jhawk92

Tony- That would be much appreciated. I'd hate to make the trip and miss out on a tour or a meeting with Mr. Paul just to catch a flight back home! Thanks for all the hard work! Rob

Brian- Wanted to let you know, I hooked up the Academy and it sounds great. Thanks for all the patience on the deal. The speaker has found a good home! Rob Yahoo...post #300!!

Carol- You have PM...I think we can work something out. Rob

Tony- Ok, sounds good. I'm holding off on purchasing a ticket but will need to soon to keep a decent fare. Do you have any idea on what "other possible activites" will be? Thanks.

Steve- Thanks for the specs. Yeah, wish I could get the brochure, but I'll keep an eye out. I did get it; speaker was in very good shape, no box, but $325 was a fair price. Correct, no feet, but I found a TV shelf at a store that has adjustable feet so I can fit the speaker on the TV and still angle it correctly to the listening position. Shape- I've already done some preliminary listening, just unplugging the KV-4 and dropping in the Academy. Oh yeah, good stuff. Even running 3dB less (99dBW vs 96dBW KV-4 vs Academy), I could tell a difference between the two. I am so glad I made the jump and found one local. Tonight I'll break out the RS sound meter and get it at the right levels, then pop in some good DVDs and really enjoy. I'll post some thoughts to the board within the next few days. I now have 3 speakers in my possession that I will NEVER sell; Forte IIs and Academy. Center channel tweaking is now finalized and will remain an Academy. Now just gotta keep an eye out for a second pair of Fortes for the surrounds for 5.1 music.

As a "new" Academy owner, I'll throw my 0.02 in. Yes, eBay seems to inflate the prices of the Academy. Recently however, prices have been more reasonable. I picked mine up this weekend after discussions with the buyer and we avoided eBay. Cost: $325 which was good, as the speaker was in very good condition. That said, I have done some preliminary comparisons between the Academy and the KV-4 it is replacing. I can certainly tell a difference between the two from a timbre perspective. Much more seamless across the front with the Academy and my Forte IIs than with the KV-4. Nothing against the KV-4, it's a great speaker, but the Academy is quite impressive, an upgrade I am happy to have made. The KV-4 was to be matched with the Epic series, the KV-3 with the KG series, and Academy to Cornwall/Chorus/Forte/Quartet. I would certainly agree with that assessment. Farmer- Since you have the Forte's, I'd certainly keep your eyes open for one, but certainly not pay more that $350-400 unless it is in MINT condition. I haven't heard the C7, but I'll stick with the Academy. If you can find one at a good price, jump on it!

Boa- I'll take any displaced Big 12 fans I can to root the 'hawks on! It's been a tough year for some of the better teams around, ISU, NC, Kentucky. Hope our good play continues for about another month! Steve- Thanks for the info. I guess I'll need to go find the Academy specs, or maybe even a brochure. Sorry to hear about your missing "family." I'm looking forward to maybe adopting a new center tomorrow!

aab- I am looking at flying into Little Rock...are you still driving through and willing to pick up a Hope Pilgrim? Shoot me a PM for flight info. Rob

Cluless- I may have a KV-3 for you if you are interested. It is under negotiation right now, but if it doesn't go through, I'd be happy to let it go to someone on the boards. Doug is correct, the KV-3 was made for the KG series. It served me well with my Forte IIs for nearly 8 years before I upgraded. Rob

Interesting. So basically the components in the Academy are more closely matched with those in Forte, et al? I am excited about seeing/hearing it. Might actually have it at home this weekend. Anyone else care to "horn" in? Sorry about the drubbing of your 'Clones earlier this week. But I have to say, it's nice for the 'Hawks to actually win a game while ranked #1!! On to the tourney! P.S. Does the Academy have "feet" like the KV-4 which allow you to tilt the speaker to fire towards the listening position? This message has been edited by jhawk92 on 02-22-2002 at 10:09 AM

Ok, I need some advice from all you HT experts out there. I have a line on an Academy that I'll be checking out this weekend. I keep hearing great praises about this speaker. I have a pair of Forte IIs as my mains, and my original center channel was a KV-3, which I thought did a good job, but, according to the Products section, was really made to match with the KG series of speakers. About a year ago, I upgraded to the KV-4 and could tell a slight difference between the -3 and the -4. I understand that the -4 was made to match the Epic series, CF-1 through CF-4. Now the Academy was made to match the Cornwall/Chorus/Forte/Quartet, so on that alone, it should be a fantastic speaker. However, my question stems from the difference in sensitivity between the -4 and the Academy. If memory serves, the -4 has a 99dB sensitivity rating and the Academy is at 96dB. My Forte IIs are also at 99dB, so by that number alone, I would think the KV-4 would be more seamless across the front trio. Is the Academy better because the horns were made to match the Forte, et al, and so is a better speaker? Will I be able to tell a difference between the two? Here is a chance for all the Academy/Forte (Chorus/Cornwall) owners to sound off. Any other info you can pass along would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Kain- Rented it about a month ago. Good flick. Pretty good HT experience and a good story line. Worth a rent, but, at least to me, not to buy.

Tony- That would be great. Airfare from CT isn't too bad, so if there is the potential for planned activites on Saturday, I'd make reservations to leave Sunday morning. If not, I'd head for home on Saturday. I got the "rolled eyes" look from my wife when I told her about the potential trip. Oh well, something I like and she isn't as big a fan. Thanks for your help on this. Rob

Thanks for the words of wisdom guys. I'll let you know how things turn out.

Dave- Let's hope the second try works... Rob

Dave- You have PM...

Chuck- Yeah, I saw that one almost as soon as it came up, and was amazed they didn't mention Academy by name. Thanks for your bit of intel on the seller; I have asked some more questions on the condition, so I'll keep that one in mind. However, current bid is pretty reasonable. We'll see. Rob

You both have PM... Rob

gamer- I have the 4800/5200 pair as well. I initially had the 4800 powering my Forte IIs and they sounded great. Then I got the 5200 to allow me to run 7.1 and I tried hooking the Fortes to see if there was any difference. Truthfully, I really can't tell, so I have left them set up that way, rather than have to pull out all the wires and re-do. However, I remember reading on a post here a LOOONG while ago that said the 5200 had slightly higher max wattage than the 4800 even though it is only rated to 120W vs 125W for the 4800. "Golden ears" may be able to tell a difference since the 5200 doesn't have all the extra equipment the 4800 does, but I'm a happy camper.

MBM- Welcome to the Forte II club. I certainly love my OO pair as well. I have mine slightly toed in as well. They are about 7-8' on either side of my TV my prime listening position is about 11' from the TV, and I have them pointing at or just in front of that position, so if you break out your trig book, you can figure out the angle. I did try them facing straight and like the toe-in better. I suppose I could play around with the angle; maybe a better one than I have now. Just haven't had the time to play. As Mike Lindsay or Doug Drake mentioned in an earlier post, we Forte/Chorus owners are a proud group and don't think these speakers get enough respect, not meaning to offend any Heritage owners. I would agree that the 3-way design of the Forte is better than the KG-4, but those are certainly nice speakers as well. And, yes, the center image is incredible. Enjoy!

Tony- Great news. For planning purposes, will there be activites on the following day? Wouldn't want to miss out on a factory tour or a Jubilee demo just to catch a flight home. Rob

bthom70- You have mail. Hope we can connect. jhawk

Colin- We'll probably never get that lucky, but then who would have thought there would have been two OO Academy's on the web...

Ohhh yeah! What a great opportunity; wish Paul a happy B-day and get a copy of his book, signed by the audio God himself! Please keep us informed about a date, as I'd certainly like to make the 2nd Klipsch tour. Tony- I envy you, living so close and getting all the good scoops! Oh well, I'll have to live vacariously through you, and keep working so I can support my Klipsch addiction. This message has been edited by jhawk92 on 02-12-2002 at 12:49 AM

Colin- If we ever see a similar situation, but this time with black Academy's, let's keep each other in mind!! Rob