michaelhigh

Tube Fanatic, I would politely suggest you hold your horses, and advice, for someone who can afford said advice. Michael is experiencing the best he can within his means, and has experienced monoblocs at my house. There isn't worlds of difference if you can be satisfied with what you have. Tube amps also don't do too well with the higher side of things. They get the wider and deeper quite well, but please save the higher for a forum more susceptible to wafflemammer. I look up from listening, and I see this! No problem, all, tube meant well and so did Dave. He has my best interests in mind, and was naturally being protective of his friend. I certainly appreciate his protective nature, and I definitely look forward to gaining that next level of experience! I'm inspired anew, to the point that I've taken out a Blogger account to share my awakenings and my better, more fun acquisitions and life experiences. http://mindseyemusic.blogspot.com is a haven of audio bliss, of all flavors, and everyone is welcome to share it with me, as it has been shared with me. I'm guessing wafflemammer might be synonymous with hyperbole, exaggerated adjectivations...

Finally bit the bullet. One can only hear repeatedly, year after year, ad nauseum, how good fleapower tube/Klipsch combos can be, and year after year I put it off. I'd remain satisfied with nice big Sansuis, Pioneers I lusted for in the 70's when I couldn't afford a stereo to save my life. But, the audio gods knew my heart and my desire to finally experience the beauty of what the audiophiles have known so totally for so long now, even before the big solid state audio boom of the 70's and the effect on mass mentality that all the units moved during that golden era had on music lovers. It took me this long to afford it. It took me this long to find a unit I could afford, facilitated by the generosity and trust of our friend sheltie dave (I just named him "The Tube Enabler"!) He has world-class taste and the gear to match, and when I heard he was making room in his repertoire to include some fine 50's turntables to add to his impressive spread, I lined up to be the benefactor of his effort to move the piece that's the subject of this post. He blessed me with my first SET integrated designed for two-channel listening. I've dabbled in bass gear that featured tubes since the 70's but my Klipsch Fortes were just begging for this gift, and what a gift it was. Different and better in every single way, is how I'd describe it in perfect detail. The variety of music I've heard in the last hour or 2 has convinced me that I definitely waited entirely too long. Now that the sheer emotionality of the experience is under control I can honestly say that I'm hearing my Fortes for the first time thanks to Dave. Everyone should have someone like The Tube Enabler (sheltie dave) for a friend, he's the best. Deal with him and the experience will be flawless, and with his expertise you can't go wrong. Thanks, Dave.

This is the best deal on a near-mint model that I've ever seen. I've only been hanging out online a coupla years but this is a bonifide good deal. I have a number of nce decks but the LP-12 is the last object of my lust that could be a last-ditch scroe if I found one in the ballpark, I seriously doubt I'd do this good though. Good luck getting it set up properly, and if you don't like it don't hesitate to send it to me. HAHA!!!

The best gift a father (of audiophile extraction) could receive for Xmas, along with a much-needed reunion! Rock the house and get a nice Xmas buzz at the same time! Go!

I have a HK 430 that ran my Fortes while my Sansui 8080DB was being recapped. It sounded very natural, balanced, and sweeet to my ears. I'd like a mod that might enhance the bass response, but for the meantime I have a separate small and a large sub rig for making up the difference.

This was the stuff that was out when I first started playing bass. In the 70's, for a while, I wasn't sure how popular music was going to go, was it going to be jazz rock or punk rock? Prog rock had played it's course and it was time to do something else musically.I started playing music in 1967, joined the local union in 1972 (brass), then started playing bass in 1974. What a great and inspiring time to get started! We had a couple great local rock radio stations that got everyone excited about good audio, and despite my poverty, I was eventually able to own stereo rigs like I lusted over in the 70's but could never afford.

They could have done better than that!

Made sense to PWK... Dave Fortes did too! I'm going to try it sometime, the long wall thing...

Man. This is so right...I've been on a journey for so long, it seems that as I move through the ages I can afford complete systems now instead of pieces to add other pieces to, never having anything complete and continually trying to finish a rig. That was my experience growing up. At age 53, I can afford good vintage gear, and I have a rather large collection now. I can mix and match to my whim, and everything is on a par with everythig else, so everything plays nice together. I'm lucky like that, I can swap in and out without a big problem. Design and plan your purchases like that and the best won't be something to seek after, you'll find due satisfaction with what you have.

I agree, and the speaks in my sig are tested, pretty synergistic with everything I run in various systems, and all were had for $100 or less (except my Fortes, big JBL subs, and EV's).

I'm glad I avoided Rega for this very reason. I had many reviews to pore over, and while some touted the durability of the various Regas and the quality of the entry level RP1, one thing kept coming up, and that was the fact that certain carts tended to hum on the Rega TT's. I avoid tweaky components like the plague, as I have only limited funds to pursue my hobby and attempt to get the best bang for the buck as I can, as often as possible. I seek expert advice, I don't have tons of money to move up into the higher-end stuff, and a look at my sig will show you that I have a lot of stuff and very little in the repair pile (maybe 1% at the most, maybe 2 or 3 pieces total). This has me VERY satisfied with the due diligence I've done to avoid these kinds of mistakes, and although I key on vintage out of necessity (financial concerns), I have very few breakdowns, by and large. Avoiding Rega has given me an edge in the TT department, and I have 4 that are definite keepers, with original carts that are time tested and true performers. I love my hobby, and my gear list reflects my meticulous attention paid to quality and long-lasting, economical offerings. I love this country!

I love the direct question asked here, and I especially love the responses, which, by the way, was overwhelmingly in favor of Forte I. I would own any Heritage Klipsch, I am fully drinking the Kool-Aid, and I love my Fortes so much that I would have to be offered CRAZY money to part with them. That said, I'm sure that those with crazy money to spend would never value them highly enough to warrant placing a premium on a pair. I am realistic after all. I got mine for a pittance, and I was lucky I had an extra $300 in my wallet that day. I happened upon mine when shopping for a Craigslist HK 430. That and a Sansui 8080DB changed the way I listen to music in a drastic way. I now have three excellent turntables to swap in and out, 13,000 flac, 200 LP's, 200 CD's, 1000+ cassettes, and 3000 mp3's to groove on, and more than enough time and space to enjoy it all. I'm thrilled to see my gear so highly-touted, when I peruse high-end gear and lament the fact that I may never rise above the level I'm at. I was just as thrilled to learn how highly-regarded and popular my Sansui was in its heyday as well. Tubes? Another mountain to climb. I have my walking shoes on, I hope I can eventually find the right place to jump in that allows me enough satisfaction to avoid the excessive outlay, and enough good advice to avoid too much tube rolling and swapping out components in search of audio nirvana. When the Sansui and the Fortes entered my life I could have said enough's enough, but the upgrade bug is still knawing at me to move into tubes, with the recommendation of how well tubes synergize with Klipsch. I'll report back when/if I make the transition. Thanks to all here for your expert commentary. I feel like my Fortes have turned me into a true audiophile despite their modest (to me) cost.

VERY impressive, in all it's beauty. Even the view out the door is appealing. You're obviously enjoying the good life, and it's great that you've included Klipsch in your pursuit of the finer things in life. Rock on, my man.

I have to hang in the lower echelon of Heritage Klipsch, I'm not as well-to-do as some Khorn owners I know (!) I knew when I drove into the upscale area known as Dardenne Prairie (outside STL proper) to procure these beauties I'd be in for a treat...I'm eyeballing a set of KG1's right now, and time after time I'm amazed at how great even their BOTL speakers end up sounding. I don't find the need to thin the herd but I should be running out of real estate soon!

I conducted an informal shootout today (October 17, 2011) and the 8080DB won out over every receiver in my signature (much easier than typing them all out!)...It was a definite winner, restored by none other than Jeff Jackson, St. Louis Computronics, referred to me by Sheltie Dave! He's the man (both of them)!