Review: Bob Crites Forte II and KG4 xover kit

[rhing]

Here's a photo of how I implemented Bob Crites' crossover repair kit on my Forte II crossovers:

Based on the fact that the 110uF non-polar electrolytic is not a hugely crtical component in the crossover, I stayed with Bob's supplied pair of a 100uF and 10uF non-polar electrolytic capacitors. 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 and soldered that to the PCB after I snapped this photo. My Forte II's sound great with these upgrades and the Titanium tweeter diaphragms. A friend who owns stock Forte I's can't believe how much more transparent and detailed my upgraded Forte II's compare to his speakers.

[4tay]

I omit the bananna plugs, at the end of the day---it's another connection. I am using a direct-connect from my speaker cables and bypass the extra stuff.

The 110 uf really isn't that big a deal, but if they are more than a few years old, swap them out for sure. My caps were 17 years old and needed freshening either way.

[4tay]

Note:

As good as the KG4's (and sb2's) sound now, neither are a match for the clarity and presence of a Heresy or Forte. Larger apature horns and separate horns for mid range and tweeter drivers are the only way to fly as far as I am concerned. If I had the cash and space, modded la scalas with the large horns and a sub would be the way to go. There is no replacement for displacement.

I say this in case anyone is on the fence about heresy's vs KG4. The heresy's are worth the extra money. I like the forte as a stand-alone, where I want a sub with the heresy and la scala and belle.

So save your pennies...and go all horn if possible.