with placement and used various amps including restored Fisher tube gear. I know the story.
Click to expand...
Well then, you obviously know better than I about these mediocre speakers. Thanks for the info and measurement data.
 
I promised i would get me a set, but ended up with two sets of quartets. unfortunately i never had the corners to space the passive out right, so one set ended up in the front porch roof facing down. They are now the neighborhood Rockers and they sound great!
Klipsch is a fine speaker. I have the military 5.5's hooked up to an sx1250 and they Blow the pictures off the wall with plenty of punch. My next set will be a set of KLF-20's.
My reading has left me voting for the Forte1 over the Forte2 . I am glad you did not miss out on the pleasure of how nice they sound. You have the right combination of gear. I am happy that you posted this for us.

Now you can upgrade the horns with crites diaphrams and a recap like HVHIFI did to his f 2's

I did the crites mids and tweets to my quartets but ended up smoking a tweeter coil when i spilled a beer, no actually it was quite a bit of beer.... Down my throat.

Holy Cow!, You have a nice collection of HPM'S:thumbsup: Did you alter any of the drivers in them? Just curious how you would compare your klipsch's against the hpm900's?
 
KutzlerTrans said:
I promised i would get me a set, but ended up with two sets of quartets. unfortunately i never had the corners to space the passive out right, so one set ended up in the front porch roof facing down. They are now the neighborhood Rockers and they sound great!
Klipsch is a fine speaker. I have the military 5.5's hooked up to an sx1250 and they Blow the pictures off the wall with plenty of punch. My next set will be a set of KLF-20's.
My reading has left me voting for the Forte1 over the Forte2 . I am glad you did not miss out on the pleasure of how nice they sound. You have the right combination of gear. I am happy that you posted this for us.

Now you can upgrade the horns with crites diaphrams and a recap like HVHIFI did to his f 2's

I did the crites mids and tweets to my quartets but ended up smoking a tweeter coil when i spilled a beer, no actually it was quite a bit of beer.... Down my throat.

Holy Cow!, You have a nice collection of HPM'S:thumbsup: Did you alter any of the drivers in them? Just curious how you would compare your klipsch's against the hpm900's?
Click to expand...

Yeah, the HPM thing started for me a long time ago, my older brother bought a new pair of 900's back in the day, when he passed away in 1984 I became their caretaker. Over the years the woofers disintergrated and they sat, about 2 years ago I could finally afford to replace the oem carbon woofers, they sound great. Then one thing led to another, I now have 3 pairs of 100's, the 900's, and two pair of 700's. I regret selling my 60's, but the 700's make up for them. Out of them all, the 700's are probably my favorites, they do everything really well, and get as loud as I care to get them (which is pretty loud, you should hear the live version of UFO rock bottom on these things!).

I upgraded all the mids on the 100's to 900's, it is a world of differemce, and did the tweeters on one of the 100 watt pairs I have. They really rock hard, I must say! But, as to be expected, the Forte's are more refined, with a deeper sound stage.
 
Jnevill said:
I picked up my Forte's about a year ago at a yard sale, the original versions, in walnut, stock as far as I can tell. I put them in the living room, displacing a really poor set of Technics, hooked up to my SX950. I never really spent any time playing with them, dialing them in, or trying to see if they "fit" my listening style.

I recently switched out the stock plinth of my PL-518 with a beautiful natural wood veneer upgrade, and decided to put it in the livingroom with the other nice gear.

Today I unwrapped a new copy of Stevie Ray Vaughan Couldn't Stand the Weather and sat down and listened, actually, it was supposed to be background noise while the wife got ready to go out, but about 20 seconds in the sound quality of the setup grabbed me and made me sit down and really listen, and wow, I was just blown away! The synergy between the Pioneer turntable, the re-capped 950 and the Forte's was amazing, I finally get what other people see in these beastly huge speakers. I could hear every note of Stevie's guitar like never before, and Double Trouble was as clear as if they were in the room with me. It really blew me away.
Maybe it is all the time I spend listening to HPM's or my little Dynaco A25's, but the Forte's were just in another league. I am finally impressed with the "good deal" I got last year, man, what have I been missing.

Anyone else have Forte's and love them?
Click to expand...

I have a pair of Forte 1's up at the cabin, love them. They can be special with the right set up.
And yes they are in another league matched up against the HPM-100.. Not close for critical listening IMHO.

Best-

Boozehound
 
I love my chorus II's, is that close enough for this thread? Also have a set of quartets and an academy center Chanel now
 
I very much regret passing on a nice pair of Forte I's for $400 a few years ago. I would not let a deal like that go by again.
 
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