titanium midrange - forte 1

[AndyPrice44]

Hey guys,

I have a pair of forte 1's. I am currently using crites phenolic midrange drivers in them. The crites phenolic have around 50 hours on them and seem to be an improvement over the original drivers to my ear. I have enjoyed them so far. My curiosity has gotten the better of me and I wanted to see what the titanium midrange drivers would sound like. I am already using the titanium tweeter from crites as well. I am aware that the natural roll off of the titanium is higher than the phenolic version. I am also using the ALK engineering networks for the forte 1. Al explained to me that his networks are a bandpass and will limit the midrange to 6k and that's the point he starts to bring the tweeter in. I am excited to give these a try. Who else is using the titanium mid in their forte's?

 

[moray james]

have used ti mids in Heresy, Forte, Forte ll and KLF20 all with excellent results they take these loudspeakers to a whole new level of performance. PWK said it "we live in the mid range". Enjoy.

 

[AndyPrice44]

well, I have had the TI midrange in for a few days now. I still have the stock klipsch networks installed at this point. I'm not sure if I am liking the results. I had been using the crites phenolic previously. With the TI installed, there is more detail and more refinement but, it produces somewhat of a midrange bump. I knew previously of the increase in natural roll off of the TI midrange. Now the mid driver and the tweeter produce some of the same scale and it comes across as glare on some certain songs. With other genre's like blues and jazz, it is sometimes welcomed. I just find that the phenolic version is more balanced. I mean, I know that's what the original design intended. More listening required.

Next, the ALK networks are going in to see if that improves things. Hopefully it will keep the range of the mid and the tweeter seperate.

 

[moray james]

the ti diaphragms do take time to settle in and in my experience the louder and longer you play them the sooner that they will get to the point where they are happy. New caps will also take time so the ALK network capacitors will also need time to form. Different caps sound different as they form and take differing times to settle so plan on three weeks minimum and since you are doing both at the same time so be patient and let them do their thing. These two changes will result in a much more revealing loudspeaker so don't expect system flaws not to show up, please don't don't make the mistake of shooting the messenger. Enjoy this will be a learning experience. Best regards Moray James.

 

[derekva]

My experience is with Heresies, not Fortes, but I have to say that the K53 titanium diaphragms were a massive improvement...made even better when I upgraded the crossover.

-D

 

[njcanuck]

I tried the Ti mids in a pair of Chorus IIs with mixed results. There was a noticeable improvement detail but also, on some music, unpleasant brightness and glare. Adding in Crites band pass boards tamed the beast somewhat but not enough for my ears. I ultimately preferred the the more laid back presentation of the Crites phonolics.

FWIW the Ti's sounded best in a large room (20x30).

The Ti tweets are another story - they were the hands down best in everything I tried them in!

 

[AndyPrice44]

After spending some more time with the TI midrange, they are starting to settle in a bit. I have yet to install the ALK networks. I want to let these get a few hours on them before I do. There is more detail with the TI midrange but, like njcanuck stated, it does add a bit more brightness and glare to some genres of music. I hope this will be resolved with the addition of the new networks. Will report back in a few weeks after the install and burn in