At long last...the Chorus II review!!

[jhawk92]

Well, after several false starts, a funeral, and heavy workload, I'm finally getting to review my "new" Chorus IIs. As I'm sure most of you regulars know, I have been on the lookout for another pair of full-range speakers to supplement my Forte IIs as part of my 7-ch HT system. When I upgraded to a DD/DTS receiver, I was able to find another pair of KG 1.2s to act as my back center channel off eBay. With two pair of KG 1.2s beside/behind me, I was pretty pleased with the system. However, I have ever since I bought the Denon AVR-4800, I have been a fan of the 5-ch/7-ch stereo option, and with the advent of DVD-A and SACD requiring 5 full-range speakers, I started thinking about upgrading my surround speakers.

So, I started pinging a few of the board members, Doug Drake, Tony Reed, Mike Lindsey, and Colin Hickey, for advice, as they all have Forte IIs or Chorus I/IIs as their main L/R speakers. Overall, the advice was Fortes at a minimum, but if I could find a good pair of Chorus IIs, go for those, since I already have the Fortes. With my search parameters set, I was on the lookout for a pair of speakers in M/NM condition in Oiled Oak finish.

Early this year, Mike Lindsey and I were chatting about his desire to upgrade to Cornwalls for mains and move either his Chorus or Chorus IIs to the surrounds in his system. He offered his Chorus IIs to me at a fair price, sent me tons of pictures attesting to their condition, and left the purchase date open. It was a very kind offer and one I said I would think seriously about. I had auditioned the Chorus IIs back in 1993 when I was purchasing my original system, and loved the sound they produced. However, I stretched my budget to move from the Quartets to the Forte IIs and couldn't swing the Chorus II. But I have been happy ever since. (Until now!!)

As luck would have it, I was able to attend Mr. Paul's book signing event down in Hope in March. There, I was able to meet Tony in person and found him to be a very personable and friendly guy. After chatting with the group for a while, Tony and I discussed my upgrade plans. He mentioned he has a pair of Chorus IIs in one of many systems and invited me up for an audition the next day. It was an offer I couldn't refuse. I had brought a few CDs with me in case we got to audition the Jubilees at the factory, but since they were back up in Indy, that fell through.

Suffice it to say, just a few minutes listening to Tony's Chorus IIs basically convinced me to go for the "Big Guns" and move the Forte IIs to the surrounds. After returning home, I updated Mike on the plans. But we were both in the middle of lots of traveling so held off on the transaction until we were more "local." In the meantime, I was able to talk Colin into trading an audition of his Chorus IIs for an audition of my Academy. So, in May, I boxed up the Academy and made the 2-hr drive to NJ and spent some quality time with another nice board member and another great pair of Chorus IIs.

After that audition, I had the itch too bad and set a date with Mike to have him box up the Chorus IIs for our agreed price. What perfect timing as Mike was hot on the trail of a pair of LaScalas that soon became his. It was a long week, watching their progress from Florida up here to Connecticut, but delivery day finally arrived. I did my best anti-rain dance all day at work as we were supposed to get over an inch of rain that afternoon/evening and UPS usually hits my location at the end of the day. I raced home to find two mammoth boxes already waiting for me. We had picked up a bit of rain, but not enough to get through the good boxes, so I convinced my wife to help me drag them inside before the rain returned. Perfect timing, as not 10 minutes after we got them inside, we got that inch of rain!

I unpacked them to be sure UPS hadn't damaged them, and briefly plugged them in to verify working condition. No problems so I was pleased. However, I wasn't going to be able to audition them as a few days earlier, my grandmother had passed away and I would be leaving to attend the funeral. Upon my return, I was fortunate to have my parents visit for a few days, and they were excited about my new acquisitions. I had found them a pair of walnut Chorus IIs about a month earlier and they enjoyed them so much they are now the basis of their 2-ch system and they moved their Forte IIs to the HT to match up with Forte Is as surrounds and an Academy center.

I ran through a good deal of material, both CD and DVD for them, but didn't get to do any critical listening as I let them have the prime seat in the house. So, over the past few days, I have made the time to do that critical listening and can now put my thoughts down in 0's and 1's.

It is amazing how much bigger the Chorus IIs are in comparison to the Fortes. Big brother for sure! My wife wasn't really sure why I needed to upgrade, but since she loves me, she puts up with my hobbies. Boy do I love her!! For my main audition, I put on the same CDs that I listened with Tony and Colin, as they are a good mix of music I am very familiar with and could compare notes. I'll list my "play list" here, with album and track number:

Boston-"Walk On"

4-7 Walk On Medley

The Eagles-"Hell Freezes Over"

1. Get Over It

6. Hotel California

14. Life in the Fast Lane

Def Leppard-"Vault"

1. Pour Some Sugar on Me

5. Two Steps Behind

14. Rock of Ages

Enya-"Watermark"

1. Watermark

2. Cursum Perficio

7. Orinoco Flow

10. The Long Ships

Depeche Mode-"Violator"

3. Personal Jesus

9. Clean

Styx-"Greatest Hits Part 2"

7. Snowblind

8. Boat on the River

11. Queen of Spades

15. Little Suzie

"Phantom of the Opera"-London Cast

1-2 Prologue/Overture

5-6 Little Lotte/The Mirror/Phantom of the Opera

Richard Strauss/ Deutsche Grammophone-Karajan

1. Also Sprach Zarathustra

To get a good idea of how the Chorus IIs performed on their own, I set the Denon to "Direct" mode and kept the volume at reasonable levels since it was later evenings as I was listening. In a word, I was awed. The Chorus IIs were even better than I remembered and sounded great in my family room. I did a bit of tweaking as I was listening and got them adjusted to where I could close my eyes and hear the main vocals magically appear centered between the two OO beauties. While I could notice a bit less bass in the Chorus IIs over the Fortes (39Hz vs 32Hz), I could also tell the mids and highs were even more crisp and defined than on the Fortes.

Even my wife could notice a difference and said she preferred the new additions, saying they weren?t as "harsh" as the Fortes. I wouldn't go that far, but I certainly approve of their output. My parents had said the same thing about their pair, and they also helped push me over the edge to getting them. On tracks like Personal Jesus, Life in the Fast Lane, Little Suzie, I could tell the Chorus IIs gave up just a bit to the Fortes in the bass department. Granted, on those, I usually crank the volume up rather loud, but I had done some cable auditions a few weeks ago, and played the same tracks at the same level as on the CIIs, and could notice less bottom oomph. However, on tracks like Walk On, Orinoco Flow, Clean, Snowblind, the improved mids and highs of the Chorus IIs nearly brought a tear to my eye. These are incredible speakers, and I am glad I "went long."

So, all in all, I am very pleased with my new acquisitions. They certainly bring great depth to CD listening; a notch above the Fortes which are incredible speakers in their own right. Over the next few days, I will put on some additional classical pieces from composers such as Wagner, Tchaikovsky, and Dvorak. Will also put on some jazz from Dave Brubeck Quartet, Miles Davis, and Diana Krall. And will put on some more good old rock 'n roll; AC/DC, Metallica, Scorpions, Kiss, Aerosmith, etc and some lighter fare from Steve Winwood, Foreigner, Peter Gabriel.

After all that, I'll certainly see how the Chorus IIs sound in HT mode and compare how the Fortes do as surrounds. Certainly they will be a major upgrade from the KG 1.2s, and I have sent one pair to the basement for future sale, and the OO pair now are settled in as the back surrounds. DVDs will most likely include Matrix, U-571, Terminator 2, Contact, X-men, Star Wars Episode I, and Toy Story 2.

One thing I did discover while listening to just the Chorus IIs; how nice simple 2-ch stereo listening is, especially when you are doing serious auditioning. I was able to concentrate just on the front sound stage and not be distracted by the other speakers. Don't get me wrong, I truly love the ability to play 7-ch stereo when the mood strikes, and that is often. But if I want to do some critical listening, I think I'll stick with the 2-ch idea. It certainly keeps my mind open and on the lookout for a pair of OO K-horns to act as 2-ch system. But I need a bigger house for those monsters, and no baseboard heating.

Again, thanks to Doug, Tony, Mike, and Colin for all the advice and auditions over the past several months. Your input was greatly appreciated and helped make the purchase one of my best upgrades to my system. Now I have 5 speakers I'll never sell; a pair of Forte IIs and Chorus IIs and the wonderful Academy center. The two photos show a "family" portrait of the horns that rock the neighborhood, with grills on and off for reference.

Rob

P.S. Sorry for the less than stellar photo quality, but I had to modify the pics so I could attach them.

P.P.S. Thanks to Justin for the tutorial on how to load the pics.

This message has been edited by jhawk92 on 07-02-2002 at 10:14 PM

[dougdrake]

Rob - Nice initial review, and great looking speakers. Glad you took the plunge!! With the Chorus in house, the only logical upgrade after that is fully horn loaded, right?

On Enya's Watermark, I love track 12 (Africa?). There is a deep bass undercurrent that you wouldn't hear (I don't think) without a good bottom-feeding sub (like my SVS 20-39PCi). If you really crank it, when the song opens with the rain and thunderclaps coming out of those Chorus horns, it's way too lifelike!!

Have fun-

Doug

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My System

[Mikekid]

Man I wish my house was BIGGER!!!!!

Nice going there Rob. Someday, I'll have the same.

That has got to sound unreal! Wait, I mean very real.

Take care

Mike

This message has been edited by Mikekid on 07-03-2002 at 12:55 AM

[boa12]

congrats rob on those tubular cornwalls!

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My Home Systems Page

[justin_tx_16]

great review! looks quite nice

if you want the pics to stay high quality, email them to me, i can host them for you if you want.

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-justin

SoundWise Support

A technical help site created by me and my fellow Klipschers

I am an amateur, if it is professional;

ProMedia help you want email Amy or call her @ 1-888-554-5665 or for an RA# 800-554-7724 ext 5

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[Mike Lindsey]

Rob,

Great review and pictures! I am so glad they got there in one piece. From looking at the pictures, they look to be in about the same condition as the Fortes... just one big happy family of speakers. Glad to hear the wife approves as well.

I'm Looking forward to your review of the HT, as that setup is just going to sound awesome! BTW, I'll be picking up the La Scala's on Sunday (can't wait!) and will provide a review of them, along with some pictures, sometime in the near future.

It was great doing business with you and I hope we can check out each others system some time soon. I'll be in Rockland, Maine for the first 2 weeks of August... how far is that from you?

Mike

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My Music Systems

[chickey]

Rob,

That set-up is simply awesome! It was great hosting you a month or so ago, and now you've inspired me even more to be on the lookout for a local pair of black Fortes to complete my little system.

BTW, thanks to you and HornEd, I'm now a convert when it comes to a timbre-matched front end. The KLF-C7 was good, but the Academy is simply smooth perfection when mated with those Chorus II's.

Also, that playlist you posted has some great stuff on it -- I'd recommend it to anyone on this board who's about to depart for an audition. Stuff a couple of those CD's in your bag and you won't be disappointed.

Colin

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My System

[Audible Nectar]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm....Yummy Those look like one big happy family of Klipsch! Nice to see another great business deal brought to us by the esteemed members of this forum - it's great when everyone wins, isn't it??

Also Jhawk92: what are you using for subwoofers??

Congrats to Mike and Jhawk on your latest acquisitions, and thanks for the review!

[jhawk92]

Doug-

Um, yeah, fully-horn loaded is next...but that is a long time off unless I can find that great garage or estate sale deal. I certainly enjoyed listening to Tony's K-horns down in Hope and got to see them in the OO finish, so I think that is what I'll hold out for. And getting to play some of my CDs on Mr. Paul's pair was quite a thrill! And yes, track 12 on Watermark is quite good. Makes the dogs wonder where the storm is!

Mikekid-

Yeah, I'm quite a happy guy. My wife, well, she indulges me. I can whole heartedly recommend Chorus IIs as mains and from the little bit of HT listening I've done, the Chorus II/Forte II/Academy combo is outstanding. The FR is about 16x24 with vaulted ceiling, though the system is set up along 16' of the long wall. No dead spots that I have been able to find.

Boa-

Thanks...now only if the Jayhawks can go all the way like me!!

Justin-

Thanks for the offer. Not a big deal since I've got the larger size still on the hard drive. I think I'll try and get a couple shots with all the speakers properly placed and post those.

Mike L.-

Yep, the Fortes have had 3 x-country moves with original boxes so they may have more miles on them than their big brothers, but it's a pretty close match for condition. And I am proud to be the "parent" of such a family! I was amazed when my wife commented on them so fast. Normally she just listens and goes on about her business. Maybe I'm slowly getting to her! Will start working on the HT review within the next few days. I'd be happy to show off the system to anyone in the area. Rockland looks to be probably about 6hrs NE of me. But maybe we can hook up for an audition... Not sure when I'll be in your neck of the woods, but there may be a business trip there sometime.

Colin-

Always happy to help spend someone else's money. Just ask my parents!! I've hooked them up with their Chorus IIs and Academy within the past 2 months. Now on to a good sub and then DVD player. I'm thinking hard about the SVS 20-39PC+ for them.

dnd-

Yep, I think the board may be the only way to go when purchasing big speakers. Now only if someone wants to give up their OO K-horns. (Tony???) For sub duties, I have the Paradigm PW2200 and it does very well. But with the new Chorus IIs, I am thinking about moving up in performance there. I'll be very interested to see what my parents get and how it sounds. But I had better lay off the upgrades for a short while, and get back on my wife's good side.

Rob

[j-malotky]

jhawk

Congrats on the upgrade.

IMHO - I think the Chorus 2 is the best tower speaker every built by Klipsch. It has a very flat responce curve and is a great listening speaker.

Have fun....enjoy....

JM

[cluless]

That's one FINE family you've got there!

[jhawk92]

j-

Thanks. I would agree, the Chorus II is quite a speaker. It certainly makes me wish I had bought those instead of the Forte IIs when I first started, but I couldn't afford the Chorus IIs as it was a stretch to get to the Fortes. But now I am happy with a pair of both.

Clu-

Yeah, I like the family. Now you can see where your KV-3 came from. Hope we get to see some of your Reference family when they all arrive.

[cluless]

Hopefully, speakers and pics will be coming soon.

[jhawk92]

Clu-

Can't wait. Then we'll get to see some of those knick-knacks behind door #3!

[cluless]

LOL - I dont show my knick knacks to just anyone!

Pick up the speakers after work tonight. I borrowed a digital camera to take some "before" pictures, and looked at them today (BLURRRRRRRY). The only one that came out at all was the borg cube. BTW, check your e-mail.

[mike stehr]

Nice to see the Chorus II fans out there.

I'm currently using a 440 watt Yamaha amp/pre with a bass EQ feeding a pair of SVS 16/46 subwoofers.

These are parked next to my black '95 Chorus II's, which are at the moment powered by a little SE 6BQ5

amp that maybe puts out 5 watts max.

With a modded Samsung DVD player for 2 channel CD.

When this setup is dialed in, it sounds pretty damn good to me.

It's not high-end or nuthin'.

I had the Yamaha amp/pre on the Chorus II's, but I like the sound of tubes on Chorus II's.

My Eico PP's and the RCA SE just make these guys come to life, the the horns don't scream over the woofers at more moderate listening levels than SS.

Chorus's like a diet of low clean wattage.

A good speaker that still can be had for reasonable prices.

Wish I had Khorns.

I need a tube preamp.

I'm broke.