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Klipsch Forte II speaker - $280 (appleton) (single)


Alexander

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2 minutes ago, Sancho Panza said:

Bought is just now, want me just to get my money back, or swing by your home?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

😉

OK. You store it. I will let you know when I need to strip it down. You can swing by then. 👅

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OK. I have time now. Here is the backstory. This bit of information was given to me by the owner "Bill" who I purchased these from today. By his own recollection Bill has owned this single speaker for approximately 20 years. Before then, he bought a new pair of Forte II's in Oiled Walnut from a local dealer. Later decided he wanted to add a center channel and looked into acquiring a single Forte II for that purpose. These had gone out of production and local dealer inventory by that time, and none were available for purchase. He contacted Klipsch directly and was transferred to someone in sales. This sales person was unsuccessful in finding a single Forte II in inventory to sell to Bill. The salesman did offer to call him back after doing some further investigation. The return phone call came with great news. A new Forte II was indeed unavailable, but there was one that could be bought in used condition. OK, here is where the story makes a hard left. According to Bill, the Klipsch salesman on the phone stated that very speaker was owned by the "owners widow". To which I said to Bill, "What? The owner of Klipsch? Like as in Paul Klipsch? As in Belle Klipsch? No, can not be, I said. Belle died many years before the Forte II was ever invented, but what about Fred and Judy Klipsch? So now I wonder if it is possible that this Forte II was part of the infamous "Judy's Stash?" Still makes no sense. Judy is no widow, so the story does not fit. Bill went on to tell me how the Forte II arrived in a cardboard box packed very well, but not an original box. Oiled Oak. Black grill. Not a match to his Oiled Walnut, but served its purpose until his recent move into a smaller home where he no longer had room for such a large center channel. So I bought it. It all works. The cabinet is not in all that great of condition, with many chips and scratches, missing the riser, but otherwise in fully functional condition. I have no provenance. I do have a receipt that includes a small note of the backstory. At this point it is just a story by an owner with a foggy memory. 

 

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2 hours ago, 314carpenter said:

OK. I have time now. Here is the backstory. This bit of information was given to me by the owner "Bill" who I purchased these from today. By his own recollection Bill has owned this single speaker for approximately 20 years. Before then, he bought a new pair of Forte II's in Oiled Walnut from a local dealer. Later decided he wanted to add a center channel and looked into acquiring a single Forte II for that purpose. These had gone out of production and local dealer inventory by that time, and none were available for purchase. He contacted Klipsch directly and was transferred to someone in sales. This sales person was unsuccessful in finding a single Forte II in inventory to sell to Bill. The salesman did offer to call him back after doing some further investigation. The return phone call came with great news. A new Forte II was indeed unavailable, but there was one that could be bought in used condition. OK, here is where the story makes a hard left. According to Bill, the Klipsch salesman on the phone stated that very speaker was owned by the "owners widow". To which I said to Bill, "What? The owner of Klipsch? Like as in Paul Klipsch? As in Belle Klipsch? No, can not be, I said. Belle died many years before the Forte II was ever invented, but what about Fred and Judy Klipsch? So now I wonder if it is possible that this Forte II was part of the infamous "Judy's Stash?" Still makes no sense. Judy is no widow, so the story does not fit. Bill went on to tell me how the Forte II arrived in a cardboard box packed very well, but not an original box. Oiled Oak. Black grill. Not a match to his Oiled Walnut, but served its purpose until his recent move into a smaller home where he no longer had room for such a large center channel. So I bought it. It all works. The cabinet is not in all that great of condition, with many chips and scratches, missing the riser, but otherwise in fully functional condition. I have no provenance. I do have a receipt that includes a small note of the backstory. At this point it is just a story by an owner with a foggy memory. 

 

And something I dug up off the site:

 

 

https://www.klipsch.com/blog/2016-klipsch-pilgrimage

RAFFLE OF “JUDY’S STASH”

For a long time, we’ve had a stockpile of vintage Klipsch speakers in the warehouse next to our headquarters in Indianapolis which we have lovingly called “Judy’s Stash”. Judy Klipsch, who is the wife of Fred Klipsch, kept one of every speaker that we made while Fred Klipsch was CEO of the company.

We wanted to give the product good homes but weren’t quite sure the best way to do that. We finally realized the Klipsch Pilgrimage would be a perfect opportunity to raffle off this massive collection of speakers and subwoofers. Quite a few people left Hope, AR this year with a speaker they will treasure forever.

 

So if you are the proud owner of a single Forte II that you received while in attendance at the 2016 Klipsch Pilgrimage, I just may have the mate to your Forte II.

@Trey Cannon brought down a trailer full of Judy's Stash, and Luther and me volunteered to check numbers on tickets and pass out the items, there was nothing like a Forte II in there. Biggest item I recall was a sub or 2. 

 

There are several possibilities, one is the original owner when he referred to "Klipsch" meant he was talking to a dealer, and the owner of the dealership left a widow  

 

Most of the sales for Forte II era would have been through a dealer, if not all of the sales.

 

Paul remarried after Belle passed away to Valerie, and she just passed away in about 2016. I don't know if they had a Forte II in their home or not. 

 

I don't know if Museum had log info on Forte II era speakers, they may have switched to computer long before that.

 

Travis

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25 minutes ago, ssh said:

No Forte IIs were sold at that auction. 

SSH

True, and all of the different speakers from Judy's stash brought to pilgrimage was given away by drawing, there are pictures of this and probably a video. 

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On 7/16/2020 at 1:19 PM, 314carpenter said:

I figured someone is eventually going to be asking for replacement passive. NOS is NLA. I already have one woofer, and would then have a pair of woofers FS immediately.

Why not see if anyone needs a center channel ?

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40 minutes ago, ssh said:

No Forte IIs were sold at that auction. 

SSH

It was a give away re: Judy's stash. Luther won Heresy pair Klipsch gave away as a grand prize, Luther won those (Jill or K drew ticket so no collusion) he donated to Museum and they auctioned them off right there.

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