Thoughts on Threshold Forte Model 3 Nelson Pass

To correct my above post (can't seem to figure how to edit. Michael Bladelius-a Swedish designer was primarily responsible for the Forte Model 4 and 5 which used IGBT's at the outputs. Nelson's designs were still used on the front end of the amplifiers

Heiney, thank you! You are correct, my bad. Though I think it was the model 4's, 5's, 6's and 7's that used the IGBT's, and I believe that Rene Besne's input was mostly limited to the cosmetics. It is interesting that the early Pass designed Forte amps were not at all well recieved in their day, and the latter Bladelius Forte amps were huge hits, especially the smaller higher class A biased amps.

I just happened to have this info straight because I have been recently doing some research on Forte amps because some have come up FS recently. The facts are easy to confuse and I even found myself re-checking what I posted. The line certainly blurs easily when it comes to Mr. Pass and his amplifier exploits :-).

I have been recently interested in the earlier Forte's because the Alpeh's are in such short supply and I thought Forte might be the next best thing.

Didn't Nelson Pass design the ORIGINAL GFA-555?

09-13-08: Klipschking
Does anyone have a suggestion for a reasonable remote-operated preamp or preamp/tuner that will pair well with the Forte?

Although I have no direct experience with it, I have heard from a guy whose ears and evaluations I trust that the Parasound Classic 2100 is an excellent $500-600 remote-controlled preamp. Having had a Forte 3 in my house for awhile, the Parasound should be easily up to the task. It even has a decent phono stage in it.