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Fair price for Forte ii's in very good to excellent condition.


Scott Shular

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With your footprint limitations in mind:

 

Another two models series to add to the confusion would be the CF3 & 4's and KLF-20 & 30's. The CF's are highly sought after and can pull a premium price but you never know what might show up.

 

The KLF's are sometimes looked upon as a black sheep by some. But in my case they are my primary's and the F2's sit on stand-by duty. The price of the KLF's have been going up in recent past but there are still deals to be found if you take your time. ~2 years ago I payed $1000 for a pair of Med Oak KLF-30's off of CL from the original owner that were mint and even came with the original boxes. At the time the average price for these were ~$800. Was a 5 hour round trip to Atlanta (man what a crazy place that was).

 

BTW, most of the eBay listings for used Klipsch models we are all talking about have dreamer prices.

 

As an after thought:

Another sleeper is the Tangent 400, 500, 4000 & 5000”s. The 400/500's are for the most part a cheap(er) Heresy while the 4000/5000's would be thought as a forte I in a larger (taller) cabinet. When these show up from time to time they are usually pretty cheep, my T5000's cost $230! But also be aware they will most likely need some kind of attention over 50% of the time.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Woofers and Tweeters said:

Original Poster (who started the mess lol) 

 

 

 

Forte (1 or 2), Quartet, Chorus II and a few other speakers are placement sensitive (need to be x,y off the walls) for the best sound. The Cornwall are less sensitive of that. The Forte II will take 4 out of 5 when it comes to cost, footprint, quality of sound, quantity of sound and WAF (wife approval factor) when ABing them to any others. When placed just right, the Forte's magic flows.

 

The Chorus are the biggest brother to the Quartet, Forte and Chorus offerings (some call the three the Extended Heritage line).  From my understanding, the Chorus were to replace the Cornwall. The Chorus I has a smaller mid horn and are ported to the front, while the Chorus II has a larger mid horn and a 15" PR in the rear. Most agree that the CH II sound a lot better than the CH I and there has been an ongoing tug-of-war between the Chorus and the Cornwall.... until the Cornwall IV came along. I haven't had the CH I but have two pair of CH II and they rock. 

 

Prices on any of the speakers have variables such as how motivated the seller is, location, time of year, phase of the moon, sobriety, spite, familiarity of market value, condition of the speakers and more. Taking a moment, or three, to learn the value will let you buy a good deal when it's offered. 

 

How much are they asking for the CH I, what condition are they in and what wood finish are they (Oak, Walnut..)? 

Seller listed that he had two pairs of Chorus I’s  $1200/pr. (Seems high?).   Awaiting details, pics etc 

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2 hours ago, Woofers and Tweeters said:

Original Poster (who started the mess lol) 

 

 

 

Forte (1 or 2), Quartet, Chorus II and a few other speakers are placement sensitive (need to be x,y off the walls) for the best sound. The Cornwall are less sensitive of that. The Forte II will take 4 out of 5 when it comes to cost, footprint, quality of sound, quantity of sound and WAF (wife approval factor) when ABing them to any others. When placed just right, the Forte's magic flows.

 

The Chorus are the biggest brother to the Quartet, Forte and Chorus offerings (some call the three the Extended Heritage line).  From my understanding, the Chorus were to replace the Cornwall. The Chorus I has a smaller mid horn and are ported to the front, while the Chorus II has a larger mid horn and a 15" PR in the rear. Most agree that the CH II sound a lot better than the CH I and there has been an ongoing tug-of-war between the Chorus and the Cornwall.... until the Cornwall IV came along. I haven't had the CH I but have two pair of CH II and they rock. 

 

Prices on any of the speakers have variables such as how motivated the seller is, location, time of year, phase of the moon, sobriety, spite, familiarity of market value, condition of the speakers and more. Taking a moment, or three, to learn the value will let you buy a good deal when it's offered. 

 

How much are they asking for the CH I, what condition are they in and what wood finish are they (Oak, Walnut..)? 

Seller listed that he had two pairs of Chorus I’s  $1200/pr. (Seems high?).   Awaiting details, pics etc 

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&/or the seller is high...  ;)

 

Forte & chorus prices have exploded in the last ~2 years,  fortes used to be a $400-500 speaker in excellent shape, chorus about $600-$800 tops, now you see guys trying to get $1000-$1500 for chorus2,  not sure how many are actually selling for that price but seems rather ridiculous to me. 

 

Another option to look for that are still decently priced, is the KG4.5 or 5.5, the 5.5 are dual 10" woofers & are a thinner but tall tower speaker.  i see them in excelllent shape for about $400 & can be had for $300 in good shape.   

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33 minutes ago, EpicKlipschFan said:

&/or the seller is high...  ;)

 

Forte & chorus prices have exploded in the last ~2 years,  fortes used to be a $400-500 speaker in excellent shape, chorus about $600-$800 tops, now you see guys trying to get $1000-$1500 for chorus2,  not sure how many are actually selling for that price but seems rather ridiculous to me. 

 

Another option to look for that are still decently priced, is the KG4.5 or 5.5, the 5.5 are dual 10" woofers & are a thinner but tall tower speaker.  i see them in excelllent shape for about $400 & can be had for $300 in good shape.   

I did see a nice looking pair of kg 4.5's fpr $350 not far from me.  How are these as far as efficiency?  Paired with either a 15- 25 watt tube amp?   

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On 5/1/2020 at 10:13 AM, Scott Shular said:

I did see a nice looking pair of kg 4.5's fpr $350 not far from me.  How are these as far as efficiency?  Paired with either a 15- 25 watt tube amp?   

 

$350 is a little high for 4.5's, unless they are mint condition & in a desirable finish, common oak 4.5's would be maybe $300 value IMO.  I would hold out for the 5.5's as they will have excellent bass & are equal to the KLF 10's.  

 

Like most klipsch speakers they are also very efficient,  i think they are rated at 98db so a lower watt tube amp should sound nice, but keep in mind the KG/KLF/epic & forte/chorus are rated for lots of power & they really come alive with good solid state power.  I've owned a few pairs of kg5.5's & they have almost subwoofer quality bass running off 100wpc AVR receivers & separates. I've found 5.5's in oak & black for $250-$350 in decent cosmetic condition.... while fortes etc are great, I think the KG 5.5's are one of the most underated klipsch speakers & are the best price to performance value out there.   

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10 hours ago, Cal Blacksmith said:

Speaker size??? Resistance is futile, ..... I am using a pair of Quartets as computer speakers :P Even when driven by a very inexpensive monoprice tube amp that was only purchased for headphone duty, they are awesome with a good source!

Ha!! Duly noted Cal.  Needless to say ‘bachelor’ Scott would make much different decisions than ‘married’ Scott does.  That being said....really trying for Fortes or Chorus.  We’ll see....

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On 5/1/2020 at 9:16 AM, EpicKlipschFan said:

&/or the seller is high...  ;)

 

Forte & chorus prices have exploded in the last ~2 years,  fortes used to be a $400-500 speaker in excellent shape, chorus about $600-$800 tops, now you see guys trying to get $1000-$1500 for chorus2,  not sure how many are actually selling for that price but seems rather ridiculous to me. 

 

Another option to look for that are still decently priced, is the KG4.5 or 5.5, the 5.5 are dual 10" woofers & are a thinner but tall tower speaker.  i see them in excelllent shape for about $400 & can be had for $300 in good shape.   

Wish I could tell you a current average for Fortes and Chorus speakers in Nashville. Problem is so few show up anymore that when they do appear the prices are high. It is a sellers market and I look every week for things to buy but don't expect to find anything.

 

  I remember buying gas for 33 cents a gallon too in the early 70's.

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5 minutes ago, Scott Shular said:

Super clean minty Quartets about an hour away for $650?  I think I need to make this happen?  Thoughts?  They look absolutely beautiful.  Oak is the only downside but I can live with it.

no -

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6 minutes ago, Scott Shular said:

Super clean minty Quartets about an hour away for $650?  I think I need to make this happen?  Thoughts?  They look absolutely beautiful.  Oak is the only downside but I can live with it.

you need a minimum of a 12 inch speaker ---------that's the Forte ------if you buy  a15 inch with a Chorus ---that's a really nice speaker -

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15 minutes ago, Scott Shular said:

Super clean minty Quartets about an hour away for $650?  I think I need to make this happen?  Thoughts?  They look absolutely beautiful.  Oak is the only downside but I can live with it.

Yes, do it.

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The Quartets were the very first Klipsch I owned back ~1991. Had fallen in love with the forte II's that the store let me take home to listen. But just could not mustard up enough money for them so I got the Quartets and loved them too. In hindsight I wish I just pushed the issue through and got the forte II's anyway.

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Hello all, just wanted to update you and thank everyone for their input, it was all appreciated even if it’s not the path I took.

I was about to head out this morning 1.5 hrs to get the Q’s for $650 I had talked about previously. 
That seller had responded to a CL wtb ad I listed several weeks ago.
Well I had also put an ad on the Nextdoor app which I didn’t expect much from (most posts are complaints or people who ‘saw a fox in their yard’)  Yesterday a gentleman reached out within 5 miles of me describing how he had a pair of Klipsch he wasn’t using in the basement, he thought they were Chorus ii’s, we talk and he says he’ll take $500 after a little research (I was super excited but wait...)   After a little persuading I got him to let me see them yesterday as I had plans to drive 1.5hrs today (Saturday). So I get over there and the speakers are set up and I immediately think...those aren’t 39” tall.  I look closer and they are Quartets.  Look like they just came out if the box.  So we listen and chat and $300 later I own my first pair of Klipsch (boxes and all)

This gentlemen was super happy to move them out. He by the way had one hell of a system with Benchmark Media amp/DAC and Salk towers.  He knew what he was doing in the streaming world and I was impressed. Really good dude.
So thanks for the input, who’s knows I may be at some point searching for those Chorus’

but for now I’m happy (wife is happy!) and the titanium diaphragms are already ordered, perhaps I’ll do the crossovers too!

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27 minutes ago, Woofers and Tweeters said:

Yes

Or listen to them for a few tunes so that he can hear the difference.

 

That's the main thing. 

 

 

Good point – give your Q's a week or two (if you can) and get familiar with them

 One thing I did that worked for me were to tilt the speakers up a bit. Put something ~2” high (like scrap 2x4) under the front of the speakers can give you an idea if it would be worth pursuing stands.

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