chuckears

Our town's last boutique shop that carried Klipsch is now gone; Best Buy is the only place you can find that sells the brand, and you of course cannot purchase any Heritage or top-of-the-line Klipsch there. This makes me sad, but then again, there was a time in the 80's when I had to drive 200 miles to audition Fortes; fortunately, another store started carrying them locally with about a year, but it only lasted a couple more years after that. It seems to be a transitory market, with the average consumer not caring enough, or not having the budget to purchase higher-fi. The internet has drastically changed this market, but I prefer being able to audition equipment, even though showroom listening is usually very dissimilar to the home environment.

I think salsa has more variations than chili, and I have made and enjoyed many different styles myself. Your cooked salsa made with canned product reminds me of the salsa we make to accompany the seafood nachos at the restaurant where I am a chef. It is terrific, and suits its purpose with much acclaim. For home use, and regular dipping with chips or accompanying fajitas, I prefer to make a fresh and simple mix of diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, (lots of) cilantro, jalapeno, fresh-squeezed lime, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper. I will sometimes add a little Thai or Chinese Chili sauce to give it a sweet kick. I also make a cucumber salsa with even more ingredients, and it is my family's favorite - it's great for topping grilled fish, or just as a chip-dipper. ....and here I thought I was full for the day; now I'm going to need a midnight snack :-(

I collected them from around 1975 until 1990... I stopped when I bought a house, had a kid, and realized that there was just no time for it anymore. I sold a few gems piecemeal a few years ago, then unloaded the rest of them (around 3,000 or so) for about 1/5th of what I should have taken for them, just to get them out of the way. They really were not as compelling to me when I ran out of time to read them (and was just collecting)... I regret not having some of them available now, but still would probably not one up more than a couple times a year...

I am halfway through upgrading the crossovers on my 22 year old Fortes; I noticed after removing the passive radiator on the first speaker that part of the very thin gasket that had originally been applied had in fact slipped out of the routered groove, and that section of the driver has been attached straight to the MDF since being manufactured. I tried to move the bit of misplaced gasket into place, but it has been scrunched up in the same position for so many years, it did not want to stay in the groove. I have some thicker adhesive-backed gasket that I purchased for a subwoofer project a couple of years ago, and am wondering if it would be a good idea to lay some of this down and re-install the radiator...

The only brand I have heard the comes close to the liveness and immediacy of Klipsch in 30 years of buying and auditioning loudspeakers is an obscure company from Australia called "Duntech"... Years ago, I heard them at an acquaintance's house (the mains hung on the wall like picture frames, and the sub was centered between them and was as big as a coffee table), and I heard detail in some selections that I had never heard with other speakers. Years later, and after hearing a lot of boring cheapos, plus a few more highly regarded brands (Martin-Logan, DefTech, Focal), I can say that I am still more impressed with Klipsch.

I bought my current McCormack amps used - the 2-channel DNA 0.5 is 125 wpc for around $700 and the 3-channel HT-1 is 100-150-100 wpc and cost me a little over a thousand - I go them both for about half their original MSRP. The 185-watt DNA 1 Deluxe of which I was so enamoured retailed for around $2500; again, I bought it on the used market for a little less than half that amount. It's some pretty significant coin, to be sure, but I have found that the Klipsch speakers I have heard seem to be very sensitive to quality components, and stay pretty well ahead of the upgrade curve. On the downside, they are so revealing that gear that is not quite "up to snuff" displays its own shortcomings pretty brutally (to my ears). As far as cosmetics go, the current McCormack line looks a lot sexier than the older stuf that I own, which looks a little "industrial" - just perform a search through Google images, and you'll see what I mean... the newer models are lighter-colored, with a diagonal slash across the front. The older models sport a little small dip along the bottom faceplate - sort of a bottom tab - and are darker in color, almost a purplish-gray. I like their looks just fine, but they I can see how some might find them off-putting.

I'm assuming this question is directed at me; the best my system has sounded for music listening, just prior to expanding it to include home theater 5.1, was when I had a McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe amp, McCormack TLC passive preamp, a pretty simple (yet solidly built) Sony CD player, feeding my Klipsch Fortes. The bass was enhanced with the very musical HSU TN1220 subwoofer. (I won't bother with mentioning my interconnect and speaker cable choices on this forum - I heard the differences, 'nuff said). The McCormack amp opened up the Fortes like I had never heard before, and there were many times when I felt like I was in the performance venue. Sadly, when I expanded to include HT, I ditched the McCormack amp and preamp and downgraded to a Rotel 5 channel amp. It was like night and day for music listening - the Rotel was competent, but not musical. I have since gone back the the McCormack brand in the form of the DNA 0.5 and the HT1 3-channel amp, but I am still not hearing the purity of sound I had previously, especially when using the (otherwise excellent) digital processing in my Anthem AVM20. I had the opportunity of hearing 60th Anniversary Klipschorns a few years ago, and that experience has haunted my acoustic memory ever since. I have never heard musical instruments - especially brass - reproduced as live and real as I did with these beautiful beasts. I love the sound I get from my current system - especially with DVD and Blu-Ray material (and DVD-Audio, what few I own). I suppose it might be unrealistic to expect the "live sound" at all levels of gear, but it is way closer to realization with uncompressed media such as CD and DVD-Audio than with a portable digital music player. Just my $.05...

A feature of my HT Processor (Anthem AVM20) allows me to set different crossover settings for the different speaker "groups" (mains, center, surrounds, rears all being separate groups), so I can tailor what I send to them to take advantage of their different frequency responses... I have tried the THX standard of cutting off everything under 80 Hz, but find that it sounds a bit thin to me. One of the marvelous attributes of Big Klipsch speakers is their BIG sound and ability to play fairly flat really low. As always, YMMV...

I find my iPod performs adequately through my car's 3.5mm auxiliary input; it sounds OK through my system at home to my Fortes (and my outdoor Klipsch speakers), but only for casual listening. It cannot compare to a well-recorded CD or DVD-Audio, especially for the "you are there" experience.

Forte's were my "Klipsch of choice" many years ago (and I still own them), but I lust for K-Horns since hearing how even more live, robust, and accurate they are a few years ago. It's a question of affordability and lack of placement, sadly. But yes, I have to agree that other speakers I have listened to, even on the higher end, are lacking to my ears...

Olorin - love your username and Rune. "Olorin I was in my youth, in the West that is forgotten" - I loved digging through that "history" that Tolkien laid down. The first hardcover I bought - and still own - was The Silmarillion (first printing). Discovering the history of the Valar and the Maiar, and reading the brief reference given to him in it - gave me a thrill in my own youth, in the Midwest that is not quite forgotten...

Wow, talk about a blast from the past! ...I have not had a problem with this since I installed two Richard Gray Power Company boxes between my gear and the newer dedicated line. They were pricey (even though I bought them used), but all of my equipment has survived some pretty wicked storms and power surges, including the whole-house power loss from a weather-head pinch that fried my computer during an ice storm a few years ago (tree limbs fell on the weather head). ...and nary a "pop" through the speakers for years now.

For pure 2-channel bliss, my favorite combination has been a McCormack TLC-1 feeding a McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe Amp - the most blissful and realistic sound I have ever had in my house. The DNA-1 Deluxe is probably WAY more power than your K-Horns would require (185 amps), but my Fortes loved it...

Mark, I have owned and loved Klipsch Fortes for over 20 years; I had the good fortune to hear a pair of K-Horns at the last store in my city that had them available for audition a few years back, and I have been haunted by the clarity and realism I heard ever since. The brass, as you mentioned in your OP, is amazing; the most realistic reproduction of insturments I have ever heard. Congratulations on your purchase! You're right - the speaker is probably the most important component in audio reproduction (not to minimilize the source, control, and amplification sections, by any means...)

Congrats on your Anthem purchase... I've had an AVM20 for several years now ( - McCormack amps - Forte/Academy/RC3's), and the SQ blows away my previous HT receiver. Very immediate and detailed, and the level of control over the signal to each speaker group is amazing. I'm sure you will be enjoying this setup for a long time... BTW, I envy the ARC in the new Anthems. I would upgrade if I had the cool several thousand bucks lying around, but I have a high school senior to send off to college in a few months...

I'll chime in, having had both speakers in succession with my Forte mains... The KLF-C7 is amazing - very clear, dynamic, and realistic. One of the most impressive sounding and looking center channels for home use that I have encountered. ....and I'm sure as totally an unsuitable match for your Heritage-era Cornwalls as they were for my Fortes. It wasn't until I scored an Academy that I was able to enjoy a realistic front soundstage. With the C7, any left or right information that was mixed with the center for off-center locatibility sounded wrong, as well as any sounds that panned across the front soundstage. The C7 is just voiced too differently from earlier-model Klipsch. I often wonder how the KLF30 - C7 front soundstage would appeal to me, given the clarity of the latter, but I'm sure I'll never find out, since it I ever replaced my current setup, it would most likely be with even earlier Klipsch (KHorn-Belle, 3 LaScalas, or some mixture of them)...

Hmm, I am not sure I understand. Maybe at 1 watt right? Because the Chorus II's will do 121 dbs with peaks of 130 dbs. So just exaclty what are you saying the Khorns are capable of? From the literature I've read they both appear to reach 121dbs. Thanks. Sensitivity, or even theoretical sensitivity (8 Fortes?), is not the most meaningful aspect of the K-Horn. Room interaction via the corner-loaded bass horn and eerily-accurate reproduction of instruments make this speaker stand above the rest of the Klipsch line. Not that the others don't sound great - I love my Fortes; there is just a realism to the Klipschorn that haunts my sonic memory, and will until I either own a pair,, or shuffle off this mortal coil...

Here'a another "chime-in" as someone who usually receives a blank stare when I mention my speaker brand preference... most people have heard of Blose and the usual suspects of Pioneer, etc... As for Klipchorns and its cousins in the Klipsch universe; I really have not heard anything to compare to them. The "real" sound to all instruments and vocalists, and the imaging and presence they provide have not been matched by other Klipsch speakers, and definitely by other brands. To my ears, at least...

Don't worry about the window, it is not optimum but should work. One of my corners has a window about 12" from the corner, looks odd from the view from the back porch as half the window is a view of the KHorn back. YMMV ...this window has a faux-marble sill that sticks out a couple of inches from the wall; hence, I would be concerned about (not) being able to seal that side of a Klipschorn to the wall. Not so concerned about the view, as this window is blacked-out for HT viewing.

If it's going to take Klipschorns to get this elusive sound, I am in for more work and struggle than I anticipated; I do not have good corners to work with (the one real corner of my front soundstage has a window on the side wall about 20" from the corner; the other side, instead of having a corner, opens into a hallway on the back wall, and has my front-door entry on the side). I have seen the "false wall" mod to K-Horns, but since my entry-way leads right into my left channel, I'm afraid it would be a little awkward for anyone coming in through the front door. Jubilee's? I think we're into financial territory that I, with a daughter about to go to college (and presumably get married sometime in the next several years) am likely unable to venture. The search continues...

A few years ago, I heard a pair of 50th anniversary Klipschorns (driven by an Aragon amp) at the local shop, and have been haunted by the sound ever since... I have owned Fortes for the past 20 years, and while sounding terrific, there was a realism to the material I was auditioning (specifically, the horns in the orchestra) that I have never heard with my Fortes, or with any other speaker. I have tossed around the notion of DIY-ing either LaScalas or Cornscalas for a quite a while, theorizing that it was the bigger midrange in the K-Horns that contributed to that sound, and am just curious as to whether there is a consensus as to what caused the orchestral horns to sound so real and live - if the K-Horn bass bin and room interaction was more a contributing factor, I would obviously be on the wrong track here... I have also discounted the Aragon amp as being the main factor in this listening experience - I have owned McCormack amps for several years, and do not feel the Aragon really has anything on McCormack, so to speak...

Best of luck... I am of the reverse orientation, being an audiophile first, but trying to become more adept at the DIY thing. (In the past two years, I have built a Sonosub and a traditional wood box sub - Baltic Birch). I have had the itch to build a LaScala or Corwall-LaScala Hybrid for a few years now, but am afraid my tools, skill level, and free time are not going to allow it yet...

djk, Thanks for the advice; I will give the acetone a try. (These speakers otherwise are working great; although I wonder if I might benefit from a crossover upgrade...)

My 20-year old Klipsch Fortes are still going strong; I am wondering if the passive radiators are due for replacement... when I press in on them, they stick a little bit when going back into place about a half inch from a resting position. I know Klipsch no longer provides replacement for these, and am curious as to whether or not these fairly inexpensive Daytons would fit the bill: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=295-496&source=googleps

I tried an RC3 center with my Fortes when I first expanded my home music system to HT, and it was horrible; I then tried a KLF-C7, wich sounded terrific in its own right, but still was not a good timbre match (although better than the Reference series). It wasn't until I nabbed an Academy that it all really came together; do not think that timbre-matching is unimportant. Film soundtracks that blend the mains with the center to produce a realistic soundstage require it. When your center is not matched to the mains, there is an obvious anomaly in the sound when listening to such material. The best match would, of course, be another Forte II, but that is usually not a realistic approach due to placement difficulties and the simple fact that most speakers are sold as pairs. I highly recommend against trying anything outside of the Forte-Quartet-Academy series for a center. For me, it was a waste of time and money, and I was not satisfied until I plugged in the Academy.