Klipsch Forte I

[Brik]

I'll be departing this job May 30th, and starting a series of back and forth trips over the summer. After May 30th, my internet "presence" will be very sporadic for a while, until I get set up on internet down in NC. and remaining sporadic until I'm fully settled in...

Before you desert New England, I would love to buy you a beer or two for all the wonderful advises you have given us.
I work in Lowell, MA which is better known as the gateway to "Frozen Wastelands of New Hampshire". Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_12

/b

[EWBrown]

Hi Brik

Thanks for the kind offer!

I work in Tewksbury, next to Lowell, in the old "Wang" building between exits 38 and 39 on I495 (it has the brighe blue "Getronics" sign facing the highway)

On occasions some of us in the NNETG (Northern New England Tube Group) have a lunch get-together at the Mango II Thai Restaurant on Rt 38 in TEwksbury, I'd venture a guess that another one will be coming up in the next few weeks, I'll keep you posted!

Two upcomihg dates of interest:

Lots of old stuff, parts, tubes, etc, for sale, at prices varying from dirt cheap (or even free) to ridiculous expensive, but I always manage to get my bits and pieces for future amp projects at these events...

http://www.nearc.net/

NEARC (New England Antique Radio Club) swapmeet in Manchester NH at the Bingo Hall on APril 19th, they even have an on-premises ATM, and a fairly decent kitchen and decent breakfast goodies Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_03

http://www.near-fest.com/

The big local NE area hamfest / swapfest, AKA "NEAR-fest" at the Deerfield, NH fairgrounds is on May 2 and 3. This was formerly the "Hosstraders" hamfest, which has been held in verious locations, including Deerfield, over the past 20+ years.

It is always held, regardless of weather conditions. There is another NEAR-fest in early October as well, though I doubt that I will still be in NH at that time Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_06

/ed B in NH / NC

[Brik]

Hi Ed,

For all this time, I did not know I worked just a highway exit away from you.
I work in the old Wang Towers (Cross Point).

I am looking forward to the NEARC events.

I'll keep the bear cold. Yellow_Light_Colorz_PDT_16

/b

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I bought a pair of Forte Is today from the same guy that sold me a pair of KEF 104ab monitors about a year ago. I didn't know it was him until I called him on the phone. I was glad.

They are in near mint condition w/o a scratch anywhere on the cabinet. The drivers are in like-new condition. He sold 'em to me for $360 and was willing to throw in a pair of RadioShack speakers from 70's, to which I politely refused as they were too ugly. I am sure they sound fine.

I didn't have a proper chance to listen to them in decent volume at home yet 'cos it's late, but they did sound great (not to mention LOUD) when I took my 2A3 amp over to demo at the seller's house. I have a feeling that I will really like them.

One thing that I noticed right off the bat was their size. They are enormous! I just can't imagine how much bigger Cornwalls would be. Anyway, I am very happy with my purchase today.

-Min

[TomMcNally]

Nice catch Min !

Hey were those Radio Shack speakers you turned down graced with lovely Mediterranean "criss-cross" wooden grilles ? I left a pair of those in a building that was torn down. I should have snagged the ball mounts I guess ... they would have had some value.

[SDS-PAGE]

That will be it, Tom. I thought first that they were Sansui speakers. You had to unscrew to get the grilles off the speakers. The guy guessed that they had Altec woofers, but he wasn't entirely sure about it. -Min

[Slartibartfast]

I bought a pair of Forte Is today from the same guy that sold me a pair of KEF 104ab monitors about a year ago. I didn't know it was him until I called him on the phone. I was glad.



One thing that I noticed right off the bat was their size. They are enormous! I just can't imagine how much bigger Cornwalls would be. Anyway, I am very happy with my purchase today.

-Min

What are the dimensions of the Forte?

[SDS-PAGE]

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

[mercury_marine]

"Quote:
The Forte will also "disappear" musically more than the Cornwalls will


Could you explain what you meant by "disappear"? I don't have room for Cornwalls, I've just realized. So, Fortes might be a viable option for me. Thanks!"

You know...when it seems like the music is coming from around and between the speakers, but not FROM them.

The Cornwalls are just so big it's hard not to notice the music coming FROM them. The Forte are small enough and the drivers so well integrated, that they can do a nice disappearing trick with well recorded material.

[Ty_Bower]

I bought a pair of Forte Is today from the same guy that sold me a pair of KEF 104ab monitors about a year ago. I didn't know it was him until I called him on the phone. I was glad.

...I have a feeling that I will really like them.

Min,

It's been a year... do you still like your Forte?

[JW34]

Ty,

If you are looking for a pair or have found a pair to buy, buy them. You will not be dissapointed. I have a pair of Chours II's currently and have owned a pair of Forte II's in the past and hated getting rid of those. I just had no space at the time for a second pair of big speakers. The Forte does have a smaller footprint than the Chours if space matters. Again, great speakers from Klipsch, although I would not by anything from their line today.

One more thing, the resale value on the Klipsch heritage line is great. If you pick up a pair and don't like them, you can resell them for the same price or more than what you paid for them.

Jay

[SDS-PAGE]

Ty,

You bet! I kinda gave up looking for "the speakers" for my system since I got those. They are plenty efficient and are great match for all my SET amps. I am not just talking about the efficiency. I seem to hear a lot of information in the music through them. The horns can be shouty at time with new amps. It's no issue after a break-in.

What's really cool about them is that they don't take up a lot of room like other Klipsches - Cornwalls, La Scalas, K-horns, etc. My wife has no issues keeping them in the living room.

I got mine for $350. They were hardly used, so I lucked out. If you can get a pair under $500, I'd say go for them.

Min

[JW34]

As for sound between the Forte and the Chorus.....there isn't much. The mids on the Chorus are a little sweeter and the bass extention on the Forte is better. Those are pretty much the only differences between them bsides efficientcy. 99db on the Forte I believe and 101db 1w/1m on the Chours. Both very efficient speakers. It takes a lot to kill these speakers, they take a lot of abuse. I have used anywhere beteen 30 to 700 watt amps on these. They are totally underated as far as their stated power handling capabilities. I have done a db test from the seating position and have gotten these babies up to 115db, again, from the sweet spot.

Speaking of sweet spots, you will have to play with the positioning of these speakers. There is a smallish sweet spot. Make sure you have corners you can tuck these into. Since they have the passive radiator in back they need corners. A good starting position is to bring them two feet off each wall and toe them in a little.

Hope you pick up a pair.

Jay

[Ty_Bower]

Well, I missed out on the Forte. Too slow, I guess, and he was asking $575 which sounded like too much for me. But now I've found another seller with a pair of Forte II. I'm hoping to go look at them tonight...

I don't know what it is that draws me to these Klipsch speakers. I've never even heard a pair. My primary speakers are a set of old Paradigm 7se Mk3 from the late college years. I used to have a set of Paradigm 11se before those, but they were too big for college (heavy!) and weren't tight enough in the bass. I tried a pair of Vandersteen 2ci for a short while. The Vandersteen tweeters were really nice, but they didn't have the "life" I hear in my Paradigms. The bottom end didn't go as deep as I expected considering the 8" bass driver and the 10" active radiator. Honestly, I just didn't feel they outperformed my Paradigms. I guess I'm searching for my ideal speaker...

[Ty_Bower]

I took a look at his Forte II tonight. He's the original owner, bought them in 1990. The cabinets are oak, and only one small chip on one corner. I think his story went something like this:

He heard some kind of funny noise and took them into the local home theater shop to have them "go over them". They said they replaced a something or other. He still heard the noise, so went out an bought a new pair of Klipsch. Still heard the noise, then finally determined it was his CD player going wonky. Replaced the CD player and all is now well, except he has an extra set of speakers around. He's retired and the Forte are too heavy for him to move around, so he is trying to sell them (even though he prefers their sound over his newer speakers).

The weird thing is that one of the passive radiators has the folded paper surround (that I expected to see) but the other one has a half-roll butyl surround. I suspect the "something or other" the home theater shop replaced was the passive radiator, or at least they re-edged the original. It was difficult for me to tell if the cone was original, although clearly the surround was different (and I believe the dust cap was different too). The seller couldn't recall any specific details about what the shop had done. I guess I could believe that after 19 years the surround on one of the radiators was starting to unglue, so maybe the shop decided an edge job was in order. Who can say?

I told the seller I'd sleep on it, and call him back if I decided I wanted to buy. He did let me hook it up to one of my tube amps while I was there and give it a test run. Both speakers sounded fine, and all the drivers sounded like they functioned correctly. They did have an impressive bottom end, especially considering their haphazard positioning (in the center of his garage) and the limited power out of my 5 watt single ended amp.

So, should I be worried about the one oddball passive radiator? Or keep looking for another pair of Forte? I did like what I heard in the short time I was there...