Wow. For now, my Forte III win over Altec M19

[Islander]

I hope it’s not Klipsch dealers who are telling you not to buy Klipsch speakers, or are they special order and they’re concerned that you’ll decide not to buy them and they’ll be stuck with them?  Poor service in either case.

[Mark in PA]

5 minutes ago, Islander said:

I hope it’s not Klipsch dealers who are telling you not to buy Klipsch speakers, or are they special order and they’re concerned that you’ll decide not to buy them and they’ll be stuck with them?  Poor service in either case.

Hey, no it's not Klipsch dealers. It was someone else. I forgot what I mentioned earlier, but for me it's either buy the Forte IV and pair it up with my vintage gear or get new front end gear (Atoll IN200) and pair that up to my second runner up speaker, the KLH Model 5, because my vintage gear probably won't be able to handle the low impedance minimal rating of 3.5 ohms on the Model 5. So I called this guy who sells Atoll integrated amps and he's the one who just started to vent about how Klipsch are: bright, non-cohesive, image poorly, etc. Man, I know they aren't the "perfect" "audiophile" speaker and that there is going to be a trade off to getting high efficient speakers, but they have Soul and Character unlike other brands I heard...well, aside from that Model 5, that I personally would take over the likes of Totem, Monitor Audio, KEF, Focal etc. Today's Klipsch to my ears are not bright at all, I don't know where these folks are getting their info. I think the last they heard them was decades ago when, yes they were way too bright. But man, compared to the Focal, Monitor, KEF and even B&W these Klipsch Heritage are not bright. Man, I just don't know what to do. This is probably one of the hardest decisions I had to make, deciding between the Forte IV and Model 5 or maybe the SVS Pinnacle. I am usually a night owl person and I can see any Klipsch meeting the challenge of low listening volumes more so than any other brand.

[Islander]

I agree that many people seem to have formed a negative impression of Klipsch speakers decades ago, not realizing that although they still look much like they did back in the day, twenty or thirty years of engineering improvements add up to better-sounding speakers.

 

You mentioned trade-offs for high efficiency, but as far as I know, the only trade-off is a lack of deep bass on certain models, especially the Heresy, although the Heresy IV successfully deals with even that.  The high efficiency/sensitivity allows for greater detail retrieval, sometimes called high resolving.  Since even the smallest signals are picked up by the speakers, you’re able to hear the finest details in the music.  A few weeks ago, I was listening to Rainy Day, Dream Away by Jimi Hendrix.  I’ve been listening to this song through various gear for over fifty years, but this time I heard a word I’d never heard before.  As you might expect, I was surprised and very pleased.  Sometimes, when a person hears a familiar song on this stereo, it sounds like a different song, one with much better engineering and production.  Familiar, but better, with many more noticeable sounds in the music.  Careful listening is always rewarded with a deeper insight into each song.

 

There’s no trade-off in the imaging, either.  It’s easy to tell where each instrument is, and where each vocalist is standing.  This has been mentioned in a number of reviews, so it’s not just me saying this.  Check out as many Heritage models as you can, even if you have to travel a bit, and choose your dream speaker.  Then, start saving!  When you’ve got a decent amount for a good down payment, or, ideally, the full price, grab them!  Then you’ll have your dream speakers and you won’t have to look back over the speakers you’ve had to buy and sell to trade your way up to the speakers you wanted in the first place.  I got started by buying a 32-year-old pair of La Scalas, which I still have, and I enjoy them every day.

[Rotobadger]

4 hours ago, Islander said:

Believe it or not, the least expensive way to own speakers is to decide on the ones that you really really want, start saving, and then buy them.  That way, you don’t go through years of buying and selling speakers, likely losing money on every one, due to depreciation.  As well, you’ll get your dream speakers sooner and have more years to enjoy them.

I really think that’s great advice but my problem is I don’t know if I’ll really ever know which speakers I really want. 
 

I know it’s crazy but part of the fun is searching for what we all know doesn’t exist (the “perfect” speakers). 
 

Yet, much to my wife’s chagrin, I persist. But I have fun on the journey for sure and get to listen to great music along the way. 
 

If memory serves, these are the speakers I’ve owned. No particular order:

Klipsch Heresy 1

Klipsch Forte III

Klipsch Cornwall II

Klipsch KG4

Marantz Imperial 6

Boston Acoustic a100

Boston Acoustic a150

Boston Acoustic a200

KLH Model 5

Infinity Qa

Infinity Qb

Mission 770 Freedom

Altec Lansing Model 19

 

Really have a soft spot for the Marantz Imperial 6. 

 

 

3 hours ago, Mark in PA said:

Off the subject, I am still torn between getting the KLH Model 5 or the Forte IV. I know, they are two different beasts.

I actually had a pair of KLH 5s a couple of years ago. I recapped them and stripped off the horrible black paint from the cabinets that some previous owner had applied. 
 

Excellent speakers but not super sensitive. 86db if I’m not mistaken?

 

Also, the Forte III are not harsh at all (to me at least). In fact, sometimes I feel they’re a little too tame for my tastes. I really enjoy mid-forward speakers.  Sometimes I think that the Klipsch bashers have never really lived with a nice pair and had them matched to an amp that suited them. 
 

With that said, it’s highly subjective and I’ve done my best to adhere to the philosophy of “Listen to what sounds best to ME”. 
 

I actually really loved my Klipsch Heresy I when I had them. And they DID exhibit some fatiguing tendencies but tubes smoothed them right out. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by Rotobadger

[Rotobadger]

As I sit here with a Vanilla Crown Royal listening to Sonny Stitt, I just have to say the Forte III are just fantastic speakers. 
 

I’m going to continue to work with the Altecs but the FIII light up the room effortlessly. 
 

The folks at Klipsch sure know what they’re doing. 

[Toz]

I've noticed that very dynamic speakers, like the Klipsch, JBL, Altec, Tannoy, etc. aren't for everyone. People often mistake dynamics as being harsh or bright. Some audiophiles aren't that familiar with live music. What I like about good horns is the effortless dynamics and openness to the sound. Talk about soundstage. Most of the other stuff sounds like it's struggling to pressurize the room. 

[tigerwoodKhorns]

On 1/29/2022 at 3:23 PM, Mark in PA said:

 but I am often swayed from anti-Klipsch supporters (especially store owners) who's argument always seems to be: they are bright, non-resolving, poor at imaging, and sloppy at cohesiveness.

 

Yes, and all solid state sounds terrible, CD's are all crap.  Plus, they just came out with these little cubes that we can demo behind a curtain.  Oh, I thought that is was 1987...

 

Just trust your ears, you have some nice vintage gear that will work very well with the Fortes.