Forte ll ready to mod

[jbird21]

Ok, I just picked a nice pair of Forte ll's specifically to upgrade. (I own a pair already am not brave enough to mess w/them)

$305 off ebay, 470mi round trip, as I've read that the journey is part of the process[]

I've been reading the forums & have seen posts about upgrading the x-overs & replacing the tweeter diaphrams.

but now I realize "new" x-overs are more $$ than I thought.

I read one post where it said $113ish to do this, that must mean that he did all of the rebuilding himself?

please point me in the right direction.

from Crites...this seems like something I can do myself, I'm just not sure of rebuilding x-overs myself

Diaphragms for Klipsch Tweeters for Heresy II, Forte, Forte II,
Quartet, Chorus, Chorus II, KLF Series, KG Series and Cornwall II.
Shipping is $6.00 for a pair of these diaphragms in the US.

Standard Poly Diaphragms: $44.00 PER PAIR ---- IN STOCK

Titanium Diaphragms: $52.00 PER PAIR ---- IN STOCK

KLIPSCH FORTE II

REBUILD KIT FOR THE KLIPSCH TYPE FORTE II CROSSOVERS: $55.00

anyway thanks in advance for anticipated help...

jay

PS: I'm in north central MA & the homebrew will on me for any volunteers...

[popbumper]

Hi Jbird:

Sent you an email. Would be happy to help explain things to you, just ask. I am not sure what you need here, but if you write, I can probably help you out.

Chris

[wuzzzer]

I'd do the Ti diaphrams first. Cheaper and much easier than messing with the networks. For me the new diaphragms made a much more noticeable difference than replacing the networks did.

[jbird21]

I guess I just need to talked down from the ledge [*-)]

[aj01]

For me - tweeters smoothed out the highs, replacing the crossover made the mids a little more clear (most noticeable on percussion coming out of the mid). What do you want to improve the most?

[jbird21]

thanks for the responses so far

I don't really have an issue at all, I've just got upgrade-itis, & while researching in the forums for a center channel to match my forte ll's (I bought an Academy for that)

I started reading how much everyone loved them, which made me feel very good to have bought them "way back when"

I also started to read about how folks were saying that, "If you like these speakers out of the box, you gotta hear them after upgrading"

so here we are, I bought another pair to play with & compare to my originals when done.

I like the suggestion of doing the tweeters & having a listen & see how it goes

[rhing]

You might have referred to one of my posts where I spent $113 including shipping for the tweeter diaphragm upgrade and crossover repair kits from Bob Crites. I installed the tweeter diaphragms and the new capacitors in my Forte II crossovers. For me, performing these upgrades was easy. If you don't feel comfortable doing them yourself, then you should seek assistance from someone who is more experienced and capable.

For me, both upgrades have been great. The highs are so sweet and detailed now. I never found the stock tweeters to be harsh or sibilant, but the treble has improved definition with the Titanium tweeter diaphragms. I really noticed this most with cymbals brushwork on jazz CDs. I was more concerned about performing that upgrade than soldering in new capacitors in the crossover, because I thought the diaphragms and compression driver might be too delicate to handle. Bob's Web site was so easy to follow, it only took me 10 minutes to swap out the old Phenolic diaphragms and put in the new ones.

I decided to purchase Bob's crossover repair kits rather than purchase the capacitors on my own. I have experience with the Sonicap film capacitors, and they're highly regarded for use in crossover networks. I figure any money I would save purchasing the capacitors myself would have been eaten up by additional shipping costs. I recommend Bob's crossover repair kits, because the three stock film capacitors in each crossover network are okay, but not great. I usually see those capacitors in surplus electronics stores selling for $0.10 a piece. Sonicaps are much better, reasonably priced and purpose-made for audio applications. The stock electrolytic non-polar caps definitely need replacement, A typical lifetime for electrolytic capacitors is 10-15 years. After time, the electrolyte fluid in the capacitor dries out and the capacitor is no longer operating at its rated capacitance. In the Forte II speakers, this can compromise the bass performance. Considering that the Forte IIs were last manufactured in 1996, it's probably time for a lot of Forte and Forte II owners to consider replacing those electrolytic capacitors.

As I have found in upgrading capacitors in any audio electronics application, the upgrades took some time to burn-in. Some people may challenge me on component burn-in, and that's okay. After some time, I am treated to more articulate and deeper bass. The overall presentation is more coherent and the imaging is even more three dimensional than before. I hear more timbral information and detail, but in a more musical and less analytical sense. If anything, Bob Crites has a winner here, because his kits refine speakers that we already love rather than completely changing them.

Performing the crossover repair kit installation takes some planning if one intends to use the stock PCBs. The stock PCB basically has a similar footprint to the binding post connector plate on which it is mounted. The Sonicaps are considerably larger than the stock film caps, so I had to place one of the Sonicaps "piggyback" over another cap. I used 18 AWG Teflon tubing to insulate the extended length of the leads of the capacitor sitting on top. The same applies to placing one of the two electrolytic capacitors "piggyback" on the other. Again, I used Teflon tubing to insulate the exposed leads. I also wrapped each electrolytic capacitor with Teflon plumbers tape to minimize any vibrations between the metal capacitor bodies. These capacitors are axially-leaded rather than radially-leaded like the stock electrolytic capacitors, so you have to work in a tightly confined area to fit these leads into the PCB thru-holes. The PCB doesn't incorporate any thermal pads, so de-soldering the old components can require a lot of work. I recommend using a soldering iron with at least 40 watts and a good solder sucking tool. I am leaving the original wiring and connectors in place for now, unless someone tells me that upgrading the hook-up wire makes a big difference. After going through the upgrade process, I can understand why Bob's crossovers are mounted on more spacious pieces of wood.

In addition to the crossover capacitor upgrades, I replaced the stock binding posts with some Pomona Electronics 3770-x Gold-plated Tellurium Copper binding posts. These are much nicer than the stock binding posts and make better contact with the Multi-Contact LS4 banana plugs on my speaker cables. In fact, these are probably better than a lot of the boutique audio binding posts that sell for much more. I also purchased some 16 AWG speaker wire with the slip-on connectors from Bob Crites to replace the stock wire.

[jbird21]

I was & thanks for your reply, I definitely feel the crossover rebuild is beyond my skills, but will do the tweeter diaphragms

[BE36]

I never made any mods to my Forte IIs but the best thing I did for them was purchase a McIntosh Preamp. I actually purchased the preamp after I have been listening to my La Scalas for several months. Someone who wanted to buy the Forte IIs wanted a demo so I pluged them in I was very surprised on how close they came to the La Scalas. When I had lower quality gear the La Scalas made a huge difference much less bright. But when using better/warmer amps the difference was not nearly as great, still not selling the La Scalas though. I am lucky to have a wife that likes them even though thy take a lot of space that we do not have.

PS. He did buy them on the spot.

[tk49]

I have to agree with wuzzer, after talking with Bob Crites I went with the Ti diaphrams and was surprized at the improvement, it was more than just noticable. The clarity and presence of the highs far exceeded the $60 spent, made me wonder why I didn't do it sooner. Bob has a very well illustrated, (pictures) set of instructions at his site. You will not regret this mod.

My Forte II's were my first set of klipsch, I have had Forte I's, Heresy's, Cornwalls and LaScale's, for the money, size and footprint, the Forte II's are the best sound for the money. I keep the II's and the LS both tough to bet for the $'s invested.

Tom

[rhing]

I had removed all the drivers, crossovers and foam stuffing from my black Forte II cabinets and had them refinished. The woodworker who refinished my speakers did an excellent job of filling dents and dings, and then he sanded down to the veneer before applying the black lacquer. He only charged me $135 for both cabinets and the Forte IIs look like brand new speakers. While I had everything out, I had replaced the cheap stock wiring with much nicer AWG 16 wire from Bob Crites. I installed everything back in the refinished cabinets and I have to say that they really sound great. Bob only charged me $21 including shipping for the replacement wire with the disconnect connectors already crimped on. I just had to solder the wires onto the crossover PCBs. I would encourage any Forte owners to buy new rire from Bob Crites. With all the upgrades, it's like I have a brand new pair of Forte IIs.