How to set-up Forte II and Chorus II in home theater?

[Steiney]

I have a pair of Forte II's I use as my front speakers (speaker A) in a 7.1 channel system. I just picked up a pair of Chorus II's ($350, yes it's ok to be jealous), and I want to know how to best utilize them in the system I have. I generally think I will use the Chorus II's as my front speakers, and move the Forte's to the rear, but, do I hook them up as "rear surround" or "speaker B". I would like to be able to crank all four Klipsch when I am playing CD's, and I won't be able to hear the Forte II's in all their glory if they are hooked up as "rear surround", because they don't get the full power as a "surround" speaker, compared to if they are hooked up as a "B" set. My theatre room is 18' by 25' with 8' ceilings. Does all this make sense?

Secondly, I am going to have trouble with power, I can see that already. I have a brand new 100 watt Sony ES something-or-other, but I have lit it up to where it went into "protection" mode several times already using only the Forte II's (Black Eyed Peas, "Where is the love?") When I bought the Chorus's the guy threw in a Denon 100 watt pre-amp (older, bout 15 years?) could the pre-amp be of any use in this arrangement?

Thanks guys/gals - as you can see, I am not an audiophile, but I know a good deal and a good sound when I see/hear it. The Forte's are ABSOLUTELY unbelievable (I've owned them 15 years) and I've had my eye on the Chorus's for many years now - they are going to be great also I'm sure. When I listen to music I like it "ear bleed" loud!!

Thanks - this is a great forum!

[fastlane]

First of all, welcome. Not sure the Sony is up to your challenge. You might want to consider a higher end receiver, or even separates for the best sound. If you like ear bleed volume, then more (and cleaner) power is what you need. Most receivers actual power is nowhere near the advertised power rating. I went to a separate amp that puts out a true 125w. Does your sony have preamp outs? If so, you can add a separate amplifier to it. Not sure about the Denon. Model numbers of what you have would help.

Even if your rear speakers are connected as surrounds, your receiver should offer 5 or 7 channel stereo which will give equal power to all speakers in your system. Happy listening. I'm sure more will chime in. Lots of good advice to be found here.

[aab3rd]

WELCOME!!!!

I will chime in. I would use the Chorus IIs up front and the Fortes as surrounds. If you hook up the Fortes as "B" speakers then they will produce what the Chorus are producing using the same amplification chanels as the Chorus. I would connect them to the surround left and right chanels and they would make wonderful surrounds. I have actually been thinking about doing this as well if I could find a pair of WO Chorus. Your receiver has plenty of power at 100 watts/ channel to drive all unless you love ear-bleeding levels. If you love it loud I would get something with more power. Sony and Klipsch don't traditionally mate well together either (YMMV). If you don't have a center chanel, try (yes they are hard to come by) to get an Academy. You would have a kick A$$ surround system. If you are listening to stereo you could turn your receiver to 5 chanel stereo (most have this) or Dolby PLII and get the best sound possible.

Hope this helps,

Austin

[Youthman]

Your receiver has plenty of power at 100 watts/ channel to drive all unless you love ear-bleeding levels.

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I wouldn't give it that much credit. My Yamaha RX-V1800 ($1200 receiver new a few years ago) is rated at 130 x 7 (well that's what the manufacturer says). If you take a look at this review by Sound & Vision, although Yamaha claims it pushes 130 x 7, as you can see, actual testing shows the receiver actually producing 103 w/ch in a 5.1 setup and a whopping 55 w/ch in a 7.1 setup. My guess is that your Sony does the same thing. So if you are running 7.1 speakers on a 100 watt receiver, my guess is it's running out of gas real quick. An amp would help take the load off the Sony if you have preouts.

[Stolenrs]

I would suggest that you run a seperate amp if at all possable. I run Chorus mains and Chorus II's as rear sourrounds. I would like to swap them but the Chorus I are front firing ports and I have them built into the wall. My Intergra 6.6 is rated 100wpc and although I never had it go into protection mode it just seemed to be lacking a bit. It has pre-outs so I started looking at external amps and that made a world of difference, I have not checked power ratings, but it is a carver 806x (130x7) the amp is also running my heresy II centers.

Good Luck

~ross

[Cal Blacksmith]

As I just advised another new member just last week, use both the AVR and the Denon, take the preouts of the AVR (Sony) and run them into the prein on the Denon and use it as an outboard amp then adjust the sound balance to the system.

AVRs are famous for not having large enough power supplies and not living up to the MFG specs.

I would advise you to upgrade the Sony to a better quality AVR when you get the spare cash as Sony does not have a very good rep for AVR units.

Speaker B is different than surround speakers and it sort of depends on what you want to hear as to where and how to hook up your Forte speakers. You may want to think about getting a pair of Heresys to use as surrounds and connect the Fort'es up as "B" in another room but as surround speakers, they may be underused for their ability. Just a thought.