wud forte2 work with just 45watts amp

[quadklipsh]

Hi there all,

My cousin has found me a pair of forte IIs,

which I plan to buy in

Exchange for my RF3s.

My plain n simple question from u experts is,whether

I wud be Justifying this purchase ,if I would be running

them with my meagre powered

QUAD 303 amp(45 watts/ch) .

I have another option too though.

And that is to run em through my marantz 2230 vintage,

30 watts/ch,amp.

I have learnt that fortes wud best my RF3s, by a fair margin.

Sonically they r more vocal oriented ,hence more musical.

That's wot everyone who owns em says here.

If I cud sell him my RF3s for 500bucks and get fortes

for around 570, wud that be a good trade .

I have other amps too, which are above 100 watts /ch,

but they sound like cinema oriented home theatre amps.

Not musical,just digital.

Wot do u suggest .

Aah n yes ,the guy also arranged for a combat ,

side by side audition of the two pairs of speakers,RFs and fortes.

give ur opinions plz.

My preferences are to keep the speakers that sounds gr8

with instrumental music and vocals ,and has better oomph.

[runninshine]

I think 45 watts will be fine. Fortes are such great speakers.

[russ69]

45 watts can be enough, I use 25 watts on my Heresys. There is a difference with high power amps, you'll get more bass and punch but a sweet low powered amp is just as listenable.

Thanx, Russ

[dtel]

Yes, like everyone said, also nice upgrade from RF-3 to forte ll's. [Y]

[oldtimer]

I ran my forte II's with a 45w yamaha integrated for years. No problem at all, but you will enjoy upgrading to more power and quality later. The integrated sounded way better than inexpensive ht receivers rated at 100w.

[George in Georgia]

I've been running Forte I's with a 45 wpc Harmon Kardon HK 590 for years now. The combo has never sounded stressed up to sound levels louder that I want.

[4tay]

A solid 25 wpc amp would drive fortes to VERY loud levels.

[quadklipsh]

Well

Thanks for all those views

Now Here I go a bit technical

My new query is.....

Since forte have a bigger sized woofer and passive speaker too,

Is that gonna be a concern?

Coz I'm currently running these Rf3s with this 45watt quad 303 amp,

and the more I crank up, the more stressed I feel ,whereas at the same

volume knob position

,my 88db speakers kenwood LS 707M towers don't sound strained !

Is this klipsches property to reveal distorting amp,or is it

just that my amp likes low sensitivity speakers?

Also

Wud forte2 match better than rf3s with quad 303?and how much are they gonna be room

setting friendly,compared to RF series ??

[oldtimer]

Listen for yourself. forte's seem to do best near but out a little from corners but I've had them in other situations with no complaints. I can't tell you about rf 3's but no one here ever posts about wanting to go from forte's to rf 3's. Horns will tend to expose the limits of an amp, especially at higher volumes.

[Cody_Mack]

Wot do u suggest.

1) Latch onto the Forte IIs

2) Look for a vintage (or new) tube push-pull amp of at least 20 wpc. A low-powered SET will sound very nice with the Fortes but I find them a little power hungry; they will wake up with significant power. Also look for one of the vintage SS amps that are known to work well with classic Klipsch; McIntosh, H/K, Yamaha and Marantz. The Marantz you own may indeed work very well with them.

3) Toggle your keyboard from ‘text/chat’ mode back to ‘type’ mode

Rick

[4tay]

3) Toggle your keyboard from ‘text/chat’ mode back to ‘type’ mode

Rick

Hahahah... thank you!

[RockOn4Klipsch]

I've never heard either speaker, however, from all that i've read , the heritage line seem to be more forgiving on the source than is the reference line, this could explain why you amp sounds stressed when you compare the rf3's with your other speakers. The forte's seem to get the nod from the majority of the forum members. To say that they are a more musical speaker because of the better "vocals" is to each their own, many of us listen to music with no vocals at all, so a speaker great at vocals may be poor at producing certain instruments, for example the timpany, accordion or banjo. Some speakers sound better with certain types of music, so the speaker your looking for is the speaker that produces the music you listen to the way you want it to sound.

[4tay]

I've never heard either speaker, however, from all that i've read , the heritage line seem to be more forgiving on the source than is the reference line, this could explain why you amp sounds stressed when you compare the rf3's with your other speakers. The forte's seem to get the nod from the majority of the forum members. To say that they are a more musical speaker because of the better "vocals" is to each their own, many of us listen to music with no vocals at all, so a speaker great at vocals may be poor at producing certain instruments, for example the timpany, accordion or banjo. Some speakers sound better with certain types of music, so the speaker your looking for is the speaker that produces the music you listen to the way you want it to sound.

It's interesting to note that the forte II with titanium diaphragms sounds far better than the reference series, and I have to conclude it's due to different horn shapes, and separate drivers for mid and tweet.

Despite the efficiency of the heritage line, "AUDIO" magazine produced some pretty complex impedence curves that indicated that even the K-horn could benefit from more than just 5 watts to reach it's sonic potential. (Not just volume but clarity, bass grip, etc)

[Cody_Mack]

It's interesting to note that the forte II with titanium diaphragms sounds far better than the reference series, and I have to conclude it's due to different horn shapes, and separate drivers for mid and tweet.

Despite the efficiency of the heritage line, "AUDIO" magazine produced some pretty complex impedence curves that indicated that even the K-horn could benefit from more than just 5 watts to reach it's sonic potential. (Not just volume but clarity, bass grip, etc)

Also interesting is the fact that my Heresys pushed by the 3.5 watt SETs (with a sub) is the most musical combination I have in my small listening room. In my experience all of the original Heritage line are easy loads for an amplifier, with the Heresy being the easiest of all. The Forte reminds me more of the Reference line in that regard; yeah, they sound very nice with a good quality low-powered amp but do not wake up and show their potential until you start pumping some serious watts their way. It has much to do with total system synergy.

Rick

[4tay]

Also interesting is the fact that my Heresys pushed by the 3.5 watt SETs (with a sub) is the most musical combination I have in my small listening room. In my experience all of the original Heritage line are easy loads for an amplifier, with the Heresy being the easiest of all. The Forte reminds me more of the Reference line in that regard; yeah, they sound very nice with a good quality low-powered amp but do not wake up and show their potential until you start pumping some serious watts their way. It has much to do with total system synergy.

Rick

Oh no doubt. Not just system synergy, but I think with the larger woofers found in Forte II and bigger speakers, they really need bass damping and headroom for control. In a normal sized room if you are not cranking up 1812 overture, a set or even a modest pushpull will be glorious. The again, I'd prefer heresey's in a small to medium room over the bigger klipsch...room synergy. Heresy + set would be a superior intimate combo. Can you spare me $7K for an Art audio diavolo or $350K for an audio note ongaku? Please please please ohh pleeeeese!!![Z]

[irwin]

I have owned both the RF3's and Forte II's,both are great speakers.The Forte is in my opinion the better of the 2.I used a variety of inexpensive integrateds with both.My personal favorite amp for both was a 20 wpc HK 401.A close second was the Marantz 1060b.

[quadklipsh]

Ok here is my new query.

I hear JBL. L80s in one shop.

Then in the next door shop of

same dimension and placement ,

another amp and another speaker,

sound entirely different,these are the CHORUS 2s.

Now , I love the chorus 2s and their power and clarity ,

but when I come from the jbl shop ,

I always get to like their bassy punchy ,

full sound ,as they leave no deficiency in bassy oomph,and the

Chorus seem to be depressing .

I hate this phenomenon.

Now wot is this?

It wud make me happier if the chorus went deeper and boomier

Than the much smaller L80.......

[oldtimer]

S... or get off the pot. JBL's have that bass sound yet suffer in the mids. forte II's go deeper than the Chorus if that is what you want. JBL's have a certain sound, Klipsch has another. When I bought Mission 700's (the originals with the 8" woofers) I A/B'ed them with JBL's and the Missions were way more accurate. Forte's are somewhere in between. Pick your poison.

[oldtimer]

Not only pick your poison, but spell it would because wud just looks stupid.

[quadklipsh]

Is there no comparison between the two ? Having said

that jbl and klipsch have two different sounds.

If jbl l80s and chorusII run down to 45 hz and 39hz respectively ,then why do we feel more goody and

Visceral in the lows of jbl ?