[New Forte lll owner, new member]

First of all he said he purchased Forte III’s NOT II’s , big difference in sound 

[La Scala ii or Cornwall IV]

28 minutes ago, Marvel said:

 

Actually, they were originals. Used a Crown XLi800. It didn't even get warm.

 

Had over a hundred people in the room, it was packed, but they still found room to dance.

 

My room at home is about 480 sqft, with 10 ft ceilings.

As mentioned my room is 360 square feet with 12’ foot ceilings and my Forte III’s barely have the room required to give me 100% of their capability!! Cornwalls & La Scalas wouldn’t sound to my satisfaction!! That room for your event was 1,000 square feet and you said they sounded great so how can being seated 10 feet away from them sound good? 

[La Scala ii or Cornwall IV]

29 minutes ago, Marvel said:

Nah, 10 feet would be fine, and I've been closer than that.

My room is 360 square feet and I wouldn’t get out of the La Scalas are capable of. 

 

31 minutes ago, Marvel said:

Nah, 10 feet would be fine, and I've been closer than that.

BMorans room is only 400 square feet - 40 square feet more than my room!! He needs to put his system length wise and then the sound gets to him close to 100 % 

[La Scala ii or Cornwall IV]

55 minutes ago, Marvel said:

I used my LS (not the IIs) for a part at our convention center, a room that was 49x37 with 20 ft ceilings. They rocked the place and I had lots of compliments. No subs... want to take my MWM cabinets, but we had actually downsized the room. 

 

They are also incredible for soft music, too. Orchestral? Close your eyes and you are in the concert hall.

Now you’re talking 

That square footage of a room allowed the LS II’s to breathe 

[La Scala ii or Cornwall IV]

12 minutes ago, Marvel said:

Nah, 10 feet would be fine, and I've been closer than that.

At 10’ you're not going to hear and enjoy those speakers to their fullest potential , not even close , pun intended , Lol 😂 

[La Scala ii or Cornwall IV]

12 minutes ago, Brian Tambe said:

I understand the room is big , however , the distance from your chairs to your current front main speakers doesn’t look like a lot of distance!! How many feet will you be seated from the La Scala II’s? You NEED distance!! The farther back from them the better they sound!! I’m saying at least 15 feet away from your listening seated position. Beautiful room BTW but it looks like it gets its size and square footage by the length of the room Versus width 

I have just a cheap $4,000 pair of Forte III’s LOL 😂 and the sweet spot in my Great Room is 17’ - 18’ away from them!! The bass without a sub hits me right in the chest and mids are wonderful and the top end is awesome!! Klipsch speakers All need distance from them. If you’re too close you will think you purchased a crappy pair of speakers!! Just trying to help!! 

[La Scala ii or Cornwall IV]

2 hours ago, bmoran said:

 

On my bucket list too.  I'm picking them up tomorrow...fingers crossed!  Thanks for everyone's responses.  I'll post some pics once they're home.

I understand the room is big , however , the distance from your chairs to your current front main speakers doesn’t look like a lot of distance!! How many feet will you be seated from the La Scala II’s? You NEED distance!! The farther back from them the better they sound!! I’m saying at least 15 feet away from your listening seated position. Beautiful room BTW but it looks like it gets its size and square footage by the length of the room Versus width 

[What genre of music is your absolute favorite]

1 hour ago, Fido said:

My favorite Rippingtons album was Kilimanjaro - that sounds fantastic on both of the systems I have in my house!!! I had forgotten all about them somehow.I just downloaded a bunch of their albums all recoded at amazing hight levels - Getting ready to go downstairs and fire up my Primaluna and my Forte IVs and see how it sounds down there in my main listening room - yeehaw

 

But my favorite genre has to be classic rock although I like music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and a lot from 2000 on along with Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Rihana, Taio Cruz, Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, The Chicks etc - 

I have Kilimanjaro , Weekend in Monaco , Curves Ahead , 20th Anniversary and their Greatest Hits!! I really enjoy classic 70’s Rock 

Fleetwood Mac , America , Elton John , Little River Band ,  just to name a few!! My 2 daughters and my son-in-laws have me enjoying some Country!! Music 🎶 is therapeutic for me sometimes and can make a bad day good at the sound of the first beat..Hope you’re enjoying The Rippingtons on your Forte IV’s!! My Forte III’s sound incredible and I have them positioned so well that the low frequency bass extension fools me  sometimes into thinking that the Subwoofer is on. I would like to find some speaker stands to get them raised to where the tweeter and midrange are reaching me at ear level while seated in my favorite chair for comfortable long term listening!! Have a good night!!

[What genre of music is your absolute favorite]

6 hours ago, MeloManiac said:

 

One thing I have learned over the years is to look at the record labels (and sometimes even the sound technician) in the album notes/details. For jazz music, for instance,  there are some labels that offer consistently a great quality catalogue of recordings: Riverside, Bluenote, Verve. For modern classical, ecm records is an example. For pop there's Chrysalis records etc. If these sound bad, there's something wrong with your sound system...

Thank you for sharing the suggestion to check the record label. You are spot on 💯 % correct 

[What genre of music is your absolute favorite]

11 hours ago, ODS123 said:

Everything from The Sonics to Pete Seeger to Nina Simone... 

 

I'm looking forward to checking out The Rippingtons...  Will give them a listen later today.

Please comment on this thread your opinion of “ The Rippingtons “ 

[What genre of music is your absolute favorite]

16 hours ago, MeloManiac said:

Any genre will do, on the condition it is well recorded... 

Amen to the comment “ On the condition it is well recorded “ I have / had some CD’s that I gave away due to bad recording. The recording engineer should be hung by his b...s example: I purchased Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits CD and put it in the Denon CD Changer and I said “ Oh NO , I hope every song on here doesn’t sound this  bad “ but of course it did and that was listening through Klipsch KG4’s!! I’ll be looking through my collection ( I don’t have enough to really call it a collection ) and I’ll pull out a CD that I haven’t listened to in a while and will be reminded that , although bearable , it still sounds far less desirable than my typical GO Too’s that are outstanding recordings!! The CD I used the photo of the cover for this post “ Curves Ahead “ by The Rippingtons  is a 1991 release that was extremely well recorded and that’s 30 years ago!! Virtually ALL of my vinyl sounds good and some of them go as far back as the 60’s and sound phenomenal!! Us Klipsch Fans are well aware that bad recordings sound like an am radio in a VW Bug and then good recordings just make your ears smile!! Thanks for replying to this post and thanks for reading this long comment!! Happy Listening 

[What genre of music is your absolute favorite]

Hey guys , I thought I would post something that might inform us of what is the  most popular  genre of music 🎼 that us Klipsch Loudspeaker fanatics crave and enjoy the most!! Mine is smooth jazz , aka jazz fusion , aka contemporary modern jazz. An example is the group I posted a CD of theirs released here in the US in August of 1991. OMG do these guys sound incredible on my FORTE III’S. I listen in 2-channel ( of course ) and  you’d swear the sub is on , however , it is NOT!! It still amazes me how much fabulous sound comes out of these Loudspeaker cabinets!! The way the mid-range disperses sound you’d swear there are rears playing but they are Not. What’s your favorite groove?

[Forte III Upgrade??]

Hello my fellow KLIPSCH friends , I have a huge favor to ask!! Would someone PLEASE post a thread when and IF there is going to be an upgrade for the Forte III to have the new improvements that the Forte IV has?? I’m really hoping the new phase plug for the tweeter , the polyimide diaphragm for the midrange and the new crossover will be available for the F3 because from what I’ve been reading , the F4 is far superior to the F3. Someone even made the comment that the gap between the Forte IV and Cornwall IV is very narrow and that makes me salivate!! Thanks Guys!!

[New Speakers - Klipsch Forte III or IV ok for room size shape?]

1 hour ago, Paducah Home Theater said:

 

I've had Forte III's sustaining 110 db with only a 45 watt half sized Marantz receiver, playing bass boosted Eminem.  So yeah they thump.  But the Eminem songs I was playing was pretty low, most of his stuff is low 30 hz, Killshot for example is 27 hz.  The problem is that passive radiators work like ports, and if we consider what ports do, well they stop doing much of anything once you get to an octave above the tuning frequency.  I suspect that by the time you get to about 70 hz they're just not doing much.  That's not to say that they don't produce bass or that they can't thump but rock music in particularly with the kick drums is all about the punchy 60-80 hz area and I'm just saying that I don't think the radiator is doing quite as much as people think it is once you get up that high.  Even without a rear firing radiator you still ideally need a wall behind you for it to sound punchy though.  It's not ideal either way.  

Well now that you have explained in more detail what you meant regarding the passive not doing much I agree 100% Frequency levels are crucial when achieving levels of sound , in this case , BASS frequency! When I set up my Forte III’s in my listening room I was having somewhat of a difficult time getting my sub to produce a nice low frequency sound!! I’ve learned a lot since then ( 1 yr 3 months ) ago and had the frequency set too high and zero bass - low frequency output and then remembered the term “ roll off “ and turned the frequency knob on my KLIPSCH R-120SW down to around 48hz and there it was , nice deep “ NOT BOOMY “ smooth low frequency. The higher the frequency setting doesn’t mean more bass!! Then I set the “ Gain “ where it delivered the sound I wanted and whoola..

I ONLY use my sub for movies , Home Theatre , and when listening to some of my vinyl. The low frequency isn’t there on the Forte III’s when listening to some of my LP’s and so I set my AVR to stereo and that setting allows the sub to come on and it sounds good. My previous speakers were KG4’s and they needed the sub for everything I listened to CD , vinyl or cassette. After getting the Forte III’s I purchased a new AVR - Denon X4500H. I now stream Pandora and don’t need the sub with the Forte III’s , only when listening to certain vinyl. I packaged up my cassette deck in its original packaging and put it away for good. 

[New Speakers - Klipsch Forte III or IV ok for room size shape?]

Yes and add the KLIPSCH R-120SW Sub and you will be set!! Kick back and listen to the sound Kick *** 

[New Speakers - Klipsch Forte III or IV ok for room size shape?]

On 2/22/2021 at 11:16 AM, Paducah Home Theater said:

it would work but you're obviously not going to get the same lower bass from that radiator as you would with it being 8" from a wall.  Most of your "feel it in the solar plexus" rock bass is higher than most people imagine though, I've heard it's centered at 63 hz which is what concert engineers boost.  Not entirely sure the radiator is doing a heck of a lot in that region, pretty sure it's tuned to almost an octave lower.  

I have the Forte III’s and I’ll give my testimony to the bass produced by the rear passive radiator. I have mine 8” from the rear wall and listening to music that I’ve had for years when listened to on the Forte III’s I thought my KLIPSCH R-120 SW Subwoofer was on!! Holy cow!  My AVR has Direct and Pure direct mode and while in this mode the sub will not be allowed to come on and still swore it was on , that’s how phenomenal the low frequency is with the combination of the 12” Active woofer and that woofer moves enough air to make the passive move and bounce off the rear wall and BAM , smooth deep rich clean bass. Yes , the rear passive is important and makes the Forte ROCK!! 

[Klipsch Speakers You Currently Own or Owned and Usage]

Had: KG4’s ( purchased brand new in 88’ ) SOLD $400 November 19’

Have: Forte III’s purchased new for $2,400 -$400 ( for sold KG4) =$2,000 out of pocket for new Forte III’s in American Walnut!! Love them!! 

[new Forte 4's]

On 2/6/2021 at 8:39 AM, Retrograde said:

I hear where you're coming from Darkscience 😀

OMG 😱 I second that. I purchased my Forte III’s in November 2019 based on the hype of the re-release of Klipsch’s Best selling speaker EVER the Forte III 22 years after they were discontinued. I thought I was DONE as well. I love my F3’s and can’t stand the fact that barely 3 years after the F3’s release Klipsch releases the IV. The Cornwall III was released in 2006 and it wasn’t until 2019 ( 13 years ) later that they released a new and improved Cornwall IV so WHY so soon with our Forte III’s? From what I’ve read , the main upgrade is in the midrange using a Polyimide diaphragm instead of the Titanium in the Forte III. The Polyimide material is plastic and from what I can tell it is VERY similar to the phenolic that so many Klipsch lovers like myself were swayed away from to go with Titanium instead due to less harshness and more detail and clarity so What The F..K man?? I’m very frustrated!! Thank God I only paid $2,400 shipping included for my III’s , they were floor demos with approximately 100 hours on them in perfect condition and sold to me as Brand new , serial numbers matching in their original packaging with the full 5 year warranty that now is a 10 year warranty!! 

[Lets see YOUR Home Theater:]

 Hello fellow Klipsch members: Thought I would post my system: 

Klipsch Forte III’s ( American Walnut Finish )  - mains 

Klipsch RP-500C - Center

Klipsch R-120SW - Sub

Bowers & Wilkins Monitor Series - Rear Surrounds ( top photo ) 

Denon AVR X4500H 

LG OLED55C7P TV 

LG UP970 Blue Ray Player

Denon DCM-360 5 disc  CD Changer 

Technics SL-D 303 Turntable with Audio Technica VM740ML Cartridge!! All speakers including sub are professionally wired from AVR under the house and up through floor where each speaker is positioned and the B&W rear surrounds are wired from AVR up into attic and fished through the wall to flush plug in. No wires are visible. All speakers except sub are connected via Nakamichi banana plugs and also banana plugged into AVR!! I Love these Nakamichi banana plugs with dual screws for secure fitting. I purchased everything in this system brand new and have taken extreme pride and care of each individual piece of equipment!! I think it’s worth noting that AVR’s tend to run rather warm due to all the individual amplifiers for each channel. The Denon line especially run warm so it’s vitally important to position your AVR or Integrated Amp so it can get plenty of air circulation to help stay as cool as possible. Heat will shorten the life of your equipment. I even got a cordless fan ( D size battery operated ) and positioned it behind my AVR to increase air flow and keep the receiver as cool as possible. Thanks for reading and allowing me to share!! P.S. My listening room ( Great Room ) has a 12’ high ceiling and the room is big  so the sound is incredible!! The Bowers and Wilkins play all the way down to 50 Hz which is very low for such a small cabinet. They are rated at 91dB sensitivity so they blend in really well with the rest of my Klipsch speakers.  Power handling of 150 watts @ 8 ohms. I chose them due to their sound , efficiency, etc. and their quite unique ability to be flush mounted to the wall in a corner with 3 sturdy legs to mount firmly and the speaker is adjustable on a pivotal ball to angle just right.