laurenc319

hi, Ahhh... whoever you are ...BUY them now !!! Larry

hi all, I have a pair of Forte I's and a EICO hf-81 tube amp ( push-pull 6bq5s, 14 watts a channel) and am looking to "upgrade" at a resonable price ( $2000 to 2500 for an amp). BTW I love the sound of the EICOs as compared to my Soundcraftsmam A400 ss power amp. Ok,... where do I go from here. Higher power push-pull tube power amps or the SET route with 3 to 8 watts per channel. The higher power tubes amps have a intuitive advantage, but I've been reading a lot about SETs and they sound very interesting. see here: http://web.mit.edu/cheever/www/cheever_thesis.pdf Comments appreciated from any who are using the Fortes and various tube amp combinations. Thanks, Larry

hi, My Fortes sound a bit better using the 4 ohm taps of a EICO HF-81 integrated amp. So it pays to experiment and see what works for you Larry

hi, I have my Fortes hooked up to my rebuilt EICO hf-81 and the sound is just beautiful. I tried the Fortes with a Soundcraftsman A400 ss amp 230watts/channel and I like the presentation wtih the small tubes better. Have your tried the Cornwalls with the EICO ? I too am looking at a Welborne Labs Monoblock SET and a Wright Labs Mono 8 SET amp. I going to the audio show in NY in May to listens to some of this stuff. I would love to hear what you say about the EICO vs the Moondogs on the Cornwalls. Larry

hi, A beautiful sight for sure. What are you replacing them with ? btw , the 8th ( acoustic ) nerve has the most direct connection to our brain with the exception of the 1st (olfactory) nerve. Both are very primative and very emotive. Larry

hi, Thanks for the info on on the 4 ohm taps, I read on this forem about this and already tried it and the bass did tighten up and sound better. I have to say i really like these Fortes, last night I set up my other system in the same room, just for fun, ( Soundcraftsman A400 power amps 200w/channel with the P100 preamp , B&W Matrix 2 speakers and a Kyocera CD player). Moved a CD from one system to another. Both systems are great. We listened to some of my reference CDs ( Enigma, MCMXC*D cut ..The Rivers of Belief, Ahmad Jamal, Rossiter Road cuts ... Milan and If I Find the Way and Shostokovich Symphony 5 by Lenoard Bernstein and the New York Philarmonic, 4th movement ). A driving electronic musical presentation with male and female voice, a jazz quartet and a large orchestra. What I can say is both systems sound great. Both systems could fill the room (14 x 24 x 8 ft) with sound at levels at which it was impossible to hear each other comment. Both systems could shake the walls with bass ... the Klipsches in a much more convincing fashion. Both had an an ability to articulate and define the sound registers in an abandoned fashion. Ok the differences. The B&Ws with the 200 watt ss amp are somewhat, ahhh .. refined and laid back with very fast transients and tight but not extreamly deep bass. The upper registers are precise and very dominent. The midrange a bit baackward and behind the highs. The sound stage is very accurate from left to right but not very deep front to back. The Klipschs with a 14 watt tube amp are much more forward, with a brighter and enticing midrange, with the highs not as pronounced. The bass was not as fast but deeper and more feelable and for some reason more enjoyable. They are more directional right to left, surprising given their horns, but have a much deeper soundtage, a 3d sound experience the B&Ws could not match. End result ... my wife voted fot the B&Ws, I voted for the Klipshes. Guess which one is in the living room and which one is downstairs in the TV/computer room. Larry

hI I have a pair of Fortes which I recently bought on Ebay and I really like them , ( my B&W Matrix 2s have been displaced ) . At the moment I'm running them on a EICO ST-81 integrated amp ... 14 watts per channel. They sound great ( actually better than with a Soundcraftsman A400 .. 230 watt/channel solid state power amp... but not as loud ). Amazing what 14 watts can do with these speakers. I'm thinking about getting a bit more tube power and wonder about how well a Dynaco ST70 ( a good rebuilt one ) will do with these speakers. Anyone using this combo. Is the upgrade in amp worth it ? thanks Larry Citro

hi Luiz, I'm new to this forum also, but I do have a pair of Fortes which and my amplifier is an EICO HF-81 integrated amp from 1958. It has 14 watts output per channel and it drives the Fortes just fine with the exception of a slight weakness in the bass as compared to my Soundcraftsman A400 power amp (200 watts per channel ). The size of my listening room is 24 X 14 X 8 feet. Larry Ci