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Klipsch Forte III--Pleasantly Surprised

First off, I have to say that I always had significant bias against Klipsch speakers. I thought maybe some of the Heritage Series were possibly decent, but in no way audiophile grade.

I recently bought a pair of Forte’s in distressed white oak. They look super vintage and the grills are very tasteful. My impetus for the purchase was I moved to a house this past spring that has a dedicated music room for me, and I wanted to experiment seeking a bigger sound as the room is large (25 long x 15 wide x 10 foot high ceilings). My system is the following:

Winter: Primaluna Dialgoue HP Premium Integrated,
Summer: Schitt Freya, NAD M51
Constant Year Long: Bluesound Node 2, NAD M22 DAC, Manley Chinook Phono Pre, Technics 1200 GAE Turntable, AudioTechnica ART9 Cartridge.

I’m really enjoying the Forte IIIs out of the boxes. I haven’t even tried them out with with tube amps (only tube pre) yet. I thought they would be fatiguing and have tons of bass. The treble spectrum (midrange northbound) is sweet and doesn’t sound cupped. The bass is perfectly integrated but not as prominent as I’d expected. The soundstage is seamless and they are not fussy about positioning.

The other thing that surprised me was how much of the NAD M22 juice I can use. I thought that I’d never move volume much due to the whopping power of the NAD M22--not true. So this is making me curious--what will happen when I hook up my 300B tube integrated? I think it has 8W per side. Will I miss the NAD’s power? That’s going to be fun experiment.

And, it’s going to be super interesting to try the Primaluna integrated with them. I can’t wait to see if I like my KT150s or EL34 variants better.

I’m not going to give some glowing review because it’s too soon and I’ve learned some speakers may sound so so with one system and great with another and even more so with different rooms. There is, however, a big takeaway for me personally: I can use reviews as guides but you have to try stuff out in your room with your stuff to really know. I recently sold a near mint pair of KEF LS50s because my $500 Wharfedale Dentons just sang better with my Creek integrated in the specific room they are in (downstairs system). And that doesn't say anything about the KEFs--they are still amazing boxes.  



128x128jbhiller
oldschoolsound's avatar
oldschoolsound
28 posts
 
MrD,

Dampening the midrange horns on my Forte I's helped with detail, openness and the like at moderate to louder volumes.  I mentioned earlier that I replaced the factory Forte I K53/K701 combination from an earlier Heresy.  The driver was better made and sounding, but I was surprised that the K-701 horn had fewer outside ribs for bracing in the mold.  Seems the Klipsch engineers took steps to reduce resonance by beefing up the bracing in later versions of the horn.

The midrange compression driver on a Forte I is only about a 1/16th of an inch from the back inside wall of the cabinet.  (Not sure if the geometry is the same on later generations with a tractrix horn).  Recently I read that loosening the mounting screws and inserting a thin piece of compressible foam behind the driver and then re-tightening the mounting screws helps with "bracing" for a clearer sound.

Have you given this a try?
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
Mrdecibel: You gave me no choice in the damping thing, so I expect you to issue an apology to my wife as I gummed up her favorite scissors...they got un-gummed...still...took some "splainin'". The term "detained" means they are held in my listening room and have very little chance of escape (I generally fear they could try to get back to Arkansas if allowed). Detailed was a more apt term, so yeah...detailed. And please continue posting as these posts are one of the few bastions of defense against the anti-Klipsch horn movement that exists in the demented minds of the mindlessly demented.
jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller OP
1,399 posts
 
@wolf_garcia 
Did you dampen your Heresy IIIs?  It looks like you said you did but I couldn't tell with all of your humor! 

I'd be open to dampening my Forte IIIs but I'd like to hear and see about it first.  I've never cracked them open. 

Tonight, if I get time, I'm going to run a homemade 300b amp into the Forte IIIs.  I put high end parts into the amp (Mundorf premium caps, Takman resistors) and it has a really nice layout internally with massive transformers (power and output).  I'm curious to see if I get some magic going.
mrdecibel
3,063 posts
 
@oldschoolsounds, many speaker companies use a " ring " between the driver and the cabinet ( foam, rubber, paper/cardboard ), but I believe it is used to suppress energy from the driver to the cabinet, and the reverse, to suppress energy from the cabinet to the driver. I also believe it is used to create a better " seal " between the two. If some folks are calling that bracing, I will not argue, although that is not my definition of bracing. A set of Polk towers I have use these rings behind the woofers when mounting. If I recall, my pair of Klipsch CF2s ( Epics ) also use them. I have tried it many times, and in some instances I heard a difference, and in some I did not. @wolf_garcia ,I remember now, making you an offer you could not refuse. I also warned you it might destroy scissors, and please apologize to your wife. And, for your very logical reasoning, I will continue to post, especially when it comes to Klipsch. I will try and add some "humor " next time. Thank you, and Enjoy ! MrD.
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
Jbhiller...yes I did dampen the things if only to get mrdecibel off my back! It was interesting as I'd never used Dynamat before and the operation does make sense...I'm always up for logical and inexpensive tweaks, especially if reversible which the Dynamat clearly is, so you have nothing to lose except a finger maybe. The Fortes are worth opening up as it's cool to see the detail and professionalism used in Klipsch USA construction...if they're anything like the Heresy IIIs you'll see clean and sophisticated innards with high quality wire and generally clean construction, and I always take any new thing apart anyway...tighten speaker bolts or screws, etc.
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