CallMeJoe

I used their CL2 wiring (speaker and RCA) and A/V wallplates to set up my stereo and home theater systems: a bi-amped stereo and 7.1 HT in the same room with all the wire runs securely in the walls. Great products at great prices, reasonable shipping rates and quick service. They also regularly run daily specials - if your timing is right, you can get their gold-plated banana plugs at <$1/pair.

If the Monster cables are not CL2 rated but were installed in-wall, I guarantee that Monster will disavow any warranty coverage no matter how foul their wires became or why.

I purchased an Intel QX3 (Play) microscope off eBay for ~$15, shipped. It connects to a computer by USB cable, has 60x to 200x magnification, a decent depth of field and is reasonably easy to focus.

Go to monoprice and buy their CL2 rated wire for in-wall installation.

If you use a common breaker (220V) or physically tie two `110V breakers together, then you are covered under most areas' codes for multiwire branch circuits. Without this caution, however, you're treading dangerous territory. I agree completely about wire gauge; use the heaviest you can budget, regardless of your nominal current requirements. I have yet to regret having too much power available on a circuit...

If you follow Malcolm's advice, you will be violating electrical code in most jurisdictions. There is a viable variant to his suggestion: 3-conductor with ground can be used for a 220-volt connection to a secondary box, where the two hot phases of 220V AC can be separated into two phases of 110V. You add a 220V breaker to your existing panel (using two adjacent 110V slots), run your 10 gauge 3-wire from that breaker into the new box you already mentioned as a possibility, then add 110V breakers to that box for your new circuits. If you locate the new box near where you intend to add your new outlets, you can minimize the length of 12 gauge wire between the new box and the new outlets.

Rivernuggets: I followed your advice, using my gasket scraper rather than a screwdriver, and managed to lift the trim ring without cracking it. One unanticipated problem: the rubber surround was less securely attached to the woofer basket than to the trim ring in several areas. I sharpened the edge of a plastic putty knife and carefully worked it around those areas to separate the rubber from the ring without cutting or tearing the rubber. It took a while to complete, but I have the surround reglued now, waiting for the glue to set before testing my repair. Thanks again for your response. I hope soon to have a Rattle- & Hum-free speaker. Barring the odd U2 play, of course...

Thanks, any response is welcome! I may try my gasket scraper (about 1" wide blade, thick enough to be useful)as a gentle pry tool if no one has a better suggestion soon.

I recently acquired a pair of KG-5.2s and am quite pleased overall, but have one problem to resolve. One of the woofers (K-1001-K) has a rattle at extremely low frequencies that turns into a buzz as the frequency increases. Touching the woofer surround at one particular point kills the noise. I removed the woofer and examined it carefully; it appears that a small part of the surround (perhaps about 3 cm) either was never properly glued, or has somehow come loose. Thus my question: Do any of you know a safe way to remove the black plastic trim ring from the front of the woofer basket to gain access to reglue the surround? The trim ring appears glued to the basket, and I would hate to break the plastic attempting a repair. I suppose that if there is no safe way to remove the trim, I could try to locate an appropriate plastic syringe and inject an adhesive between the back of the surround and the basket, but having full access to the surround while making the repair would seem preferable. Apologies if this has been covered before, but my search turned up nothing.

IMHO, any cabinet resonances are entirely undesired. A cabinet can be designed to enhance the driver performance to a certain degree (porting a cabinet to enhance woofer response, etc.), but for the most part the cabinet itself should be neutral. You may note that most speaker designers take measures to eliminate resonances rather than produce them.

I am preparing to build a pair of Forte cabinets, and intend to use plywood. I find it preferable to work, as MDF goes to obnoxious dust during cutting or routing. It's also easier to repair plywood if your cabinet ever gets dinged; filling voids in crumbling MDF can be a terrible exercise in futility. As for undesired resonances, I am "growing" the cabinet slightly to maintain a stock interior volume while adding significant internal bracing to stiffen the box. edit: excuse the poor manners, please. Welcome aboard! There aren't that many members here junior to yours truly...

I should have asked; what is wrong with the Realistic? If it's speed instability, it could be as simple as hitting the pitch pots with some FaderLube or reluricating bearings.

'70s and '80s vintage turntables can be well worth owning; I have a Garrard Zero 100, a Technics SL-D2 and a Harman Kardon T35C (my favorite). That said, I don't know that I would spend the money fixing up a Realistic turntable, though that could just be my tech snobbery showing...

Two suggestions: When evaluating drivers, a tube (paper towel, etc.) is a brilliant diagnostic device. Hold it to the suspect driver and listen. Very simple and effective. For sealing removable panels (and seam sealing cabinets) I like 3M Strip Caulk. Affordable and commonly available at auto parts stores - I buy mine at O'Reilly's.

For the optimum connection, check out the NEETS wiring module here Scroll down to page 2-6, where they show the "Western Union" splice. Employ this mode of wire wrapping (but with fewer twists), then solder the wires together and insulate them with heat-shrink tubing. This forms an optimum connection without adding significant bulk to the wires. FWIW, this splice as illustrated works well for solid wire without using solder.

I'm a very junior member of your forum, but already have had opportunity to express my gratitude to Mr. McDermott. He's the kind of member that make visitors to your forum decide to stay.

Understood completely. If you read my first post, I had extrapolated the height of the cabinet without the integral riser from measurements taken from the picture posted on the Forte II page of the Klipsch site. You confirmed my estimation, albeit in metric rather than the SAE units I employed.edit: thanks again for taking the trouble to make and post the actual measurements here. I shall be far more confident in my cabinet plans now.

Thank you, Gil! That's exactly the information I needed! I appreciate the effort. I may not duplicate the proportions of the Forte cabinet, but I want to match the volume as closely as possible and your information should get me there. FWIW, by my calculations, that yields an interior volume of 80 liters (rounded to three figures).

Thanks for the response. I suppose I could run some more scenarios (1/2" panels, different front panel insets, etc.) to see how much variance they generate. I'm having to make a lot of assumptions since I don't have a cabinet available to measure. I'm also unsure just how sensitive the tuning of the Forte components is to cabinet volume. For one instance, my Altec 411-8As specify a cabinet volume of 4.5 to 8.0 cubic feet. I'm guessing the Passive Radiator-ported Fortes have a slightly narrower range...

Greetings to the Klipsch Community! I am a recent convert to the Klipsch sound, having purchased a pair of KG 3.5s and been blown away! After watching various Heritage systems on eBay, I (foolishly?) purchased a complete set of Forte II components, sans cabinet. This puts me in need of some information. I've searched this forum to the best of my meager abilities without finding the interior dimensions of the Forte II cabinet. If anyone can provide the interior measurements, or the interior volume of the box, it will save me from a "best guess" construction. FWIW, I have made such a guess from the exterior dimensions on the Forte page, with an extrapolation from the image posted of the height of the integral riser and an assumption of the thickness of the cabinet materials (3/4") and the depth of the front panel inset (1/2"). This gets me to 30.5" * 15" * 10.25" => ~4690 cubic inches. Does anyone have better figures for me?