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First timer Q's about Forte & Heresy...


rawchuck

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Hi everybody,

 

This is my first post here!

 

I am about to purchase my first ever home stereo!  Let me apologize in advance for what may seem like ridiculous questions....please go easy, as I am brand new to this world....

 

I am putting together a system, and its primary purpose will be to play records.  I do know that I will most likely go with a vintage receiver that has already been restored.  Looking at Marantz, Sansui, McIntosh, Luxman,  etc....the usual suspects....

 

I will primarily be listening to rock, folk, jazz, acoustic music, etc.  Nothing to heavy.  

 

Haven't quite decided on a turntable yet, but I want to hammer down my choice of receiver/speakers first.

 

Still trying to decide on speakers too, but I am almost 100% sure that I will go with Klipsch.  In addition to sounding great, the speakers I choose must fit into the vintage "look" of the stereo.  Plus, they can't be too big.  Klipsch is the only speaker I am aware of that makes floor standing models that have a vintage look, and are not Yuuuuggggge!  I am looking at purchasing used/upgraded Heresy I, II, or III....or else a set of used Fortes.

 

I would love any advice people can offer about how these types of speakers work with vintage SS Receivers....plus any recommendations on which particular brand/model people have had success with, as well as places to look for refurbished/restored models of speakers and receivers.

 

Budget is $2500 for receiver/speakers, ideally less.  However, if my budget doesn't get me EVRYTHING I want,  I would like to focus first on getting excellent speakers, and have the rest of the components be "useable" with the idea that I can upgrade/restore those at a later date.

 

Thanks!

 

Edited by rawchuck
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I would go with the forte 2. My son had forte and forte 2  and the forte 2 was a little bit better. I have a pair of chorus 2  which I think is the best all around speaker but they are  little bit bigger. What size room are they going in?

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Hi and welcome to the forum.  Your budget gives you a bunch of choices, and it would be important to know the size of room and how you will be able to place whatever speakers you decide on.  Room configuration, wood floor, tile floor, rugs, furniture, windows, ceiling height, etc, etc, all play a part in the solution..... Better recommendations will come with a bit more info about your listening environment.  Also, knowing your location could help us to assist you in acquiring the components you are looking for. 

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Forte or Forte II.

 

How Vintage is Vintage?  For instance, Marantz.  The original tube Marantz separate preamps and amps, made under the supervision of Saul Marantz, were wonderful but are worth a fortune today.  The Marantz receivers of, say, the late seventies were O.K., but not particularly good (I had one).  The current Marantz units seem to be fine (I have a 2011 Marantz pre/pro, and like it a lot). 

 

But it's not as simple as we would like it to be.  Within a given brand's line there could be excellent models and bad models.  I had a McIntosh C28 in which the right phono channel kept going out.  I had it repaired by a McIntosh warranty station, and it went out again.  Fixed it again.  Out it went.  When I finally sold it to a dealer who specialized in used McIntosh gear, the tech told me it was a common problem with C28s.  McIntosh has a sterling reputation for reliability! 

  • If at all possible, you should listen to any receiver before buying, preferably with the Klipsch speaker of your choice.
  • Of all the examples you gave, I suspect Luxman might be the best.
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The system will be against the wall of my living room.  200 sq ft, wood floors, vaulted ceilings and a lot of glass.....

 

i realize that with that size room I could go pretty big with speakers.  However, I do not want the stereo to be the focal point of the room....hence the ideal choice being the Hersesy, the possible choice being the Forte.....

 

i have read that Heresy speakers can sound harsh with ss vintage receivers from the 70s.  I've also read that they lack bottom end.  Then again, I have heard from people who swear by setups like this.  How do I make sense of this?

 

A wide swing sample of artists that I like to listen to would be Grateful Dead, James Taylor, Willie Nelson, Little Feat, Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Bill Frisell, the Strokes, the Beatles, Zeppelin, and the list goes on...

 

 

as far far as exact receiver....I am open to various choices.  I will say that the search began by lusting after a fully restored Marantz 2270... I like that look as well...

 

 

Edited by rawchuck
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The two forte choices are far above heresies.  You will need a sub woofer with heresies to be happy, none needed with forte/forte II, which will do best in corners about 12 to 18 inches for the passive radiators from the back walls.  Cost of heresies plus a sub vs better balanced and cheaper fortes?  Don't look back.  When I bought my first pair of forte IIs I directly compared them with heresies.

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3 hours ago, rawchuck said:

Hi everybody,

 

This is my first post here!

Welcome you came to the right place, many people with lot's of experience. 

3 hours ago, rawchuck said:

Let me apologize in advance for what may seem like ridiculous questions....please go easy, as I am brand new to this world....

No need to apologize, no one is born knowing this stuff. The goal is to ask many questions so you can get the best you can for the money and be happy without wasting money. Ask away, no question is silly if you don't know the answers. :emotion-21:

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Owned all of those and everyone has opinions; mine would be Chorus II first then Forte II as most fulfilling and forgiving with upstream components.

Welcome to the most un-opinionated group around (new word alert)

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I just got my 1986-era Forte's to "complete" my (wife's - of course) system. The Forte's sound great and were under $500 in very good / excellent condition. The clarity is so impressive compared with my old college speakers. It's a nice feeling to be able to turn it up all the way and not be limited by the speakers. My living room area has vaulted ceilings and the sound also can fill an upstairs loft area. I decided that vintage Klipsch was a great bang for the buck ... especially the Forte's. I haven't heard Heresy's, but many suggest you would benefit from a sub-woofer. 

 

With that said, we started with a new turntable. Through craigslist, we found a Rega-RP1 that had modifications to make it an RP-3 equivalent. Such a simple design and easy to use. Absolutely no issues with that.

 

Instead of vintage solid state, we  bought a new amplifier (actually a receiver) ... the Emotiva TA-100. Being modern, it has many inputs including a phono. We can also bluetooth from our i-phones. We can walk in the room and ask Alexa (echo dot) to play anything from Pandora or Amazon Prime music. An Emotiva CD player rounds out our system. All four parts (speakers, amp/receiver, CD player, turn-table) were under $500 each ... below your budget. 

 

So in short, suggest you might consider something more modern than a vintage receiver (or find a way to have more inputs into it ... I think there are gizmo's).

Edited by WCWIII
added a couple details for OP
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@rawchuck,

 

Glad you made it over from Audiogon.  Told you many will come to your aid.:D

 

6 hours ago, oldtimer said:

The two forte choices are far above heresies.  You will need a sub woofer with heresies to be happy, none needed with forte/forte II

Yes, above in the bass department but a well placed pair of HI, HII, or HIII's will satisfy many folks with most types of music.  No doubt a subwoofer is preferred with the Heresys for lower extension and not really necessary with forte's and forte' II's.  The forte's(II's) are very well balanced speakers that can excel with many genres of music especially the rock, folk, acoustic, jazz you listen to.

 

6 hours ago, rawchuck said:

i have read that Heresy speakers can sound harsh with ss vintage receivers from the 70s.

I have not experienced this in any way, quite the opposite IMO.

 

Keep asking the questions and you will get the answers.  Be careful because many on this forum(including me) will try to throw so much at you in many directions that it will confuse you even more.:o:P

 

As mentioned on Audiogon(by me of course), look at some "vintage looking" newer integrated amps like the analog Yamaha A-S amps.  Quite bit more $$$ than an unrestored 70's vintage amp/receiver but not too much more than the Marantz 2270 or 2275 that are listed on Audiogon.

 

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/receivers-marantz-2270-vintage-am-fm-stereo-receiver-walnut-case-2697-2017-06-14-vintage-equipment-80020-broomfield-co

 

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/receivers-marantz-2275-vintage-am-fm-stereo-receiver-fully-restored-2874-2017-06-16-vintage-equipment-80020-broomfield-co

 

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamas2000sl/yamaha-a-s2000-natural-sound-stereo-integrated-amplifier-silver/1.html

 

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamas1100blk/yamaha-a-s1100-integrated-amplifier-black/1.html

 

@rawchuck,

 

Where is your location?

 

Bill

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I have both, Klipsch Hersey's (3 across the front) and Forte's, I run a newer Denon AVR with the Herseys and a Klipsch 12 sub, Klipsch for rears, all for movies. The Herseys set upside down on top of my Forte's except for the center one it sets up right on top of my sub. For my Forte's I only used them for 2 channel vinyl and CD's, I run an late 70's - 80's SS Denon amp/preamp with them. Both set ups sound amazing. I have the Forte's I many say the bass on the II's is better than the ones. But I've found a lot of that has to do with room placement. Mine are about 15" - 18" from the rear wall sounds very nice. There's plenty of bass, sometimes it sounds as if the sub is on, but it's not even connected to that amp.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Vintage Klipsch + Vintage Marantz = Vintage Bliss! Our Heresy speakers sit upon a large heavy cabinet which is against a long wall and approximately 32 inches tall. The room is a modest cube approximately 15w x 12d x 9h, with hardwood floor, paneled walls, a small rug and a tapestry wall hanging. The speakers, about 10 feet apart, are connected to a Marantz 1070 amp (35 wpc RMS). The sound is very spacious, full and detailed. We listen at moderate levels to music with lots of texture - Celtic and Scandinavian folk, medieval, Renaissance, early baroque, 40s and 60s jazz, classic rock. No need for a subwoofer. Even Guillou's interpretation of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D-minor is rich and satisfying with just enough of the visceral to bring on the goose flesh! With your vaulted ceilings, the Forte II loudspeakers paired with the Marantz 2270 should make an excellent combination. Best wishes for happy listening. -uc

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The room is not very large and the Forte I or II should fit the bill.  They may require some distance from the wall (12-18 in.).  Nothing wrong with vintage gear but, there are things to consider.  Vintage gear may need some work, lack some connectivity feature.  Quality restoration is expensive.  Newer integrated receivers, avr's can give you great sound, more connectivity options, warranty, etc.

 

Tube amplification offer a vintage look and works well with the Heritage line-up.  There are a lot of tube amps and integrated amp well within the cost of a SS amp restoration.

 

Vintage stereo KT88 push pull vacuum tube amplifier HIFI integrated AMP,allnews-l1600.jpg

 

Many tube amp options are well under the $2500 budget.  Don't be fooled by their price, they are every bit as good as the SS amps you are considering.  The amount of spent on audio gear is not a great predictor of performance IMHO.

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Vintage receiver recommendations for use with Klipsch Heresys, Forte, or Chorus speakers:  Harman Kardon 430 twin-powered receiver; H/K 730 twin-powered receiver, or H/K 930 twin-powered receiver.  All of these were manufactured in the first half of the 1970's

 

The H/K 430 was the largest selling receiver in the world while in production...for GOOD REASON!  It was priced right, and sounded great!  It was twin-powered meaning there were separate power supplies for each of the two channels being driven...so it did not "rob" one channel of power when complex musical passages were going on in order to supply the power for that to the other channel. It will be the cheapest of the bunch both as a restored version or un-restored...it is also the cheapest TO restore.  It was CONSERVATIVELY rated at 25 WPC, but its twin-powering made it act like it had MUCH more than that amount of wattage on hand per channel.  Very good tuner, too!  Its downside?  It does not come with pre-amp-out/amp-in connections, whereas others in the X30 twin-powred line DO have that feature (630, 730, 930).

 

H/K 730 replaced the 630 in the line-up a couple years after the 430 itself came out.  Great receiver!  Conservatively rated at 35 WPC.  Better tuner section than the 430.

 

H/K 930...the top of the line for the "X30" series and came out about the same time as the 630 and the 430 did.  Conservatively rated at 45 WPC.  Best tuner section of the line...REALLY great tuner!  Overall the best one in the "X30" twin-powered receiver line.  Fewer were made and sold than the numbers for the 430 and 730, so it is harder to find one...and they cost more than any of the rest in the line.

 

On the receiver side of the budget you gave above, you would EASILY be able to afford any of these receivers to include any necessary restoration costs and still have money left over even after buying your speakers. PLUS, they all sound GREAT on Klipsch "Heritage" line speakers!

 

 

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