fwphoto

I have an original spec. ST-70 that blew a fuse this morning for the first time in maybe a year or two. It blew when I wasn't listening. On weekends I often fire up the stereo on Friday night & leave it on 'till Sunday night when I'm through listening for the weekend. When I found it, I turned everything off & replaced it with a spare. When I turned it back on, tubes got bright fast, there was an audible humm, and the second fuse blew right away. I thought it'd be worth a shot to post something here before I blow another fuse or two. Any thoughts where to start? Frank W.

Got to agree with pretty much everything rhing posted. I replaced the tweeter diaphrams in my Forte IIs with Crites titaniums & am pleased with their smooth & extended response. At some point I'll probably replace the standard x-overs with Crites replacements or rebuilds. I originally powered mine with a "vintage" Marantz 1152DC integrated (my avatar) and was pleased. However, I wasn't long on this forum before I got the bug & opportunity to try out some tubes. I now run a "restored" & partly retubed Dynaco ST-70 amp & PAS-3 preamp & am continually blown away by the difference between them & the Marantz. Way more detailed with a huge soundstage for starters. Positioning Fortes, as others have noted, is critical for maximum sound quality. I spent a very pleasant afternoon playing music & adjusting speaker placement before I found what is, for me & my music choices, the best spot in my listening room. In my case the Forte IIs are about 16 inches from the back & side walls of the short side of the room & towed in ever so slightly. I sit about 14' from the speaker fronts, a little more than half-way along the long side of my room.I can close my eyes & place individaul instuments in fairly exact positions across the soundstage. Its enough to make me regularly cry. :-) (Some music has that effect on me!) Anyway, like others I have found the grail (for my $s) to be Forte IIs & tubes! Of course, YMMV. Good luck, Frank W.

Well, here's my "digital" system(s): - An older 800 MHz. Titanium PowerBook as my "media pc." - (2) 80 Gig Firewire portable hard drives set up in a RAID 1 configuration for storage. - Keces DA-151 USB DAC / Beringer FCA202 Firewire DAC (new to me, thanks Nick!) - Rip to ALAC (Apple Lossless) using MAX (free) app. - iTunes The analog output from the DAC is routed to the Spare Input of a Dynaco PAS-3 which feeds a Dynaco ST-70 & Forte IIs. On the HT system I have Apple TV into an Onkyo 7.1 receiver. That gives me all my ripped music via "sharing" with my MacBook Pro, Apple's music channels, + Pandora through either a 2 channel (kg3.5s) system, or a 5.1 surround system. Turntables (Thorens TD-160 & AR-XA) & CDPs (Rega Planet & Sony muli-player) round out my analog sources. It's All Good! ;-) Frank W.

How could you ever forgit a verse like this! I loved this song! Listened over & over to the record (45 rpm, I believe) one night when I was stayin' with a friend at his grandparent's place. At home we had the likes of Como & Mitch Miller unless, of course, my older sister was playin' Ricky Nelson or the Platters. Oh, do you remember . . . Frank W.

Thanks! Looks like both are used. I'm going with forte II from now on. Frank W.

Hey Mr. Colter, I think the small f concept is super cool and am ready to jump on the bandwagon, but all the old literature on the Klipsch site: http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/products/forte-ii-details/ & even the FIIs on the backs of my speakers are in caps. Are you saying you think the "official" spelling is small letter f (like a musical notation) and not a capital F? Frank W.

15' X 20' Short wall Corners Here's a quote from an earlier post I wrote on positioning my speakers: "After reading a couple posts/articles I spent an afternoon setting up my Forte IIs. Mine ended up about 10' apart, 16" from the back & side walls, and toed in ever so slightly. Toe in was my last variable & I think it made a final adjustment to the "stuff" (cabinets, etc.) along the walls in front of (but not blocking) the speakers. My love seat/futon puts my ears just above speaker height & 12' away." Frank W.

Dynaco ST-70. Very good synergy with my Forte IIs. Frank W.

Well, I don't know but I suspect if you can wait a bit you can find a better deal. I paid $450 for my excellent Forte IIs & was willing to drive like, 800 mi. round trip ($100 in gas) to get them. ;-) Others have travelled further but that was my deal & I've been pretty happy. Just my opinion, though, Frank W.

Hi Steve, Following up from the other thread, I really like my Forte IIs with my stock, but recently refurbished & mostly re-tubed, PAS-3 & ST-70 combo. I got the Fortes when I was still using the vintage Marantz gear in my avatar (gotta update that someday ;-), & they sounded great. When I hooked them up to the Dynaco gear, though, I became a believer! I've begun a modification path with my Fortes & that's another reason I like them. Bob Crites offers some reasonable driver diaphrams & crossover options that make mods really a plug-n-play propsition. I installed some titanium tweeter diaphrams & immediately liked what I heard as a smoother, more detailed top end.There's another thread going on this forum right now about titanium diaphrams for the mid-range horn, but for the time being it appears they're only available directly from Klipsch. I'm still thinking about them but my next upgrade will probably be crossovers. As you might be able to tell, though, I really like what I hear now so I'm not in any big hurry to do anything. FYI - I've gotten back into vinyl a bit myself with a Thorens TD-160 & Goldring Electra cart. I also have an AR-XA with Stanton 681 EEE that needs a new needle. I got it kinda spur of the moment when I was in a sentimental mood remembering the one I had a long time ago. I do have a pretty good CD collection & have a Rega Planet CDP that I use quite a bit. Anyway, I'm occassionally just blown away listening, especially to an old favorite lp through this system! I haven't really had a chance to audition the Heresy but have to wonder whether they have the bottom end of the Forte. That said, Forte performance, especially in the bottom end, is really dependent on careful speaker placement & that could be an issue for you. After a lovely afternoon of experimentation (listening - moving speakers - listening some more - etc., etc.) mine ended up about 16" from back & side walls with the right speaker ever so slightly toed in to my seating position. When I close my eyes sometimes its hard to believe I'm listening to a 2 channel stereo system! Good luck but you can't go to far off with Klipsch Heritage & Tubes! Frank W.

With tubes? Go heritage. :-) Or what I have, Forte IIs (Forte Is would fit the bill. as well). I call them "modern" heritage. I have Dynaco separates & they sound great with the Fortes. Frank W.

Sounds like you run in different company than I! :-) As long as you can afford your "habit" (& it sounds like you can) & you get such enjoyment out of building & listening to your system (& writing about it, too ;-), well, that's what its all about! Personally, the path I took involved matching components that have a sort of "synergy", if you will, among them. On many levels I enjoy my "vintage" system: Forte IIs, Dynaco PAS-3/ST-70, Thorens TD-60 & Rega Planet CDP. I've enjoyed building it &, most certainly, listening to & hearing the music like never before. Often it simply takes my breath away! Yeah, I'm sure I would be mildly modding any of the Klipsch speakers I'd "move up" to as well. Since I'm really happy with what I've got & don't have the deep pockets to really take it all to the next level, its probably not going to happen. After all, the sailboat goes in the water in the spring, I've just *got* to get a new DSLR, and I'm already starting a "fund" for my next project - buy & restore a late '70s BMW motorcycle! Life is good! Frank W.

I don't know, I'd be surprise that Bob would not want to offer the mids as the tweeter diaphrams seem so popular. I suspect if he offered both the tweets & the mids, a lot of folks would order both at the same time. I doubt if he wants to pass up sales even if there's a smaller margine on some. Just some thoughts. Me too! Might not be as good as set12's, but I do believe they're better than stock! (& that's pretty darn good! :-) Frank W.

Yeah, that's what he's said in the past. I think I recall him saying he was still working on finding some titanium midrange diaphrams that he liked, though. With the success of the titanium tweets, though, I'd be really surprised if he just let it up to the Klipsch folks to fill what is sure to be a demand for the mids. Of course, I could be totally wrong. ;-) Oh, I hear you! My desire to get back into the "music" quickly turned into an audio *hobby* with speakers being only one of several areas of interest. I figure I'll have close to $1K in my Forte IIs when I'm done, with each upgrade having a positive audable effect. For me that was waiting for a good pair of Forte IIs over Forte Is, titanium diaphrams for the tweets, next the mids, & lastly a crossover upgrade. I'm probably going to go with drop-in Crites replacement crossovers unless I run across a better upgrade solution for me. Sometimes good enough is, well, good enough! I have some skills & could probably rebuild the originals or build a set myself (not like yours though!), but in all honesty I really don't have the time or burning desire to do so. Also, if I ever move up to, say, LaScalas or Belles, I can sell the Fortes including the crossover for more $s, or just pull them out & sell them separately. Next step, some tube rolling with the Dynacos! Ha! Frank W.

So, it begs the question: Can it be long before Bob Crites has new titanium diaphrams for the mids? Personally, I can wait! Hopefully they will be less $s than the Klipsch ones. I'd like to stop with new crossovers & titanium mids (already have the titanium tweets) & that would leave me paying a bit more for mods as I did the Forte IIs themselves! Frank W.

Don't forget Dynaco. My ST-70 & PAS-3 combo sounds great with my Forte IIs. Frank W.

So, if I'm following this thread right, the TI diaphrams alone are $84 each ($168/pr) & the replacement driver including the TI diapgrams are $85 each ($170/pr)? What am I missing here? I have a pair of Forte IIs with Crites TI tweets & am very interested in TI mids as well. Frank W.

That's probably the way to go. Then, if I ever decided to sell the speakers (& I can't imagine ever doing so :-) I could include them at a higher price to recoupe some of the $250, or put the speakers back to original & sell the crossovers separate. Plenty of Forte II lovers out there! Frank W.

After reading a couple posts/articles I spent an afternoon setting up my Forte IIs. Mine ended up about 10' apart, 16" from the back & side walls, and toed in ever so slightly. Toe in was my last variable & I think it made final adjustment to the "stuff" along the walls in front (but not blocking) of the speakers. My love seat/futon puts my ears just above speaker height & 12' away. When I first closed my eyes and experienced this I was simply blown away! It can be stunning with the right recording of the right music. ;-) So, what version of Crites crossovers did you do? I've done the Titanium Tweets & am very happy but I think a crossover upgrade might be next. Frank W.

I started my Forte IIs with a Marantz 1152DC (my avatar) & liked the sound alot. When I moved to tubes, though, Dynaco ST-70 & PAS-3, I finally knew what all the fuss was about. ;-) I do think it has a lot to do with the kind of music you listen to. I like acoustic & jazz, both with lots of vocals mostly, & my Forte IIs + tubes really float the boat! But, if I were more of a hard rock & metal kind of guy, SS could very well be the way I'd go. Gotta love those Forte IIs though! Frank W.

I'd say you got a pretty good deal on Forte Is, especially since you found them locally. I agree, titanium tweets are the way to go! I'm still considering what to do about crossovers. I suspect there's some room for improvement there. Frank W.

Opps! I just realized this is an old post I replied to. My answer still holds, but . . . If you can find a pair of Forte IIs in reasonable condition with intact passives for $300 I think that's a steal! Personally I'd budget more like $400+ unless you're really willing (needing?) to wait for a super deal. I paid $450 for a really nice pair & drove like 800 miles to pick them up & I think I did OK. I use tubes to drive mine & all I can say is WOW! I couldn't be happier. Just my .02, Frank W.

Your point? Frank W. What I got is that the CF3's "renouned-ness" expires in a couple months? I dunno. The Forte II's are an EXCELLENT speaker, especially with the Crites tweeter mod. They would get my vote. Ha! You might be onto something! I have Crites titanium tweets in my Forte IIs as well. IMO, they ought to be on most anyone's "short list" of speakers to try. Haven't heard Epic CF3s, though, so I won't comment on the "vs." thing. Frank W.

Your point? Frank W.

The ST-70 didn't use 12AX7 tubes. If yours does, it has a 3rd party upgradeboard installed. The ST-70 used a 7199 and there is no replacement without a lot of changes. That's true but the PAS-3 does use a quad of 12AX7 tubes. The quad of power tubes in the ST-70 are the EL 34s. Frank W. PS - WooHoo! 100 Posts!