Krispy Kirk

TBrennan: "Hepner/Herner(sic)" - just what in heck are you talking about? Kook's Forte's are Mk.IIs with the Tractrix midhorn. Far, far smoother than the midhorn in the earlier Forte (Mk I) IMHO... Kook: If you DO decide to "upgrade" those Forte IIs to something "more modern" that Academy center channel will have to go as well. I assure you I can find a good home for it! Email me for further details...

Those look a whole lot more like Heresy grills than "KG4" grills...

Mike, Congrats on your new ownership of a truly awesome pair of speakers! As you can see from my winning entry in the recent Storyteller contest, I've run my '89 Forte IIs on a wide variety of amps. I doubt there is a single receiver, amp, or audio device that I haven't hooked up to them at least once (if only just for fun.) My golden ears may be tarnishing with age, but I honestly have never heard an objectionable sound out of them with any amp. I currently run my F2s in an HT rig with a newer Onkyo DD/DTS receiver (100wpc I think) and they sound fantastic on either 2ch or multichannel sources. Prior to that I had an Adcom GFA-545 powering them for over a decade (GFP-555II preamp). I never felt like replacing them with something "better" except for one short break around 1997 when I tried out an 80wpc Jolida integrated (KT88 power and EL34 pre tubes if I remember correctly.) The Jolida didn't stick around long though because its strengths didn't sufficiently offset its weaknesses when compared to my Adcom combo. The Jolida "warmed up" poorly-recorded material in a pleasant way and threw a nice deep soundstage, but the Adcom stuff seemed just a bit more transparent, was capable of wider dynamic swings, and controlled the bass with a (much-needed) iron fist. Since different amps never really sounded all that different to my ears on my Fortes, I chose to focus on cables and source equipment instead. My Adcom gear was revealing enough to allow me to hear the differences between Monster and Kimber (I went with the Kimber) and between Rotel CD players and Adcom/Sony (I went with Rotel). But you want to know the quickest way to maximize the performance of your Forte IIs? Put them in the right room (the bigger the better.) Set them up properly (6-8ft apart, slightly toed in, and within a foot of the wall behind them.) And sit far enough away from them to get a good coherent sound out of them. Take the distance you've got them apart and add about 25%. That will give a good distance to start looking for the sweet spot. It will usually end up being a little farther away from the speakers than you are accustomed to. Good luck and best wishes to you and your Forte IIs!

Sweet. Two questions: 1) How does it all sound? 2) Are you cleaning those LPs? How?

Paul, when you get to the page that says "December Stories" just click on letter of the alphabet you want right above it. That'll take you to all of the submissions of people whose names begin with that letter. Clunky, I know, but it's the only way I've found to see all of them... As first runner-up, I hope you find my story a little more satisfying than the grand prize winner's! I think my next Klipsch story will be about the agonizing wait I had to endure for a free pair of Heresys.

Nothing here since that original email from Joshua asking which finish I preferred my Heresys in... But then again, everything moves slowly in Hawaii.

Anybody know how long it takes for "special order" speakers like these contest prize Heresys to arrive? I've never ordered speakers before and am curious. Is this like your typical "allow 4 to 6 weeks" kind of thing, or is it more like a car (4-6 MONTHS)? I am all primed to upgrade my second system's pawn-shop electronics but the wife won't let me make a move until we know when (and if) the speakers are coming for SURE...

If figured "Oak Raw" would be unfinished oak... but since I'm having a hard time findings samples of Klipsch's current oak veneers maybe you could tell me which one of these "Oak Raw" is closest to: http://www.oakwoodveneer.com/samples/samples5.html My Forte IIs (originally oiled oak) are closest to the red oak rotary cut (upper right corner) but age and regular re-oiling has darkened them considerably. Is Klipsch using the same red oak or should I expect something lighter like the white oak? OK, one more nagging question - if I decide to take the riser base off of the Heresys later, will there be holes (leaks) in the bottom of the enclosure? Or is the hardware non-penetrating? I'm thinking I'll go with short stands for the H-IIs (10-12") but I certainly will experiment with floor placement. Thanks for all your help!

I asked for "Oak Raw" (whatever that is...) I'm hoping it's the same as the old "Clear Oak" - a bit lighter than "Oiled Oak" (which my Fortes are finished in.) So, I have to ASK for the riser base? I thought it came with the speakers...

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Did you guys notice how my name was listed first among the Honorable Mentions? Do you think that means anything? What if the Grand Prize Winner can't be contacted or won't give a shipping address or is incapacitated and can't accept his prize? I'm not saying I really need or even want a pair of K-Horns (waaaaay too much speaker for me right now.) But I can't help wonderin', you know?

Hello fellow Klipsch fanatics! After years of lurking on this board, I've decided to come out of the shadows and post. I figured since I was one of the honorable mentions in the recent Klipsch Storyteller contest, it was the least I could do. I am a member of this great community but, until now, not an active one. I hope to change that (time, hobbies, career, and family permitting...) Hopefully a few of you have had a chance to read my story and hopefully you feel I earned my prize fairly and squarely. I entered back in May and had quite honestly forgotten all about it until I got an email from Joshua the other day asking me what finish I preferred. "Finish? You mean I won something?" Needless to say I was rather shocked. I instantly "got" what the intent of the contest was having grown up reading that legendary old Klipsch ad copy in Stereo Review and Audio that told stories of various Klipsch owners and their speakers that refused to die. Fires, floods, earthquakes. I remember them well. I used to think "Man, these have got to be SOME TOUGH SPEAKERS!" So I wrote my own little story with that in mind. Apparently, so did Tony! So anyways, here I am with a pair of H-IIs on the way and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with them. I'm tempted to use them as rears with my F-IIs but I don't know. My living room is fairly small and the WAF would be pretty low. My SS-1s may remain in place in which case the new additions will be exiled to the bedroom system. Unfortunately, my bedroom gear is even crappier than my living room gear. 15-odd year old JVC integrated (60w?), P.O.S. Sony CD player, Sony Hi-Fi VCR and cassette decks, and a 27" Toshiba. Straight 2ch. I've got some (rather decent) Design Acoustics PS-8c 8" sealed-box two-ways in there right now but they're going to the curb the day my H-IIs arrive. I have a feeling the Heresies will instantly require an upgrade of at least the amp. I used to run my Fortes with a Jolida 802 but I sold it a few years ago and went back to using my trusty old Adcom 555/545 combo. Then the Home Theater bug bit (but that's a whole other story.) I would love to find another inexpensive Jolida to try with these new H-IIs. Anybody know of a better source than eBay? Take care everybody and I'll be seeing you around.

Hello fellow Klipsch fanatics! After years of lurking on this board, I've decided to come out of the shadows and post. I figured since I was one of the honorable mentions in the recent Klipsch Storyteller contest, it was the least I could do. I am a member of this great community but, until now, not an active one. I hope to change that (time, hobbies, career, and family permitting...) Hopefully a few of you have had a chance to read my story and hopefully you feel I earned my prize fairly and squarely. I entered back in May and had quite honestly forgotten all about it until I got an email from Joshua the other day asking me what finish I preferred. "Finish? You mean I won something?" Needless to say I was rather shocked. I instantly "got" what the intent of the contest was having grown up reading that legendary old Klipsch ad copy in Stereo Review and Audio that told stories of various Klipsch owners and their speakers that refused to die. Fires, floods, earthquakes. I remember them all. I used to think "Man, these have got to be SOME TOUGH SPEAKERS!" So I wrote my own little story with that in mind. Apparently, so did Tony! So anyways, here I am with a pair of H-IIs on the way and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with them. I'm tempted to use them as rears with my F-IIs but I don't know. My living room is fairly small and the WAF would be pretty low. My SS-1s may remain in place in which case the new additions will be exiled to the bedroom system. Unfortunately, my bedroom gear is even crappier than my living room gear. 15-odd year old JVC integrated (60w?), P.O.S. Sony CD player, Sony Hi-Fi VCR and cassette decks, and a 27" Toshiba. Straight 2ch. I've got some (rather decent) Design Acoustics PS-8c 8" sealed-box two-ways in there right now but they're going to the curb the day my H-IIs arrive. I have a feeling the Heresies will instantly require an upgrade of at least the amp. I used to run my Fortes with a Jolida 802 but I sold it a few years ago and went back to using my trusty old Adcom 555/545 combo. Then the Home Theater bug bit (but that's a whole other story.) I would love to find another inexpensive Jolida to try with these new H-IIs. Anybody know of a better source than eBay? Take care everybody and I'll be seeing you around.