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Upgraded Forte compared to new Forte III


cgolf70

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  • Klipsch Employees
6 minutes ago, billybob said:

Hoping that the new III is everything it is cracked up to be. My bet is, it is...:)

Thats what I hope too. When I reauditioned the II, I knew we had some work to do. Luckily in 20+ years I have learned a thing or two. And in the final audition of the III vs II, I think we got what we were looking for. We will see.....

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8 hours ago, Chief bonehead said:

Thats what I hope too. When I reauditioned the II, I knew we had some work to do. Luckily in 20+ years I have learned a thing or two. And in the final audition of the III vs II, I think we got what we were looking for. We will see.....

I can't wait to hear these. As for your next project, chorus III :D please

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16 hours ago, John Chi-town said:

 

Easy, Sugar.......

 

We can all have an opinion without it becoming "personal"......

I don't think this was personal, just a point that everyone has an opinion.  It is odd when folks voice their thoughts after an opinion is stated, it isn't taken in the same vein but made into  a put down....  I don't get it.  Unfortunately he is pointing out in the prior post was that you can not substantiate what you are stating and it would likely be construed as correct.  It would be ill served to the thread starter when you can't speak knowledgeably on it. 

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12 hours ago, dtr20 said:

I can't wait to hear these. As for your next project, chorus III :D please

I heard the Forte III's on the pilgrimage and to me they had an amazing sound stage, better than my Chorus II's. A no I brainer to me as I looked into buying them but got side tracked by the Jubilee's. The new Forte's are a bargain at their price point and I am recommending them to my friends. I can only think a Chorus III would make a great option for those a little more bass hungry and hopefully worth their development. So many choices - life is good.

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Fair enough, let's bring this back to fortes. Has anyone measured the forte III mid-range horn to see if it's the same size? I know more went into this speaker, but for those of us that can't afford the forte III for another decade or 2, this could help existing forte II and chorus II owners.

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On 7/23/2017 at 9:54 PM, dtr20 said:

Has anyone measured the forte III mid-range horn to see if it's the same size?

I have not measured, but if you're talking about compared to the ll version, it definitely not the same.

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On 7/22/2017 at 4:25 PM, Chief bonehead said:

Thats what I hope too. When I reauditioned the II, I knew we had some work to do. Luckily in 20+ years I have learned a thing or two. And in the final audition of the III vs II, I think we got what we were looking for. We will see.....

If Da Bonehead says it is so, then, well, draw your own conclusions.....

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For an apples to apples comparison, first assume you've got a minty set of old Forte's, so you'd have probably almost a grand of equity into those before you started modding.  You'd have to upgrade or replace essentially all of the horns, drivers, xovers, mod the cab for a 15" passive, etc. so you'd easily have $2k-$3k invested into a "hot rod" set of older Forte's.  That's assuming you could actually find a set that were as nice as new-in-box Forte's.

 

I've got no problems with modding older gear, but I don't think you're going to easily or economically replicate Forte-III's.  Additionally, if you decided to sell later,  Forte-III's are going to be worth a lot more than modded Forte's from 25 years ago.

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On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 2:08 PM, John Chi-town said:

 

You are correct.  However the II, has a 15" passive.  The point remains the same however, in that less than a $500.00 upgrade on a pair of II's will essentially give you a forte III.  Unless you think mumps on a horn is worth an extra $3,000.00 plus???

 

 

Best regards,

John

The "mumps" on the horn as you describe it is a patented design by Roy which allows the midrange to have lower extension before it "bottoms out" and becomes so distorted it's unusable.  I talked to Roy at InfoComm specifically about what made this horn design different and he enlightened me as to the details behind it and what it did.  Basically it allows the "bubble" of undistorted sound to reach further before breaking apart.  This allows a much lower crossover point which puts more sound into the midrange horn than compared to previous designs.  

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On 7/22/2017 at 4:11 PM, John Chi-town said:

 

I thought the term :"Forum" was for the free flow of thought and information? 

 

Best regards,

John

Indeed it is.  Just don't  confuse "information" with opinion, and everyone may not agree with said opinion.  The word "upgrade" is used to imply that it must be better -- but it may not be.  

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On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 4:25 PM, Chief bonehead said:

Thats what I hope too. When I reauditioned the II, I knew we had some work to do. Luckily in 20+ years I have learned a thing or two. And in the final audition of the III vs II, I think we got what we were looking for. We will see.....

Sounds like the work was done to a t, based on some early reveal here about sounding really good with any music. Now that is a hell of a note to say.

Thinking that out the gate, another winner for sure. Any speaker that is improved over the sound of the Forte!! is the winner in my limited yet serious opinion. Regards!

Thanks!

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  • 5 years later...

JH of Stereophile gave it one of the highest reviews I have ever seen of a speaker of the original Fortes.  They interviewed one of the original Klipsch engineers and he said it met all design parameters or something like that and that it came across to me as saying, nuth'n need improvement on and I don't understand why they did it?

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26 minutes ago, Idontknow said:

Even though this is an older thread, I prefer the Forte I's over the Forte III's. The Forte III's are my least favorite in the series. To add further insult to injury, all the newer gear is absurdly overpriced.

I have Forte 1s with Crites Crossovers and Dave A's SMAHL tweeters and they sound very nice. These were my dads and he left them to me when he passed. I now use them as my surround sound speakers and have a newer pair of Forte IVs as my mains. I find the Forte IVs to sound significantly better than the Forte 1s in many ways. Soundstage is wider and deeper with the IVs and they are warm and bright with zero fatigue. I agree the list price of the new Forte IVs are quite high at $5,000 but Paducah sold me mine for a lot less $$$$$.

 

Its interesting that you prefer the 1s over the IVs but maybe it has something to do with the genres you enjoy listening to. Fortes are all great speakers. Enjoy you classic Forte 1s. I probably will never sell mine.

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3 hours ago, Ratty said:

JH of Stereophile gave it one of the highest reviews I have ever seen of a speaker of the original Fortes.  They interviewed one of the original Klipsch engineers and he said it met all design parameters or something like that and that it came across to me as saying, nuth'n need improvement on and I don't understand why they did it?

they   now have a Forte IV , and it's even better than a Forte III which was better than a Forte II  

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58 minutes ago, Idontknow said:

 I prefer the Forte I's over the Forte III's 

 you have the right to your opinion , but  the Forte III  Mumps Mids horn technology  is a serious improvement , and it's not subtle   .

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14 hours ago, OO1 said:

 you have the right to your opinion , but  the Forte III  Mumps Mids horn technology  is a serious improvement , and it's not subtle   .

 

There were a few issues I had with the Forte III and BTW the III didn't get the best of reviews by a number of audio listeners. It's the same issue I have with the IV even though I prefer the IV over the III and the Forte I over both. First, is the bass. The bass on the III and the IV doesn't go as deep as the Forte I and it's audible too. It's also evident in their specs even though I'm not into specs all that much. This is probably why we see so many threads with listeners who complain about needing a subwoofer for the Forte III's and IV's. We keep seeing this over and over in the forums.

 

It amazes me how much the newer Forte's cost, not to mention that most feel more bass is still needed, so subs now have to be added which adds additional cost to something that's already overpriced to begin with. I can more than afford a pair of III's or IV's but they're not what the marketing pumps them up to be.

 

The next issue is the top end. Neither the III or the IV has the same sweetness on the top end that the Forte I has. I'm not an engineer so I'm not qualified to say what the real cause is. Maybe it has something to do with the crossovers? My biggest guess is that it may have something to do with the tweeters in the Forte I being phenolic tweeters and the III and IV being titanium tweeters, I'm not sure. All I can tell is that the Forte I has a sweeter and smoother top end so I don't know what the big deal is with titanium in fact I think they use polyamide tweeters on the latest Klipschorn's, I can't remember for sure.

 

The next issue on the Forte III and IV is the midrange combined with the top end. I don't know if it's because of the shape of the mid horn itself, I'm not an expert on it, but I can hear it with various jazz instruments. For those wanting a demonstration of the lack of coherency I'm referring to, put on a pair of headsets or earbuds and listen to this video. At about 6:13 of the video, he will switch from the Heresy IV to the Forte IV. Immediately when the woman's voice kicks in, the upper range sounds dispersed or lost and no longer sounds as coherent. This has also been expressed by a number of individuals. Huff later goes on the say that the Forte IV is a jack of all trades speaker. To my ears, the Forte I already does everything perfectly in my opinion and they cost a 5th the price.

 

To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, imagine a trumpet with a horn shape that's be further opened to something like a bugle. The bell shape on a bugle is opened up further, so it doesn't sound as coherent.  I don't mind if someone prefers one speaker over another, but it helps if others would try to describe why.

 

 

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As someone that owns both forte 1s and Forte IVs I think I have said what differences I have experienced. The Forte IVs have a wider and deeper soundstage than the 1s. The IVs are smoother top to bottom and the bass is more punchy. I definitely think that for the genres I listen to all Fortes benefit from a well integrated subwoofer. There can be a lot of music in the lower registers that no version of the Forte can accurately energize. In my mind the IVs with a fast sub is music bliss to my ears. The Forte 1s sound awesome with my REL sub but the IVs blow my mind. I’m lucky to own both 1s and IVs.

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