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Built these LS in 2016 for a friend and just now applied frames with brown "cane" type material which blends well with the cherry veneer. Material is not fabric but more like several woven strands/strings. My friend and his wife likes the color.

Hi folks, Though I consider myself still a newbie to this hobby, just wanted to share my satisfying experience from the upgrade from Heresy III to Forte III, as well as Mogwai amp from Ampsandsound. Long story short, I'm very very happy with the change from Heresy to Forte. And I believe the Mogwai amp really opens up the Heritage speakers. I'm listening to more music, and happier with the hobby now. They're not inexpensive, not as convenient as more modern equipment but I believe, despite my lack of many experiences with different gears, the combination can be one final destination of many possible ones as a modest music lover/audiophile can reach in terms of $ invested and hi-fi experience. I hope this post can be helpful for someone who's considering an Ampsandsound amp or a Klipsch Heritage pair especially you may have a hard time to actually audition Klipsch Heritage speakers.. Also, welcoming any question or advice. I have used a pair of Heresy III for about four years. It was recommended by one of my experienced audiophile friends given my taste (or bias) was developed as and geared toward a concert (classical and rock festivals) and jazz/blues club-goer, and my need for very sturdy speakers safe to my young kids (and vice versa). Upon changing from my beloved Dali Mentor Menuet (great mini-monitor speakers), I got to realize the livelier but less "modern and polished" sound; I cherished the big size woofer. I used the Heresy III with a pretty and gentle sounding class AB JFET-MOSFET solid state (Aura Vita) or a very quite NAD DirectDigital amp. Maybe due to my choice (or limitation) of the amp, yes, sometimes, it sounded a bit harsh, in-your-face; so I dreamed trying a tube amp or a different speaker. I do also think the Heresy sounded as if it has less "substance/mass" than one can desire, which may sound exciting and refreshing or just plain light-weighted; I also longed for a tube amp and lower extension of bass for this matter. So, finally, I pulled a trigger for the Mogwai amp with the pairs of 6L6GC and KT88. It's a ~3 watt SET amp by Ampsaoundsound. You can either plug speakers or headphones, and it has one RCA input and a volume pot. A big difference could be noticed right away. As I wished, Heresy-Mogwai combo sounded fuller, more 3 dimensional and warmer/smoother. It may not "accurately" sound (I don't know and I didn't measure) but to me and my family, the audible difference was just plain positive. With Mogwai feeding into Heresy III, I can't say the horn loaded high and mid are naturally harsher than other types of transducers. So, I can have the benefits of big woofer and horns without the coms people say/hear of. I believe the description on Ampsandsound is true to my experience. Mogwai is dead silent with the Heresy III; NAD's digital amp has no hiss at all and this Ampsandsound amp is very close to it (a volume 65~70% to max turned still doesn't generate a hiss). And once warmed up (just a couple of minutes), no transformer noise at all. The difference between two tubes is not what I can describe with confidence; I feel like KT88 is a more balanced choice though 6L6GC does have its own charm (I listen to one set a week now). The price tag looked high for the wattage, but I had a hard time to find a new, low power SET amp that I can purchase new, roll the tubes and have great customer services other than the Ampsandsound one. I might have gone with renowned branded 20~40W push pull amps but they were not that cheap either and I wanted to try one extreme with the benefits of the Heresy III's high sensitivity. Then, I moved my residence to one with the higher ceiling and longer listening space from speakers to couch. Heresy sounded difficult to fill the vertical space to the ceiling. And the longer space again called for a horn loaded speakers. Then I found out the Forte III was launching. I was hesitant because, yes, it's not inexpensive and I already own a Klipsch Heritage pair. Why not going for Magnepan, B&W, KEF or British monitors just to see what's out there different? But with the super lovely 3-watt amp new in place, I chose the Forte III, distressed oak color (color-wise, distressed oak looks like much toned-down espresso color). Again, immediately after installation, I had a big smile. Much happier than when I changed from Dali Menuet to Heresy III maybe because back then it was more like a lateral move, different rather than better. This time, I believe, to me and my space, Forte III is the better choice than Heresy III all around. I can hear the harmonics more and better, music sounds full and balanced over the bandwidth but not losing all the pros of Heresy III - dynamic, energetic and lively sound, and the bass of Forte III does go a long way in quality and quantity. I listen to all kinds of classical, acoustic blues and jazz and quite a bit of pop. All sound great. One pro of Heresy III over Forte III is the placement. As everyone knows, you can put Heresy III into the corner almost attached to the walls. With Forte III's passive radiators, you need about 10-15 inches of breathing room side and back. Also, often times, Heresy III's look goes well with low profile cabinet, couch and other interior deco. The other one is that Heresy III still has a lot of raw energy of music even compared to Forte III. I.e. if you listen to Black Sabbath at a pretty satisfying volume or hard bop or electric blues, you may even prefer Heresy III to Forte III or just don't need Forte III. I think it's one of the magic Heresy III keeps for a long time. Both Heresy and Forte have big woofers. Hz-wise, Heresy doesn't go deep, and Forte is modest for the size. Still, the feeling of big size woofer sound is very attractive and I think it's pretty rare to have that experience these days at a reasonable price. I almost feel that size of woofer and its character mitigate some cons of the Heritage speaker sound (if any). My experience with different gears is pretty limited. Still, I had a chance to listen to pretty high-end systems: DeVore Orangutans + full Shindo tube gears, Harbeth + top line Line Magnetic, Mark Levinson feeding KEF Ref and JBL synthesis speakers, thanks to my audiophile friends. Given the price difference and the quality of the sound I have, I don't envy those systems at all. I believe both Forte III and Heresy III do have own (Klipsch Heritage) sound characters that just make themselves sound different from other cone speakers, even making us hard to decide which is better. I don't think I'll change my system until I have $15K+ budget for amp and speakers. Some say the Heritage ones can image well. Yes, they do imaging - at last, they're stereo loudspeakers. But, I don't think they can as well as Harbeth or KEF LS50; even with my Dali, I can tell the difference easily. Regarding staging, my experience with Heresy III and Forte III tells me, these speakers put you on the stage, in the same space as the musicians. Other well made speakers literally depict a gorgeous stage in front of you, pretty deep and high (as I once experienced with the KEF reference or the Vivid Giya). So, it's very different experience between you being in the 3D space with the musicians and you visualizing the 3D space (whether studio or live stage). Others say Heresy is a rock speaker. Well, you can listen to any kind of music with great satisfaction through Heresy. To me, with Forte, even more satisfaction. Well made ribbon twitter or fancy mid range can do better than Klipsch Heritage but low power SET amp matching and big woofers can make the difference, too. My points are, 1. As everyone says, go for a low powered, full and warm sounding tube amp with Klipsch Heritage line; Ampandsound Mogwai is a terrific choice (I believe the other Ampsandsound amps should sound great), as great as making me buy another pair of Klipsch Heritage speakers. And I had a very hard time to find a choice less expensive with the comparable quality/service than them (since I didn't look for a vintage or used gear). 2. Unless you need to put your Heritage speakers into to corner and have the absolute cap in the budget, Forte III should be better than Heresy III in general. I think the price difference is justified, some may not. Depending on your music and volume choice, the price and spec difference might not be appreciated/justified. 3. Klipsch Heritage speakers are (and should be) different from a lot of cone-based speakers. But you don't have to much worry about the cons of Klipsch Heritage speakers 'people say.' They are well made, balanced speakers worth the price tag with a character because the form factor is rare these days. But better to focus on the pros and which experience you'd like to pull from your speakers. To my taste, Klipsch Heritage brings a lot of unique strengths I love to have without much downside. Even at some audio shops, when I said I use Heresy III, they looked at me one more time like 'why? are you sure?' kind of look. But well, my gears are fine enough to me, and I'm sure some of the "pros" didn't even experience the new line of Heritage speakers.

It is a silly question and debate, like tubes vs SS, etc. and I usually ignore these but I will bite again. Two sides to this. The speaker is a Klipsch speaker, even if you change some components. People who buy Heritage are the same as car or motorcycle guys who like to modify their toys. That is part of the fun of owning old Klipsch speakers. But if I were Roy, I would not want someone to associate my name with a modified speaker as they might turn it into garbage and blame Klipsch or "show it off" and scare others into thinking that Klipsch is that bad. I had someone butcher one of my contracts and it was an embarrassment. I was brought in later and I had to make a point of telling everyone that this was not my work as anyone who understood how a proper agreement should be drafted would think that I was a hack or somehow forgot how to do my job. It looked like my document, but was complete crap and I was pissed that someone would think that I did the butchery, so I understand Roy's position.

@Chief bonehead gave dtel and I his prototype 1502 sub and came down this weekend to help with the install. While he was here he made some other adjustments to our system. I want to give Roy a big thank you for the sub woofer, help with the install and adjustments to our system. More importantly I want to thank him for the new found love I have for our gear. I am so impressed with the performance of this sub woofer. The only way to describe it is "musical". It takes bass to a whole new level. We put the sub through its paces by watching X-Men Apocalypse. The sofa was literally vibrating! We walked outside to take a break and the exterior walls were shaking.

So I've had a couple of frustrating weeks trying to get my lps frequency response to match what it used to. Had a thread in Talkin' Tubes and one in Technical/Modifications about this. Ordered a nice replacement tt as a result of a conversation with a fella at an online record store that sells hardware too. Well he gave me a fair price on my current tt for a trade in on it, nice! The unreal part of it is that the gal that takes care of sealing the deal that I made with the guy that I learned is the owner of that business, called me today. Seems that they cannot obtain the somewhat pricey Pro-Ject 1Xpression that I ordered from their distributors right now. It's a serious long back-order right now. This lady asked me If it would be alright? If they upgraded my order to.... A Pro-Ject the Classic!!! I nearly fell out of my chair here at the computer, pulled up their website and verified the product code with her in disbelief! It's Christmas in September folks. I tell you what if everybody had at least one day in their life like this. A surprise that could make them forget about their own bullya that's going on and just grin from ear to ear for a couple of hours it would be great! Have any of you had anything that has been shockingly fantastic happen to you lately!

Hi All Just joined forums but have looked through many threads over the years on here. A lot of Great, valuable information. I have owned a few pairs of Klipsch in the past Hereseys, kg 4, kg 3.2. I am close to acquiring a nice PAIR of Forte II already upgraded w crites xo and titanium tweeters. These will be for a 2 channel setup. Anyway I'm sure I'll have some questions on gear and cables to go with them. Thanks Tony

1300 tops. A bit more if they were splits.

Thanks, your right it does sound very nice and lucky to have Roy come by. He has been here before, last time he was here I asked him to check out the 2 ch and adjust as needed, we listened and he said "what's wrong with that". I told him I thought nothing was wrong but was hoping he would change something since it's always nice to get a second opinion especially with his experience, he laughed at me, Bonehead. He never touched anything we just listened. This time was a little different we were adding a different sub and he wanted to add his computer for some music he had. The way I had it was working great but the DAC really limited the input connections and left me not being able to hook up some things I wanted. I couldn't put anything through from the satellite or Ipad/computer. He wanted to use the HT receiver pre outs to make connecting and switching easier, I tried to resist because the last receiver I tried this with sounded bad comparing to just the DAC. But a different (older) receiver was tried and it sounded the same as the DAC but made everything much easier to control and connect anything I wanted. It's old but sounds good on the pre outs, I was surprised how good it sounds, the other AVR did not compared well to the DAC, this one is a pioneer elite vsx- 82 txs and is doing great, it's sounding as good or better than anything I have tried. Everything is sounding better, especially the Forte ll HT, this sub made a big difference with movies and music compared to that Danely spud clone. For movies it's was a little shocking at first, I kind of had the volume cranked up and when a bass heavy part in the movie started we all just looked at each other surprised. Roy had never heard a Forte Ht or the 1502 in a house and used for HT. I asked him if I should turn it down and he said NO, that's cool, everything was vibrating and shaking. I have found many more rattles around the house, including a sign hanging on the outside wall on the porch 34' away which we found when we went outside to take a break. My Grandson was in his room playing a video game online, he said I usually can hear it and feel a little vibration but now the whole wall was vibrating and the people he was gaming with asked him why he was laughing, he likes this stuff. Of course the 1502 is much more powerful and sounds much bigger but the real surprise was how much cleaner it sounds, and it blends in perfectly, it's crossed at 80. With the MWM/402 it sounds great, it sounds very musical to me and blends perfectly with the other bass horns, still crossed at 80, the spud sub was crossed at 40. Sounds great to me

Does this make me an accomplice? (I supplied the replacement badge). I knew hanging with you low life, high school band aiding peeps would get me into trouble. I can't speak for Paul, but I would think that Klipsch Corporate appreciates the advertisement. I don't doubt those are the best sounding speakers many of those kids ever heard, just like the La Scalas I heard for the first time when I was their age. It stuck with me. Now I'm up to my neck in Klipsch (some modified)!

Nicely done appraisal of your equipment / experience. Especially for your first post here. Welcome to the community @ceiber!

If I could get it in my room I'd have one or two of them. The 1502 would just barely fit. I have a huge room but my doorways are small.

He's allright like that, my mom always told me to pick better friends, she was right. Part of the problem I was having was the DAC, I love it, but it made connecting everything I wanted a nightmare with limited connections. Chief Bonehead rewired everything on the 2 CH and HT to all be controlled with the receiver which has easy connections for almost anything. Before I had to switch and press many different things to go from different sources for both 2 ch and ht. much easier now. I was at first completely against the change because with the other receiver I used it never sounded nearly as good as with just the DAC. But with a different receiver it now does sound just as good and much easier to control and switch everything. Both receivers are old but one apparently is much better quality. Plus we added the new sub and set it to match everything, it definitely made both systems sound much better. After we got to listening I just had to tell Roy, I guess my old sub sucked much more than I thought it did, it was a Danely spud clone.......it's going to my daughters now. I only heard the 1502 with music until now and really liked it, but with movies it does much more than I thought it could possibly do.

Bread pudding pancakes. It's a good thing we did a lot of walking all weekend.

As a teenage audiophile I lusted after Klipsch speakers such as the Klipschorn and La Scala. They were way too big and expensive however, but they just looked like they would sound good. And they had ridiculously high sensitivity. In the late 1950s JBL and Electrovoice used horns in their best speakers as well. I have been looking for another speaker system for some time now and wanted something different from my Thiels….that is, not just another 3 way cone system. I came across the Forte IIIs and they seemed to meet my criteria…..high efficiency, horn-based. I didn’t think they would necessarily be better than my Thiels but different in a way that I would find appealing. They are very close on most sonic parameters. Tonal balance and smoothness are about the same. The 3.6s have lower bass extension, somewhat better image specificity and a bit more depth to the sound stage. Apart from these differences, the Fortes still shine in those areas. I initially worried that they would have a distinctive “horn” sound. Not so. Their general tonal character is no different from my Thiels. The area where the Fortes standout is the one I anticipated: dynamic range. Loud, sudden bursts pop out of the soundstage with greater impact and crispness with no noticeable strain or distortion. They really strut their stuff on Jazz at the Pawn Shop, Santana’s Sacred Fire, the 4th movement of Mahler’s 1st Symphony, and any balls to the wall version of The Rite of Spring. This is not surprising given the difference in sensitivity, 86db verses 99db. I have read that for each 3db increase in sensitivity means you need half as much power. The great thing about well-made high efficiency speakers with high power handling (the Forte’s are 100 continuous 400 watts peak) is you get greater dynamic sound with reduced demand on your amp and perhaps less distortion. Overall, I believe my Thiels are bit more refined but the Fortes win out in the boogie competition. The Fortes work well with my tube mono blocks and solid state XPA-2. However, the tonal balance is bit more linear on the XPA-2. $3600 isn’t inexpensive by civilian standards but as true audiophile quality speakers, I think they’re a bargain. I use a sub with both my Thiels and Fortes. I can’t position the Fortes near a back wall as recommended. Oppo UPD-205, ModWright LS 36.5, Emotiva XPA-2 or PrimaLunaProLogic Sevens, Velodyne SPL 1000R

I discovered something that honest to goodness really makes a difference in speaker cables. I had a box of random screws laying around and for some odd reason I decided to see what would happen if I buried my speaker cables in the screws. Well lo and behold the improvement that was perceived was real! The scattering of signal fields cancelling out radiation has changed how I perceive the music coming from my speakers. Hoping to patent soon and make available for sale by Christmas. If interested please PM me and I will look into starting a kickstarter fund to help me offset development costs that include bourbon and beer. Man who knew? I'm a convert now. Let the fun begin. Brad

Link

You better check with the Mrs before you make this offer. We might show up and never leave. I've never been there. I was on the 1984 Olympic Drinking Team

does it come with the cartridge ?

$1200 to $1400 is fair as they look to be in great condition and as long as all the drivers and network are original. These were far more expensive new than a standard La Scala. $2K is obviously too much.

I definitely will, but if I tried to get into LP's again it wouldn't be pretty, my wife already said no way...but I do remember nothing sounding like a good LP. Yes you do, we're hoping some of your great news is about how you have been feeling. Were thinking about you dude, waiting for that improvement which will come.

I need a day like this

You're going to make Carl's head swell up

Yes I have at least twice lately, and it is shocking and a little hard to accept and believe at first. Congratulations and just be happy and enjoy it.................. This is what I was told when I asked several people advice on what I should do. I do not keep up with or use tt's any more but I do know that company makes some great and well respected plus expensive turntables you should be in great shape after this.

Awesome Player Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Dtel's..........congrats on the new sub. And you are lucky to get a house call from Roy for the setup. I am sure things sound very nice today. Enjoy.

Your memory is correct.

I purchased my first set of Klipsch speakers nearly 7 years ago. They were in perfect condition. I moved, then shipped them to my new address. The carrier couldn't of cared for them less, and damaged the external finish. The edges of the speaker cabinets were dented or were caved in. So I spent the weekend stripping the veneer, and painting the speaker cabinets and filling in the damaged areas with bondo. I don't have a garage or heavy equipment so only a refinish with paint would suffice. I used a grain rocker to simulate the wood grain in the finish. Lastly, I tore off the speaker grill fabric now utilizing the bare grills - I like the look better. Both of my F3s are powered by an Emotiva amp (300 watts per channel RMS). I just ordered a center channel speaker which I am awaiting delivery - Klipsch RC 64 II. Really can't wait to hear the center channel in a 3.2 system setup. My subwoofers consist of two Synergy 12". I am not a professional painter or word worker so please be gentle. I just thought some people would like to see an another finish on F3s. Especially the grills with no grill cloth (For those owning cats). Enjoy, Shim

I have that one and many more All my Moody Blues collection was spun & Posted earlier in the thread

How has no one jumped on these genuine pre-Peavy gems?

I got an Audioengine D2 wireless streamer today. Just set it up. Very easy. Sounds great out of the box. Instructions say that there is a 40 hour break-in period so I have some listening to do. It streams real 24/96khz files on a separate dedicated network so it doesn't have to run on your home wifi with everything else. I have had no drop outs. I was using an Apple TV box but airplay down samples to 16/44khz and the signal wasn't very stable. This solves my problem of having my stereo system in ne room and my computer in another. It wasn't feasible to run a cable between the rooms. So so far so good. I'm happy and would recommend the product. Couldn't be easier to use.

I want to hear it can you either: A: Crank the bejeezus out of it for me B: bring it with you on your next trip to TN?

They look very rough, suspect possible water damage, all depends upon the price would have to be discounted deep for me to take them on as a project.

He has a weiner problem..............................

Then even a better deal that I originally thought. Bill

Sweet price! A new remote from Oppo is $12 plus shipping: https://www.oppodigital.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BDP10xRemote

Thanks for the replies. After seeing the new klipsch 1502 prototype makes me wonder if I should wait a bit.

Someday I'm going to have a sub like that.... Actually at the last pilgrimage it dawned on me that some KI-396 combined with this sub would be a killer setup for the home..!!!! Especially if Cory @MetropolisLakeOutfitters could get some custom options that we have seen a couple of times. Anyone who heard this demo from the last pilgrimage knows what I'm talking about.... miketn

It's amazing, just finished watching some of a movie. The music sounded great, but tonight we tried a movie and it was shocking. Took a break and went out on the porch for a minute, the sign hanging on the wall out there was rattling along with alot of other things around the house. What really surprised me more than anything was the quality of the bass, yes it's alot of bass, but the quality and how well it blends with the Forte's was way better than I could have ever expected. Christy was never a bass person, but she is in love with this thing and ready to watch more movies, this is new for her, she never wants to watch a movie. Thank You Roy for tuning everything up, to say the least.

I embedded 16 awg speaker wire into the sheet rock at my former residence. I used a router then plastered them in and painted. Lot of dust but worked well for my situation.

One motorboard done...starting on second.

Capacitors and Equalizer share one thing in common.... they both act like filters and they both can be used properly as well as misused...!!! It's up to each of us to pull ourselves out of ignorance (especially internet spread ignorance) and learn for ourselves how to use them both properly..!!! miketn

I don't think you can go wrong with either. My choice would be the Yamaha if I had to choose. Bill

I picked up some really nice Paradigm Monitor 7 v5 and CC-190 v5

They're absolutely desire able as far as I'm concerned. My biggest problem is room. I have one room and one room only that could be used for these or K-horns. The problem is that's where I have my HT. I've put so much time, effort and money into getting it just right and it's virtually perfect. I'd end up replacing the front 3 speakers AND the cabinet all the gear is in. The price of admission for me would be much more than the speakers themselves. I'd also need money for the divorce lawyer.

I'm glad to see a person like you supporting them Cory...! Thanks, miketn Very true, and not just the Jubilees, the whole klipsch line. At a time when you can not find any or very few real audio stores and even fewer people you can trust to steer you in the right direction if you had no idea what you need, there are very few like Cory. He rarely if ever even says he's a dealer, but is recommended by many just because of how he is. He will give you good advice, can be trusted and it seems to be more interested in what's best for the customer over a sale or commision. This is rare these days. He would have had the same reputation back when there were many audio stores, just because of how he does business. Been watching him since he got into this, and only talked with him at Pilgrimages, but I keep up with what he is doing from reports from facebook, customers, Roy and good words from people up the chain at Klipsch, he's doing it right, how it should be done. This makes him stand out, maby not popular with other dealers but if that's the case, they can only blame themselves. And no Cory, I'm not kissing up, it's the facts, and I am not the only person noticing.

Normal ones vs. my custom ones.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to A/B the Forte lll and the Cornwall lll. Speaker switching box, with the same gain on each speaker. The difference was jaw-dropping. Disregarding price, the CW lll just smoked the Forte lll IMHO tc

Thanks guys for putting up with me! The journey is finally done! They are in and they sound better than they look! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok everyone! They are finally done and will be picking them up this weekend. Sadly the veneer is lifting away from the backer in a couple spots but should be an easy fix from what he says. Now I need to give the horns some loving! Sorry for spaming posts but have a couple good pics to show of them!

Wow! what beautiful La Scalas! I think I remember seeing them someplace else. Hmmm... Oh yeah, now I remember, my living room!