Please welcome a Klipsch newbie and help with first 2.0 purchase!

[bracurrie]

The models I'm interested in so far are: -Forte II (or I) -KLF-30 or KLF-20 -RF-35 or RF-3

Sorry to jump in here a few days late, but for what its worth the Forte IIs are great speakers that with minor fixes if needed are a great way to start with Heritage. But horn bass is compelling and is after all what PWK was all about.

Welcome to the forum.

[bracurrie]

Thank you all for the input.

I got it, NO equalization!

I realize I'm putting too much thought into the bass extension, I just want to be sure I'm not disappointed and need a subwoofer later.

I appreciate the differing views between the Fortes and RFs. As of this moment, I think I would decide between the speakers I'm watching in this order of priority:

RF-83

RF-63

Forte II

Forte I

Chorus

KLF-30

KLF-20

RF-35

How does that look?

I can only hope I somehow come into extra money sooner rather than later for those Albuquerque RF-63s. I can't shake the feeling that I would be the most satisfied with those triple coppers.

but really, thanks for the input, guys. All I think about all day anymore is my impending Klipsch purchase.

Speaker placement and listening position can have a big impact on bass response.

[toolz]

You may want to put the Chorus II in the mix also.

[John Chi-town]

As others mentioned forte or forte II will be your best choice INMHO. No two way speaker is as open and airy as a Heritage 3 way. Show me a speaker that klipsch makes or has made that digs down to 32KHZ, or lower. You will never require a sub for music, and for my tastes most subs that are under 1,000.00 will be to boomy. LaScala's, will definitely require the purchase of a sub.

Best regards,

John

[mattSER]

So, straight to the point. I came across a pair of Forte II's for little $. Installed new Crites woofers in them and never looked back. After adding the Forte's my 7's became mere carpet weights, collecting dust! I stopped listening to them completely.

This may be a dumb question, but has anybody every ran two pairs of speakers that were of different series'?

Like using a Forte+RF-7 for each front channel?

Would a forte + RF compliment each other? Or get in each other's way?

[mattSER]

As others mentioned forte or forte II will be your best choice INMHO. No two way speaker is as open and airy as a Heritage 3 way.

I've actually never heard a heritage described as open and airy.

I'm having a tough time deciding here. Also, in December, I saw numerous pairs of Fortes floating around my local craigslist for as little as $300. Recently, the pickings have dwindled dramatically and are up to $600-800 while the RFs are coming down in price and appearing more frequently. I think it's just going to be availability that ultimate decides what I end up with.

[dtel]

Would a forte + RF compliment each other? Or get in each other's way?

imo

Not a good idea to use any two together, to me either would be better then using two together.

My vote of your choices would be heritage but whatever you get probably won't be your last, it's usually not.

[Matthews]

Would a forte + RF compliment each other? Or get in each other's way?

I did, for a very short time, have both the Forte II (via 200 wpc, Adcom) and the RF-7 (via 350 wpc, Carver) running together . For the lack of a better explanation, it turned into a confused and muddied sound. Both speakers seemed to take away from the other. Maybe it was the difference in amps, I just don't know. What I do know is that it did not sound right.

Hence, the 7's lost the game

[Islander]

That makes sense. In my system, the best sound is with just the bi-amped JubScala IIs and the sub playing. When I add the front centre Belle, the side La Scalas and the rear Heresy III, the surround effects come into play, but the overall sound is quite compromised.

Until the time I have 6 bi-amped JubScala IIs working in harmony, I'll keep the surround mode for casual listening and movies, and the 2-channel mode for serious listening.

[kevinmi]

I have to put my 2 cents in!

I own a pair of RF-5's that I bought new in '06. My trusted Klipsch salesperson told me the RF series were designed to be used with a subwoofer for best performance, largely due to the "Home Theater" movement that was all the rage at the time. I have used the RF-5's in a multichannel home theater set up for years, and they performed well.

When I decided to get back into 2 channel stereo, featuring vinyl playback, the RF-5's were not up to par with the Cornwalls I had before hand.

I eventually bought a pair of K-Horns and seriously modified them for my 2 channel system, but that's another story.

I recently purchased a pair of Frazier 7 speakers for $300.00 for a second system I had set up in my den, replacing the RF-5's. They totally blow the RF-5's away! I paid $1200.00 for the RF-5's plus the subwoofer back in '06.

The point I'm trying to make is don't take for granted that speakers will neccessarily sound better because they are newer or have nice copper speaker cones. The best thing you can do is listen to different speakers and see which fit your listening style. There are many people on this Forum who will let you into their house to give their systems a listen. If you could find someone like myself who has several different types of speakers set up, it would really help show the differences in sound. We are a friendly bunch for the most part, so don't be afraid to ask for a demonstration. If you were near me, I'd let to take the RF-5's home to try out!

There are many choices out there, some are downright bargains. The big Heritage speakers will cost you big money, but you can come really close with the other models mentioned, such as Fortes, Chorus, KLF's, and KG's series. I personally prefer 3 way speakers to 2 way, but that's just me. Just my 2 cents...