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Klipsch Forte II's or La Scala's


NickWG

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I recently picked up a pair of Forte II's for a pretty good deal. I haven't even been able to listen to them yet and have the opportunity to get a pair of La Scalas for a pretty good deal. I wont have a huge listening area. So my question is, keep the fortes or get the La scalas? is there going to be a huge difference in sound quality or just output?

thanks,

Nick

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This won't be as good as the Chorus/Cornwall debate but get the popcorn anyway.

Just having some fun with it Nick.

Forte II's are incredible speakers but so are La Scalas. They both have that Klipsch sound but are different animals.

I will let others list the pros and cons of each.

Bill

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Pretty simple really. You have the Fortes and you can get the La Scalas. Duh, listen and decide. Apologies, I am not being a smart$$. Really, if you have the opportunity to listen to both then you owe it to yourself to do so; assuming that you get them at a price you can live with if you don't like them (until sold).


Room and equipment notwithstanding and my own PERSONAL OPINION is that you will have:

La Scalas = more output if you are saying loudness / volume


Quality? See my opening statement-----you need to have YOUR ears decide this battle. In my room, with my electronics, I found that I preferred the Forte II over the La Scala as I found the 'scala 'harsh' or I found the Fortes more 'mello' depending on your point of view. This opinion is coming from an owner of Belles that swears he hears a more mellow tone from the Belles over the La Scalas when others tell me that, other than looks, 'thar ain't no darn difference'. I have a different opinion.

Check them bad boys out and tell me what YOU think.

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Pretty simple really. You have the Fortes and you can get the La Scalas. Duh, listen and decide. Apologies, I am not being a smart$$. Really, if you have the opportunity to listen to both then you owe it to yourself to do so; assuming that you get them at a price you can live with if you don't like them (until sold).

Room and equipment notwithstanding and my own PERSONAL OPINION is that you will have:
La Scalas = more output if you are saying loudness / volume

Quality? See my opening statement-----you need to have YOUR ears decide this battle. In my room, with my electronics, I found that I preferred the Forte II over the La Scala as I found the 'scala 'harsh' or I found the Fortes more 'mello' depending on your point of view. This opinion is coming from an owner of Belles that swears he hears a more mellow tone from the Belles over the La Scalas when others tell me that, other than looks, 'thar ain't no darn difference'. I have a different opinion.

Check them bad boys out and tell me what YOU think.

The best advice you could get right there.

We could explain for a week and it wouldn't count for more than you listening to each one for 5 minutes to see what fits you best.

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Yep, what they said is the best advice.... I presume you know the LaScalas are very big?

Space might be a consideration so I'd add that if your current location is long term then do as you may mentally regarding the space required. If however, your current location is not going to be long term, then let your ears decide. I've had my LaScalas in houses, single bedroom apartments and a dorm room with a roommate where they did not really belong.... didn't matter to me as I knew the apartment wasn't a long term situation and I was in it for the long haul.

(been dragging them around now, since 1979)

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If you like smoother response, deep bass, very balanced sound and don't have a sub (especially in a smaller area), the Fortes are tough to beat. If you like loud (actually the Fortes can get quite loud too), more highs, punchier mid-bass and not worried about quite as smooth sound, the LaScalas are for you. Based on what I said, you would need to decide based on price and possibility of resale if you don't like them. As previously posted, buy the LaScalas if inexpensive, you could always resell one of the sets if the price is right.

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This opinion is coming from an owner of Belles that swears he hears a more mellow tone from the Belles over the La Scalas when others tell me that, other than looks, 'thar ain't no darn difference'. I have a different opinion.

I have all of these speakers and let me first say the Belles DO NOT sound just like La Scalas. The mid horn in the Belle is smaller and sounds more like the Cornwall horn. The Belle is not as deep so the bass is not quite as punchy. The Belle is 100 times more beautiful than the La Scala though. Older La Scalas are basement speakers and Belles are more like fine furniture.

The Forte is a smaller version of the Chorus and sounds about the same. These are nice speakers, but they can't produce the mind blowing sound the La Scala is capable of. If you like loud rock music there is nothing that compares to the La Scala except the K-horn. You have to have the larger horn and higher sensativity to get to the loudness levels these speakers can produce. The Fortes can get loud, but they lack the mid loudness and punch bass the La Scala is capable of. They weren't designed for that. Some people call that smooth, I just think they are lacking that capability. Some here call the La Scala harsh. When I turn mine up and blow folks out of a large room, harsh is a word I don't hear. It's more like, "Those are freakin amazing!!" I can't do that with a pair of Fortes. They would clip and blow up first.

I don't think you can really compare La Scalas and Fortes as they are too far apart in what they are designed to do.

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My opinion only, is that you've not heard Bass, until you've heard Horn loaded Bass! WOW, is the word that most people use when the hear my La Scalas for the first time.

Now, if you're getting a "old" pair of La Scalas and you are comparing them to a newer or updated Forte II, it is not a fair comparison. I listened to my "old" (1979) La Scalas for almost a year before I updated the crossovers and it made a big difference. They sounded good before the update, but they sounded fantastic after.

My room is not huge, I think it is 13' X 21' X 8' and the La Scalas sound beautiful. Sure the room could be bigger, but it is big enough for great sound.

You're going to have to make the choice, so get them both and listen. I would go with the La Scalas if they will fit. Remember, the La Scala is the portable Klipschhorn and the Khorn is the BOMB!!

Good luck and keep us posted,

Dennie

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Yea, its a tough decision haha. I will be movingin a few months and my music room will be a 3rd bedroom... so wont be big at all.

I think the forte's will be best for this size.. and i will be able to get power for them easier by selling other equip. But to get the la scalas i have to sell everything haha. I'm really on the fence since i have a baby due in 3 months and i know once she comes i will not have the chance to get the scalas again.

I guess its all going to depend on if i can get the funds before the scalas sell.

Thanks for the input guys.

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Can't say anything about the Forte, but the La Scala needs some room*. The sound from the three horns does not integrate into a unified presentation until you are about 12-15 feet back and it really helps to have about that much space behind and beside you as well. What some call the harshness is coming from sitting too close and hearing the pre-integration imbalance and possibly too much early reflection in small rooms.

*I will say that for a couple of weeks I put my La Scalas in a bedroom (carpeted floor). I also put up a mattress on each side wall and the back wall ... sort of as a "near field" experiment... sounded surprisinly good in the highly damped smaller space even at moderately high levels

PS - Come to think of it, after the baby comes you are not going to be getting any sleep so you will have unused mattresses around and a highly damped listening room would keep the sound level down in the rest of your place. :)

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my music room will be a 3rd bedroom... so wont be big at all.

I think the forte's will be best for this size.. and i will be able to get power for them easier by selling other equip. But to get the la scalas i have to sell everything haha.

I guess its all going to depend on if i can get the funds before the scalas sell.

Thanks for the input guys.

I have had both and both are great speakers in the right applications. Right now I have the Fortes and only sold the La Scalas due to being out of a job.

Get the Fortes now due to the smaller room and save for La Scalas later when you get a house.

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