guitarman

Ahhhh, thought about putting a mini fridge by the sink but really there is not enough room for it. The "TV" signal is actually a DIY HTPC. I watch alot of movies that are on my server (next to me now at the other end of the house). I only use an antenna here at home. Haven't felt the need for cable or sat. Those pics were taken off the cuff, BTW from a cell phone. I'm gonna break down and take some better ones soon...... Thanks for the kind comments. I can point to every flaw in the room, but having it finally usable has been great (although it makes fixing those flaws more difficult!).

Haven't connected the turntable yet, but will soon.

Equipment rack in rear

Another

Thought I'd post a few pics taken last weekend. Still a work in progress...have to hang sound absorbers (have to cover the OC703 first), hang pics and generally finish up. Still need to put a curtain or door over the equipment closet. BTW, I calibrated the PJ yesterday. Waaaaaayy better PQ now. These were taken with the lights on obviously. Front LR - La Scala Center - KT LCR Front Wide - Forte II Front High - SS .5 Surround - RS 3 Surround Back - SS 1 Subs - 2 x DIY Dayton HF 12's

I still use my Onkyo 805 in the living room. When I was building my theater, I know I wanted 11.2 and the 4311 is the only game in town for that. At any rate, my opinion after hearing various Onkyos and Denons is that Denons are GENERALLY and SUBJECTIVELY smoother and less harsh TO ME. (Sometimes you have to emphasize stuff or people get the wrong idea). I love both of them, for for shear features, the 4311 is in a different ballpark (than the 805...I'm sure the 5008 shares similiar features with the 4311, I just don't know what they are first hand.) I can tell you this....XT32 and dual sub calibration makes all the difference in my theater.

Put a resistor inline with 120V? Or the power feed to the fan? I do have plently of 80mm computer fans laying around. Will investigate. Thanks.

Tell me more about this 50 ohm resistor. One of mine is near silent, but the other kinda makes a whirring noise. Been contemplating opening it up to investigate....

I'd recommend http://qscaudio.com/products/amps/gx/. I have two GX5s in my theater for subs. (Way too much power for Klipschs, IMO). Anyhow, powerful and clean with RCA/XLR inputs and the fan!

I've been using my W6000 for a few weeks now, and all I can say is Wow. With minimal calibration, it looks great. Very bright, so I'm using Econo lamp mode from 15' onto a 120" 1.1 gain screen. Too bright in Normal lamp mode. At any rate, PQ is better than both my 52" mits and 65" Tosh DLPs.

LOL. Guess I should explain.....I play guitar, and I've always associated bright sounding as a "British" sound. I think it has more to do with EL34 tubes (OK...valves!) compared to 6L6's of most "American" (guitar) amps. I do realize we were talking about (consumer) SS amps. It's just that I associate that brightness as being more British and less Americana. Sorry if that confused anyone.

Great thread! []

Agree with cubdog. One word....headroom.

The diaphrams and crossovers will definately smooth out the Forte's. Didn't see what amp you're using, but Adcoms, in my experience, are bright. IMO, what works best with Klipsch are powerful mellow sounding amps. If it doesn't have enough clean juice the bass will suffer. If it's too bright or brittle (British sounding to me), then the Klipschs' will exagerate it. These are just very generalities based on my own experience though. Bob has everything you need at his site. Super nice to deal with and you know you'll be getting a super product. Edit: I see ...a Fisher. Experiment with different amps if possible to see what happens with the bass and highs. Klipschs' really will reveal how different amps sound.

I'll be building one for my HT in a few weeks. I'll show you a picture of what I come up with if you show me yours.

Not familiar with that particular Denon. At any rate, start by betting all speakers to small and the crossover frequency at 80hz. Quintets are pretty small, so might even try 100hz. Then you'll need to run the test tone, usually pink noise, from the receiver and adjust each channel level. If you have a radio shack meter that would be best. My guess is you'll be doing it by ear. Just try to adjust the level of each speaker and the sub to the same level. It's all personal prefernce anyway. After you've done that, listen and adjust the levels to taste. Some like to bump up the sub and center a little. Some bump the surrounds. Again, your choice. Definately try to find a mic on ebay or something though.

I should point out that when I "tweaked" my Fortes (about 5 yrs ago?) I swapped the crossovers and tweeter diaphrams at the same time. I suppose this is going against all upgrade commandments. Nevertheless, the improvements were immediate and obvious. Was it 80% xover/20% diaphrams? 90%/10%? Who knows. Then, very recently, (a month ago?) I did the same thing to my new-to-me La Scalas, Xovers and CT125s at the same time. Of course, with this one, I had to change at the same time as I went with the 4500 xovers. At any rate, there was an immediate difference. I say difference because at first I thought the highs had been muted somewhat. Now after weeks of listening, I really believe now the tweeters don't draw attention to themselves like originally. Like everything is more even now, instead of saying, "wow, listen to those tweeters" like it was with the originals. None of this was necessary, I totally agree. But it sure was (and is) fun!

The titanium diaphrams from Bob really improved the HF on my Forte IIs. Haven't messed with the midrange other than putting the sound dampener material on it. (To which Bob's son Michael said something to the effect of " that's useless unless it was rattling")

I'll definitely second the QSC GX series. GX3, GX5 and now they have the GX7 I think. Bang for buck. Yep. Fairly quiet (have internal fan). Has RCA inputs so you don't need to mess with adapters and such. I have an RMX 2450 that I have used on my dual 12" subs, but it was really overkill. A GX5 will push them hard enough. Which is me trying to say no reason to spend the bucks on the RMX series when for home use, the GX series is plenty.

Sorry about the same pic twice.....

Trying to post a few more pics but having difficulty. Maybe pics are too large. That setup is temporary, so I am exempted from the WAF at the moment. She wants the theater done as much as I do! I think what I wanted to say to the OP is why choose? Keep them both.

Another one....didn't even realize they were the same height until I put the original stands on the Fortes and put them side by side.

I think I am uniquely qualified to answer this question. I bought my Forte IIs new in about ’91 or ’92. They have been my pride and joy. About 3 or 4 years ago I updated them with Bob’s crossovers and tweeter diaphragms. Major improvement. I am currently building a home theater and was looking for something that would really let the 11.2 speaker setup rock. I already have SS.5 and SS1 surround speakers but needed something for the wides and heights for an Audyessy DSX config. About a month ago I found these La Scalas on Craigslist and decided I could use the Fortes as wides and the La Scalas as mains. Easy score. Listened for a few days and ordered Bob’s crossovers (4500) and C125s. Major improvement again. (At first I was like, where did the highs go….then my ears adjusted to the new fffffff instead of sssssss as ALK noted). Now to the OP…they really are different speakers. While the Forte’s are like my first child, the La Scalas take that to a whole new level. And really, for me, it is the midrange that is so revealing. The photos are me testing everything in the living room for the theater room. Primarily I’m trying to get the config with the rack squared away and making sure everything is doing what I want. Then (when the room is finished in a month or so) I’ll just roll the rack into the equipment closet in the theater and turn her on.

Score of the year. Very sweet.

I have the 4311 and can certainly vouch for it. XT32 and dual sub calibration. 11.2 channels at once. Can't speak to the others. The 4311 replaced an Onkyo 805 which I still have and is still perfect. Doing living room duty now. At any rate, I got a refurb 4311 and haven't had any issues with it. By all accounts, like a new unit. I am running outboard amps because I can, but the internal amps can certainly drive my Forte II's and La Scalas to ear shattering levels.