Kayo Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Hey friends! About to pick up some mint WO Forte's I bought off Craig's list in Atlanta. I'm making the move up from some $150 black laminate covered garage sale Heresy's with Bob Crite's x-over and CT-125 tweeter. Been very happy...but now looking for more! $400 for the Forte's seemed fair, not a steal, but worth it to me. First stop is again Bob's place, for a x-over rebuild and some titanium. Now here's where I could use an assist. I've heard, over and over, that a tube amp will make the Forte's sing. So I'm looking for a reco friends. What to get, where, and what I need to invest. I know more about quantum physics (not really) than amps. Just love the music! I've got a decent jazz collection I'll be running through CDs. All, well most all advice is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted July 16, 2011 Moderators Share Posted July 16, 2011 I have not tried tubes yet but that's not a bad price at all for the forte's, I think your going to be happy. If it were me I would wait on the Titanium and do the crossovers first and go from there. Or if you get them together just do the crossover first, this way you can hear what each change does. Either way you can't go wrong and Bob is a great guy to do business with, and he ships like lightning, I have never had things delivered as fast as something from him. Have fun [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angusruler Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 love my fatman MKII amp. and i agree about bob crites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I would recommend Decware for inexpensive, high value tube amps, of the low power variety. SET magic, but perhaps overly modest in the power department. New, a pair of SE84's or the SE34i integrated would run in the $1300-$1500 range, but you see them used for much less, $400-$800 . They do get snatched up quick, though. (I use a pair of bridged SE84 w/ forte II. It's awesome!!) Another SET option would be some used Wrights. I've seen 2A3 monos go for $700 or so, which would be a pretty good deal. Also Wellborne amps, seen them for <$1K used, and they are highly regarded by many around here. You could take the old classic approach and get a refurbed Dynaco ST-70 or Scott integrated. PP amp, more juice, and hold their value well. Pretty good ones are only a few hundred bucks typically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I have an Canadian built amp from an outfit called "Ideal Innovations" (http://www.idealinnovations.biz/default.htm), their "Elite 80" model which is around $800 in basic form. I sold my Fortes last year (for $400 BTW) and used that amp to demo them. I had never tried tubes with the Fortes before and couldn't believe how good they sounded. The amp drives my La Scalas now and has been reliable and sweet sounding for about 3 to 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kayo Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Thx for the ideas folks. The hunt begins! Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Antique sound labs have a PP EL34 amp about 40 watts per channel which is very good especially with some front end tube changes. The price is very good the performance is excellent. Look for a used one for an even better deal. Best regards Moray James. Here is a quote from SET12 about the ASL amp Once in awhile I run across a fairly inexpensive component that is just absolutely shocking with the Fortes. One of which was the Antique Sound AQ1003DHT an EL34 tube integrated I had here for repairs for a new friend. The amp alone was nothing really special but substituting 12BH7's in place of the amps 12AU7's made it much more holographic and sent the amp Ballistic. So much so it redefined my experience with EL34 tubes, needless to say I kept a copy of its schematic. But the really amazing thing is the sleeper amp probably could had for 5-$600 used or maybe less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.