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Forte II positioning


lionheart-uk

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Is there any sane reason why my Fortes sound better when placed tight in corners, I have tried them in numerous positions but always go back to having them 6" off the rear wall and 4" from the side walls, firing straight down the room with no toe in because they sound so much better. I know this fly's in the face of what most people think about positioning of these speakers and if I had not done an A-B comparison I would have agreed and expected to hear boomy muddled bass from the 15" passive being so close to the rear wall, to my ears the sound is just right and pulling them out from the walls makes them bass shy and bright.

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Since they are close to the corners, that will load the bass better.  Firing straight down the room keeps the tweeters from being in your face and balances out the midrange (likely in your room).

This doesn't fly in the face common belief other than you might want to put some padding on the  first reflection in the room, especially since the speakers are facing forward.  I would be the image and sound would gain appreciatively.  You might be able to toe them in a touch to improve imaging.

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Thanks for the reply, I think the shape of my room is probably a major factor, they are situated 7ft apart at the narrow end of a 28ft through lounge so I guess the bass tends to get lost some what.  I have tried various rated vintage speakers over the years and have never been completely happy with the results, the Celestions these Fortes replaced were close but the Klipsch are better with the lower powered amps I have.

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Fortes's inherent response is ripe down to 80 hz or so, then loses a few db on the way down to the low thirties where they drop more quickly.  Because of this, it typically takes corner placement to realize their full potential in terms of extension and output, so your impressions seem about right to me.  With them deep in the corners like you have them, you should be getting useful output all the way down to the mid twenties, and full, robust bass from the low 30's on up.  Sounds (and feels) pretty good, doesn't it?  

 

You may want to experiment with cross-firing them so the axis cross several feet in front of the main listening position.  Similar to how you have them now, it will keep you out of the direct axis "hot zone", but should pay dividends in other areas.

 

Have fun, and rock on!

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Thanks for the info Chaps it's appreciated.  Before going down the Klipsch path I would never have believed that placing speakers in corners would be anything other than a complete disaster with the 15" passive so close to the rear wall, these really are amazing sounding speakers with bass to die for, it has opened my eyes up to older Klipsch kit and I won't be trading them in any time soon........Cheers, John

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6 minutes ago, lionheart-uk said:

it has opened my eyes up to older Klipsch kit and I won't be trading them in any time soon........Cheers, John

 

I can't believe that! 

 

I would have bet my last euro your name was Richard.  :lol:  (should I have bet my last pound?)

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IMO, when purchasing any of the speakers that PWK was involved in designing and manufacturing, the best place to start is by reading Dope from Hope and trying to place your speakers as he intended them to be placed. Floor, corner (if possible) or against the wall and 45 degree toe in. None of these things adhere to current audiophile "wisdom". Then you can move away from any of this to suit your particular circumstances and taste. But at least start where the designer intended. Keep in mind, he believed that any speaker would benefit from corner placement and that any excess in bass caused by corner placement could be cured by turning down the bass tone control!

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Almost every speaker I have ever owned hated corners, my Fortes sound the best in corners if I pull them away from the walls they become too bright and I soon move them back.  this isn't a bad thing considering the restriction I have with the room size.  

 

I also found the Fortes preferred my very thin solid core DNM speaker cable to the heavy gauge Supra one, I can't usually tell the difference in cables but I can with the Fortes.  

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I can understand why people prefer digital and got into the medium early myself but always found myself going back to vinyl, I think that my Fortes sound better with vinyl than CD, I also prefer the FM tuner on my old Marantz receiver to the sound of digital radio through the Klipsch's.  I had a pair of new RB81's before the Fortes and had the opposite results.

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17 hours ago, lionheart-uk said:

Are you lads still spinning vinyl regularly or moved more into digital ??????

 

All CD's and music on i-pod..... My vinyl went missing many many years ago. It was a military move and my vinyl didn't make it. I put a claim in and I think I got a $1000 for my collection. That was a lot of money back then and that's when I made the switch to CD's. 

I would love to have some vinyl again...... maybe

 

MKP :-)

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If you wanted to get back into vinyl now would be a good time, you can pick up mint 180g releases of classic albums on certain websites for £10-£15 and in a lot of cases they sound better than the originals, the downside is unless you already have one the price of a decent record deck has gone through the roof.

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I had my FII's right in the corners toed in about 45 degrees so the back edges were one inch from the walls.  No boom, just nice clean bass.  

 

The room was in an office building with a suspended ceiling with about three feet of open space above which communicated with the rest of the suite.  Therefore it is tough to compare the room to anything domestic.  Maybe more like a five sided cube with the open end facing the outdoors.  

 

It's good to hear you found something favorable.

 

WMcD

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On 11/8/2016 at 1:11 PM, lionheart-uk said:

If you wanted to get back into vinyl now would be a good time

 

Would be cool.... but I don't see that happening anytime soon..... I really can't remember the last time I heard any vinyl..... and come to think about it, when I had vinyl the system I had wasn't anything....man that was a long time ago...... Hmmmm vinyl;)

 

MKP :-)

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