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Klipsch Forte I vs Klipsch Chorus I

J

jsfran1

New Member
I have a choice between a pair of Klipsch Forte I or Klipsch Chorus I Speakers. The Chorus I's were modified with Bob Crites upgrades. Upgraded Crites crossovers and titanium
diaphragms. The diaphragms on the midrange were not modified based on the advise of Mike Crites. The Chorus are in good condition with some nicks and damage to the front of one of the speakers which doesn't affect the sound of that speaker. The Forte's are original with the Phenolic tweeters. They are in excellent condition.
The Chorus speakers are $750 higher than the Forte so there is plenty of room to do a Crites crossover upgrade and leave the original -phenolic tweeters in place in the Forte. The speakers will be run with a McIntosh 4100 receiver (75wpc). Music will be vinyl records 60-70's classic rock and folk. The system will be placed in a large living room with no sound baffling (little furniture, hard wood floors and no window coverings). Thanks for your thoughts.
 
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jsfran1 said:
I have a choice between a pair of Klipsch Forte I or Klipsch Chorus I Speakers. The Chorus I's were modified with Bob Crites upgrades. Upgraded Crites crossovers and titanium
diaphragms. The diaphragms on the midrange were not modified based on the advise of Mike Crites. The Chorus are in good condition with some nicks and damage to the front of one of the speakers which doesn't affect the sound of that speaker. The Forte's are original with the Phenolic tweeters. They are in excellent condition.
The Chorus speakers are $750 higher than the Forte so there is plenty of room to do a Crites crossover upgrade and leave the original -phenolic tweeters in place in the Forte. The speakers will be run with a McIntosh 4100 receiver (75wpc). Music will be vinyl records 60-70's classic rock and folk. The system will be placed in a large living room with no sound baffling (little furniture, hard wood floors and no window coverings). Thanks for your thoughts.
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How big is your room?

I sold my Chorus II because my room was too small.

I also had Crites x-over mods and Ti diaphragms.

They sounded better the louder they played! Your Mac is plenty for either speaker.

If you have a smaller space, get the Fortes. Just my 2 cents.
 
I have chorus 2 and forte 3. If you don’t have a massive sized room, I’d suggest the forte. Much better value. But I hold a slightly different take - I’d suggest you try the ti diaphragms (tweeter) after trying them stock for awhile. While different strokes for different folks, I did that mod in my chorus and really liked the change. Looks like that runs $82. Also had crites recap the crossovers.
 
The chorus have poor bass response compared to the Forte. You can extend the ports 7" and get a bit more but it won't match the Forte. It's a matter of preference. Also, titanium mids are polarizing. Klipsch went away from them in the Forte IV.
 
fredgarvin said:
The chorus have poor bass response compared to the Forte. You can extend the ports 7" and get a bit more but it won't match the Forte. It's a matter of preference. Also, titanium mids are polarizing. Klipsch went away from them in the Forte IV.
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Not correct, all the 4 series speakers use titanium tweeter diaphragms... klipsch went towards using the Ti diaphragms in 3 series. Strange that after Crites offered the Ti diaphragms with great reviews from customers that klipsch would change their previous diaphragms to titanium... https://d2um2qdswy1tb0.cloudfront.net/product-specsheets/Forte-IV-Spec-Sheet-v01-1.pdf

I also have Crites Ti diaphragms and they sound better in every way vs the original IMO, definitely not a "waste" of money, 9 out of 10 people prefer them over stock based on all teh reviews ive read for a couple decades... but everyone likes different things so its best to try yourself to form your own opinion.
For the crossovers, all that needs to be replaced are the capacitors, no need to buy the complete x-overs if you can do basic soldering, very basic procedure to replace a few caps & save money.

I have owned both forte/forte2 & chorus/chorus 2, the fortes have a lot lower bass at 32hz vs 45 of the chorus, even the 7" port extension will only lower it about 3hz. For a medium size room or even a little larger the forte are the best option, especially at 750 cheaper... how much are the chorus? seems like they may be overpriced quite a bit at 750 above fortes that can sell for ~800. Chorus are louder and have a bigger sound stage, but the lacking bass really hurts most music, especially classic rock that already lacks low bass. IMO, fortes are the best bang for the buck... chorus & other bass lacking models like heresy really need a good sub to get the full range of music.
 
DEFTECHY said:
Not correct, all the 4 series speakers use titanium tweeter diaphragms... klipsch went towards using the Ti diaphragms in 3 series. Strange that after Crites offered the Ti diaphragms with great reviews from customers that klipsch would change their previous diaphragms to titanium... https://d2um2qdswy1tb0.cloudfront.net/product-specsheets/Forte-IV-Spec-Sheet-v01-1.
Click to expand...

He was talking about the MID driver diaphragm and is correct. Ti in the F3 and back to phenolic in the F4
 
DEFTECHY said:
Not correct, all the 4 series speakers use titanium tweeter diaphragms... klipsch went towards using the Ti diaphragms in 3 series. Strange that after Crites offered the Ti diaphragms with great reviews from customers that klipsch would change their previous diaphragms to titanium... https://d2um2qdswy1tb0.cloudfront.net/product-specsheets/Forte-IV-Spec-Sheet-v01-1.pdf

I also have Crites Ti diaphragms and they sound better in every way vs the original IMO, definitely not a "waste" of money, 9 out of 10 people prefer them over stock based on all teh reviews ive read for a couple decades... but everyone likes different things so its best to try yourself to form your own opinion.
For the crossovers, all that needs to be replaced are the capacitors, no need to buy the complete x-overs if you can do basic soldering, very basic procedure to replace a few caps & save money.

I have owned both forte/forte2 & chorus/chorus 2, the fortes have a lot lower bass at 32hz vs 45 of the chorus, even the 7" port extension will only lower it about 3hz. For a medium size room or even a little larger the forte are the best option, especially at 750 cheaper... how much are the chorus? seems like they may be overpriced quite a bit at 750 above fortes that can sell for ~800. Chorus are louder and have a bigger sound stage, but the lacking bass really hurts most music, especially classic rock that already lacks low bass. IMO, fortes are the best bang for the buck... chorus & other bass lacking models like heresy really need a good sub to get the full range of music.
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Hi Deftechy. Thank you for delving into the differences between these different Klipsch models, many of which you owned. So if I understand your recommendation, you wouldn't change immediately, the Forte I tweeter diaphragm to Crites titanium but wait and experience the speakers first. In no event, should the mid-range phenolic diaphrams be replaced unless of course they are damaged. However, replacing the capacitors soon would be desirable. Did I get this right?
 
DEFTECHY said:
Not correct, all the 4 series speakers use titanium tweeter diaphragms... klipsch went towards using the Ti diaphragms in 3 series. Strange that after Crites offered the Ti diaphragms with great reviews from customers that klipsch would change their previous diaphragms to titanium... https://d2um2qdswy1tb0.cloudfront.net/product-specsheets/Forte-IV-Spec-Sheet-v01-1.pdf

I also have Crites Ti diaphragms and they sound better in every way vs the original IMO, definitely not a "waste" of money, 9 out of 10 people prefer them over stock based on all teh reviews ive read for a couple decades... but everyone likes different things so its best to try yourself to form your own opinion.
For the crossovers, all that needs to be replaced are the capacitors, no need to buy the complete x-overs if you can do basic soldering, very basic procedure to replace a few caps & save money.

I have owned both forte/forte2 & chorus/chorus 2, the fortes have a lot lower bass at 32hz vs 45 of the chorus, even the 7" port extension will only lower it about 3hz. For a medium size room or even a little larger the forte are the best option, especially at 750 cheaper... how much are the chorus? seems like they may be overpriced quite a bit at 750 above fortes that can sell for ~800. Chorus are louder and have a bigger sound stage, but the lacking bass really hurts most music, especially classic rock that already lacks low bass. IMO, fortes are the best bang for the buck... chorus & other bass lacking models like heresy really need a good sub to get the full range of music.
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I said "Don't waste your money on ti diaphragms" I should have said "Put the money towards the LMAHL-V2 & B&C DE-10 drivers"

I possess 2 pair of Crites ti diaphragms from upgrading to LMAHL.

As DEFTECHY states "Crites ti diaphragms sound better in every way than Klipsch OEM". I totally agree, but the LMAHL's take the speakers to a whole other level. You'll find yourself revisiting your collection to hear what you've been missing.

Note: Forte1 sensitivity is 98 dB. The B&C DE-10 sensitivity is 107 dB. I found them too hot. This solved that issue.
 
jsfran1 said:
Hi Deftechy. Thank you for delving into the differences between these different Klipsch models, many of which you owned. So if I understand your recommendation, you wouldn't change immediately, the Forte I tweeter diaphragm to Crites titanium but wait and experience the speakers first. In no event, should the mid-range phenolic diaphrams be replaced unless of course they are damaged. However, replacing the capacitors soon would be desirable. Did I get this right?
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Yes thats what myself & most others are saying, the fortes have better/lower bass than the chorus and are probably better suited for the size of your room.

I did prefer the Ti tweeter diaphragms over the stock ones and most that have them feel the same way based on all the positive reviews & comments Ive read over almost 20 years & the fact that klipsch now uses Ti in the 4 series tweeters so there must be a reason for they changed. There is a small group that says they dont like them but thats just another example of people liking different things...
Same goes for capacitors, some think the stock caps are best yet countless others feel polypropylene film caps are better quality & sound better, nothing wrong with either option, just need to try them & see err, hear what you like best. Buying just the caps from Crites is the cheapest price option since the rest of the crossover should be fine, Crites silver level or even dayton brand from parts express are the lower priced polypropylene film caps many people use that should be all thats needed for a budget recap, I have used both brands in many different klipsch with excellent results, sound noticeable better than the originals IMO. If you want to stick with original types Crites sells the polyester mylar caps too that are basically identical to the original ones and cost less. Some guys frown on suggesting other brands but the fact is the vast majority of people that recap with these budget caps are very happy with the results.

So buy the speakers you like best but personally I dont think the chorus is worth the extra 750 vs the fortes for your situation & room size. Any changes you do to tweeters or capacitors is up to you, and if you do make changes its a good idea to do one change to one speaker at a time and listen compared to the original to decide what sounds best to you, on your system in your room, way too many variables with those for anyone to say what you will like.
 
jvstratman said:
I said "Don't waste your money on ti diaphragms" I should have said "Put the money towards the LMAHL-V2 & B&C DE-10 drivers"

I possess 2 pair of Crites ti diaphragms from upgrading to LMAHL.

As DEFTECHY states "Crites ti diaphragms sound better in every way than Klipsch OEM". I totally agree, but the LMAHL's take the speakers to a whole other level. You'll find yourself revisiting your collection to hear what you've been missing.

Note: Forte1 sensitivity is 98 dB. The B&C DE-10 sensitivity is 107 dB. I found them too hot. This solved that issue.
Click to expand...
I dont doubt the LMAHL tweeter is better than the Crites Ti diaphragms, but for the price its a pretty big difference than just the diaphragms which will usually be a upgrade to the originals... at least in my & many others experience. Im considering the LMAHL upgrade for my Chorus2 &/or Forte2... but so far the Ti diaphragms are sounding great so havent really felt the need to spend the extra $$.
 
DEFTECHY said:
I dont doubt the LMAHL tweeter is better than the Crites Ti diaphragms, but for the price its a pretty big difference than just the diaphragms which will usually be a upgrade to the originals... at least in my & many others experience. Im considering the LMAHL upgrade for my Chorus2 &/or Forte2... but so far the Ti diaphragms are sounding great so havent really felt the need to spend the extra $$.
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Don’t need to go the full LMAHL route

De10 drivers are only $50 each. Cheaper with parts express coupons.

They can be adapted to the existing tweeter horn, the pht409, or to @mboxler 3d printed horn fairly easily.

Price difference vs crites ti is negligible. I had the ti for years and now de10/pht409. Would never go back
 
Jut get the Forte...
Recap the XO
Listen to them, if you need "more"
dampen the mid horn, dampen the woofer/passive baskets
add some cabinet bracing
Then if you need "more" just get the LMAHL tweeter & L pads

Everything on the list IMHO makes the speaker sounds better. XO can be a HUGE difference, actually the best bang for the buck, under $50 total.
dampening, bracing really just makes everything tighter & more mature sounding
The LMAHL take the speakers up a level. Makes them sparkle ,but also cost the most $$.
 
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