Forte I or Forte II Sounds Better?

[CatManFever]

Does anyone know which Forte sounds better, the Forte I or the Forte II? It seems the latter crowd likes the Forte II, but I believe these people have never heard the Forte I. Those that have listened to the Forte I don't seem to like the sound of the Forte II from what little I have gathered.

Thanks for you opinions (if anyone has any).

[j-malotky]

CatMan

This is almost a personal issue. They both are great speakers.

The only reason I prefer the 1's is it more closely matches the rest of my older Heritage equipment.

If you put a 2's out in front, by themselves, it sounds great. If you try to match a newer tractrix with older exponential horns, it just does not sound right IMHO.

JM

[jhawk92]

Cat-

I'll have to do a bit of this from memory, but I've listened to both I's and II's; my parents have both. I prefer the II's just a bit, as do they; they put the II's as their 2-ch speakers and the I's as the mains to their HT. I think it is the tractrix horn vs the exponential horn as well as the 15" passive on the II vs the 12" passive on the I. Also, picking nits here, the IIs have a binding post that allows for much larger bare speaker wire than the I.

Now that my parents have a pair of Chorus IIs for their 2-ch system, they moved the Forte IIs to the mains of their HT, and the I's are now the surrounds. They love the sound all four speakers produce.

Either way, these are great speakers and any system will be well served by them.

[CatManFever]

Thanks ya'll for the comments. They were very interesting, considering the vast difference of the way the two Fortes, i.e. I and II were manufactured and the different components.