CWelsh

I'm intrigued by what appear to be custom made bases to elevate the K-horns. They look to be beautifully matched. Really enjoyed all of these pictures.

Yes, I sent him a message a few days ago, but no response.

Last time I talked to him was in mid-December and he said he was having some health issues. It looks like the last time he was active on the forum was mid-January. Just wondered if anyone has talked to him more recently.

Puts a positive spin on hearing loss, doesn't it?

I'm curious to know how you are balancing the SPLs? Does your method allow you to switch quickly enough between A & B to pick up differences that might be lost if too much time passes between?

Same guy posted as being from Des Moines last week and the location associated with the ad would have been about 20 minutes from me. Several years ago, I had a work colleague who bragged to me about how he had sold his one year old Mercedes G-Wagon to some Saudi prince for $20K more than he had paid for it new. I tried to gently tell him it was a scam, but he assured me he knew what he was doing. He didn't, and lost a car worth more than $100K. Never wanted to talk about it afterward.

Sent from which ad? 🤣

Send me the money, I will go pick them up for you 😃

I think you're on to something! When I get home from vacation, I'm going to try this myself.

Hey, neighbor, I'm in West Des Moines! The only Klipsch dealer I'm aware of in the state is Hawkeye Audio. I bought mine from their Cedar Falls store, but they also are in Iowa City. Worth the pilgrimage. And, you're welcome to come listen to my Fortes some time.

I'm using Forte IIIs powered by a single Pass designed ACA (8 wpc) in a room that is approximately 6,000 cubic feet. And, my room does not lend itself to optimal placement or either speakers or listening position. I do not listen at particularly loud levels, and feel the Forte provides more than enough. Even with the low powered ACA I can drive the speakers to what I consider extremely loud. My back of my speakers are about 12" from the from the wall and I find the bass very satisfying. I still want to play more with positioning, but it is pretty good as it is.

What are you using to power yours? How is their efficiency?

Seems that I see a lot of people insisting that most Klipsch models need subs as well.

My listening room is similar in size to yours. I was originally interested in the Heresy, but was encouraged by the dealer to consider either the Cornwall or Forte (both version III) and ended up buying the Forte. For my tastes, the Forte III had a slight edge over the Cornwall. My brother-in-law, who was with me while I auditioned both, went back later and bought a pair of Cornwall IVs. I have not heard his yet, but I can tell you I love my Forte IIIs and the IVs are supposed to be a huge step up. I'm powering mine with a Nelson Pass designed Amp Camp Amp which is 8 wpc Class A, and it sounds great. I would encourage you to audition both the Cornwall and Forte. Either way, I think you will be happy.

I attended AXPONA 2023 and the speakers that impressed me the most were an open baffle design from Pure Audio Project. There were other speakers that sounded better, but not at the price point. I would love to hear a pair in my own listening space to see if I'm as impressed. In case you're interested in DIY options, here is a link I found interesting. https://abxaudiophiles.org/abx-baffles

Congratulations! Those look exactly like my Forte IIIs and I have the upgrade kits on my radar. I'm glad to hear you like the sound so much. I don't have the ideal set up in my listening space and I still want to do a little tinkering with placement, but I'm still thrilled with mine.

Yes, it will be interesting to see how the new models are received.

They are combining the skeletonized braces with domestically sourced, sustainable tone woods. I wonder if the domestic tonewoods are heavier, needing reduced weight bracing.

I did respond to Shakey in a DM because I felt like I was hijacking the thread, but I think you are correct. I set the Node to Fixed Volume (full output level) and have been using the Marantz volume control and I do think it sounds better. The only issue is the lack of a remote, so I have to drag my old man butt out of the recliner every time I need to adjust the volume, but I just tell myself it is exercise. Of course, now I'm looking for a motorized volume control unit I can include in the preamp/control center I think I want to build.

Sorry, @Flevoman, I feel like I'm stealing your thread.

The Marantz is an integrated from 1974, so no remote. The Node feeds into the Aux input on the Marantz which I am using only as a preamp (Marantz Preamp-Out outputs to ACA). The volume control on the Marantz definitely affects the output volume of the system, as does the volume setting of the Node. I don't know how I could do it any other way than daisy chaining.

I may be misreading what you're saying, so please bear with me while I try to get this clear. When I see the word attenuate, I understand that to mean reducing. So, are you saying that reducing the volume using the Node volume control means that I am throwing away bits, or am I reading this backwards? What I feel gives the most articulate sound is to have the volume control on the Marantz set at about a 3:00 o'clock position (around 85%), then use the volume control on the Node to set the loudness. Most of the time, that means the volume level on the Node app is in the bottom 25% of the overall range. I will say, pushed beyond that it does seem to sound more detailed, but it is at a less comfortable dB level for me. However, if I reduce the volume setting on the Marantz and increase the level on the Node, it starts sounding a bit muddy overall. Is this where you think a passive preamp would be the better option?

Beautiful! I love the minimalist look. Reminds me of @henry4841's Little Sweetie projects. In my initial comment I should have added, one of the things I'm looking for in preamp, whether active or passive, is switching for multiple inputs. The Marantz does that for me and includes a pretty decent phono stage, but I still wonder if I could do better.

You have no idea of the problems this post has created for me. I've been happy as the proverbial clam with my Forte IIIs and you've given me a severe case of FOMO! Time to start saving my pennies, I guess. 😉

Congratulations on the new monoblocks! I will be interested to hear what you think of them. I've been trying to research this same question for some of the additions I hope to make in the future. What I've read suggests that devices like CD players and streamers should have enough output voltage to drive an amplifier without an additional gain stage. However, a passive preamp might be beneficial for impedance matching. I know there are others who have far more knowledge than me, so I hope they will chime in and correct me if I am wrong. Currently, I am using the preamp section of my Marantz 1060 between my Bluesound Node streamer and my ACA. I tried going direct from the Node to the ACA and it works, but the addition of the preamp seems to make a huge difference. I keep trying to dig for specs that will explain why, but I haven't been able to find anything so far...at least not that I can understand.