sberger

Well, things are sounding remarkably better today after doing a more precise speaker set up. I measured so I got them exactly the same amount off the back wall, and got them as far apart as I could. Mind you , I have a very small living room, and one speaker is going to be closer to the side wall than the other. And I'm not going to be able to get exactly the distance from the speakers as they are apart, but the sound is much more improved. Bigger soundstage, less harsh, more bass. Yup, speaker set up is important, and obviously, I didn't do as good as job as I should have originally. Things are really starting to snap into place, and this acquisition is making more and more sense.

Thanks.

So it turns out that one of my passive woofer cones in the back of one of the Fortes is pressed in somewhat. I took the cone out, and tried to press it out, but couldn't. The speaker sounds fine, but what impact could this have on it, and should I think about replacing it?

Chris, What's involved in doing this? I'm not a big dyi guy.

Just donated. Transaction number 1250171125. Good luck. He's a beautiful kid.

Well I think I found out my problem. The amp is fine, but my preamp has adjustable gain control from 0-36 volts. I was probably down around 10, now I'm up to about 20 volts. No more strain, just a lot of punch and in your face music. The Decware pre and amp I'm using really work well together in tandem if you give them the chance. And I'm really finding that out. I also played with setup, and measured everything to make sure both speakers were equally apart from my rear wall. Never did that before, and I'm sure it's helped. I may still replace the caps, but for now things are sounding a whole lot better. Thanks for all your help. The veil has lifted.

My current amp is a 6wpc SEP. It worked beautifully with my Heresy's, but there seems for some reason to be a bit less clarity, if you will, so far with the Forte's. The sound is certainly deeper, there seems almost to be a slightly veiled presentation. Could be I need to get used to the sound. I would think 6 watts would be fine with Forte's, but have been reading on some other forums that the Forte's typically like 10wpc and up, and that the Cornwall would be better at less than 10. Would love to get some thoughts on this. Thanks.

I just figured out that my Forte's are from '87. Are there better/worse years for them, or are they all pretty much the same?

Well, after listening for about 12 hours or so, gotta say that it's a much different experience than the Heresy's. Warmer, punchier. The Heresy's were more trebly, but not harsh. The Forte's soundstage better, and the mid's are terrific. And of course, the bass thumps bigtime with the Forte's. Still experimenting with placement. The great thing about the Forte's is that I can get them to be rigid on the floor. With the Heresy's on stands, I had problems. I live in a 60+ year old house with wood floors, and there is some level problems. You could rock the H's back and forth on their stands, although that didn't happen when playing music. Still, I know it wasn't good for the sound. The Forte's, however, are rock steady. Gotta believe that's a good thing. Thanks again to everyone who posted in this thread. Yes, experimenting is good, but also good to hear from experienced owners.

Awesome, thanks!

Tom, thanks. They are already sounding really good, and I don't mind experimenting. Do you keep your grills on or off?

Tom, You don't toe your's in? And are you propping something under them to tilt them, or leaning them up against a wall?

Jim, Thanks.

I was lucky enough to pick up a beautiful pair of '89 Fortes. I have been using Heresy's, which I love, but am really looking forward to adding these to my system. I used the Heresy's without grilles, but what do most folks do with the Forte's? Do folks typically just position them on the floor, or do they couple them with stands, or anything else? Thanks in advance for helping this Forte newbie.

---------------- On 5/31/2005 5:50:35 AM Erik Mandaville wrote: Sberger: I'm glad this has worked out in a good way, and that you're happy with your new amplifier. Something else you mentioned caught my attention: "maybe the bottlehead foreplay pre has a lot of gain" If I can offer a thought on this -- it may not be that the preamp has too much gain (although it could very well be more than you really need), but that the input sensitivity is very high. That characteristic was not uncommon with the Foreplay, and most described the problem, as I did with mine way-back-when, as sort of 'hypersensitive volume controls'. The slightest rotation to the right would nearly bring the walls down. However, there are a number of things that can be done to help bring that under control. The value of the stock potentiometers is 100K ohms. The higher that value, the greater the sensitivity (if the potentiometer is what is establishing the input impedance of the component). If you think you are getting enough use of the controls, than just leave it. If not, I can suggest a couple of easy things to try -- the first of which would be to use a plug-in, inline attenuator on the INPUT to the preamp rather than the output. For example, if the volume control is 100K ohms, using a series resistor of the same value on the input of the preamp will pad the gain down a fe dbs. It's also fairly simple to install small trimmer pots on the input, which once set, can be left. You're happy with your purchase, and enjoy what you're now hearing for yourself. There is nothing else that matters. Have fun! Erik edit: Sberger: Doesn't the Taboo have a volume control already on it? You could just use that to pad down the overall gain of your system. It should do the trick just fine (I'm sure you're probably already doing this. I just mentioned it because you brought up the gain of the Foreplay.) E ---------------- erik, my foreplay originally had the sweet whispers attenuator, but it was replaced with a Goldpoint 24 step attenuator with vishay dale resistors and a caddock 132 resistor in the shunt position. i usually leave it wide open with the gain on the taboo at 2 oclock or so when i want to listen loud. plenty of punch. it's all relative. but it is amusing how there is a school of thought by some here that it's impossible to get accurate power from a low output tube amp. thankfully, mr. klipsch thought differently.

thanks for your comments. curious what kind of amp/pre/speakers you're running. by the way, i didn't mention that with my cd player(ah! njoeb tjoeb 4000 w/upsampler) it's much easier to get some mighty powerful punch than it is with my vinyl set up. however, the analog is what i got the amp for in the first place, and it has absolutly not dissapointed me. wonder what took me so long... anyway, thanks again.

well, there are others that would disagree with you about the 12:00 thing. but you're right, too each his own. i am able to run this thing at 9 or 10 o'clock and it's sounds great, although admittedley i normally run between 12-2 with my pre pretty much on full. but hardly ever need to go beyond 2. and when i do(just to, y'know, have a lttle fun...)doesn't feel at all like i'm pushing it. similiar comments at decware.com, but i'm sure there's a lot of skeptics about that forum, just like there seems to be the same over there about this place. anyhow, thanks for your comments.

no flame taken. and for the record, i never stated that i was being "fatigued" by what i was hearing. in fact, too the opposite. i'm pretty sure there is no clipping going on. when i say it's almost "too loud" you must understand that i'm speaking in context of my listening conditions. i do have a small room, and i do have a wife and a 7 yr old. so i'm really never able to listen too loud to begin with. but i'm able to get the taboo up to listening levels that are more than enough, and when i'm alone, i can get this thing pumping. doubt if you wish. but i do think it has a ton to with the pre's gain capabilities, and the capabilities of the heresy's and this terrific amp. anyhow, i'm damn happy, and this is for anybody else who is curious about trying out a low powered amp and might be scared away by some of the, er, enthusiastic opinions to the contrary on this thread.

so thought i should come back to add some closure to this thing. i've had the decware taboo in the system now for a few weeks, and i dare anybody to come over and tell me i don't have enough power. it's almost too loud. now, maybe i have a small room, maybe the bottlehead foreplay pre has a lot of gain, and maybe, just maybe, and i know this could never be, the taboo's advertised 6 watts p/c are enough with my heresy's. who knows. i do know that this blasts enough so i turn it down even before my wife instructs me to. oh yeah, it sounds beautiful. truly stunning. especially midrange. but plenty of bass. and did i mention it's loud? you're in a 500 seat club, center stage when this thing is blasting. really cool little amp. just thought i'd let y'all know how it turned out.

---------------- On 4/18/2005 9:14:20 PM DeanG wrote: It took me a long time to figure this out, but if you like to kick back with a glass of wine and goofy slippers -- then SET is definitely your kind of amp. If you drink beer -- go the push-pull route. http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/images/smilies/9.gif"> ---------------- ha! well, we'll see. i like wine, slippers, bud, and jack. sometimes all in the same night. let's see if i can break your mold. the challenge is on.

man you guys talk about listening at 110 db. what kind of personal lives do you have, or are you all well of enough to have sound proofed listening rooms? one of the reasons that a se amp appeals to me is that i like listening to music these days. i spent the 70's and 80's getting my ears exposed to some very loud sounds as a roadie. it was a blast(pun intended) but my days of listening to ac/dc or aerosmith are basically over. and even when i do, it's not at earth shattering levels. i listen to a lot of acoustic jazz, blues, etc. no soundtracks, no classical, no opera. when i do listen to rock'n'roll, i'm really more interested in the nuances of it, and not sheer volume. maybe i should have made all these points originally. with my sim audio(70 wpc) and nad(130 wpc) i normally listen at pretty reasonable levels, and it's my belief that these amps, at lower volumes, just aren't taking advantage of the heresy's efficiency. don't get me wrong, the heresy's sound real good anyway. but as erik has so aptly pleaded in my favor, i just want to see what i'm possibly missing, having never explored that territory before. but i gotta admit, i love your passion.

---------------- On 4/17/2005 2:13:37 PM Erik Mandaville wrote: Sberger: What was the specific Decware you got? was it that Taboo? ---------------- yup. by the way, here's a link from the decware sight, in case some haven't seen it. http://www.decware.com/newsite/TABOO.htm

erik, thanks very much for the input. very encouraging!

---------------- On 4/16/2005 2:24:52 PM jt1stcav wrote: I'm not complaining (see my profile)...use an 8 WPC SET amp with both 98.5dB Cornwalls and now with my 93dB Athena Technologies Audition Series AS-F2 towers. Plenty loud for my small room up to 100dB (clipping occurs over 107dB). Personally I think the Heresys will do just fine with levels below 90dB once you know their limits and don't overdo it. Will you be using a subwoofer for the low frequencies? Just my opinion, natch... ---------------- hi, won't be using a sub. my bass requirements are pretty minimal, meaning as long as it's realistic, and natural, i'm fine with it. i appreciate your comments.

---------------- I don't think anyone is against low powered amps per se. It's just that many of these specials have an advertised power rating much higher than the reality. The 6 watts you were quoting would probably be, as Dean said, around 1/2 a watt of usable power before falling into double figure distortion. If you want to listen to music with it's micro and macro dynamics accurately reproduced, you will need, even with the Klipschorn, around 20 to 30 watts. Anything less is still okay in smaller rooms and at listening levels well below 90db for the peaks. ---------------- you may be right. and i do have a small room and as i've said previously, usually need to listen at lower levels. i find it interesting though how many folks speak of se amps so favorably. only one way to see, er, hear for myself, huh?