Forte Box

[ChipByrd]

I have been looking for a pair of abused Fortes to buy cheaply and rebuild. I can't find any so I am thinking about building the box from scratch. I talked to Mr Crites and I can get all new parts (with the exception of passives, I believe) from him. Does anyone have a build diagram of the Fortr 1?

If this question is inappropriate for proprietorial reasons, I apologize and please ignore.

Otherwise, thanks for the help.

Chip

[moray james]

PM sent

[dtel]

Is there a special reason you chose the forte ?

Just wondering because you could build other models for about the same cost and not have the passive to deal with.

[moray james]

you might find something of use here. http://www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSSoftwareConnection.html.'>http://www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSSoftwareConnection.html. Dont worry about having exact dimensions as it will make little difference to performance. You will need all your component parts before you can build anything. You can buy used loudspeakers and try out first every Klipsch speaker there is for a fraction of the cost to build from scratch. If you are not an experienced builder and if you dont have equipment buying used makes much more sense. Custom cabinet shops can knock out a set of cabinets such as the Forte in 4-5 hours rough un finished if they are any good, figure shop time at 100 - 125 an hour plus materials. You can see it adds up. I hope this helps. Best regards Moray James.

http://www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSSoftwareConnection.html

http://www.twistedknotwoodshop.com/CabinetMaking101.htm

http://www.allwoodwork.com/Links/freesoftware.htm

[moray james]

http://www.helarc.com/

http://www.visaton.de/de/

http://www.subwoofer-builder.com/freesoft.htm

http://audio.claub.net/boxycad2.xls

[MikeFord]

I have been looking for a pair of abused Fortes to buy cheaply and rebuild. I can't find any so I am thinking about building the box from scratch. I talked to Mr Crites and I can get all new parts (with the exception of passives, I believe) from him. Does anyone have a build diagram of the Fortr 1?

If this question is inappropriate for proprietorial reasons, I apologize and please ignore.

Otherwise, thanks for the help.

Chip

Knowing why you are choosing this route would go a long way in providing answers.

I paid $275 for my Forte's with pretty nice cabinets and no knowledge of a bad woofer (didn't really notice it until a week of playing). Sets with bad tweeters etc rarely sell for less.

[ChipByrd]

Thanks for the responses. I chose the Fortes because I love the speaker. In the past year or so I have auditioned KLF-30's, RF 83's, Forte II's, Chorus I & II, Acoustic Zen Adagios, Snell C/V's, and Tyler Acoustics D3M's. For what ever reason, I prefer the Fortes. I want another pair to match the furniture (that I already built). Initially, I was looking for an older cabinet to refinish, but I grew impatient. While I am electronically ignorant, I'm a fairly competent woodworker. Consequently, I am reasonably confident I can build a nice box that will fit the decor of my room and give me the sound I enjoy. So far, I have a motorboard, crossovers, tweeters and woofers. Am still looking for the midrange K-53-K 1.5" (3.81cm)  and passive: KD-13 12" (30.48cm).

[ChipByrd]

Is there a special reason you chose the forte ?

Just wondering because you could build other models for about the same cost and not have the passive to deal with.

Apart from cutting the hole and making sure it is airtight, is there anything special I will need to do to install the passives?

Thanks,

Chip

[moray james]

Chip: if you have wood working skills then you have a lot of options that I think that you are over looking. You might want to consider building a set of Forte turned sideways so they look like a KLF20. You might also want to consider building a little larger to accomodate some real brace work and to physically raise the mid horn to your seated ear height. You cabinets need to be solid and air tight. There are other options that you might consider. Do you have a working pair of Forte right now? Best regards Moray James.

[dtel]

Is there a special reason you chose the forte ?

Just wondering because you could build other models for about the same cost and not have the passive to deal with.

Apart from cutting the hole and making sure it is airtight, is there anything special I will need to do to install the passives?

Thanks,

Chip

Nothing I can think of, I was thinking if you were just rounding up parts to build the passives are not easy to find the exact part. I would think there is a way to measure and get a passive that preforms very close to the same.

[ChipByrd]

Yea, I suspect I might have to hunt around a bit to get the passives, but i do want to get the originals.

[ChipByrd]

Hi Moray,

I definitely agree about raising the Fortes. I built a 10" set of stands for my Fortes and it was great. I will make sure these are the same height.

But here's a question: As I said, I am way above my paygrade with all of the technical stuff, that's why my plan was to build with the exact internal dimensions of the original Forte. But if I added some additional bracing and compensated by increasing the internal volume the same by the amount of space that the bracing would take up, would it change the sonic signature?

Chip

[moray james]

don't worry most reflex designs will work with as much as a 10% variation your brace and stiffening won't be near that much any small disserence can be compensated for with quality damping materials or you can brace the heck out o the design and simply adjust the internal volume to make up. The differences we are talking about don't amount to a hill of beans. Either way is fine which ever you asre most comfortable with. The advantage to building a larger cabinet has is that you can seriously brace things and still have the same internal volume. It is up to you. Either way is fine. Hope this helps. Best regards Moray James.