Best option

Bought the original Forte a couple of years ago and in researching for opinions in the forums at the time, the consensus from a few that have had experience with both iterations of the forte, was that the original is the better of the two. I personally haven't heard the Forte II but I can tell you that the original is a great speaker period - and not just for the money. It has excellent bass, it's very transparent and very dynamic with a high "jump factor" that makes it just plain fun to listen to with rock, techno, pop etc. Setup correctly the Forte has great soundstaging and imaging capabilities as well.

On the minus side, it's a little hot in the mid and treble regions and for that reason I think it takes a bit better to tubes that give it that little extra sweetness while still maintaining the great dynamics. The Forte can sound good with solid state as well, but it gives a dryer presentation and you have to be careful with the mating amplifier and cables so as to not be too bright on top. IMHO I don't think that a receiver will make the best match. A 15-20 Watt EL84 tube based amp on the other hand would make a great match with the Forte and there are a few out there for not a lot of dough. If you buy used, both amp and speaker could be had at around $1K or a bit more and the sound could be worth a million bucks!

Happy Listening!

I should probably mention that the receiver is hooked up to a computer. Would an equalizer save me from the harsh highs? Paradigm seems to be out, at the prices a 12inch subwoofer (need atleast 12 inches because of room size)would put me over budget with the 250 dollar bookshelves. Thanks to everyone so far.

Forgot to mention, i know nothing about tube amps, could someone recommend me some reading material? Thanks again.

If you're using a computer as a source I would hope that at the very least you are using Foobar with a decent sound card like the sub $100 EMU 0404 or the $30 Chaintech if it's still made. Or better yet, short of getting a Squeezbox, go to BB and get the $50 Toshiba SD-4000 dvd player to use as your CD source. It's a giant killer, no kidding! In any case, to answer your question yes, you could use EQ to bring the top end down a bit, but the whole point of a tube amp in this application is that IMO you will obtain overall better sound quality.

As far as learning about tube amps there's really nothing special to it apart from the fact that some amps may require that their bias is checked periodically and adjusted when you change tubes. That is usually a simple procedure performed with a $20 multimeter.

Some tube amp brands to check out are Jolida, Onix, Cayin, Vista Audio, just to name a few from the top of my head. Do a search for these brands here on AudioGon and see what's in your price range from the tube integrates.

Cheers!

Ironically, I just switched away from foobar2000 as it was no longer sounding properly. It seemed to be hitting highs that weren't there. I have the Sound Blaster Xfi Fatality sound car (retails around 170) My source is fine. I am currently using winamp even though I feel Windows Media Player is giving the best source, its just a pain to organize.