Forte IV Amp Pairing - Yamaha A-S1200. Thoughts?

[PennQuinn]

Adding to this thread as I just (mid-Dec. 2022) got a new pair of Hersey IV's (not Forte I know, but similar) and am pairing them with my Yamaha A-S1200 amp, CD-S1000 SACD player, 15" Definitive Technologies sub-woof and SMSL SU-9 DAC.  

 

I'm a few days in now and overall I'm happy with the speakers. Obviously they look great, I've already received a ton of "wow those look fantastic" type comments from friends.  However, I'd be lying if I said I'm blown away by the sound, don't get me wrong, the sound is fantastic but you're clearly paying for much more than just the audio here. I've been tweaking the placement and toe-ing and generally think I've got them optionally positioned my my space. I came from a much less expensive pair of JBL Studio 570's and honestly (with the sub on for both) there isn't a huge difference in overall sound. The imaging and dynamics are a bit better with the Klipsch, possibly less fatiguing on the highs and more low end push. I rarely need to go past 9 o’clock (6:30 being silent) on the Yamaha. It gets loud very quickly!  There is something super pleasing about watching those VU meters bounce and hearing the Hersey's rock the house.  Additionally the fit and finish blows the doors off the cheaper JBLs (they probably should for 5x the price!) but I can't say enough about the build quality, it absolutely feels like a speaker that I'll hand down to my kids someday.  FWIW the same holds true for the Yamaha amp, it's amazing.   

 

Just a hunch but I'd guess a pair of Polk R700's or JBL 590's would deliver a similar (or maybe better) sonic experience but they can't match up in the other aspects.. build, fit finish, aesthetics, and sheer cool factor (love the grills). So yeah.. the Klipsch + Yamaha A-S1200 are a good match.

[chuckears]

22 hours ago, PennQuinn said:

Adding to this thread as I just (mid-Dec. 2022) got a new pair of Hersey IV's (not Forte I know, but similar) and am pairing them with my Yamaha A-S1200 amp, CD-S1000 SACD player, 15" Definitive Technologies sub-woof and SMSL SU-9 DAC.  

 

I'm a few days in now and overall I'm happy with the speakers. Obviously they look great, I've already received a ton of "wow those look fantastic" type comments from friends.  However, I'd be lying if I said I'm blown away by the sound, don't get me wrong, the sound is fantastic but you're clearly paying for much more than just the audio here. I've been tweaking the placement and toe-ing and generally think I've got them optionally positioned my my space. I came from a much less expensive pair of JBL Studio 570's and honestly (with the sub on for both) there isn't a huge difference in overall sound. The imaging and dynamics are a bit better with the Klipsch, possibly less fatiguing on the highs and more low end push. I rarely need to go past 9 o’clock (6:30 being silent) on the Yamaha. It gets loud very quickly!  There is something super pleasing about watching those VU meters bounce and hearing the Hersey's rock the house.  Additionally the fit and finish blows the doors off the cheaper JBLs (they probably should for 5x the price!) but I can't say enough about the build quality, it absolutely feels like a speaker that I'll hand down to my kids someday.  FWIW the same holds true for the Yamaha amp, it's amazing.   

 

Just a hunch but I'd guess a pair of Polk R700's or JBL 590's would deliver a similar (or maybe better) sonic experience but they can't match up in the other aspects.. build, fit finish, aesthetics, and sheer cool factor (love the grills). So yeah.. the Klipsch + Yamaha A-S1200 are a good match.

 

"Heresy" - so named because many Klipsch originalists might consider it heresy for the company to have a speaker that was not fully horn-loaded, and need corner placement to shine. I'm unaware of "Hersey" being a word at all...