MiguelATF

I've got the Forte II's now. About 10 feet apart, maybe a foot out from the wall. I've tried various positions - angling in slightly, straight ahead - and, interestingly, the sound/s vary from where one is sitting in the room, vis a vis the speakers. But, to make a long story short, they are phenomenal speakers. I honestly thought it would be difficult to improve on my faithful old (large original) Advents - but the Forte II's are definitely clearer and bring out much more in mid range and higher registers, than the Advents do/did. Interestingly enough, the one are where the Forte II's do not beat the Advents - and, arguably, may be slightly inferior to them - is in low frequency and bass notes. Though the advents only have a 10" woofer (which looks more like an 8"), their bass responses are shockingly powerful, rich and 'warm'; the Forte, by contrast, seems a little 'clipped' and harsh. Both are excellent speakers, however; and I'm very pleased so far with the Forte II's.

I'm running Forte II's with a late 70's Luxman SS Receiver - conservatively rated at 50 wpc - the Luxman has a much 'warmer' tone than many newer SS's, but having said that, the Forte II's perform splendidly with it: clear rich crisp sound, beautiful definition. The only defect may be that the bass end, though strong, is a little on the sharp side....it's possible tubes may do better here. Moral of the story: with a good (older, powerful and 'warm') SS amp/receiver.... they should do well.

I'm on the verge (knock) on wood of purchasing a pair of original Forte speakers. The room/space they are going into is roughly 12 x 12 - it's sort of a sitting room in an old farmhouse - but it actually opens out into a second, equal-sized old living room. Due to constraints, the speakers need to be positioned very close to - if not right next to - the old wood-paneled walls in this farmhouse.... The Fortes, in addition to their horns (treble & midrange) and cone woofer, in the FRONT - also have a "passive radiator" (looks just like another 12" woofer - which is in the BACK of the speaker. So, question number one is: how much space has to be in between the speakers and the wall behind them ... for the passive radiator feature to work? What would be 'optimal'? What would be 'acceptable'? Will I be in big trouble if I position these speakers close to (say within 6-8 inches of) the wall behind them? I'd appreciate any and all thoughts on this. Thanx!!! -- Miguel