rn701

12 Klipschorns? Now you're just showing off. Heh.

That's a pretty good deal. I have Quartets and they rock. Don't know about the other speakers but the Quartets are probably worth almost that price by themselves. You should see if they have updated crossovers. If not, it's worth a look. Google Bob Crites. The package looks like a great surround setup for the money.

Read somewhere that it is a natural cherry, with no stain. Looks pretty nice!

Thanks y'all for all the great feedback and suggestions. A lot to chew on. Probably won't do anything right now and wait for some more detailed reviews.

Thanks. Yes, I always thought of the Quartets as the little brother/sister to the Forte. Because it was so long ago, don't remember how I settled on the Quartets to replace our Advents. The hi-fi store (remember those?) where we bought them may have had Forte. But I seem to recall that the Quartets sounded pretty good for what I could afford at the time. No regrets at all.

Thanks. Good points. The Mrs. would probably agree with the money part. But at the end of the day she'd just roll her eyes and be OK with whatever. I'm just looking for impressions on the sound quality differences. Voicing, imaging, "presence", "boxiness" and stuff like that. Specs (which I've compared) don't tell the whole story. I'm particurlarly curious about the midrange redesign, because, for me, that's where most of the music lives.

Heh. Will do. If, when...

Thanks. Good observation about price/performance v. other factors. I think I paid about $800 for the pair of Quartets sometime around 1992. That's about $1400 now, adjusted for inflation. Plus about $350 for the Crites updates, don't remember exactly. So looking at it that way, it's $1750 speakers v. $3600 speakers. Maybe a more fair comparison in my case. I was mainly interested in engineering and design advancements over the past 25 years, plus bigger/louder and slightly more efficient. Plus there's the coolness factor you mention. All that could be worth it, according to my rationalizations. Plus it seems like every extra inch of audio improvement seems to cost exponentially more. Just wondering, for people who have hard both, if it is an inch or a foot of improvement.

Thanks. Good points to ponder. The Chorus comparison is helpful.

Hello. I am lusting after a pair of Forte III. I have a pair of 25+ year old Quartets with Crites crossover and titanium tweeter updates. I love the "live concert" sound. I prefer a three-way design. They are in a medium/large open living room with carpet. Also have a sub. Use as front mains for 5.1 home theatre, but don't care about that. Mainly care about music playback. Amp is Denon X3300 AVR, source is FLAC files via PC and JRiver. Mostly rock, pop, motown, funk, horn bands, singer/songwriter, some country, occasional jazz. Main listening position is about 8 feet, speakers are about 8 feet apart and about 12" from the wall. Rarely play louder 85-90 dB as measured by a trusty Radio Shack spl meter, usually more moderate. My question is, will Forte IIIs deliver a $3600 improvement in sound? Klipsch and one other trusted dealer have 30 to 60 day complete satisfaction return policy with minor return shipping charges so auditioning would be feasible, but a hassle. It is very tempting, but having trouble justifying. On the other hand, it would probably be my last pair of speakers (old geezer). Anyone listened to both? What do you think?