Forte Speakers Sounding Very Bad

[DCRT08]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 9:55 PM, UH1dg337 said:

Check for air leaks from around the woofer and passive.

I had an issue with a passive in which the rubber surround came loose from the stamped metal frame. Hard to see bit easily found by pushing gently on the woofer and feeling for leaks around the passive and then pushing on the passive and checking around the woofer.

 

Ahhhhh....will look at that too.

[DCRT08]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 9:06 PM, WMcD said:

I know you checked, but I suspect the amp.  Are mains set to small? by mistake?  This would cut the bass.

 

Listen to the amp on headphones if possible or with other speakers.

 

Can you borrow another amp to check these.  Even an old dorm room type.

 

Gasoline is never a solution.

 

Where are you located?  Maybe some forum member can visit.

 

WMcD

 

 

Love the gasoline input. :-)

[DCRT08]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 6:12 PM, willland said:

For one, like my NAD T773 flagship AVR from 2004, your B&K AVR507 is one of those great sounding musical AVRs.  Don't think the B&K is the problem unless just not set up "properly".  Describe your room, speaker placement/toe-in, etc.

 

Bill

Thanks Bill. The bad news is we have one of those "open floorplan" houses. As an aside, they look nice but if we ever buy another house I'll try to avoid that again. Can't hear myself think if anything is happening in the kitchen.

 

Anyway, the speakers are about 1.5 ft from a wall and about 8 foot apart, slightly toe'd in. The room has carpet. The listening position is also along a wall of sorts. It's one of those that goes 3/4 of the way to the ceiling. Other than that, it's a pretty typical room. Couple pieces of furniture and occasional roaming dog. :-) Using the higher end Monster speaker cable and Nachamichi connectors.

[DCRT08]

Thanks everyone for all the input! I'm going to try the suggestions this week and see what happens. Will let you know what happens....and if I need to get that gas can. LOL

[jjptkd]

18 inches from the back wall sounds like too much from my experiences with these speakers, I typically place them 8-12 inches or so as too far away will take away bass and cause it to sound kind of flabby. Also, I don't know what your seating position is like but you may want also angle the speakers upwards a bit as well as toeing them in so that the mid horn is pointed right at ear level by the time it reaches your seat. Positioning really does play a bit part in getting the most out of these speakers and well worth the time and effort to get it right. Hope this helps!

[WMcD]

I'm thinking about the open plan house.  

 

Just maybe there is nothing wrong with the speakers or amp.

 

As I've described elsewhere:  I had some speakers which had respectable performance in a bedroom.  Then I moved them to the high school cafeteria to rock Led Zep . . . and, gosh, they were nothing.

 

Later in college a buddy and I put his similar speakers and bigger amp outdoors in a parking lot to rock people with Fanfare for the Common Man.  Again, they were nothing.

 

It could be that the open plan house has very lively treble and no bass reinforcement. Still, I'd like to think your speakers and amp are up to the task.

 

- - - 

 

Funny story.  Year ago I was asked to repair some smaller Speaker Lab speakers owned by a young relative, actually a second hand gift from her dad. The woofers had stopped working without any reported abuse (yeah, right!).  This happened when they had been moved to a yard for a party.  I bought some woofers from PE and installed them with good results.

 

Of course the voice coils of the original units were open (infinite resistance on a multimeter)..  I took an Exacto knife to the voice coils and former.  There was extensive charring.

 

My conclusion was that someone had found the loudness control and bass knob on the amp after finding bass lacking outdoors.  

 

There was no point to challenging the "no abuse" yarn.  We've all been kids, once.  

 

______

 

Let me ask another question.  These must have been purchased "used."  Do you have any evidence they worked properly in recent days?

 

WMcD

[DCRT08]

Hi Everyone. Thanks for all the help. Sorry it took so long to get back to let you know the results. Self-employed so lots of hours. Anyway, sadly it's something with my B&K receiver. :-( Not sure it's worth fixing so may just look for a different unit. Thanks again!

[jpc2001]

Did you find another amp that works better?

 

Fortes only sound right with certain amps. They must not be the easiest things to drive.

 

I have KG 5.5's, DIY Khorns, Pioneer CS-33A's, B&W DM302's. All 8 ohms nominal and probably in practice too. None of those really care what you drive them with (except for the noise-floor-sensitivity of the Khorns.) Fortes do though, they wake up with the right amp and fall back asleep with the wrong one. My Fortes are stamped as 4 ohms nominal, and while later ones claimed 8 ohms, the innards didn't change IIUC.

[BlueHusky79]

Began using a Denon receiver, then upgraded to AdCom two channel amplifier and for past four years enjoying the Emotiva XPA-5 fivr channel amplifier. All were satisfying at the time.

However, the XPA-5 has given a freshness & richness to our listening pleasure. Having owed our Forte II's, for 25+ years. Each time I consider that it might be time to upgrade.

After listening to various speakers, at the end of each exercise, I return home realising my Forte II's continue to deliver on what I seek from my speakers.

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