Pondering Purchase of Forte's or Heresy's

[absolve2525]

I recently bought a pair of fairly rare T-5000, which are basically souped-up Heresy 2s in a large cabinet, with a 12" front firing passive. From what I gather, they're basically Fortes with a slightly different woofer. They KICK butt! Very spacious sounding, with low bass also. I mean vibrating the walls bass. Ive read the reviews of the Forte 1, and they were glowing. I wouldn't hesitate to jump on the Forte 1s. I have Chorus 2 in storage, and these T-5000 are damn close. Forte 1 are sweet. 

[billybob]

Yes, do not see them everyday roundabout. The 5000 with Think you are really onto it here absolve 2525. Top of the line besides model. Looking for a pair of T-4000. The Tangent 500 were in your face, forward leaning, here that I agree with.

's for fun. Would not hesitate on the fortes. Good Fortune.

[Peter P.]

Update-I did the deed and bought a pair of Heresy's!

 

After scouring Craigslist and eBay, I found a pair listed on both sites. It was obvious the seller was intelligent and an audiophile; I could tell this would be a trusted sale. He was the second owner, having bought them from his doctor, who upgraded to Klipschorns! In my search, I saw quite a few Heresy I's and, while the prices were a bit more tempting than any Heresy II's for sale, I was put off by the drivers mounted behind the baffle, and in most cases, the condition of the cabinets. I'm beginning to think those Heresy I's would have impressed me nonetheless, and it wouldn't have taken much work to spruce up some of the cabinetry. Also, many of the Heresy's of both models for sale lacked the risers which I didn't realize were an option. The pair I purchased have risers.

 

Clearly the Heresy's are popular speakers. My seller had 23 people watching his auction and over 500 views. And despite listing the speakers for Local Pick Up Only, he still had people trying to convince him to ship them from NJ to CO, offering to pay a paltry $50 a pair shipping!

 

I paid $650 for the pair and drove just over an hour to retrieve them. I actually saw a pair a 3-hour drive away for $450! Tempting, but I hate driving.

 

My impressions: Physically, the speakers are perfectly sized for my room; they don't dominate the living room or look out of place. The honey oak veneer was in excellent shape. The serial number tags on the back are missing so I suppose to purists these might have lesser value.

 

The sound-these things are brutes, just real bulldogs! By the spec sheet, the Heresy's are supposed to have the same low end cutoff of 55Hz as the 6.5" woofer speakers they're replacing. Well, these Heresy's redefine 55Hz! I live in a condo with a basement and neighbors on either side. The Heresy's excite the floor joints in ways I never expected. In some respects the speakers are TOO strong, and I wonder whether I should have stayed with a 6.5" or maybe an 8" woofer tops. Thank goodness I didn't buy the Forte's! But the fact is, this all started with me playing subwoofer territory frequencies that damaged my existing speakers; the Heresy's are likely so bulletproof I'll never have to worry about unglued baffles again, so they're worth it despite their ahem, floor shaking quirks...

 

I would like to thank all those who offered advice to me while I pondered my dilemma (see the original post) and helped push me toward my lifelong desire to own a pair of Heritage Series Klipsch's!

 

[jimjimbo]

Cool! Just don't put plants on them...

[willland]

Very nice.

 

6 hours ago, Peter P. said:

The sound-these things are brutes, just real bulldogs! By the spec sheet, the Heresy's are supposed to have the same low end cutoff of 55Hz as the 6.5" woofer speakers they're replacing. Well, these Heresy's redefine 55Hz! I live in a condo with a basement and neighbors on either side. The Heresy's excite the floor joints in ways I never expected. In some respects the speakers are TOO strong, and I wonder whether I should have stayed with a 6.5" or maybe an 8" woofer tops.

 To help a bit with the "Too strong" thing, you could remove the risers and place them on maybe 18" or 20" stands which would move them further from the floor and the obvious boundary gain it creates.

 

 

or maybe 12" stands

 

 

 

Bill

[Peter P.]

59 minutes ago, willland said:

Very nice.

 

 To help a bit with the "Too strong" thing, you could remove the risers and place them on maybe 18" or 20" stands which would move them further from the floor and the obvious boundary gain it creates.

 

or maybe 12" stands

Interesting you should mention stands. While going through the process of deciding whether to buy the Heresy's, I tried removing my 6.5" speakers from their 24" stands and placing them on the floor. I'd never considered the boundary gain to be a real factor; I just assumed since my speakers were on sand-filled steel stands with spiked feet that they were coupled well and the bass would transfer solidly. But even placing those small speakers on the floor enhanced their output significantly, without making them sound boomy.

 

My stands don't have a platform anywhere near large enough to accommodate the Heresy's. Where did you get yours?

 

 

[willland]

12 minutes ago, Peter P. said:

My stands don't have a platform anywhere near large enough to accommodate the Heresy's. Where did you get yours?

 

These are not mine in photo, my pairs sit on dressers in a spare bedroom and master bedroom.  I just found some photos to give an example.  If I am not mistaken, the ones in the photo are from a forum member here.  I think a build would be pretty simple if you have the tools, and time.  Maybe send a PM to another forum member jHoak(Jeff Hoak) and see if he would send photos or build diagram of the stands he built for his Heresys.

 

Bill

[jjptkd]

Bar stools work great and are cheap, so long as you don't have wandering littles one that may knock them over.