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Forte II vs. LaScala


wuzzzer

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I'm completely satisfied with my Forte IIs, especially with the upgrades that I've made to them. There is a pair of LaScalas for sale locally and I'm toying with the idea of replacing my Fortes with them. With a strictly 2 channel setup, what are the odds that I'm not going to like the LaScalas? I sent the seller an email asking how old they are and what crossovers they have.

Also, what kind of price could I get for my Fortes? They are in excellent condition with a small clip on the side of one of the risers and a few minor bumps here and there.

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My first Klipsch speakers were Forte II's. I have since bought Cornwalls and Belles.The Belles are in my main room for listening. They are not LaScalas but close. In the end they are your ears however. Hope that helps. By the way, I still have all three pairs. I always managed to find a place in the home for them.

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good advice davis. The LaScala sound is really different from the forte II. Whether you will like it better or not is purely subjective. Having heard both many years ago in a good environment I preferred the fortes, give it a try. You might keep both for different applications if you have the space.

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I had La Scalas(LS) and then got a pair of Fortes(FT) and I found I liked the midrange of the LS and the bass of the FT. The int amp had a sub out so ran cables to another amp and hooked the FT up to it. I then unhooked the midrange and tweeter frotm the crossover so just the FT woofer was working. Put the LS in the corners and the FT next to the LS.

Worked out great the FT worked like a sub that blended perfect with the LS. LS bass goes down to 50 but with the FT subs added in my system went down to 32 and made a big difference in sound.

Now of course I am not married so I could have two sets of big speakers in the living room.

I lost my job about 3 years ago so had to sell the LS but kept the FT and I found more of my music sounds better on the FT than the LS.

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Were you planing to use a sub with the LaScala's ?

If you were I would say LaScala, there is such a big difference in the midrange over the forte.

The LaScala has good bass but to me it takes a good bit of volume to really bring it out, overall the forte is a more balanced sound without a sub as a stand alone set.

As much as I like the forte the LaScala + sub is hard to beat.

Just another opinion. [:P]

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I think I am uniquely qualified to answer this question. I

bought my Forte IIs new in about ’91 or ’92. They have been my pride and joy.

About 3 or 4 years ago I updated them with Bob’s crossovers and tweeter diaphragms.

Major improvement. I am currently building a home theater and was looking for

something that would really let the 11.2 speaker setup rock. I already have

SS.5 and SS1 surround speakers but needed something for the wides and heights

for an Audyessy DSX config. About a month ago I found these La Scalas on

Craigslist and decided I could use the Fortes as wides and the La Scalas as

mains. Easy score. Listened for a few days and ordered Bob’s crossovers (4500)

and C125s. Major improvement again. (At

first I was like, where did the highs go….then my ears adjusted to the new

fffffff instead of sssssss as ALK noted).

Now to the OP…they really are different speakers. While the

Forte’s are like my first child, the La Scalas take that to a whole new level.

And really, for me, it is the midrange that is so revealing.

The photos are me testing everything in the living room for

the theater room. Primarily I’m trying to get the config with the rack squared

away and making sure everything is doing what I want. Then (when the room is

finished in a month or so) I’ll just roll the rack into the equipment closet in

the theater and turn her on.

post-22774-13819665596554_thumb.jpg

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Beautiful looking set of LaScalas.

I found the best thing to do on the LS is change taps and pull the mids down just a bit. Balances out the mids to the bass a lot.

And I also agree. Have both if you can Forte IIs and LaScalas.

Bruce

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To your question about price; there have been many pairs of "like new" Forte IIs come up for sale within 250 miles of me and I would have purchased had the wife agreed. The asking price has ranged from $400.00-700.00 with the upper asking price always dropping below $600.00 prior to the listing coming down (presumabely sold for $450-550).

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Thanks for all the input. For now I decided to pass on them. I'd have to sell my Fortes to help pay for the LaScalas but I don't think I can give up the bass output of the Fortes.

In case anyone's wondering, they're on the Minneapolis craigslist for $750. The owner said they are from 92 or 93, unfinished birch and he has the original boxes.

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Fortes are great speakers, but I sold mine when I got my La Scalas. Fortes are more versatile as far as placement, have a better WAF, and will play lower, but the sound for me wasn't close. The bass issue with the La Scala can be fixed with a good sub, and the WAF can be improved with grill covers and a nice glasstop to put stuff on.

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Thanks for all the input. For now I decided to pass on them. I'd have to sell my Fortes to help pay for the LaScalas but I don't think I can give up the bass output of the Fortes.
In case anyone's wondering, they're on the Minneapolis craigslist for $750. The owner said they are from 92 or 93, unfinished birch and he has the original boxes.

Saw that - seemed like a good deal to me, too. Since you now have sold off your SVS sub, you are right to keep your Forte' IIs. Those pics make it seem like the Lascalas take up the footprint of 2 Forte' speakers. Yikes!

It would be cool to have a set of Lascalas......The WTF look on people's face when they visit and notice those things must be fun.

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I enjoy both. LS w/ a sub is just a tough combo to beat. The Fortes are certainly no slouch, and probably the best "bang-for-buck" speaker I have ever owned.

The midrange is where it's at for me!

+1

With good amplification it is surprising how good Forte IIs can sound. I had upgraded my system after buying La Scalas and moving the Forte IIs to my office.

Then the day I sold my Forte IIs, I plugged them back into my system and was surprised how good they sounded. To my ears about 95% as good as the La Scalas.

The low bass was stronger so I turned down my sub, but then since the Forte II mid bass was not as stong as the La Scala, that area was just tad on the lean side. Not by much we are talking a decible or two around 120 - 160 hertz only noticible on a few of the dozen songs I listened to that day.

I did not mod my Forte IIs. It would be interesting to hear moded Forte IIs compared to my moded La Scalas. I know the moded La Scalas would sound better to most but not all that compared them to Forte IIs.

But if someone would intall a Tractrix Midrange into a Forte II with a good tweeter, that would be a tough combo to beat.

I was going to go the route of moded Forte IIs or Forte / La Scala combo but when my wife liked the way La Scalas looked over the Forte IIs who was I to argue?

post-30420-1381966587238_thumb.jpg

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