Jump to content

Forte Trouble, No Bass.


RT FAN

Recommended Posts

So my Forte have been idle for several months and during the pandemic year saw very little action. Recently we consolidated our household so that my NYC stereo, the one with the Forte, is now my basement system. So today I went through the long process of hooking everything up, EQ, Cd Burner, CDP, Table, Tuner, Tape Deck, well you get the idea. After several hours I decided to drop in a disc and……no bass what so ever! My Forte sounded like headphones that were lying on the coffee table. Ugh.

 Round up the usual suspects, thinking it was a polarity issue. Checked and rechecked the speaker wire. Swapped out the banana plugs, went to bare wire. Changed speaker wire entirely, nothing. Changed inputs from CDP to tape deck to second cdp with a different input obviously, still nothing. Hooked up a different amp, still nothing. Finally hooked up a Academy and another center channel and, music. 

 So there is no obvious damage that I can see after removing the grills. So what has happened to my speakers? In moving did the voice coil or some other internal wiring come loose? I guess I will have to check the connections on the Crites Crossovers, but since both speakers are sounding the same, that doesn’t make sense to me. 

 So I am asking the experts around here if there is anything, obvious or otherwise, that I have missed. To say I am bummed would be an understatement. Thanks for any help you can offer. Stephen

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I again switched back to my original amp using a second set of speakers and everything works fine. So this eliminates the amp and cdp. Tomorrow I will take Jason’s suggestion and open them up and check the crossovers. Perhaps something got disconnected in the move. Odd that it would happen to both. With both having problems I would have thought Polarity would have been the culprit. Enough time in the basement for one day. I will report back tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is perplexing is that both speakers are showing the problem.

 

Well, at least no one has yet suggested that you need ---- 1) to use a tube amp, 2) to use a SS amp, 3) use vinyl, 4) put a few inches of foam along the south wall, 5) replace all crossover caps with $800 poly-metal-film-copper-etc caps. 

 

The last time something like this happened to me, I had modified something and intended to get back and finish it up. Instead I put the item in a closet and forgot I was in the middle of something and 2 years later I fired it up and it sounded like crap.  I hope you have not fallen into my bad habits.

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, RT FAN said:

 Thanks for any help you can offer. Stephen

-check to make sure that the connectors of the Crossovers are plugged into the proper drivers  -if all fails , there is something wrong with the crossovers or the drivers-

 

can you read the DCR on each driver with an Ohmmeter , that'll tell us if there is anything wrong with the drivers --8 ohm tweeter -16ohms midrange and 4 Ohms woofer -

 

 

 

 

could you post pictures

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, PrestonTom said:

What is perplexing is that both speakers are showing the problem.

 

Well, at least no one has yet suggested that you need ---- 1) to use a tube amp, 2) to use a SS amp, 3) use vinyl, 4) put a few inches of foam along the south wall, 5) replace all crossover caps with $800 poly-metal-film-copper-etc caps. 

 

The last time something like this happened to me, I had modified something and intended to get back and finish it up. Instead I put the item in a closet and forgot I was in the middle of something and 2 years later I fired it up and it sounded like crap.  I hope you have not fallen into my bad habits.

 

Yup...sounds just like the kinds of things I do. Things like forgetting to put the strap between the input terminals back into place.  DOH!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, billybob said:

BTW, guessing you used the same outputs to test your second set of speakers.

Same outputs, different outputs, different RCA cables, different speaker cables, different banana plugs, switched to bare wire and went to the bullpen for a different amp. So basically every permutation I could think of. This afternoon I will pull the crossovers and check the connections, that is the only answer I can think of at this point. The knuckleheads who moved us must have treated them with less respect than they deserved. Probably some potholes on the Long Island Expressway on the way out as my wife lost a few Hummels in transit as well. 

  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Basements can be horrible for bass response could it just be the acoustical environment? Have you tried walking around the room while the bass is playing could be that your listening position landed square in a dead spot-- assuming the woofers are actually working of course. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jjptkd said:

Basements can be horrible for bass response could it just be the acoustical environment? Have you tried walking around the room while the bass is playing could be that your listening position landed square in a dead spot-- assuming the woofers are actually working of course. 

 

this is a big possibility too but he said he tried other speakers & they sounded ok so might be an internal issue.  or maybe the placement in the basement with the rear passive of the fortes just isnt working? get them in or close to corners & see if that helps the bass.  would be very strange if both speakers had wires with crimped connections come loose from the xover or woofer terminals, dont think rough handling or pot holes would cause that to happen without some visible damage to the cabinets. but ya never know.

 

i let my now EX brother in law borrow my pair of epic cf4s for his makeshift theater room in a basement & he complained they had no bass when as most know epics have great bass... turns out his room had a terrible null in his seating position & he had the speakers far away from corners or a rear wall... that plus his older AVR defaulted to "sub on" (but he didnt have a sub hooked up) which in turn cut the bass at 80hz to the main speakers. those 2 or 3 things combined made the big dual 12" woofer epics sound like a ghetto blaster.  we moved them into the corners & changed the AVR settings & things were much better but still not as strong of bass compared to when they were upstairs in my living room. basements can be weird for sound depending on room dimensions & seating positions.     

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, RT FAN said:

Same outputs, different outputs, different RCA cables, different speaker cables, different banana plugs, switched to bare wire and went to the bullpen for a different amp. So basically every permutation I could think of. This afternoon I will pull the crossovers and check the connections, that is the only answer I can think of at this point. The knuckleheads who moved us must have treated them with less respect than they deserved. Probably some potholes on the Long Island Expressway on the way out as my wife lost a few Hummels in transit as well. 

2 verifications are needed ,  the connectors of the crossovers may have been loose  before the moving  to start off with -

 

a) in order to determine if the drivers are damaged or not  ,  take an ohmmeter and check the DCR of each driver ---------woofer 4 Ohms - Mids 16 Ohms -tweeter 8  Ohms-

 

b) check  that the crossovers are still connected to the drivers  for 1   ,  and 2 that they are connected to the right drivers -

 

 

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...