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Chorus II lack of bass and Belle replacement?


brad0112

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2 Different questions for the group...

 

My current set-up is front Chorus II's, center Quartet, KG1.5's for surrounds, and 2 powered 12" subs. 

 

1) Comments regarding the Chorus II's include raves about how good the bass is of the Chorus II's stand alone, but I am not hearing it.  I am going to try to re-balance my Denon receiver, but even on Pure Direct mode there doesn't seem to be that lower frequency rumble/pop coming out of them that I had expected. Could it be something with the speakers or crossovers?  I've felt this way since I got them, but the sub seemed to make up the difference for television, but not so much for music listening.

 

2) Someone locally has put up for sale a pair of Belle's with AA crossovers (1979?) but newer sonicaps.  Some cosmetic issues and they are more than $2,000 for the pair. My question is if they would provide enough of an upgrade over the Chorus II's for a home theater set-up?  I usually watch movies, but also occasionally listen to music (typically rock), so I would want the best speaker for that.  I think the Chorus II's have been great for movies, but have not had that punch for movies.  I added the 2nd sub in the back and that has added a lot, but like I said with question 1, it may be a re-balancing issue I will look at tomorrow.  

 

Thank you for your indulgence!

 

 

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As far as the Chorus II's go, do you have a stereo receiver, integrated amp, or preamp/amp combo that you could hook up to them?  If either of these suggestions are not doing it for you, then I would say the Chorus II's may have the issue or you have the LFE/sub crossover set wrong.

 

Bill

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What kind of amplifier situation do you have? If you are using a home theater receiver, that's probably your problem. If that is the case, belles would sound horrific in your setup and the chorus ii's would be better. If you are running a home theater receiver, try finding a stereo receiver on craigslist or something. This could wake up the chorus speakers. If this ends up being the solution, then get an amplifier switch so you can have 2 receivers with one set of speakers, and change them at will.

 

The belles are absolutely great speakers, but they probably don't have the bass you are looking for. I have belles and I won't give them up. That being said, I'm also refurbishing a pair of chorus ii's for myself as well. The chorus ii is arguably one of klipsch's best balanced speaker ever made, all things considered, especially footprint size. Khorns sound better, but not everyone can have them. Good luck, update us on your findings.

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Just to clarify, old belles need a good 2 channel stereo receiver to sing. I hooked mine up to my avr, and they sounded horrible. My buddy brought over an old Sony stereo integrated amp from the 70s, and my mouth dropped open because of how good they sound.

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I really don't think swapping Belles in place of the Chorus II's is going to help with your bass issue at all, in fact it would likely be a step in the wrong direction. Either they are not set up / powered properly or you could be battling the room itself, possibly a combination of both?

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I had Chorus II and in my room.  I too felt they were anemic in the bass department. 

 

Klipsch-ChorusII-1.jpg

 

 

At that time, I had an Emotiva UMC-1 Pre Pro with a Parasound HCA-2205a (220 x 5) amp so it definitely was not an issue of a lack of power. 

 

Emotiva-UMC-1_04.jpg

 

 

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3 hours ago, dtr20 said:

Just to clarify, old belles need a good 2 channel stereo receiver to sing. I hooked mine up to my avr, and they sounded horrible. My buddy brought over an old Sony stereo integrated amp from the 70s, and my mouth dropped open because of how good they sound.

I had the exact same experience, but with Cornwalls, AVR was not good, hooked them up to a old HK 930 and not thinking I went to turn down the sub, forgetting it was disconnected. 

If not the AVR, it is probably something in the settings ?

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Thanks everyone for the thoughts.  I am going to play with the AVR settings, as I think that's the issue.  It's a Denon X2100W.  

 

The question about the Belles was not necessarily meant as a fix for lack of bass, but more of a general question...I always loved the look of them and I have the space for them (but not Khorns), and they were locally available.  I have honestly never heard them but was intrigued.  

 

But the points made on a 2 channel vs. AVR set-up may have sealed the deal to stick with what I've got and tinker/fine tune, rather than replace regardless of the bass.  

 

Thanks again to this awesome community!

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I have a pair of Chorus ii with a Denon 4800 AVR used as a preamp into a Amps and Sound Stereo 15 tube amp that has outstanding bass!:D  That is with 15 watts from a outstanding amp.  

 

One speaker is not in a corner and one is in a corner.   

The speakers are angled in with the inside corner 12.5 inches from the wall and the outside corner 16.5 inches from the wall, see pic.  

 

 

 

IMG_20170320_213617736.jpg

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If you think the Chorus II's bass is weak then you certainly don't want Belle's.  I certainly don't see how a 15" woofer coupled with a 15" passive could not have bass, but then again you are using an entry level receiver and who knows what as a source and what type of content.

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On 3/22/2017 at 5:50 PM, SWL said:

I would check the internal wiring in the Chorus ll's and make sure nothing is connected out of phase.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk
 

That's what I was going to suggest.  I once had my Chorus IIs connected out of phase while changing receivers around and the bass was almost not there.  

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Yeah, and there's been plenty of KLF-30 owners that have had the mid driver connected wrong. The markings aren't always very clear. I'd be willing to bet other models are the same way.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

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