Crites midrange diaphragms

[SET12]

I know crazy, i havent contacted klipsch yet, i feel like a numbnut for not knowing, but yes frickin fantastic jump in transparency, im waiting for SET12 on this forum and on the audiokarma forum who has those ridiculous xovers on his fortes to chime in and let us know if he's ordered them or has them already, he showed interest last i spoke to him, I guess the only thing that beats this would be beryllium diaphragms if thats even possible, would probably cost some serious beaucoup bucks tho, but klispch or crites for insanity's sake lets make it happen, wouldn't mind some 30hz-50khz Forte's !!

Thanks xtreme4099,

Wow thats some enthusiasm, beryllium diaphragms that would be something, But even with Crites mids my transperancy is off the charts when I can resolve the grain in master tapes from coarse to fine, in a silk like way how much further can it go? well I have shook my head before I guessI'll shake it again.

Yeah I'd guess my Crossovers are ridiculous. But the ridiculous thing is and unbelievably I could of spent 5 times more on them like to the tune of $10,000 very easily, check out the price of a Duelund Silver VSF 1uf Cap at a $834 each. Then there are their Cast even more! Duelund Inductors like 4 times the cost of a North Creek. I guess I'm on a budget after all!

30hz to 50khz yeah thats about it, but the low end like a sub but better because the North Creeks exploit it to 700Hz vs a sub to 120hz its something to hear to be believed, To hear the stock in contrast and how much is lost in the wimpy inductors or from iron core inductors in general not to mention I firmly believe iron core inductors are largely responsible for shrinking the stage size. and on the North Creek FAQ's its pointed out how Iron Core Inductors compress sound and I can concur, ridiculous is listening to a stock Forte with literally 1/2 of the stage width that I listen to with the modified. I could never go back. When I asked my buddy who owns the stock Fortes what he thinks of the new Crites Mids he replied "I can't talk I'm speechless go to the next cut" Then he replied, I'm lucky cause you did all the work and I only have to buy the parts! That moment was priceless, I have had a few others like a recoding engineer that I thought his neck was goin to do a 360! As he turned around and looked at me with his mouth wide ope, I'd been meaning to give him a call its been a while.

Anyway its all a matter of subjective opinion of course but I have never had anyone not nodding their head over something in the Forte's presentation.

Its been a fantastic journey and I welcome anyone a listen who cares to regardless whether its their cup of tea or not.

I just want to say thank you Klipsch for some of the satisfying DIY audio that I have ever experienced in 35 yrs after tens and tens of thousands of $ in other commercial gear.

As I said xtreme4099 I'm so looking forward to to it, Thanks!

SET12

[John Chi-town]

Set 12;

I honestly have to say that the titaniums are 95% burned in at the time you first power them up. I have about 50-60 hours since install, and ever so slight improvement since then. Since I only auditioned BC's phenolic replacement for a few hours I cannot address that burn in time. When I first heard I knew that the new Ti's would be "Staying Put".

I to have never been dissatisfied with my forte II's since I pulled them from the boxes back in '92. I cannot believe the overall improvement with new networks and Ttianium diaphragms in the mids and tweet's!

"forte II on Steriods" is the only way I can describe vs. original stock.

Happy Ney Year to all!

[fwphoto]

So, it begs the question:

Can it be long before Bob Crites has new titanium diaphrams for the mids?

Personally, I can wait! Hopefully they will be less $s than the Klipsch ones. I'd like to stop with new crossovers & titanium mids (already have the titanium tweets) & that would leave me paying a bit more for mods as I did the Forte IIs themselves!

Frank W.

[SET12]

So, it begs the question:

Can it be long before Bob Crites has new titanium diaphrams for the mids?

Personally, I can wait! Hopefully they will be less $s than the Klipsch ones. I'd like to stop with new crossovers & titanium mids (already have the titanium tweets) & that would leave me paying a bit more for mods as I did the Forte IIs themselves!

Frank W.

I know Bob was working on them from what I recall hearing somewhere, he just hasn't liked what he has heard so far. It took Bob I think two yrs to develop his current mids.

Paying a bit more than what you paid for your Forte's LOL, imagine 6-7 times the $400 in parts that I paid! yeah I know ridiculous!

But as I like to say, ridiculous is how good the sound is, and you have just scratched the surface!

Every penny I spent was heard good or bad fortunately my instinct was good so I didn't spend much for the bad, a few hundred, but still even then its been worth the trouble by far and the Forte's are giant killers IMO not to mention the people that have heard them.

SET12

[John Chi-town]

Last I spoke with Bob, his primary speakers are Heresy III, which was just a month or so ago. Told me he loves them, same titanium diaphragm in the Heresey III & Cornwall III. K53 TI Drivers. Just a thought, but perhaps Bob has not released since they are already available hrough Klipsch, and perhaps little to no gain can be made for the same or less money.

Any way after BC's new crossovers, BC's Titanium Tweeters & New Klipsch K53 TI midrange drivers I am done with mod's on the forte II for the next 20 years or so, time to kick back and listen!

[fwphoto]

I know Bob was working on them from what I recall hearing somewhere, he just hasn't liked what he has heard so far. It took Bob I think two yrs to develop his current mids.

Yeah, that's what he's said in the past. I think I recall him saying he was still working on finding some titanium midrange diaphrams that he liked, though.

With the success of the titanium tweets, though, I'd be really surprised if he just let it up to the Klipsch folks to fill what is sure to be a demand for the mids. Of course, I could be totally wrong. ;-)

Paying
a bit more than what you paid for your Forte's LOL, imagine 6-7 times
the $400 in parts that I paid! yeah I know ridiculous!

But as I like to say, ridiculous is how good the sound is, and you have just scratched the surface!

Every
penny I spent was heard good or bad fortunately my instinct was good so
I didn't spend much for the bad, a few hundred, but still even then its
been worth the trouble by far and the Forte's are giant killers IMO not
to mention the people that have heard them.

Oh, I hear you! My desire to get back into the "music" quickly turned into an audio *hobby* with speakers being only one of several areas of interest. I figure I'll have close to $1K in my Forte IIs when I'm done, with each upgrade having a positive audable effect. For me that was waiting for a good pair of Forte IIs over Forte Is, titanium diaphrams for the tweets, next the mids, & lastly a crossover upgrade. I'm probably going to go with drop-in Crites replacement crossovers unless I run across a better upgrade solution for me. Sometimes good enough is, well, good enough! I have some skills & could probably rebuild the originals or build a set myself (not like yours though!), but in all honesty I really don't have the time or burning desire to do so. Also, if I ever move up to, say, LaScalas or Belles, I can sell the Fortes including the crossover for more $s, or just pull them out & sell them separately.

Next step, some tube rolling with the Dynacos! Ha!

Frank W.

[fwphoto]

Just a thought, but perhaps Bob has not released since they are already available hrough Klipsch, and perhaps little to no gain can be made for the same or less money.

I don't know, I'd be surprise that Bob would not want to offer the mids as the tweeter diaphrams seem so popular. I suspect if he offered both the tweets & the mids, a lot of folks would order both at the same time. I doubt if he wants to pass up sales even if there's a smaller margine on some. Just some thoughts.

Any way after BC's new crossovers, BC's Titanium Tweeters & New Klipsch K53 TI midrange drivers I am done with mod's on the forte II for the next 20 years or so, time to kick back and listen!

Me too! Might not be as good as set12's, but I do believe they're better than stock! (& that's pretty darn good! :-)

Frank W.

[SET12]

Well Frank, I hear you to, sometimes good enough is good enough, as my buddy said about computers "You don't need a locomotive to go to the grocery store" which is why I use 3-$400 computers as I'm just a user of need to get to the forums.

I also couldn't argue with the fact your upgrades are better than stock!

With my needs I need a locomotive and I need the performance of a $10,000 speaker product or more which is why I had to design and build my own amplifiers and do my crossover mod's otherwise I get bored as I have a number of friends that have 40-$50,000 systems with $10,000 CDP's that have spoiled me! my own CDP is extremely modified to the point of having a power supply that is as big as some home theater amplifiers and the only recourse I had was to do some extreme modifications to compete with those systems. And I think I have succeeded more than what I ever expected to and have had much enjoyment from it as well.

To move up the Klipsch line can certainly yield improvements for anyone but unfortunately at the level my Fortes are at subjectively the stock Klipsch networks aren't going to do much for me and I would have to do extreme mods just as well on them as well. What I like about the Forte in general is its size as its physical foot print is small but with the mods its stage is like a Titan standing before you, I continually lately pull the grills of and just stare at the small horns in amazement at the sheer size of stage they throw out. Its kind of like the movie Sea Biscuit the little horse that competed with giant thoroughbreds, Sea Biscuit was laugh at cause he was small, till he ran on the track. This is the fun of the Forte I'm having. Though with other Klipsch's like the Cornwall's and others I think just as amazing things could be done with them as as well.

Certainly we all have our roads and I have taken many but never like the ride down this one.

Cheers

SET12

[fwphoto]

With my needs I need a locomotive and I need the performance of a $10,000 speaker product or more which is why I had to design and build my own amplifiers and do my crossover mod's otherwise I get bored as I have a number of friends that have 40-$50,000 systems with $10,000 CDP's that have spoiled me! my own CDP is extremely modified to the point of having a power supply that is as big as some home theater amplifiers and the only recourse I had was to do some extreme modifications to compete with those systems. And I think I have succeeded more than what I ever expected to and have had much enjoyment from it as well.

Sounds like you run in different company than I! :-)

As long as you can afford your "habit" (& it sounds like you can) & you get such enjoyment out of building & listening to your system (& writing about it, too ;-), well, that's what its all about! Personally, the path I took involved matching components that have a sort of "synergy", if you will, among them. On many levels I enjoy my "vintage" system: Forte IIs, Dynaco PAS-3/ST-70, Thorens TD-60 & Rega Planet CDP. I've enjoyed building it &, most certainly, listening to & hearing the music like never before. Often it simply takes my breath away!

To move up the Klipsch line can certainly yield improvements for anyone but unfortunately at the level my Fortes are at subjectively the stock Klipsch networks aren't going to do much for me and I would have to do extreme mods just as well on them as well. What I like about the Forte in general is its size as its physical foot print is small but with the mods its stage is like a Titan standing before you, . . .

Yeah, I'm sure I would be mildly modding any of the Klipsch speakers I'd "move up" to as well. Since I'm really happy with what I've got & don't have the deep pockets to really take it all to the next level, its probably not going to happen. After all, the sailboat goes in the water in the spring, I've just *got* to get a new DSLR, and I'm already starting a "fund" for my next project - buy & restore a late '70s BMW motorcycle! Life is good!

Frank W.

[chuckears]

SET12, I will be anxious to hear your impressions of the Titanium midrange diaphragms; I recently switched my Forte's tweeter diaphragms with the BC titaniums, and while I cannot claim as big a change as my crossover upgrade provided, I hear midrange changes much more readily, given the variable ringing in my ears ("tinnitus").

Am I correct in inferring that the whole driver upgrade would not work with my exponential horns - that I would need to stick with the diaphragms only?

[John Chi-town]

The K53 TI driver will work with Eponential or Tractrix horns. The K53 TI driver is currently in use for the Heresy III & Cornwall III midrange horns which are Exponential. I installed the complete K53 TI driver in my forte II's which are Tractrix. No sense in ordering just the diaphragms themselves when a pair of K53 TI drivers with diaphragms are only $2.00 more per pair![Y]

[chuckears]

Thanks! Now to discuss the "need" for this to the Significant Other []

[mastertech01]

Id like to do this upgrade to both tweeter and Midrange on my Chorus II set. Does this midrange K53 Ti work on the Chorus II K-61-K?

I purchased mine new 20 years ago so the cost of ownership has been pretty low considering I got them on sale at the PX for 800.00 NIB in late 1990 or early 1991..(memory fading )

SO I figure new diaphrams/drivers, and cross overs would be cost effective for another 20 years use if I live that long

[moray james]

Forte ll runs K75K tweeters and K61K mids so yes they will drop in. You have your choice of Bob Crites new phenolic mid diaphragms or klipsch's new Titanium mid diaphragm. Upgrade your crossovers and you (your family) can have an outdoor dance at your funeral with them.

[vnzbd]

As a Chorus II owner I am interested in this mod also. I took a look at the specs listed and saw that the Chorus II mids turn on at a lower freq than either the HIII or CWIII(600 vs 850/800). Does the K-53-Ti reach that deep? Also I would condsider just the diaphram but I have concerns about that since Klipsch states that the K-53 is 1.75" and the K-61 that is listed for the Chorus is listed as a 1.5". Any feedback?

[John Chi-town]

I think I may have been the first to perform this mod, and post my thoughts. Call Klipsch and ask to speak to Steve Philips. He is very knowledgeable on the Heritage and extended Heritage line. Your only concern is the frequency. Both the entire driver and or just the titanium diaphragm will work from a physical standpoint.[Y]

[chuckears]

John,

Speaking of the frequency being a concern, I note from the specs that the Forte II midrange is assigned to handle from 650Hz to 7000Hz, whereas the Heresy III (which sports the K53-Ti) is listed at 850Hz - 5000Hz - from your experience, this has not caused any audible problems. In other words, the K53-Ti that you installed has no problems reproducing the wider range of material your Forte II crossover is sending it?

(I'm not saying you are wrong - just wanting to clarify so we're all on the same "frequency" - pun intended [])

[John Chi-town]

Both myself and Extreme 4099 A-B'd both the original to titanium as well as BC's to titanium. The Titanium won "Hands Down" for both of us. The transparency between the mids to highs with BC's replacement titanium diaphrams for the tweet's is nothing short of "Outstanding" INMHO!

Call Steve Philips at Klipsch, he will return your call if unavailable. I am certain that he can provide you the "Frequency" stats for the K53 TI Diaphragms.

I am certain that the diaphragm can handle the crossover points of the forte II and Chorus line. Try it you will LIKE IT! [H]

[xtreme4099]

With Bob's Ti Tweets and the Ti Mids, integrate perfectly, i havent noticed any audible oddities just a big improvement over phenolics, with x-over upgrades this is effectively a Forte III, i can't imagine the improvement, im spazztic just thinking about it.

[Mighty Favog]

Does anyone know the maximum power a K-57-K can handle?? I’m using Bob’s replacement CD53P diaphragms and I’ve blown 3 (yes – THREE) of these things in a month in my Cornwalls I’s! I’ve also got his B-3 networks, cast woofer and CT125 tweets.

My system is listed below and here are the conditions:

Preamp at 39% volume (around 2.5 watts on the amp’s meters)

EQ set at 1-2 db above flat in midrange area although they sound fuzzy with or without it engaged at the preamp.

Program was Manhattan Transfer’s Christmas SACD playing a boy’s choir track (can’t remember the track title).

Is the K-53-K diaphragm really interchangable with a K-57-K??