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GR Research upgrade kit for the Klipsch Forte III


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1 hour ago, 314carpenter said:

10X likes

 

 

Man I watched about the first 15 minutes and he didn’t even get to the fortes yet and I lost interest lol. I think he’d sell more kits designing for the Forte 1&2. I’ve got those and wouldn’t mind tinkering with. If I just dropped 4K on a set of new Forte 3’s I wouldn’t be modding them any time soon. That’s just me though. 

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You do have to question why there is no bracing and not top quality components in the crossover if you’re spending $4K on a set of speakers?  Is this a case of good enough and keeping profit margins up vs providing the best quality?

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43 minutes ago, KlipschKLF said:

  Is this a case of good enough and keeping profit margins up vs providing the best quality?

 

Isn't that always the case? Imagine how much more the speakers would cost if they added every little thing they could think of to make them the "best" they could be. The parts list for this "upgrade" is over $600 alone and bracing and extra damping would add a lot of production time.

 

 The Chief did voice these speakers to his liking using the parts they come with and a lot of people seem very pleased with the result so there is that. I might be wrong but I don't think you'll find any higher quality crossover parts in the more expensive Heritage speakers either.

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Interesting video. Thanks for posting.

Keep hearing this same scenario over and over.....guys modifying/upgrading their Klipsch speakers (raising my hand)......because of the cheap parts etc to keep costs down.

Maybe it's time Klipsch sells a seperate upgrade kit that gives the customer the option to go all out if they're willing to cough up the extra money. I'm sure there is more to it than that but hey, might be cool.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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If Klipsch engineers,  @Chief bonehead, can achieve a high level of performance with off the shelf parts and meet an acceptable price point, then why go the "super charged" route.

 

14 minutes ago, SWL said:

Maybe it's time Klipsch sells a seperate upgrade kit that gives the customer the option to go all out if they're willing to cough up the extra money.

I agree but purchaser might have to sign a release voiding the new purchase warranty in case of install "failure"?

 

Bill

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1 hour ago, SWL said:

Doesn't everyone want to go the 'super charged route'?

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

Several months ago I bought a used Wyred 4 Sound STP-SE to replace my "Upgraded Sonic Frontiers, Line1 preamp.

The Line1 was modded by Chris Johnson at Parts Connexion, the original guy at Sonic Frontiers.

It was a toss up between the 2 preamps (I was smart enough, this time, to not sell the SF before I was sure I liked the new to me W4S).

 

The point is, Parts Connex offers upgrades to the old legacy SF products, and W4S offers upgrades to their STP-SE (still current) and if 

I can free up the cash, I will certainly entertain the idea of sending my STE back to W4S to get that work done?

 

 

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2 hours ago, SWL said:

Doesn't everyone want to go the 'super charged route'?

 

An old acquaintance that builds race engines use to say "it takes 10% of your budget to get you to 90% performance and the other 90% to get that last 10%." 

 

I think the main draw back for Klipsch doing this is price point-- Honestly the new line up is prohibitabley  expensive already for I'd say most people myself included and adding a significant amount of cost for marginal gains would put these out of reach for even a lot more people. Klipsch already tried the "super charged" route with the Palladium line which must not have worked from a business standpoint as they were discontinued.

 

Like I said before these were voiced by the Chief, any change in the crossover or crossover parts would likely be a personal preference in SQ, don't believe the Chief could have screwed them up that bad. The resonance issues were admittedly only at high output levels per the video so maybe if they're pushing the speakers that hard they need bigger speakers or add a sub? 

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4 minutes ago, CANT said:

Maybe they don't any more but Klipsch used to sell an HII to HIII upgrade kit?

They don't carry them anymore and your H2s must have the rectangle cup for compatibility.  Mine have the round terminal cups.

 

Bill

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So one thing I find amusing about this mod kit is that it appears to change the LF/MF crossover point from the factory 650Hz to roughly 900Hz in an effort to supposedly smooth out that region of the network...

 

And how everyone on this forum went absolutely ape sh!# when Klipsch did basically the same thing on the CWIII

 

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=166996.100

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I think the Chief has done a marvelous job with the Forte III, to date it is my favorite....genius in my eyes. Also remember GR research has a very very expensive system that he uses in order to hear the things he needs to hear. With my budget system I would probably never hear these nuances just like I didn't when I heard them in Hope. I don't mind hot rodding speakers but IMO the Forte 3 didn't need any tweaking. If the above kit provides an audible difference in a positive way then by all means do what you feel you need to. I don't see any thing wrong with offering a hot rodded kit option.

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That's the first pic I've seen of the forte III crossover, I wonder what the schematic is. I know folks here have been trying the ti mid on the forte ii (I almost did), but it's often considered too loud and not balanced. Think these extra components in the FIII are helping to fix that?

 

image.php?id=202599

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  • 9 months later...

I know this was about the klipsch Forte, but this becomes even more necessary when dealing with any floorstander on the RP line. Not sure who designed those crossovers, but the fact that they leave the factory with a 10db dip at the xo is unacceptable. These kits are upgrades in some cases, and fixes in others. I would also argue that going from polycaps to sonicaps, changing resistors and dampening the cabinet that will ring for 5 seconds when you knock on it, should not be understated as the final 10% of a speakers performance. This will improve any speaker. I'm sure the fortes have better parts than the rp6000,8000, and rf7's. These could be great speakers, all of them. They can perform well above their price point. I'll do my mains next. I just did the rp504c, which performed well to begin with, unlike the mains, but it was much cheaper, so I did that one first.

 

There are brands that do much better with their crossovers and bracing at budget levels. Klipsch is taking advantage of their name. How low do your standards have to be....a 10db drop from 1000 to nearly 3500hz, so it is not a sharp drop at the xo. What aren't they telling us? It's like audyssey's midrange compensation(that everyone turns off), but built in. I don't get it

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