Klipsch Forte -- reportedly great for rock music; how about pipe organ?

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aubpw

New Member
Hi guys. Can you help me decide?

I'm looking at buying new speakers for my home theatre setup, and I'm currently drawn to a craigslist ad selling Klipsch Fortes, Klipsch KG1.5 surrounds and KV3 centre. I'm very interested, but the seller is some distance away, so I'm debating whether this is a good enough offer to make the trip there or not.

From other people's comments online, I've read that Klipsch Fortes are wonderful speakers for rock music. But I'm also very much into classical and jazz. And one important subset category: pipe organ music. (I'm an organist myself.) In general, I seem to play more live recordings than the highly-processed studio recordings.

My question: how well do the Klipsch Fortes do for live music recordings -- especially classical, and most especially organ music -- for clarity and realism?

Thanks.
 
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I do not use my Forte II's for Rock music at all. I listen to jazz, vocal, and instrumentals. I will say that if you are used to listeing to non-horn speakers, you will be in for an adjustment period listen to these. While they are not the most accurate from a frequency response, they are extremely accurate from a dynamic standpoint. They are a very lively speaker. Be ready to mess around with room placement and open minded to eq'ing your system differently that what you are used to, but ultimately I really enjoy mine. I think they will do well for what you are using them for.
 
Klipsch speakers are an interesting breed. Lots of opinions flying around about various models, manufacturing years, modifications, etc. I'll offer mine:

For organ, I believe that you will be disappointed in the Forté's low frequency performance. Those bottom octaves just won't be there. The rest of the audio spectrum will be clear as day, however - so much so that it may seem as though they're "shouting" at you.

I have a pair of KG4's and I like them for what they are and how they sound, but I won't be putting them in place of my AR-3a's any time soon. :)
 
tmad40blue said:
For organ, I believe that you will be disappointed in the Forté's low frequency performance. Those bottom octaves just won't be there. The rest of the audio spectrum will be clear as day, however - so much so that it may seem as though they're "shouting" at you.

I have a pair of KG4's and I like them for what they are and how they sound, but I won't be putting them in place of my AR-3a's any time soon. :)
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Have you ever heard Forte's or are you assuming forte's are shouty and bass shy based on your experience with the kg4?
 
NOHDjunkie said:
Have you ever heard Forte's or are you assuming forte's are shouty and bass shy based on your experience with the kg4?
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I've listened to Forté's and Forté II's quite a bit :) I just have had more opportunity to play around with KG4's since I actually own them.
 
tmad40blue said:
I've listened to Forté's and Forté II's quite a bit :) I just have had more opportunity to play around with KG4's since I actually own them.
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tmad40blue said:
"I believe that you will be disappointed in the Forté's low frequency performance. Those bottom octaves just won't be there".
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I have to disagree.

Shouty, shrill, sublime, obnoxious, laid back, honky, smooth... sure no problem.

but the klipch forte is anything but lacking in bass.

Granted, my fortes sit unused because I prefer the Cornwalls. It's not because of lack of bass. They actually play a little deeper than the cornwalls but I like the cornwalls for their overall presentation.

To the OP, getting a speaker that plays flat to 16-20hz is going to cost $$, which is what would be needed to "accurately" play pipe organ music. A cheaper solution would be to add a good subwoofer (or two).

What do you currently listen to organ music on? That will give us a baseline to see if the Forte will be an upgrade.

PS: Welcome to AK.
 
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NOHDjunkie said:
I have to disagree.
but the klipch forte is anything but lacking in bass.
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Thanks for straightening that out. I had read that the Fortes have crazy bass.

What do you currently listen to organ music on? That will give us a baseline to see if the Forte will be an upgrade.

PS: Welcome to AK.
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Thanks for the welcome! It's my first time writing, but I've enjoyed reading on these forums for a long time.

This setup is for my basement rec room. When I first finished my basement last year, I got the Klipsch HD500 satellite/sub package... thinking that I would just use it for watching the occasional movie. But I have since found that I enjoy listening to music there too.

I quickly got tired of the sat/sub for both music and movies, so I replaced the front L/R satellites with some old speakers with 10" woofers that I've had lying around. (They're white van speakers that I got for free, and I replaced all the drivers with Goldwood components. The cabinet is crap though; thin walls and no internal bracing.) Surprisingly, it not bad sounding... a definite improvement over the satellite/sub arrangement.

My other listening environment, in the upstairs living room, has beautiful Paradigm 9se floorstanders that I bought off CL last year. Beautiful sound. They're great...

... it's just that I'd like something more for the man-cave!! :)

I'm looking for an overall improvement in sound quality, not just bass. And as for HT, I'd like to get a better centre speaker that doesn't rely on crossing-over to the sub at 150 Hz. So, my idea is to go with this Forte/KG1.5/KV3 package and then just sell the HD500 satellite/sub. My hope is to have a capable HT system, but one that excels playing live music.
 
I'm not familiar with your 9se's, but on paper (specs) the Fortes have ever so slightly more low end extension.
FWIW, I think organ music sounds great on mine.
 
I've got Forte's and an Academy center channel in my 2.1 HT setup. My Fortes have been modded with ALK crossovers and 2.5 ounces of weight glued to the passive radiator. The Academy is stock. Forte's are driven by a fully recapped and tweaked Marantz 2270. The Academy is driven by a weird three channel amp they made back in the 90's called a Vantas.

I think the setup sounds absolutely fantastic and I have absolutely ZERO desire to try adding a sub. The bass is deep and plenty!
 
Not sure how one could think Fortes lack bass. I actually have to run my bass control at 2 notches below zer on my Marantz. Perhaps the Fortes expose weaknesess on the amp?
 
I have not heard Fortes, but I think pipe organs sound great on my open baffle speakers and they only play down to 40 hz. or so, but they have a nice smooth bass with relatively low distortion. The quality of the mid and upper bass is very important too. I would think that any classic Klipsch would be similarly good in the bass response.
 
OP, skip Forte, go directly to Cornwall.

I don't think Forte will satisfy you from my experience. Only Cornwall or up (K-horn of course) will give you live feeling.:banana:
 
very few speakers can do 16hz to 32hz effectively enough to satisfy pipe organ music. heck, many 'subwoofers' can't do it.

i would get whatever satisfies the rest of the spectrum and get a good large HSU subwoofer for the organ pedals. i listen to pipe organ music and my speakers can hit 20hz but not a good volume for pipeorgan. to hit 16hz at good level will cost ya' unless you can find used.
 
nexus said:
very few speakers can do 16hz to 32hz effectively enough to satisfy pipe organ music. heck, many 'subwoofers' can't do it.

i would get whatever satisfies the rest of the spectrum and get a good large HSU subwoofer for the organ pedals. i listen to pipe organ music and my speakers can hit 20hz but not a good volume for pipeorgan. to hit 16hz at good level will cost ya' unless you can find used.
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Interested to know.

So, suppose I can hear below 20hz, I have to find an amp which can produce below 20hz signal? If my speakers can't produce below 20hz signal, but my amp and the source also can, say 16hz, will my speakers reproduce a 32hz signal? (I forgot what they call reproduce double frequency signal of speakers)

Thanks!
 
nexus said:
very few speakers can do 16hz to 32hz effectively enough to satisfy pipe organ music. heck, many 'subwoofers' can't do it.

i would get whatever satisfies the rest of the spectrum and get a good large HSU subwoofer for the organ pedals. i listen to pipe organ music and my speakers can hit 20hz but not a good volume for pipeorgan. to hit 16hz at good level will cost ya' unless you can find used.
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For now, I'd be fine with the 32 Hz offered by the Forte without any sub.

But a future DIY project may be to build one of those sonotube subwoofers. :-)
 
Hi guys. Just want to let you that I picked up the Fortes and hooked them up this afternoon. Oh my! Wow! They sound wonderful!

And yes, they've got a substantial amount of bass. At some frequencies, it seems a little weak. But I suspect I need to experiment with placement more to optimize the performance.

Thanks for your advice. I'm really glad I decided to get them!
 
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