Blu Azure

I have had a pair of SPL-120s for a while with no issues. But I’ve always been confused about where it falls in the Klipsch lineup. It’s not Synergy and isn’t listed as Reference. What is it considered?

It would be great if 5.1 speaker packages and large, affordable multichannel receivers continue. But I have a suspicion that after all the Port problems and chip shortages....companies with large losses are going to try to reinvent home theater. People are not going to spend $1k of a pair of surrounds. Sad to say surround sound-in-a box may be where things are going.

I have a 2nd set of Fortes that I've considered using as the rears. I kinda like the idea of Surround A, B and Rears though. The Cinema line of pretty amazing though, didn't know that existed.

I have an aging pair of Klipsch RS35 (97db/watt) surrounds and just went online to scope out replacements. I was surprised that Klipsch only make one efficient set of surrounds anymore, the pricey $1099 RS-502 at 95db. All their others are 93db or less. I don't think I'm being picky, but with DD I like my speaker efficiencies matched. Its a shame that with all their efficient floorstanding models...especially the Heritage series...that they don't produce any highly efficient surrounds like the RS series anymore. A surround with 97-98db would be amazing.

JRH is right, Tangents were built to be sold at military PXs (Base Exchanges). I remember a Klipsch rep at the time telling me that they were specifically designed to "play real loud, and not break".

Here's some info on the original KG1. https://audiomods.datsunzgarage.us/kg1/

The top photo looks like it says 1989 to me. I worked for a Klipsch dealer and bought a pair of black Fortes new in 1988. When I got home I checked out the crossovers and found the same thing: one had yellow caps and the other blue. I remember I called the factory and nicely suggested they were getting rid of old crossovers this way. In any case they sent me a new yellow cap c'over and I sent the old back.

Here's my scam story: I sold a pair of Fortes on Ebay as local pickup a while back. The buyer lived a couple of hours away and paid with a Paypal Echeck which I found takes up to 6 days to clear. They wanted to come by the very next day to pick them up but it still showed as Pending in PP. They got all annoyed and acted hurt when I told them it had to clear first so I just canceled the transaction rather than deal with them. Not sure if its true but I was told later that Ebay/PP won't protect you on Local Pickup because they can't verify the product was picked up.

I have a Promedia 2.1 I bought in 2000 and the subwoofer recently went out. The well-known cause is due to the current flowing through two resistors on the subwoofer board which overheat and affect the solder joints (C16-17). Interestingly the schematic above shows 1000 ohm 2W resistors in these spots with a sidenote that 1W versions are used in early models. Mine came with 800 ohm 1W resistors (gray-blk-brn-gold) which measured about 910 ohms which is 15% out of spec. I'm going to replace them with 800 ohm 2W versions. If I sense any problems I'll upgrade them to 1K. Attached is a photo of my scorched board in the process of also rebuilding with new capacitors, showing the original resistors. A fun project.

I have a pair of the original KG1s in oak oil that I bought in the early '90s. I've always been intrigued by their styling as they share the same wood and badge/ grill styling as the Heritage series. I wanted to compare specs (drivers, etc) with the later models but realized that the KG1 has no spec sheet...the Klipsch page is pretty much blank. Web searches turn up nothing. What the history on it…does it share drivers with the KG2 or was it a “one-off” speaker?

Thought I would reply to my post after 6 years(!) I remember when I replaced my original midranges/tweeter diaphragms with new Klipsch diapgrams it really did clear up the sound...imaging was much clearer with a rock-solid open sound Left-Right. I also upgraded the mylar caps to Dayton 1% PP which have an open neutral tone instead of boutique brightness, North Creek air coil on the tweeter, generic bipolar on the woofer. I left the bass iron core and midrange transformer alone. They now sound way better than my stock Forte 2's which sound aggressive in comparison. BTW, When the Forte I was reviewed by Stereo Review back in its heyday, they said it had one of the flattest frequency responses they had ever measured. I think sticking with the factory diapragms and crossover values makes sense.

I have a pair of RS-35 surrounds I plan on wall mounting using the threaded post built into the rear. Does anyone know the thread/pitch size to fit this? I've seen the question asked several times on this forum but no answer, it's not mentioned anywhere in Klipsch' documentation. I really don't want to carry it into Home Depot to measure, does anyone know what size screw to use?

Thanks, I had a feeling the fat terminal was the + one. The Listening Salon is now opening for the day..... -Bryan

After owning a pair of series one Forte's since 1988, I just decided to replace the midrange horns (K-53-K ) diaphragms with new ones (one had a little corrosion on the windings). These were new diaphragms just purchased from Klipsch. My question: the old diaphragms ones had a yellow spot of paint on the + terminal, easy to spot. The new ones have no mark, line, paint, or any visible way to tell which terminal is + or -. Does anyone have any ideas on how to determine the polarity of a 'blank' diaphragm? They do measure at 11.9 ohms, identical to the stock ones, so Klipsch is at least winding them properly. -Bryan

I bought myself a RC-52 center channel over the holidays to replace the older KV-2 I used. It sounds great with effortless clarity and dynamics, with one odd problem: When the RC-52 gets within 5 inches of the top of my TV, it emits a low buzz out of its tweeter and woofers, even with the speaker wires disconnected. When I turn off the TV the buzz vanishes. It looks like my RC-52 is picking up RFI from my TV, which is an older 32" Sony XBR90. Has anyone else ever had similar problems with a center speaker before? Could it be a bad component in the crossover? I've never heard of a speaker being so sensitive to RFI that it could generate a hum with no speaker wire connected. -Bryan

I doubt I could swing the spouse on a 3rd Forte....but the Acadamy tip is just what I was looking for. Thanks.......... -Bryan

I have a set of 1988 Forte 1s as my front speakers and have been using a KV-2 center with them for the last 10 years...and want to upgrade it finally. Anyone have any opinons on matching Klipsch's Synergy/Reference centers to older Klipsch speakers? Is it even worth trying, or should I just pickup a C-3 and be done with it? Recommendations...? -Bryan

I have a KV-2 center channel which I bought new about 1996 which I'd like to update. Does anyone have a schematic of the crossover they could share? -Bryan Hamden Ct

A question about tweeter outout levels and what affects them....... I just replaced just the tweeter inductors, on my Forte 1's with some North Creek 14 gauge .16 hm inductors (very low .08 ohm but stock value). The sound is smoother and less grainy, but somehow less dynamic. My question: all things being equal, what effect does dropping the resistance of a tweeter inductor have on the response of the driver? Does a horn tweeter need a moderate amount of resistance to prevent ringing, etc. I know I can replace everything, but I'd like to keep the stock values...........Thanks anyone. -Bryan

Thanks for the tip, nice looking crososovers(!)...........which leads me to my next, very basic, question: Aside from the resulting clearer sound, will replacing the mylar capactitors with much lower ESR polyprops change the flat frequency response curve of the crossover itself.........? I'm sure some people don't like the stock curve, but I'd hate to throw the response all over the place. Thanks anyone......... -Bryan

I have a pair of black finish series one Fortes that I bought back in 1989 that are still being used as my main speakers. They sound so good I never messed with them, but after 17 years I've decided I want to finally upgrade the crossovers. I can't find anything in the archives about Forte crossovers, can some kind soul answer this question? -The capacitor values are easy, but does anyone know the mh values of the inductor coils in the crossover and which is which? Thanks anyone........