Jump to content

A long-time Thiel CS 3.6 audiophile welcomes his new Klipsch Forte III.


buf

Recommended Posts

As a teenage audiophile I lusted after Klipsch speakers such as the Klipschorn and La Scala. They were way too big and expensive however, but they just looked like they would sound good. And they had ridiculously high sensitivity. In the late 1950s JBL and Electrovoice used horns in their best speakers as well.

I have been looking for another speaker system for some time now and wanted something different from my Thiels….that is, not just another 3 way cone system. I came across the Forte IIIs and they seemed to meet my criteria…..high efficiency, horn-based. I didn’t think they would necessarily be better than my Thiels but different in a way that I would find appealing.

They are very close on most sonic parameters. Tonal balance and smoothness are about the same. The 3.6s have lower bass extension, somewhat better image specificity and a bit more depth to the sound stage. Apart from these differences, the Fortes still shine in those areas. I initially worried that they would have a distinctive “horn” sound. Not so. Their general tonal character is no different from my Thiels.

The area where the Fortes standout is the one I anticipated: dynamic range. Loud, sudden bursts pop out of the soundstage with greater impact and crispness with no noticeable strain or distortion. They really strut their stuff on Jazz at the Pawn Shop, Santana’s Sacred Fire, the 4th movement of Mahler’s 1st Symphony, and any balls to the wall version of The Rite of Spring. This is not surprising given the difference in sensitivity, 86db verses 99db. I have read that for each 3db increase in sensitivity means you need half as much power. The great thing about well-made high efficiency speakers with high power handling (the Forte’s are 100 continuous 400 watts peak) is you get greater dynamic sound with reduced demand on your amp and perhaps less distortion.

Overall, I believe my Thiels are bit more refined but the Fortes win out in the boogie competition.

The Fortes work well with my tube mono blocks and solid state XPA-2. However, the tonal balance is bit more linear on the XPA-2.

$3600 isn’t inexpensive by civilian standards but as true audiophile quality speakers, I think they’re a bargain.

I use a sub with both my Thiels and Fortes. I can’t position the Fortes near a back wall as recommended.

Oppo UPD-205, ModWright LS 36.5, Emotiva XPA-2 or PrimaLunaProLogic Sevens, Velodyne SPL 1000R

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Good to hear, nice description and glad you liked them.

1 hour ago, buf said:

The area where the Fortes standout is the one I anticipated: dynamic range. Loud, sudden bursts pop out of the soundstage with greater impact and crispness with no noticeable strain or distortion.

What you described here is one of the things I like about Klipsch, to me it sounds more as live music sounds.

 

Nice review, and welcome. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind the rather different dispersion patterns between the speakers when it comes to imaging/soundstage presentation.  Each has it's own specific limitations and trade offs with your room's acoustics and your ears.  With the Fortes you can do things such as cross-firing them (heavy toe-in), which takes advantage of time/intensity trading to expand and stabilize the sweet spot.  It also tends to add apparent depth to the presentation.  This is a trick that wide dispersion speakers simply cannot pull off.

 

Stereo is merely a trick the mind plays, and as the end goal is a bit squishy and unspecific, there is no right way.  But the different approaches have different results.  Good wide dispersion speakers like your old Thiels can hang an image seemingly independent from the physical location of the speakers.  Controlled directivity via horns can reduce the influence of local acoustics to the point of transporting you to the venue, so to speak, where ambient and spatial cues from the recording itself dominate your local acoustic's influence.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
On 9/20/2017 at 8:45 PM, buf said:

...

They [Forte IIIs] are very close on most sonic parameters. Tonal balance and smoothness are about the same... Their general tonal character is no different from my Thiels.

...

I use a sub with both my Thiels and Fortes...

 

It's now been a year and change.  Still running the Fortes?  Has your impression of them altered appreciably?  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...