Phr3d

I did not intend to 'go on' about UPS's response to my experience. Respectfully, as I presume you have a good deal more experience shipping speakers than I, shipping difficult-to-get speakers via the commercial carriers is at least a risky gamble and a mistake. I have shipped many tons of computer drek over the years, Laser Printers of corporate size are cranky items indeed. My overall experience is that shipping is perfectly possible, if also perfectly expensive. I have personally had a very high average using FedEx ground (less than 0.4% damage, FedEx response very acceptable in those cases), but I know at least 10 members would respond "avoid FedEx ground like the plaugue!", having horror stories that would easily match mine, lol. Freight -door2door with the same driver- is my best experience, but the seller was unable to commit to that. My point being, shipping is not automatically a high risk affair. Your point is well taken, T2K, and Ironsave, that is my plan, if possible. Thank you both. P S, green goes to which speaker? EDIT: Green goes to tweeter, thanx, Mike.

They must transport the speaker to the local depot -packaged for shipment- so that they can ship it to some central depot for inspection. The UPS Store originally packaged the speaker by padding with styrofoam, wrapping in thick heavy cardboard, taped closed and then quad-strapped. The styrofoam was atomized, the rest recycled/gone. I am just unwilling to accept that an on-site inspection of something that cost so much to ship is unnacceptable to the UPS corp, i.e., that it is MY responsibility to properly RE-package the item for their inspection process. Call me narrow-minded. EDIT: the best-case end result of this will be that they agree that they destroyed the speaker and they will pay me what I paid for it. I do not believe that I can get the cost of shipping back. They then dispose of the speaker. so I am stuffed. It strikes me as rather stinky.

Long time getting back, apologies. UPS is demanding that the speaker be delivered to the local depot (in its original packing), to be shipped to an undisclosed location for inspection, then payment if warranted, then disposal of the damaged item. The UPS Store that packaged it did so in a way that the packing material was impossible to re-use. UPS refuses to inspect on site, or help with repair until inspected - catch-22. TKO to UPS, I am stuffed. One last question - presuming that I am able to get the replacement horns, can someone tell me which wires go to which horn? I have green and yellow. I am loathe to open the other speaker if I can avoid it, I am already wondering if I can get the gaskets back in the right place when I repair the busted one. Thanx.

thanx much all. hospital. will try again later date.

scary to look at, 2Bsure. Yeah, that is a lot of the question - can new ones be procurred from Klipsch? should I try to Crites both of them? Should I presume that since it took me this long to get them, I wasn't 'supposed' to have KLF's in the first place? lol (I have a Honda Civic story much like this one - make ya' weep - on That item, I hadda' give up, and oddly enuf, also shipped from Florida. hm.. ) Used parts sound kinda' scarier than used speakers, and my batting average just went down a bunch. kinda' hard to tell if the 'good' speaker really is when your attitude is busted. the rear panel is solid on both (though I have not opened the un-slammed one) and motorboard is still solid, though getting hit with 10 pounds of magnets assuredly did not improve its karma any.

I decided to augment my Forte`s with KLF-20's. I wanted 4x 20's originally, but found my pair of Forte`s nearby and stayed with them while awaiting a nice pair of 20's to show up. I was stupid enough to ship them, with the following caveat: They were packaged by UPS, so I thought I would be safer <sigh>. The speakers arrived in good box condition, well packed. I was a bit disturbed that the styrofoam surround had turned to atomic particles, but no readily apparent damage to the veneer anywhere that I checked, thought I was gold. Re-arranged room to allow placement of KLFs, placed one, picked up the other and clunk (loud). Meetheenks, oh no, the dreaded glue failure, motor board loose. uhmm, not so much. The magnets and drivers of the mid and high horns were broken completely off of the 'horn' section, loose in the bottom of the cab. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? Again, there is a small crush to the lower rear corner of the cabinet, but it is more cosmetic than anything, the veneer is marred, not destroyed. fwiw, I've been saving for these babies for my kid's entire adolescence, so funds are not plentiful - so, what the heck do I do now? The other speaker 'seems' to function ok (seperate shipping boxes, of course) and the woofers on the destroyed one 'seem' to be functioning ok as well. Is there any hope of these sounding correctly, or do I write it off to experience and start saving again. hope the picture makes sense. hope an employee has a bit of good news, particularly the one that I tried and failed to buy LaScalas from, some years back when my basement had not yet flooded and I had a place to put them (but tha's another story). thanx for any guidance, hope this was the correct forum.

I -think- I'm going to seal the bottom of the riser (now 1 x 12 oak) and throw in a sandbag to minimize rocking/occilation from moving the woofer up so high. Given their starting weight, they will be near -immoveable- after the riser mod, so if the riser was removeable that would help. But I cannot think of a way to do it, so no joy on the removeable. Money is an issue right now, but the final mods will be Crites the crossovers and tweets and replace the input with newer bi-amp terminal and bi-amp them. The air leaks sound like a self-help, what do you recommend (as I'll have them in a woodsmith shop).Still debating spikes as well.

It sounds like oak, 2 x 8 box, as 36" is near the cornwalls tweeter height? Not sure (anyone know the CW & KHorn tweeter height?). Any advice about mounting the riser to the speaker? gasket, silicone, wood to wood with glue. Don't think I can bolt them on, much as I'd like them to be removeable.

Thanks for the numbers breakdown, I'm pretty sure that the KHorn height adds to their transparency. Coupled or DECoupled is one of the gambles, as I've only lived with LaScalas previous to my Fortes, and they were felt-feeted directly to a marble floor (Italy) with a Yamaha sub (only powered sub available to me) crossed at 40Hz and rubber feet. My Forte's have no risers, and my current plan is to have riser boxes built (oak, 2 x 8? That would place the tweeters @ 36" before spikes) This first experiment will probably be the basis for the other 4 Forte's when the time comes (15 x 18 x 10 HT cum uncontrollable family room). If 44" is still shorter than KHorns, it looks like my hardwood will be a bit short. I can't make your nice -wide- base as I barely have room for the speaks themselves, so I'm concerned that the 'tall Fortes' will occilate on my thick carpet (messing with the high end as the woofers rock the cabinets forward and back). I originally posted 'Forte Modification Advice' as I had read most posts about Fortes themselves, silversport was kind enough to track your mod down for me. I guess it's a case of Couple with spikes, or DE Couple with sealing the riser / base and filling with sand, Don't know which would -best- minimize occilation. Wonder what oak-veneer plywood costs these days.

Thanx! posted there as well..

Nice, I am considering doing the same thing, though using oak 2x4 or 6 or 8 for my oak Fortes. So what was your total height when done, and having lived with them for a while, would you stay with that height? Do you have an opinion about spikes with regard to thick carpeting?

Silversport, you might be referring to the mod with the sand in the bottom, if so I did find it in my searches. I've read a lot, but still not sure how far to go with the risers and / or spikes. Tweeter replacement if at all, will happen after the structure mods, mainly wondered if the xovers ever -failed- on the Forte. I know that the Crites mods are appreiated here, and very reasonably priced. Toddlers and cats won't be a problem any time soon, though the grills do look nice.

My Forte's have no risers, and since I think I have to have riser boxes built (oak, 2 x 4, or 6, or 8?) I wondered if anyone would like to comment or offer guidance. This experiment will probably be the basis for the other 4 Forte's when the time comes (15 x 18 x 10 HT cum uncontrollable family room). Height is the first question, I am thinking that putting the mids at seated ear height might be an improvement (avoiding superlatives, heheh). I'm thinking dove the joints, and read of someone filling with sand, I just can't figure out how to have them removeable, to be -able- to move them, but still have the speakers -solid- to the base. Also, we have carpet about 1.5" deep on very strong/firm pad (supposedly best, who knows) - I'm wondering if spikes on the riser / base will help whatever occilation I might add or experience by moving the woofers higher. and will they work/help given over 2 inches of 'softness'? Lastly, what is involved in removing the back panels, or should I remove the Passive for internal examination. Has anyone done the caps update on their Forte's and why - better than original or repair?much thanx.

True enough, It has taken me years to get back to the equipment I had-ish. I passed on replacing the LS's as I just don't have the room, and ('remembered' again), that the Forte's impressed me as sounding very close to them when a friend and I compared. But as I said, my 'checked' MG IIa's sound as I remember them and the CD seems a reasonable facsimile to the special LPs (I still have them all, just too lazy to get them out of sealed storage to remember the studio that did them). My Tympanis are broken, I'd fix'em if I had a house that could take them, lol. My room is a family-room mess, peq'd by a YamahaYPAO 2400, so not a great environment, it made the Infinitys sound passable, might be more correction than the Forte's can put up with. The difference between emits and maggies was minimal to my ear, I like the highs on them, just nothing else. Guess I'll hafta' move 'em down to the Maggie room (9x12 closet, actually) and A>B 'em there. S#'s are 8718, just in case there is a 1987-something that I missed. The risers should help as well, I need the extra height.

I bought the forte's from audiogon. The risers are missing, anyone have an extra set? Also, I was auditioning Heart-Crazy on You, and noticed that it doesn't sound quite right. I have spent most of my listening time with Maggies, but I'm thinking this exceeds the differences between speakers (spent two years with La Scalas and never noticed such a difference). So, anyone remember the audiophile LPs? Is the Heart CD not as good as that was? I have been listening to consumer Infinity's for 10 years due to kids and dogs, maybe my memory can't be trusted. No easy way to A>B them with my maggies, but it sounds pretty much as I remember on them - I am afraid the Klipsch are suspect (all drivers are functioning, just not sweet/clear like I rememember). Thanx for any guidance.