I'm Wearing Her Down!!!......I forsee a 2ch living room setup in Youthman's living room.

[Heritage_Head]

Youth are you doing the b&w for sure or are you still undecided?

[Tremors]

I was pushing hard for leather when we purchased three new couches last year. All it took was a simple reminder from the wife that our cats "MAY" puncture holes in them. We bought fabric couches, lol. Who wants to see $k's in furniture ruined with holes from their excited little beasts? Not I said the fly.

[Tremors]

It's looking real good

[MichaelandKlipsch]

I like tyre color Will look warm in your living room. great deal to sir []

[Youthman]

The couch and love seat was delivered today. []

Now that the furniture was here, I decided to bring in both the B&W DM604 S2 and Forte II speakers do do some A/B in the living room while my wife ran some errands. I used a Harman Kardon AVR70 and a Marantz DVD player as my source.

I hooked up the Forte II's and played Hotel California. The sounded very nice and had a very enveloping sound stage. I really liked what I heard.

I then hooked up the B&W's. Honestly, they blew me away (again). If you read some of my previous threads regarding the B&W DM604's, I found the same thing true today. They sound absolutely fantastic! Hands down, my ears totally preferred them over the Forte II's. The B&W had MUCH more bottom end than the Forte II's. The B&W's are front ported and have three 7" drivers vs the 10" Active / 12" Passive 12" Active / 15" Passive in the Forte II's. Neither speaker is near a corner as they are both in the middle of a 25' wall. The Forte II's probably would have much more bass if they were in a corner but that is not where they will be in my 2ch setup.

I really thought the Forte II's would have bested the B&W's in the bass area and possibly the midrange but it was very clear that the B&W's provided very smooth, tight bass and much more of it than the Forte II's.

I also thought the Forte's were going to be brighter than the B&W's but that was not the case either. I guess I was always thinking that B&W's were more laid back sound than Klipsch but that was not the case here. The B&W's were very clear and distinct, super wide soundstage and very tight smoothe bass.

I knew within 30 seconds that my ears preferred the B&W's over the Forte II's. I called willland to share my thoughts and I was smiling from ear to ear.

When my wife came home, I asked her what she liked better appearance wise and she said she definitely preferred the looks of the B&W.

So the verdict is in, the B&W's stay, the Forte II's will be up for sale tomorrow.

[willland]

Michael,

As usual great photography, beautiful home, nice new furniture.

With the results of your comprehensive forte II--DM604 S2 A-B comparison, sad to see you have to let the forte II's go.[]

You can easily turn my frown upside down and donate the forte II's to your brother right up the road.[]

Seriously, congratulations on your new furniture and your advancement into the WAF's domain.[]

Bill

[Boxx]

Great photo's.... Thanks for posting..

[Tremors]

That new furniture looks great in your room! I'd have to agree with the wife that the B&W 's do look cleaner in that room. Do they have grills or was she going on appearance with woofers shown? If it was the latter, that's a great lady

[Youthman]

Bill, I thought I was immune to WAF but now that she has given me the approval to build a 2ch setup in the living room, I now join the ranks with the rest of us that have to abide by it.

My son is trying to convince my wife that we should keep both the B&W and the Forte II's. LOL He thinks they look cool together. My wife doesn't feel the same.

I'm listening to Jeremy Camp's Concert DVD on the B&W's now. Man it's nice to have music playing while I'm walking through the house or working in the office. It's exactly what I was wanting.

I used to try and modify my HT system to get better 2ch results but the truth is, I'm very pleased with the 2ch setup I've started building in the living room. That way each room can have it's own function. Movies and Concert DVD's in the HT and 2ch music in the living room.

Trev, her comment was asked without the grills being on but yes, I have the grills for both sets of speakers. My wife would prefer the grills be on but she is cool with me having them naked. They just look so much nicer that way.

[Vital]

Very nice furniture and I don't know if I'm surprised by your finding or not. B&W is no slouch IMO. I heard some of their larger speakers a few years ago, I think they were 800, 801, 802, whatever the big round ones are. I thought they sounded great. The Forte has a 12" woofer with a 15" passive though just an FYI. I'm surprised it didn't produce much bass. I guess I've never had one out of a corner though now that I think about it.

[Youthman]

Very nice furniture and I don't know if I'm surprised by your finding or not. B&W is no slouch IMO.

Thanks Vital. I have always loved B&W. When I was a teen, I remember driving to Sound Advice and drooling over the Klipsch setup and then listening to B&W's at an A/V Store and drooling but thinking I would never actually own a pair of high end speakers (at least they were high end to me making $5.50/hr).

Last year, I had bought the same model B&W except the S2 version and they had a great amount of bass but I really thought with a 12" active and 15" passive (thanks for the correction), the Forte II was going to spank the B&W's but frankly, it was totally the other way around. No comparison.

I'm surprised it didn't produce much bass. I guess I've never had one out of a corner though now that I think about it.

I'm guessing this has a lot to do with having less bass. Also, the room is fairly large at 15' x 25' and an open floorplan into the kitchen, dining room and office as well as having 12' ceilings.

I listened to Hotel California in it's entirety with the Forte II's and it sounded great. I switched to the B&W's and only had to listen to about 30 seconds to realize which sounded better.

[WakeJunkie]

Love the A/B comparison. Love the new furniture.
The Forte's old school look didn't stand a chance against the B&W's modern slick look when it comes to wife approval.
Besides, they look smaller. That is a good thing in wife terms.

Can't wait to hear them in person.
Great photos as always.

[CECAA850]

Trev, her comment was asked without the grills being on but yes, I have the grills for both sets of speakers. My wife would prefer the grills be on but she is cool with me having them naked. They just look so much nicer that way.

The speakers do look better with the grills off. The room looks better when the grills are on.

[Youthman]

Thx Wake. You need to plan your next visit before she changes her mind about having speakers in the living room. []

The speakers do look better with the grills off. The room looks better when the grills are on.

Who's looking at the room? []

[Mongo171]

The speakers do look better with the grills off. The room looks better when the grills are on.

How about "The speakers sound better with the grills off. The room sounds better when the grills are on." The room sounds best with the Forte's.

[Youthman]

How about "The speakers sound better with the grills off. The room sounds better when the grills are on."

Although I've never done any A/B comparison, I doubt there is any audible difference that can be heard with or without the grills.

The room sounds best with the Forte's.

Wish I could say that were true but they don't. []

[Mongo171]

How about "The speakers sound better with the grills off. The room sounds better when the grills are on."

Although I've never done any A/B comparison, I doubt there is any audible difference that can be heard with or without the grills.

The room sounds best with the Forte's.

Wish I could say that were true but they don't.

Remember those "audiophile" Heresy's on eBay? The guy stated that the grills absorb the sound. [:|]

I know you like the sound of the B&W's better. This is a Klipsch Forum. Sad to see people not like the sound of them. []

[CECAA850]

Thx Wake. You need to plan your next visit before she changes her mind about having speakers in the living room.

The speakers do look better with the grills off. The room looks better when the grills are on.

Who's looking at the room?

I'd venture to say your wife and guests!

[Youthman]

Remember those "audiophile" Heresy's on eBay? The guy stated that the grills absorb the sound.

Sorry, I don't remember seeing that one.

This is a Klipsch Forum. Sad to see people not like the sound of them.

Nothing sad there. I'm love Klipsch and probably always will. The Forte II's sound great, the B&W's just happen to sound better. []

[Mongo171]

Remember those "audiophile" Heresy's on eBay? The guy stated that the grills absorb the sound.

Sorry, I don't remember seeing that one.

They are the empty cabinet Decorator Heresy's with the the grills on them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Klipsch-HERESY-DECORATORS-cabinets-with-grills-and-logos-AUDIOPHILE-VERSION-/281054206791?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item417022db47