erdric

Racedog, Keep the Forte II's and get bucking magnets from Klipsch. I had to get a pair for my Forte II's and it solved the problem. IIRC, they they cost around $25 each. It's really easy and very effective. Good luck.

You should definitely keep the Kg-3's and build around them. They're a great speaker and even if you eventually move them to another position in the theater you'll still be happy to have them. I'll give you my HT story because you're starting out exactly where I did. Sorry to ramble... I had a 2 channel system with Kg-3's that I wanted to turn into a home theater. I kept the Kg-3's and picked up the SC-1 center channel and SS-1 surrounds. These are the speakers Klipsch currently makes that are supposed to match the Kg's. This gave me a pretty good system and I was very happy. Shortly after that I was able to pick up a pair of Kg-4's for $150. After consulting some people here I decided to give the Kg-4's a shot as main speakers and move the Kg-3's to the rear surround position. Holee **** was that an improvement. The Kg-3's were great as mains but the Kg-4's were a lot better. Much fuller and more powerful. The Kg-3's were fantastic as rears, BTW. The last change I made to that system was to pick up a used KV-3 center channel, which is a much better match with the Kg series. Now, after a move to a new house and a serious case of upgraditis I have a pair of oiled oak Forte II's for mains and an oiled oak Academy to match. The new room necessitated going back to wall mounted speakers so I have a pair of RS-3's. Throw in an SVS 20-39PCi sub and I've got what I think is an amazing speaker setup. The Kg-4's are in my 2 channel studio setup and the Kg-3's are part of my fathers HT setup (Kg-3's all around with a KV-3). So, I can safely say after all of my experience with the Kg's that you can build a killer system with them. I only upgraded as far as I did because I can't stop myself You will be very happy with a Kg based system. I would recommend getting the proper match for the center, though. Buying used was something I was unsure about but it's definitely the way to go. The newer Klipsch line just doesn't stand up to the older stuff, IMO.

I knew I paid too much for my OO Academy at $490 but I had a little extra cash at the time and I was fed up with losing auctions. That said, $500 was my limit no matter what. Anything over that is just ridiculous.

I use mostly Monster Cable except for component from the DVD player and video from my laserdisc player. DVD player: MC lightspeed 100 optical Acoustic Research composite audio Custom made Canare component video from Vince Maskeeper at HTF. He does amazing custom cables for half the cost of the MC version. I just got them from him and you wouldn't believe the quality. If you ever need high quality custom cable for a great price check out this website: http://cables.musicianassist.com He does batch orders so you can't just order and expect immediate delivery. It's very much worth the wait though. I can't recommend them highly enough. I'll post some pictures when I get home. He does all types of cables, speaker wire, and digital interconnects. Laserdisc player: MC Interlink 300 Mk II audio interconnects MC Interlink Digital IDL-100 coaxial audio Custom Canare composite video from Vince Subwoofer: MC Interlink 201 SW Speakers: 12ga Cambridge Soundworks wire

>>I've spent 100's of hours with my SPL meter checking out different sub locations and the frequency response<< Damn, you've got to get out more often! j/k BTW, I've got an SVS 20-39PCi and absolutely love it. You can't go wrong with SVS.

>>SVS are NOT overpriced. End of story.<< Truer words could not be said.

>>What do others think of the KV-4 with the Forte's?<< jhawk is probably going to show up to answer this but just in case he doesn't I'll give a summation previous comments. jhawk thought the KV-4 was a bit too bright for his Forte II's and prefered his KV-3 until he picked up an Academy. Sorry for putting words in your mouth, jhawk!

I have to agree with Doug. I have a pair of Kg-4's in my studio system. They were in my HT until I replaced them with some Forte II's. I used a KV-3 with the Kg-4's and I believe it is a perfect match for them. The combination created a seamless, and I do mean seamless, front soundstage. I sincerely believe a KV-3 is what you want. I've just replaced my KV-3 with an Academy but I'm not selling it at the moment so I can't help you out.

Well, there is a range that the Academy usually sells in. The low end is +/- $350 and the high end is +/- $550. I've even seen one sell for $600. Now, from what I've read in my time here most consider anything over $500 to be very high. I just won an Ebay auction for an OO Academy for $490. The only reason I went so high was desperation. I had lost a few auctions because I bid a much more reasonable amount in the area of $350-400. The OO matches my Forte II's so I felt this was the auction to go overboard on. So what does all of that mean? I guess it means demand at the time you sell them will determine what price you get. The Ebay prices go in cycles. For a while a handful of Academy CC's went for $300-400. The last two have gone for $560 and $490 (mine). If you sell them on a non-auction site (Audiogon, Audioweb, Audioshopper), I would expect to see a price set in the $300-400 range to sell pretty quickly. Having a somewhat more rare finish (OO and black are the most common) can work for or against you. If my Forte II's were in Walnut and I saw your speakers for sale/auction I would go higher in price because it's not as common. Finally, if you sell them to another member on the Klipsch BB by posting a 'for sale' thread, there is an unwritten rule here that we try to take care of each other WRT price. I'm not saying people take a big loss to make another persons day. I'm saying we tend to sell for a bit less than we might get on Ebay. There are certain members here that have helped me out numerous times. If I sold anything to them I would ask a very reasonable price as a way of saying thanks for that help. If I had to sell my Academy in the future I would put it up on this site first at a price of around $350-400, despite the fact I paid $490. Others here have taken care of me, I'll do the same in the future.

>>Powered by a JVC? LOL<< Yeah, the elitest bastard in me laughed at that being in the best category. However, I think being the enthusiasts that we are skews our thoughts on what is considered best. Relative to Krell and Lexicon it's a joke but in the real world where a lot of people live a $1,700 receiver is pretty damn good. Sorry, I really didn't mean to get on a soapbox there.

Wow, it's been so long since I've drafted by hand that I forgot about this product. It's called Trace Clean, at least that's the name Charrette uses. The Charrette product number is 273120. Go to www.charrette.com and search under drafting supplies. If you have a Pearl Art store in your area you can get it there. It costs a couple bucks.

>>My edit...OMG, look how close our replies are Jim!! Maybe we should be bidding on eBay! Oh, yeah, you already did. LOL.<< No kidding! As for the original question, I'm in agreement with Doug. You should either go with an Infinity center or Klipsch mains. The timbre will not be right and having a correct timbre match across the front array is critical.

What do you have for main speakers?

Well, the OO Academy showed up today and it's beautiful. It's a little bit lighter than my Forte II's but a very close match. Luckily, it really needs to be oiled so that should darken it up a bit. Oh yeah, it sounds awesome!

mmiles, I did this dance for some time. In the end there were just too many positives to having separates. Higher quality power, the ability to get an amp that you like and keep it forever, flexibility, etc. Depending on what you get separates can be cheaper than going with a top-of-the-line receiver. I'm going with Rotel if I ever stop buying used Klipsch

>>I'm no electrical engineer (just a lowly architect)<< Wow, another lowly architect here!

Finally, SUCCESS!! I got the OO Academy off of Ebay. $490 is a bit high but well worth it to me. It shipped today so I should have it by Friday or possibly next Monday. Damn, this feels gooooood!

Michael, If you go the UPS route be sure to do a little research online concerning affect on sound. I've read so-so reviews about UPS in audio systems. I'm not trying to discourage you from using one, just make sure you know what to expect. I'm glad you're looking at non-MOV systems, BTW. It's the best way to go IMO.

Tripod, I know you don't know me but please trust every word I type: Get some Forte or Forte II's. I got some a couple months ago and I am consistently stunned by how good they sound. My KG-4's are good but they aren't in the same league as my Forte II's. If I ever get my hands on an Academy my next speaker upgrade will be another pair of Forte II's for my 2 channel system.

Klipschfanatic, Where do you have the Power Plant in your room? My understanding is that the Plant puts off a lot of heat. Is that true? I'd love to get one of those but I just don't think I could convince myself I need one at that cost. Congrats, I've heard nothing but great things about the Plant. My post above wasn't anti-PS Audio, BTW. Great products but pretty expensive, IMO.

Oops, I forgot about PS Audio. Very nice stuff at a big price. The Ultimate Outlet is basically an outlet with a Balun inside. A Balun is PS Audio's solution to a non-MOV system. You can get a 20amp High Current Ultimate Outlet (2 plugs) for $400 and add a Juice Bar (another PS product) for only $200 more. A Juice Bar is nothing more than a fancy power strip. PS Audio...not for the light of wallet. >>My biggest fear is when the incoming voltage from the wall becomes so low that even a voltage regulating typr unit can't keep everything turned on. It would be like pulling the power cord out of the wall while playing your favorite CD<< A number of the new Panamax models come with Surge-Gate circuitry that disconnects the suppressor when there is a long over-voltage or under-voltage. It re-engages the suppressor when the voltage comes back within safe operating range.

I'll preface this by saying that your personal level of paranoia will factor into the decision to spend a little or a lot. I've been doing a fair amount of research on this topic because my area has reasonably poor power and we experience power problems during the summer. There are two ways you can go WRT surge suppression and power conditioning. You can go with either an MOV based system or a series-mode based system. There is a huge difference between the two. MOV is a sacrificial technology. The supressor degrades with each surge. This degradation can happen over years or all at once (catastrophic failure). It will protect your equipment but you'll have to replace it when it fails. There are some pretty good companies that use MOV based systems, the big two that I know of are Panamax and Monster Cable. There's nothing wrong with MOV per se but you should know that if you have really bad power or live in an area with lots of lightning you may end up replacing it over and over. I'm not sure how the warranty is WRT replacement. The other technology is series-mode. There are two important things to know. The first is it will NOT fail. It uses a non-sacrificial system that shunts the power through a series of gates (IIRC) and dissipates the surge slowly. This is not inconsequential and leads me to the second thing to remember. Series-mode does not shunt the surge back into the ground of the outlet in the wall. This avoids creating a condition called Ground Skew. From the Panamax website: ---------------- Q. What is ground skew? A. The following is an excerpt from PC Magazine, September 29, 1992. "Equipment plugged into separate outlets and connected with communications lines faces a threat not encountered by stand alone devices. This threat results from GROUND SKEW - a condition in which points along a building's safety ground develop different electrical potentials. Computer equipment uses ground as a voltage reference for internal circuitry, so if ground potential rises, so do all voltages within the machine. Ground voltage sometimes rises at one machine on a network, but not at another plugged into a different outlet. This ground skew can create a significant difference in potential from one end of the data line to the other. As a result, a powerful current may travel through the data line, damaging equipment at the lower voltage end. Ground skew can come from a lightning hit outside a building or from surge suppressors or other electrical equipment dumping part of a spike's energy to ground. Surge suppressors with the appropriate connections can, however, help prevent the harmful effects that can result from ground skew, because they block the spike on the data line before it hits the equipment." Any electrical equipment that is referencing two different outlets can be effected by "ground skew", such as a stereo system plugged into a MAX® 1000+ on one side of the room and a powered sub-woofer plugged into a MAX® 2 on the other side. This is due to the large difference in electrical potential between the two outlets that can occur as a result of a surge. Please call Panamax customer service to make sure that you are free from the threat of ground skew. ---------------- Ground Skew may or may not be a big deal to you. As I said, level of paranoia is a factor. The big company using Series-mode technology is pricewheeler, otherwise known as Brickwall. The technology is licensed to a couple of companies that I know of, ZeroSurge and Adcom. There are probably more but I'm not aware of them. So, once you decided how paranoid you are about protecting your equipment you'll know what technology to go for. My recommendations: If you go MOV then I'd highly recommend Panamax. They're cheaper than Monster Cable and they have a lot of options. There are also some who believe the Monster Cable reduces the dynamics of sound in your system. Some say that's a lot of crap and swear by MC. Every system is different, not to mention everyones perception of sound. Go to www.discountpanamax.com for lots of info and good prices. If you go with Series-mode then I highly recommend Brickwall. This is what I'm getting. Check them out at www.pricewheeler.com The Adcom unit has a few more features but I've read a fair number of reviews suggesting it negatively affects the sound of your system more than others. My system is going to have the Brickwall at the outlet and a Panamax 5300 downstream to handle sequential power up/down. I'm paranoid I'm not familiar with Tripp-Lite but I've heard some good things about them. Sorry to be long winded. This is all from memory so hopefully I didn't make any mistakes.

Bitterness ensues.... That black Academy went for $560! I thought for sure my bid for $481 would have been enough. This is the third Academy I've lost out on and I'm sick of it. You others shouldn't bother bidding on the OO Academy, you don't have enough money. Update: Sore loser mode off...maybe you others DO have enough money I still can't believe it went for $560. I paid $750 for my Forte II's for crying out loud.

I've seen one or two but they don't come around too often. I think the most common are black and OO. I think captnfixr auctioned a refinished walnut recently, at least I think it was walnut.

Will it end? I think it's different for each person. I'm done upgrading certain parts of my system, the sub (SVS 20-39PCi) and the mains (Forte II) to be specific. I've listened to the Chorus II and they're amazing but I find the Forte II's to be everything I need (really). From everything I've read most people consider them to be one of the best speakers Klipsch ever made. How can you go wrong with that? I plan on getting another pair for rear surrounds. Throw an Academy in the center and another at the rear center and I'm done upgrading my HT speakers. I may get some Belles or Khorns some day but it will be for a 2 channel system. Receivers, separates, source components, TV...I find it hard to keep those for more than a couple of years. Technology changes so fast and I want to stay as current as my bank account will let me.