4tay

I was wondering for high relibility/mil spec soldering...how crucial/tightly controlled is the temperature? For crossover work I have set my station to 400 degrees for the most part.

In a more ideal situation, I'd love to build a 2 channel system around some "cornscalas" and a pushpull 300b. Right now, my main/Ht rig works best in the space I have with the forte II's. I think the bigger heritage speakers would be pushing it. I am impressed that with a variety of (clean) front ends, the forte's are very balanced. I use a 15" powered sub (DIY) crossed over at 30hz. I am considering getting a TC sounds driver for it. With the KG4's in the rear channel, the overall system sound is huge...like a theater. I have been experimenting with different surround modes. While I can playback in direct 2-channel, some stuff sounds very impressive in 5 channel. I have some audioquest stranded OFC wire for the inside of the speakers. Again, as far as the kit goes, I almost made what would have been an error for me and gone with paper in oil, or maybe another brand of caps. With my luck, I'd have ended up with a badly rolled off system, or something with the fingernails-on-a-chalkboard glare. The sonicaps are a great deal, since they aren't that expensive for what they do. I have never modded a Klipsch before this week, and I feel that getting something tried and true was an easy way to get excellent results. I think the main point of me posting the review is to encourage people to mod/refresh the heritage line. It's kind of like "Overhaulin'" on Discovery. They take a beloved muscle car, add modern brakes, ignition, motorwork and suspension and the same beloved car becomes better than new.

I did find some globs of excess glue. It appears they are from 1993-1994...and the 1986 is the original forte copyright, not for forte II.

1. The identiplate reads: Forte II: 226393286 and 7, © 1986 klipsch & associates. Or was that the original year forte came out? I do not know how to decode the serial # to mfg year. 2. I use photobucket to host my photos and use the [ img ] [ /img ] html tags 3. I did the same thing to accomadate my caps that you are showing there--except I changed out that beer can 110uf with a 100 and 10 uf sonicap as well.

I am listening to some Bach cello concertos. While this xover mod elevated the speakers past stock capabilities...the phenolic tweeter diaphragm definately sounds a little rolled off compared to the new titanium tractrix. I shall remedy that this week.

For the fearless among you: Here are photos of the stock forte II xover in my 1986 speakers. Incidentally, both boards used different sized attachment hardware inside for the binding posts. 1986 Forte II stock crossover. VERY cramped. Not much real estate compared to a Lascala card. Now imagine HUGE sonicaps and trying to fit them on it. 1990 KG4 crossover. "It's sooo cute!" and oddly enough, plenty of space for better parts.

It feels as though there should be a new term for modded KG4/Forte: "B.C. Heritage Reference series". I really like ti that a few bucks in parts can make such a pronounced, real-world difference. "Better parts= better speakers" All due respect to Klipsch & associates....but: 1) I know that these mods are fully measurable, and can be heard by anyone with normal hearing. The before and after difference was like placing a notebook between you and one of the speakers tweeter and midrange. The difference was just that great. 2) While a good portion of the sound improvement is due to replacing worn out 20+ year old caps, I also believe that audio has a cleaner path through a cap with a tighter tolerance and almost nonexistant ESR. Again, this is measurable. 3) I also know that modern tweeters (titanium, etc) have a wider dynamic range and simply work better than phenolic tweeters. Klipsch reference tweeters sound much more detailed than my KG4's original tweeters. 4) While the forte II might have been considered "done" by 1986 standards, it can be vastly (and measurably) improved with 21st century components. (Again, the reference series proved that).

I just completed mods on my 1993 forte II's and 1990 KG4's. Instead of mix and match, or guessing/experimenting what brand to use or flocking to the latest high end "magic" cap, I ordered Bob Crites kits. For the forte II: I received the following: - Schematic with written instructions, - 2- 1.5 uF Sonicaps, - 4 2uf ", 2 100pf non nonpolarized, 2 10uf NP. The stock forte II caps are 110uf, 1.5uf, and a pair of 2uf. Instructions read to use the 100 +10 in parallell (piggyback) I piggy back them and soldered them with Cardas quad eutectic solder. After seeing the forte II circuit board I knew this would not be fun. It barely accomadates the stock smaller components. Bob stated that there have been at least 3 different cards used...I got a small card, lucky me. I had to run the 100+10 "stacked" because the stock electrolytic was a beer-can style. There was just no space... I plugged one modded speaker in on the right and ran the left speaker stock. The result on the right, was obviously more open, cleaner and more detailed without any added harshness. I was rather pleased so far. Finishing the second, I played a variety of music, and listend to choral works. It was very appearent to me that these caps were neutral, and let more of the signal through than the tired, old stock caps. I was quite pleased...well worth the money. However, it was a pain because of the cramped board. I recommend a larger board. KG4: My 1990 KG-4's were a breeze by compare. The circuit board had adequate space to modify. 2 8uf Sonicaps, 2 3uf ", 2 33uf NP, and 2 .75 polyswitch I completed each speaker in just a few minutes. Much like the Forte II mod, this mod extracted more from the speaker. It seemed to be more at ease at higher volumes and much more open and clean. These kits were well worth it because this experiance has shown me the combination of caps just plain works! The old stock caps were obviously worn, but even new, I have no doubt sonicaps are superior. I have ordered titanium diaphragms to bring the performance up another notch...can't wait!

Makes sense, because it's definately not a high content of silver. Bob Crites basically stated the same thing about using standard solder. I won't elaborate, but I share his opinions of all things "audiophile." Once this roll is used up, I have two rolls of electronics solder with silver content. I forgot for a moment that I am dealing with sensible and experianced people here. That's a big change for me. I appreciate the acumen here---it has resulted in some nice improvements in my speakers.

I use a Hakko temp controlled/esd soldering station. Works pretty well. I also use a well lit area, and heat-sink clamps to be sure.

I still have most of a roll of cardas quad eutectic (silver) solder that I use. I do not know if this is really overkill, since I have no experimented with various types (like radio shack) to see if a few grams of solder at one location makes an audible difference. The stuff seems to work fine for me so far.

I think of all the cornscala projects I have been reading about...I like this two-box concept the best! It makes sense to me to physically separate the woofer enclosure to begin with, but there is an air of practicality and elegance about the two-box design. I am inclined to go that route if I ever get the project going.

I agree, I have a pair of both Kg-4's (1990) and Forte II's (1986). The KG-4's are killer for the money! They are nice small speakers with a lot of strengths. I use my as rear surrounds now. The separate drivers and design of the forte (and heresy) provide much better midrange and much greater dynamic range. The KG4's do have much deeper bass than the heresy, just not the clarity. I discovered Bob Crites site, and I am upgrading both this week. I am refurbishing the crossovers, and installing titanium diaphragms for the tweeters. I have upgraded the forte II and KG4 crossovers. Made a VERY nice difference! The KG4 will never have the clarity of the heresey or forte II...but... the modification to the crossover alone kicks it way up. The KG4's are cleaner, with more (uncongested) dynamic range. I am awaiting the ti tweeter diaphragms for both speakers.

Hi, I just joined... I already thought the cornscala was a cool enough project by itself. The rosewood just floors me. It adds pure elegance to the project and I am eagerly awaiting pics of the finished project. I am looking into how to re-veneer my Klipsch down the road.