guitarman

That's what I was thinking. Disconnected the coax from the cable box that was running next to the cabinets and it stopped. Very interesting.

How is this happening? They've been disonnected for about 12 hours. They are emmitting a faint buzzing from the tweets and squaker. Wow. Have Crites crossovers.....capacitors still discharging? Flourescent lights? Never experienced (noticed) this before.

My Forte II's definately can do both with ease. As for the AVR, done the whole separates thing......if I want to go "purist" (which is rare), I can switch the Onkyo to Pure Audio. Almost like putting the CD player directly to the input of the amplifier. But most of the time I opt for THX Music Mode or Dolby PLxII Music which rocks pretty good.

I'll chime in and say my Onkyo 805 and my Klipsch Forte IIs w/Crites crossovers play very nicely together. Not bright at all in my opinion, but it's all about what you're used to. When I first got the 805 (about a year ago) it was brighter than my Pioneer. Now, I think the Pioneer was just "dull". LOL! Go figure.....

Here's my Crites Forte II networks. Stunning difference from the originals. Not sure if the photo went up or not......

My own assessment is that the RS-3's are a major step up. Of course, that is like saying a Ferrari is a "step up" from a Kia. At any rate, I'm extremely satisfied and they blend very well with my fronts and center. I just ordered some SS.5's off EBay for the rear. I could be off base, but I'm looking at them like "mini" RS-3s. Probably not accurate, but the specs are close. Crossover of RS-3 is 2100hz and SS.5 is 2200hz. Should be a fairly close timbre match. And, I think there is a certain "rightness" to having the rear surrounds looking like miniture versions of the side surrounds....not sure why that is, but it just feels right. I'll try to give an update when the SS.5s arrive and are integrated. (I have to run the Audyssey setup again?.....darn!) BTW, before I ran Audyssey calibration (on my 805), the RS-3's were bright (as the calibration was for the previous 4" fullrange surrounds). I also had to raise the level by at least 4db from the old speakers (I thought they would have been more efficient...wait, I think the cheap Pioneers are 4 ohms....). After the calibration (which takes about 40 mins for 8 positions) they blended perfectly.

Just scored a pair of RS-3s off Craiglist for $100 for the pair in black. Now I'm looking for the same or similiar to replace my el cheapo rear surrounds. Wish they were in Walnut to match my Forte IIs and KT-LCR (center...scored from this forum!), but you can't have everything. I've slowly put this system together on a budget and tink I've done pretty well so far. Is $100 a good price for a pair of RS-3s? (I think I got a great deal, just looking for thoughts) Anybody tried to apply veneer to these? (The edges would be a pain!) Not that it's a big deal, but the webisite (Klipsch) says they are 61Hz-20kHz±3dB, but the manual (which I downloaded) say 49hz-20khz. Wonder why the discrepancy? I tend to believe the 61Hz figure more than the latter, based on its size, etc. Would anything currently available work for rear surrounds, or will I have to keep searching Craigslist and EBay? Thanks

I have yet to see any BEC crossover that doesn't look neat, professional and top notch. Now, where's the bubinga and chrome plated choke brackets?[]

I don't know anything about the RF-35s, but as far as the surrounds go, it's the perfect setup. I'd use the RSs on the sides and the RBs on the back wall. The RBs are a little large though, so not sure how that's going to work with the WAF. http://www.thx.com/home/setup/speakers/71.html

Great discussion. I have the BEC crossovers for my Forte IIs (and the titanium tweeters). Bob's crossovers are also brand new, BTW, and they certainly look very nice (to me at least)...not that you can see them in the speaker cabinet, but at least YOU know they look and feel like...quality. And, most important, they sound incredible (or should I say they don't sound at all...?) I would love to see some independent measurements of these two crossovers (BEC/Kstack). Measurements would not tell us how they sound, but could give a comparison of the two. Then of course, install them in a pair of identical speakers and subjectively compare them. Surely this is not so difficult for the vast resources here.

Earlier this week I ordered a set of Bob Crites' crossovers with his connection wiring and titanium diaphragms for my cherished Forte II's. Thought I'd give some insight on what I learned. Bob is a super nice guy. Helped me all the way through the process, even during installation. Prior to this, my Forte's were working fine, except one tweeter would rattle from the vibration caused by the subwoofer under the Fortes. Left speaker and sub: Right speaker and sub: Keen eyes will notice no drivers in the subwoofers....these were taken a few weeks ago during the buildup. See below for more on the subs. So I knew the rattling tweeter had to be fixed anyway, and I was curious as to what was causing the rattling. I had no expectations for these upgrades except to allow my Fortes to give me all they had. I am not dissappointed. First, I removed the grill, laid each one down flat on its face and removed the radiator. No sticky glue here, just a thin peice of rubber. The radiator came up without a problem. Then I removed the speaker wires noting where each one had been (ie. where the black wires were in relation to the drivers' terminals). I removed the jackplate with attached crossover. I got and old block of wood and mounted both crossovers to it for safe keeping. Finally, I removed the two pieces of foam in the cabinets which were just wedged in with no glue (to my delight). These are there presumably to reduce resonance. Here's the first factory crossover with one of Bob's about to go in: I made it a point to ask Bob how he thought I should mount these. He recommended I do as a former customer did and use velcro. Well, I had access to some industrial strength velcro that has a super sticky backside like a rubbery asphalt. Perfect. The crossovers came with little felt pads stuck in each corner, which was a nice touch, but had to be removed for the velcro to work as intended. Here's the velcro "fuzz" half attached to the first crossover: Before putting these in, I thought about using some silicon to seal up the cabinets' corners, as there were small seams present. Whether or not these leak air I don't know. Anyhow, I thought against it and left them as they were: I then sat the cabinets upright for easier access. After sticking the other half of the velcro to the bottom of the cabinet (oh, I had to remove a factory inspection sticker on the bottom of each cabinet and scrape away some of the glue for a flat surface), I attached the crossovers to the cabinets. Now it was time to replace the diaphragms with Bob's titanium versions. Sure enough, when I removed the tweeter from the left cabinet, the magnet (driver?) was loose on the horn. Replacing the diaphragms went off without a hitch, except for two things; I had to slightly enlarge the holes for the little locating tabs on the diaphragms for the diaphragms to sit flush against the drivers. Additionally, behind ONE original diaphragm was a small piece of what looked like cotton. I emailed Bob and asked him about this and he said it was not needed with the new diaphragms. BTW, the tweeter that was loose on the horn did not have the "padding" (as Bob calls it). Maybe this one was worked on at some point in the past (I've had them since new though....)?? I left the padding out of each diaphragm and tightened them to the horns real good. Here's the new and old diaphragms: After reinstalling each tweeter, I set about hooking up the crossovers to the drivers. Well, I got confused and had to email Bob again regarding the positive and negative wires for the tweeters. Like a true trooper, Bob was right there and told me that the reverse phase on the tweeter was already done in the crossover. So I hooked up the red wire to the positive and the black to the negative on all the drivers. I installed new binding posts (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=091-1250) on the plates (the factory ones were already stripped and appeared a little cheesy) for a solid connection. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bob had included spade lugs on his wiring for the binding posts. The speaker wires Bob included were also of much higher quality than the factory wires. I would guess factory wires to be 14-16awg and Bob's 12. Not sure though. I changed out the little plastic wire holder attached to the sides of the cabinets with ones that fully captured the wires for piece of mind. I stuck the factory foam back in the original positions as best I could, keeing it from physically touching each of the drivers. Finally, I reinstalled the radiators. DONE! Listening I first tried some jazz using "Pure Audio" mode on my AVR. Very nice. Subjectively, the sound was more forward. More in the room. I made a cursory check to insure all drivers were functioning (they were) and decided I had had enough of jazz. I grabbed my Montrose Greatest Hits and rocked out to "Space Station Number 5". Now we're talkin'! In "Pure Audio" mode, my Onkyo bypasses all processing, including the subwoofers, which normally handle everything below 80hz, sending the full range to the main speakers. Wow! I've never heard bass like this from these Klipsch's! I'm lovin' it! I will of course have to run Audyssey MultiXT EQ calibration again (this weekend) to see if there are any minute changes that it makes for the theater sound. Otherwise, I'm completely happy! Quickly, I jumped on another thread (in the Technical Questions forum) regarding "Matching Speakers" to see if anyone had any ideas about how I could better match my Tangent Theater (center speaker) to my Klipschs. Apparently, I broke some forum "edict" and the OP didn't like it. I didn't feel the question was worthy of its own thread. At any rate, I'm looking for any ideas anyone has about changes I can make (tweeter replacement, crossover freq changes, etc.) for the Tangent. My subwoofer build-up can be seen here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10781545&post10781545). Finally, I want to thank Bob for his help and say that he has come up with a remarkable product. I realize I couldn't sell the Fortes for what I've got into them, but that's not the point. These speakers are a part of my adult life. Any impressions of music I hear is based on the character of these speakers and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh yeah, I'm using Audyssey MultiXT EQ at the moment and it does a pretty good job of blending everything (timbre matching) and prior to getting my new reciever I was using outboard EQs on the center and surrounds. I still run test using Room EQ Wizard to check the response and have found that as long as the peaks and valleys are the same for various speakers, pink noise will sound similiar from one speaker to the next. I'm just a tweaker and wanted to take some of the electronics out of the equation and let the speakers do most of the work without so much processing........

Well, I just got the crossovers from Bob. Wow, they are really nice! Thanks Bob. Very high quality. So now I've got something to do this weekend........

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd jump in on this with a question of my own. I have Forte II for my mains and a Tangent Theater for my center. Is there anything I can do to the Theater to help it match the Forte's? BTW, I do have Bob Crites building some new crossovers for the Forte's. (You are building them right, Bob?[]) Also ordered the new titanium diaphragms. So I'm guessing the sound of the Forte's will change slightly. This does mean I'll have two (albiet 3-way) original crossovers on hand (parts?) and two original tweeter diaphragms. No, I don't want to replace the Tangent with an Acedemy (too expensive) or anything else. I'm thinking along the lines of changing the crossover frequency to better match the Forte's and/or replacing the tweeter with the one from the Forte (I will need a horn.....where can I find one that will mount the old diaphragm?...and I don't mind cutting...). Is this exercise even worth the time? If it becomes to involved/expensive, I'll just live with what I have.....Thanks for the help.... FORTE II specs frequency response 32Hz-20kHz±3dB power handling 100 watts maximum continuous (500 watts peak) sensitivity 99dB @ 1watt/1meter maximum acoustic output 119dB SPL max acoustic output 119dB SPL nominal impedance 8 ohms crossover frequency HF 7,000 Hz LF 650 Hz tweeter K-75-K 1" (2.54cm) Polymer diaphragm compression driver high frequency horn 90°x40° Exponential Horn midrange K-61-K 1.5" (3.81cm) Phenolic diaphragm compression driver mid frequency horn 90°x40° Tractrix® Horn woofer K-25-K 12" (30.48cm) Fiber-composite cone active / KD-15 15" (38.1cm) Fiber-composite cone passive enclosure material Medium density fiberboard construction (MDF) enclosure type Bass reflex via passive radiator dimensions 35.4" (89.92cm) x 16.5" (41.9cm) x 12.25" (31.1cm) weight 67 lbs. (30.42kg) finishes Walnut Oil, Oak Oil, Oak Clear, Finished Black built from 1989 built until 1996 TANGENT THEATER specs frequency response 45Hz-20kHz±3dB power handling 75 watts maximum continuous (375 watts peak) sensitivity 95dB @ 1watt/1meter nominal impedance 8 ohms tweeter K-87-KV 1" (2.54cm) Polymer dome high frequency horn Dhorm woofer Two K-1014-KV 6.5" (16.51cm) Poly cones enclosure material Medium density fiberboard construction (MDF) enclosure type Bass reflex via rear-mounted port dimensions 23.1" (58.7cm) x 10.9" (27.7cm) x 9.6" (24.4cm) weight 28 lbs. (12.7kg) finishes Matte-finish Black vinyl built from 1993 built until 1994

Thank you both very much. Chris, I have sent you an email.

I am interested in building new crossovers and replacing the originals. Thank you.