carbon summit Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Agree 100%! It hasbeen rumored that the forte/chorus line nearly canibalized the cornwall market when they were borth available new. In 1992, I paid $875.00 for my pair of forte II new, those from the Midwest may rember the chain United Audio, which then was bought out by Tweeter. Both are now defunct retailers. Today Klipsch would need to sell at the price point of a pair of cornwall's to make a profit on a reissue of a forte let alone a chorus model. Cornwall's now retail for about $1,875.00 per speaker if memory serves me correctly. $875 sounds like a good deal from what I've read in the past. The Forte IIs that I own I bought from the original owner with original boxes, manual and paperwork including the receipt. So I can tell you on 7/16/91 he paid $1070. Seems like I've always read they cost between $1000-1100 a pair new so you must have gotten a great deal when you got yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornfedksboy Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think that's an important distention we often forget when comparing reference to heritage. Reference speakers are nicer, better, more expensive speakers! They sound better because they cost more. Cornwalls are more expensive than RF-7s, let alone Lascallas or khorns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 You can see information on the tractrix horn here http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/44621.aspx?PageIndex=1 The Klispch engineers created the Forte II out of the Forte (I) by changing to the tracrix horn midrange and a bigger bass passive radiator. The Forte II is very very good. Other members of the clan are the Chorus II and Quartet. These seem to have been the first break away from Heritage. They were technologically sophisticated (expensive) and taller and slimmer. After that we got even taller and slimmer with fewer drivers., Wm McD . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I think that's an important distention we often forget when comparing reference to heritage. Reference speakers are nicer, better, more expensive speakers! They sound better because they cost more. Cornwalls are more expensive than RF-7s, let alone Lascallas or khorns. I think you're forgetting that the dollar amounts we are talking about are from over 20 years ago!!! You say Reference are...more expensive speakers then you go on to say the that the Cornwalls are more expensive than RF-7. I guess I'm just totally confused by your post, it seems to contradict itself in a lot of ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Chi-town Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 $875 sounds like a good deal from what I've read in the past. The Forte IIs that I own I bought from the original owner with original boxes, manual and paperwork including the receipt. So I can tell you on 7/16/91 he paid $1070. Seems like I've always read they cost between $1000-1100 a pair new so you must have gotten a great deal when you got yours! You are correct normal price in the day was about $1,100.00 give or take. At the time I had a friend of a friend who was a salesman there. Bought my at the time Adcom GFA 555 II, Adcom GCD 600 player, Adcom GTP 500 II, and Velodyne sub at the same time. So I got some pretty decent discounting! But $1,000.00 + on speakers in '91, or early '92 would be like spending $3,000.00 + today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 SuBXeRo --I can't get the bold to go away because I cut and pasted your name. I didn't bother typing it because all of the caps mixed in with the small, and I'm lazy. Just buy the darn things and try them. I'd be shocked if you don't like them, but if you don't just resell them and move on to your next Klipsch adventure! Don't paint them until you know they are going to be your's a while because I can't help but think you're killing the value doing that!!!! Tried to edit it again and still can't get rid of the bold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornfedksboy Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I think that's an important distention we often forget when comparing reference to heritage. Reference speakers are nicer, better, more expensive speakers! They sound better because they cost more. Cornwalls are more expensive than RF-7s, let alone Lascallas or khorns. I think you're forgetting that the dollar amounts we are talking about are from over 20 years ago!!! You say Reference are...more expensive speakers then you go on to say the that the Cornwalls are more expensive than RF-7. I guess I'm just totally confused by your post, it seems to contradict itself in a lot of ways. Mispoke there. Totally meant, "Heritage speakers are nicer, better, more expensive speakers!" Not REFERENCE. I am a Reference fan, but I think the Heritage line are the better speakers, and they cost more as a result. It is no wonder you were confused by my post as I totally reversed the meaning of it in the second sentance. I'm going to try again and see if it makes more sense: When comparing Heritage to Reference speakers, you have to remember that Heritage speakers are the higher end speaker. You aren't comparing apples to apples. New Heritage speakers generally cost more than the most comparable Reference series. There is the additional cost of the real wood cabinets, but the technology and components used in the Heritage line are of a generally higher end, thus the better sound. In my opinion, you can only really compare the high end Reference series to the Low end Heritage. Maybe RF-7s/RF-7 II, RF-83s to the Cornwall, or extended Heritage models, Chorus or Forte, of equivalent model year. The RF-63 and RF-5 likely compare to the Heresey III and Quartet respectively. My guess is that the 3-way Heritage line slightly outperforms the 2-way reference series and is also slightly more expensive. Basically, you get what you pay for! That said, has anyone compared the RF-7 IIs to the Cornwall IIIs? Those speakers are in roughly the same price range ($3100.00 to $3700.00 MSRP respectively). My bet is that the Cornwall IIIs are better speakers, but not by a ton, just as the price suggests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 just to add, all within the last day, a black pair of corwalls are for sale at 600 and belles for 2600 and another pair of cornwalls. I saw some la scalas not too long ago too If i was gonna go big, i might as well go big and get the belles AHAHA, but i definitly do not have 2600 bux lying around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 just to add, all within the last day, a black pair of corwalls are for sale at 600 and belles for 2600 and another pair of cornwalls. I saw some la scalas not too long ago too If i was gonna go big, i might as well go big and get the belles AHAHA, but i definitly do not have 2600 bux lying around You're lucky to live somewhere that has such a steady supply of Klipsch. I usually have to drive 6 hours to the Denver area to get my fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuBXeRo Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 the phoenix metro area is very easy to drive, its one of the largest cities too so its great. When im in jersey, to get anything can be a real ******, out here though, i really enjoy the steady supply of stuff on the market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted February 25, 2011 Moderators Share Posted February 25, 2011 I have often wondered why klipsch doesnt really do 3 way designs anymore. Except for the palladium which most of the world cant afford. The less crossover points the better, when it can be done right. PWK was working on a 2 way Khorn but never got it into production, it ended up a not for home use because of aesthetics, we know it as the Jubilee. He was trying to have it for the 50 th Anniversary but ran into problems with a source for a top horn made of solid wood. If I remember it correctly, I think I got the general idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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