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Forte 3 or JBL L100 Classic ...


Deang

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1 hour ago, HDBRbuilder said:
2 hours ago, 314carpenter said:

A very accurate statement. Do not confuse any L100 with the new classics, other than they are 3 way speakers in a wood cabinet.

Just like in the original L100...supposed to be a "dressed-up home version of the 4311 monitor", but completely different components used...there is always a trade-off when cosmetics are involved.  Marketing "gurus" is ALWAYS what drives the "comparisons", too!😉

 

Actually, the Pro model 4310 was released first and the L100 was an improved version of it. The 4311 came slightly later. For sure they weren't quite the same components.

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Yeah, I've been done with big speakers for some time. I actually spend most of my time with IEMs.

 

Been doing the loudspeaker thing since the 70s, so I know my way around a bit.

 

I was looking at stuff at the $4000 price point. I even still have ESS on my short list.

 

The Forte III almost didn't make the list because I wasn't sure if I would like the sound of the titanium midrange driver (I recently noticed the Cornwall IV doesn't use one). I may have to do some driving to hear them.

 

JBL gives you 30 days to try out the Classics. Certainly not going to be as dynamic and revealing as Klipsch, but that might be a good thing considering my source material.

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1 hour ago, Marvel said:

 

Actually, the Pro model 4310 was released first and the L100 was an improved version of it. The 4311 came slightly later. For sure they weren't quite the same components.

 

I heard 4311s at the studio of the Different Fur Trading Company in San Francisco, hooked up to a synthesizer (a Moog, I think), in about 1975 (?) ... I was amazed at the SPL they could get out of them, for a speaker of only moderate sensitivity and relatively low power handling capacity.  Later, I was reading one of those "build your own recording studio" articles, which advocated using 4311s, or other similarly sized speakers, which said something like, "Ignore the power handling capacity; good manufacturers are quite conservative in the phc rating."  It was about that time that somebody asked PWK what the phc meant, and he said, "Probably not much."   I guess it depends in part whether the peaks are 50ms or 500ms.  Still ...

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Dean, toss a coin.  Maybe two out of three.  I'm sure they're each better than each other for different reasons.

 

I abused a pair of 4301s for years.  When the foam surrounds went south I boxed 'em back up for a rainy day which has yet to arrive.

 

I've gone years on "stereo hiatus" at times and the last re-entrance was nominally the result of a gifted-to-me older pair of L62t.  I was just pondering earlier today the phenomenon of, while using the TV as a sound source, televised dog barking rarely getting noticed by the pet dogs through the Forte III pair as often as through the JBLs which they replaced.  Now there's no way the Fortes are going anywhere because it's what I think that matters, but I find the situation interesting nonetheless...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Dean,

I have not posted in years, my old handle was Tillmbil, but I lost the password and e-mail address changed so I am now a newbie again. I bought crossover upgrades  for my 1976 Cornwall's from you, and still have them. Anyway, I have a pair of original L100's and did the Jantzen crossover upgrade on them. Bought all the parts and had someone build them for me. I have to tell you it definitely brought them up to another league. Bass is way tighter (I have a plumbers plug in the port), mids are smooth, the treble I am not sold on but it is better.

You could not go wrong getting a pair for around $400 or so and for about another $100 making a crossover. I think you would be surprised. 

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In High School I'd got a pair of (rusty memory) L16s (8" / 1.5") and a couple years later 4301s.  Same exact drivers and same exact high-pass crossover parts, though the cabinet dimensions differed and the pro model had 2nd-order crossover on the woofer.  The "home" version ran the woofer sans crossover letting itself peter out at nominally the same 2500 Hz.  It had a notable midrange "hump" the pro version "lacked."  I'd at one time had the L16s at a friend's house for a "party" and the next day, while retrieving them, was standing there talking to his mom with one on my shoulder.  It slipped backward and fell on the floor.  The only damage was one of the plastic grille nipples broke off in its socket in the cabinet!  Maybe a dent in the floor, I didn't check that out... 

 

I derided another (later) coworker's Heresys for the lack of bass...  I've always held JBLs in the highest esteem.  I cannot think of a reason why I decided about a year ago why I'd consider anything Klipsch, beyond better-controlled directivity for the nasty room I have to work with at this time.  Rather glad I "jumped ship" now with my Forte IIIs!  But I have to say, if I'd had to pay list (thank you Metropolis Lake Outfitters for a bangin' price on "B" stock [still can't determine why]) the current L100s would likely be singing now instead...

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If you were asking about my grills I had to have custom grills made. I have looked at the new Classics , but have read varying reviews on them. I have also seen two sets on Craigslist which seems pretty early for new speakers to be offloaded. I would love to hear a pair. I would also love to hear a pair of the new Forte's. Forte 2's were my first purchase of Klipsch speakers and I kept them for many years.

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2 hours ago, tillwil1 said:

I have also seen two sets on Craigslist which seems pretty early for new speakers to be offloaded.

 

Happens more than you would think. There have been some here who bought new Fortes and turned right around and sold them.

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There is a pair on Audiogon right now, but with that route, you don't get to try them for a while first. 

 

I'm hoping that before I get all of the money together that I do something more sensible - which wouldn't involve audio at all.

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