B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Last night one of my Klipsch Forte IIspeakers caught fire. Although I have not inspected the interior (I amnot an electrician), it appears to have been caused by a short in thewoofer as the 2 horns appear to be fine. Although the speakers wereused exclusively indoors, the fire was extinguished outside with waterand not connected to anything else as I was able to get the speakeroutside quickly and extinguish it outside. There is novisible damage to the sides or rear of the cabinet. The passiveradiator has a tear in it from this. There is likely water damagethroughout the speaker from extinguishing the fire. What if any remedies do I have? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Wow... Sorry for your lost. I would open it up and take all the speakers out and see what kind of interior damage is done. This will also help dry it out and see if it just a total loss. Also post some pictures if you can. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
convicted21 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Yeah I would love too see pictures also, that really stinks by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 I don't have a place to host pictures. Is there a place on this forum to host pictures? I'm still waiting to hear back from Klipsch and a local dealer on what, if anything, I can do to fix the speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 You can upload a single picture per post here. Just make sure it isn't larger then 800 on the longest side and follow these instructions. When you reply to a message at the top click on the "Options" tab. Click the "Upload/Add" button. Browse your computer for the picture then scroll to the right and click the "Save" button. After that just hit the "Post" button and it should load. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Here is the entire speaker from the front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 A close up of the damage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I would really get that speaker open so the inside can start to dry out, and get any water that is in there out. That can be the end of the speaker from just the water damage alone. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 I've never opened the speaker. Is there anything special I need to do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Use a screwdriver . The woofer is gone so I would start there . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 As Sunburn mentioned, take out the woofer and possibly the passive. All you need is a screwdriver and don't lose the screws. Next if you have a shop-vac get all the water out and try to dry out as best as possible. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Sorry for your loss! Next time don't listen so loud! [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 This is amazing! I never would have beleived a woofer would catch fire! Please tell me when and how the fire started. Were you playing something extemely loud? That is hard to beleive! What amp do you have? The only way I could think of that this could happen is if an output capacitor sudenly shorted dumping the amp power supply right into the speaker. It would have to be a solid-state amp with no output transformer. HAVE YOUR AMP CHECKED BEFORE YOU EVERY TRY USING IT AGAIN! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 BLOODY HELL MAN!!!!That is surreal. Sorry about the forte. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 The speaker would occasionally make some sounds, but that didn't seem to last long. Then it started to get worse, so I turned off the amp. When turned back on, the problem would go away. Well, it got even worse and I left it off for 2 days. I turned it on last night while we were moving some things around the house. It seemed OK for 20 minutes. I heard a pop, stepped into the hallway and saw smoke. I ran to the speaker and saw a flame coming from the front of the woofer. Not having an extinguisher and seeing that the flame wasn't spreading quickly, I detached the speaker wire and carried the speaker outside. I doused it with water and let it cool off for a few minutes. Since it rained while the speaker was outside, it is likely that there is more damage inside that just to the woofer. I don't trust myself in doing the work, so I'm bringing the speaker to a shop in Indianapolis that repairs Klipsch speakers. The setup is a pair of Forte II's each hooked up to an Adcom GFA-565 amp. Nothing was playing on the sound system when this happened. The rest of the speakers and amps are: Academy Center speaker hooked up to the bridged portion of an Adcom GFA 2535 amp Pair of KG 0.5 speakers for the rear hooked up to an Adcom GFA 535 amp Pair of KG 0.5 speaker for the front effect speakers hooked up to the non-bridged portion of the GFA-2535 Yamaha DSP A1 integrated amp - why could they make this thing with no amplifiers 12" Velodyne subwoofer Before I found that shop, I was looking for replacements. I thought of some new models, but then checked eBay. There are no Forte II's on eBay, but I did come acorss what looks like a nice pair of LaScala's (the first one) for $1,500 (including shipping). I sent the seller some questions as I'm not 100% sure these are in good condition or if they aren't just a homemade box with the Klipsch parts put into it. I also found a pair of LaScala's near Chicago and wrote the seller for that too. I would link to that ad, but it seems to have been taken off of the website in the last hour. Although I intend to repair the fire damaged Forte II, it is tempting to buy the pair of LaScala's of $1,500 and then move the Forte II's to the rear. If I had to do it over again, I would have brought the equipment in for the problem sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 This is pretty interesting. Apparently your amp has a reputation for burning up speakers. I did a search on your amp and read some reviews. There were several cautions about not matching that amp with sensitive speakers because of the high current output. I read two additional reviews where fires were caused exactly like yours. First noise, then woofer fire. I have attempted to post one. http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/amplifiers/adcom/gfa-565/PRD_115539_1583crx.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesV Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Yea that really sucks... Then to hear that Mark found out this has happened before, it would be time to get something to power them. If you are looking for Scala's take a look in the "Garage" area as Sky Hits is selling his and he is in Chicago. Good luck, do keep us informed as to what happened and how the fix goes. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Here's another fire (Khorn) caused by your amp. http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=8852 This is apparently a well documented problem. If you spend 30 minutes reading on the net you can find all kinds of info on the problems the GFA-565 has had. I would put those out in the rain. They are dangerous junk. By the way from what I read, if I understand it correctly I think ALK is right about what causes it, and that the problem was the amp all along.......not the speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 class action lawsuit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.G. Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Well that's not going to be good if the problem is the GFA-565's. Sure I can get the speaker repaired, but having to get a new amp is not going to be fun. Maybe I'll just switch back to the GFA-555II that I had before I got the pair of GFA-565's. Hopefully there isn't a problem with the GFA-555II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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