Fido

I know you had been thru a lot of speakers before settling in on your JBLs and I’m sure those sound exceptional. It is awesome when you find a sound that draws you to listen to music and I know when I wake up and come downstairs the first thing I do is flip the switch on my amp. Can’t get enough of the joy music brings. I have enjoyed music my entire life even listening to my transistor radio as a young child. I still enjoy most of that music I grew up with. I do not know if I get more enjoyment from the music I love just because of the gear I own now. I have just learned that there was music I was not hearing on that am/fm radio with the tiny speaker in my handheld radio.

That should make those Forte IVs sound even more incredible. I read some reviews of the IVs and they all said they sound like crap with crap music and I’m guessing they don’t sound good with overly bright amplification or bottom end weakness. Feed them great tunes thru a nice analog or digital source and it’s extremely enjoyable.

Very nice review and introduction to the Alan Eaton brand. I wonder how these amps compare to Dennis Hadd hand built amps?

The Denefrips Dacs are R2R ladder dacs and they are very highly rated and my Pontus has changed the way I listen to music. I’m an analog vinyl person but the Pontus is so close to my analog sound it is a game changer. Takes the Node 2i to a higher level.

Yes the Node goes coax out to the Hermès DDC and the Hermès goes i2s to the Denefrips Pontus. The Hermès is a reclocker that sends a better signal to the DAC and the i2s from the Hermès is a better signal than the usb out of the Node. Hearing is believing.

Denefrips makes some great audio gear. My Hermès and Pontus with the node 2i has me listening at least 80/20 to streaming over my analog gear. I need to hear a terminator

How good does the terminator ii DAC sound? The Pontus sounds awesome but I’m always interested in getting the most out of my system and that terminator ii is probably a game changer.

It’s funny how we compare everything today as good, better, better still or the best and worst. All that matters to me is how much I like listening to the music on my equipment that is in my home. I could care less if anyone else likes my system. The IVs sound big and can play very live at low volumes and sound great to me cranked to louder levels than are safe to my ears or louder levels than I enjoy listening at.

I feel the same way. I have a couple of nice Turntables with good cartridges and a nice sounding Puffin phono preamp and an awesome sounding Denefrips Pontus DAC playing thru my Hermes DDC and Node 2. All of this is playing into my PL EVO 400i and the system synergy along with those Forte IVs is the best I have ever heard in someones home. Now my search is still on for new music or new to me music. The Forte IVs are very under rated IMHO. Especially on this forum where its mostly just macho men that think speakers need to be BIG the BIGGER the better no matter what size room you are in.

Several months ago I purchased a pair of beautiful Cherry Forte IVs to replace my 1986 Forte 1s I had inherited from my father. I also added a set of the lambswool grills and man oh man the combo is stunning. I power these with a Primaluna EVO 400 Integrated amp and to my ears the IVs are a major improvement over my upgraded Forte 1s. The number one thing I notice is the incredible sound stage. It is much larger in width and depth and vocals are much better centered. It makes me feel like the artists are playing live right in front of me in my living room. Bass is deep and very punchy, the midrange is fabulous and the highs are more accurate without being fatiguing. I love my system with the new Forte IVs as my mains. In my mind they are a major improvement and fill my home with incredible music. There isn’t a genre of music that I have heard that doesn’t sound freaking fantastic with the IVs.

I think that great audio sound comes from synergy. There are many great audio components and some sound better than others and some are more a miss than a bullseye. My Forte 1s have the Crites crossovers and Daves LMAHL tweeters and they sound good - I use them as my rear surround speakers now so I have listened critically to both of my pairs of Fortes in my same listening space. Yes the LMAHL Tweeters make the 1s sound better than the Crites Titanium mods or stock 1s. But... to my ears the IVs sound MUCH better to me than the 1s ever did. I would say images are much better centered and yet the soundstage seems much larger and much deeper than the 1s ever did. Bass is much improved - mostly mid bass as my sub digs way down low. The Mid range sounds magical to me. I think the crossover and mid horn and tweeter is just a better mix. I think Roy just got it right. I have never heard the Forte 2s so there might be much less difference between the 2s and IVs. I could not tell you. I am very glad I bought the IVs and I keep building my system one item at a time to get the most out of the music I can. The synergy of my Primaluna integrated amp and my turntables and my Denefrips Pontus and my new Hermes reclocker - are any of these things required??? NO!!!! I surely like when the synergy gets better whenever I can afford to do what to my ears is an upgrade. If it doesn't add to the synergy I sell that component and move on. Enjoy your Forte 2s awith those beautiful LMAHL machined Tweeters.

Don’t forget that your and Dave A are the guys behind the conversion of stock Heresys to Super Heresys that also use Dave As SMAHLs tweeters and Super Heresys are a major upgrade over stock Heresys.

I installed Dave As LMAHL tweeters in my Forte 1s and I think they sound much better than the original Klipsch tweeters even with the change to the titanium upgraded diaphragms from Crites. I put some l pads together for the lmahl tweeters but I think they sounded perfect in my listening space without the LPADS. btw - I also have Forte IVs and I think they sound much better than the Forte 1s even with the 1s new crites crossovers and Dave As lmahls

It is a reclocker and I think a lot probably has to do with the i2s interconnect --- but no matter what it actually does or the i2s cable does It appears to make a significant difference in the way my system sounds from my Node 2i to my Pontus to my PL - Bass is better and the clarity appears much better without the sheen or glare I can't stand to listen to. I was surprised how good it sounds with the addition of the Hermes.

Adding dynamat to the woofer baskets and the inside and outside of your horns helps but massive well placed bracing in every heritage cabinet and then placing them on high rise stands are required to even listen without fatigue.

I just picked up a Denefrips Hermès DDC connected with a i2s cable to my Denefrips Pontus DAC. I am getting files from my Node 2i. I have never heard a digital music stream sound as close to analog with such great separation of voices and instruments. Bass is deep an clean and midrange very clean and rich. Anyone else her with experience using a DDC in their systems?

I updated my crossovers and installed Dave As Lmahl tweeters and my Forte 1s sound pretty damned good but my Forte IVs sound much better to my ears in my setup.

Seinfeld

You are full of useless trivia in the talking about tubes section today my friend!!! LOL

How much are you asking for this?

I replaced my 8 el 34s last year with kt150s and it was a dramatic change for the better for my ears with my PL evo 400. I recently replaced my Forte 1s with Forte IVs and i am extremely happy with how my system synergy sounds now.

I love the Gold Coast and always enjoy my time Down Under

Surfed many right point breaks on the Gold Coast back in the early 80s- tweeds, coolangata, burliegh etc

That’s so cool those traveling surf movies were the best of times back in the 70s

I love so much different music but my most rare favorite album Is "Goin Surfing" from Bud Brownes surf classic of the same name. You bought that album at the local civic auditorium the movie was playing at and a few local record stores might have carried it. I paid $50 for it online from Australia, then found I had it already in a stash of old vinyl and then found an even better at a local garage sale for $4 about a year ago. I loved that movie and that album brings me right back to my surfing days