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Klipsch Forte IV vs Sonus Faber Lumina 5 vs Crites Type A speakers


Mark in PA

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Hello fellow Klipsch folk.

I always loved the sound of the Heritage line. I am still on the fence to get either the Forte IV, Sonus Faber Lumina 5, or gamble on a no demo Crites Type A Cornscala speaker. Any advice? Especially from anybody who has experience listening to any of the above speakers?

 

In the defense of the Sonus Faber Lumina 5: I really thought I heard it all with many speakers I demoed until I heard these. Many the distortion level is so crazy low on these speakers and they are so darn clear, they remind me of a horn speaker but of course without a horn. These things sing and the midrange in this speaker is way, way, way better than the midrange of the Forte IV by far!!! I am a huge fan of Klipsch, period, but these Sonus' were beautiful. BUT they are NO Klipsch with it's awesome sensitivity. 

 

This is such a difficult decision. My price range is topped off at the Forte IV, unless I find a pair of Cornwall IV used or demo sale. The major thing I hate about the Forte IV is the recessed midrange. It's good, but I actually liked the more forward sound of the Forte III's midrange, hence why I really enjoy the Sonus. The Forte has a much mellower tweeter and that bass is Great!

 

I am very curious if anybody have used the Crites speakers. How do they sound? Crites uses a JBL midrange compression driver and I am curious if it has a JBL flare to it. Hey, JBL are also a pretty nice speaker to my ears. Crites seem to do a better job on their crossover network than Klipsch. What do you guys think?

 

BTW. I am probably interested in only a two channel system for music and TV but I like to have the freedom to expand my two channel listening into a 5.2 if I want to in the future, so logically getting a speaker whose manufacturer makes a center channel and the sides will be best. With the Heritage line I am lost, with the Sonus Faber I am good, and with the Crites I am also good. Advice?

Last thing about the sound quality. The Forte's suck on badly recorded music. How can I get around this? A better DAC if I am using digital? What if I am playing LPs?

The Sonus Faber Lumina 5. They were excellent with poorly recorded music. I played CDs and LPs when I demoed them and it sounded beautiful. I played several Rolling Stones songs on the Forte, and I couldn't get past the first few measures, it was that horrible, and this sucks because they are my favorite rock band, so this a Huge negative for me. How can I get around this?

 

Thanks

 

Edited by Mark in PA
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13 hours ago, Mark in PA said:

it was that horrible, and this sucks because they are my favorite rock band, so this a Huge negative for me. How can I get around this?

Highly revealing speakers reveal bad recordings highly. Some EQ'ing MIGHT help or room acoustic treatments MIGHT help. But bad recordings are just that--bad. Are you saying something that was unlistenable on Forte IVs sounded good on the Fabers, or just marginally OK. Was this in the same room, same acoustics?

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I've owned the Crites Cornscala "C" version. They were pretty good after I replaced the stock xovers with ALKs. But the shortcoming of this speaker, and any speaker with a removable panel, is that they will sing at certain mid bass frequencies. Once heard, it cannot be "unheard" so I eventually moved on.

 

I have not heard the Forte IV, but did own the IIIs for a while. They are a somewhat forward speaker, especially with less than stellar recordings. I enjoyed them but tired of forwardness after a while. All accounts are this was greatly improved in the IV, but I have not heard of the midrange described as recessed until now.

 

BTW, I wouldn't judge any speaker on how it reproduces Rolling Stones recordings. I love them too, but most of their records are highly compressed and sound pretty bad. The exception is "Stripped", which is a fantastic recording. If a speaker makes terrible recordings sound good, then you will be missing something on better recordings. It's just the way that sh*t works.

 

 

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klipsch recently released a Forte III to Forte IV kit at around 400$ per speaker , so say  , you have a Forte III or you find a smoking deal on a Forte III , you can upgrade later on .  plug and play in 1 hour  with  the proven Forte IV sound .

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1 hour ago, Shakeydeal said:

BTW, I wouldn't judge any speaker on how it reproduces Rolling Stones recordings. I love them too, but most of their records are highly compressed and sound pretty bad. The exception is "Stripped", which is a fantastic recording. If a speaker makes terrible recordings sound good, then you will be missing something on better recordings. It's just the way that sh*t works.

 

Thanks for this Shakey.... I believe one Stones record even said "Play This Loud"---to cover up the bad recording?

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10 hours ago, babadono said:

Highly revealing speakers reveal bad recordings highly. Some EQ'ing MIGHT help or room acoustic treatments MIGHT help. But bad recordings are just that--bad. Are you saying something that was unlistenable on Forte IVs sounded good on the Fabers, or just marginally OK. Was this in the same room, same acoustics?

Thanks. That's what I thought: bad recordings are bad, period. There may or may not be something I can do with it, but probably not.

The Sonus Faber were at a different dealership than the Faber dealership. But I demoed only LPs and CDs on the Sonus Faber because the owner is blind and doesn't stream at all, so the music I gave the Faber's wasn't the best quality but these speakers really made any song and any music genre really a pleasure to listen to.

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9 hours ago, OO1 said:

klipsch recently released a Forte III to Forte IV kit at around 400$ per speaker , so say  , you have a Forte III or you find a smoking deal on a Forte III , you can upgrade later on .  plug and play in 1 hour  with  the proven Forte IV sound .

Really? There's a KIT to make the Forte III into the Forte IV? Cool! You sure? I like the outside look of the III's (the bottom plinth) rather than the "floating" look design on the IV. Yeah, I could get great deals on the III's and 400 per speaker for the upgrade kit isn't bad at all. Thanks

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10 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

I've owned the Crites Cornscala "C" version. They were pretty good after I replaced the stock xovers with ALKs. But the shortcoming of this speaker, and any speaker with a removable panel, is that they will sing at certain mid bass frequencies. Once heard, it cannot be "unheard" so I eventually moved on.

 

I have not heard the Forte IV, but did own the IIIs for a while. They are a somewhat forward speaker, especially with less than stellar recordings. I enjoyed them but tired of forwardness after a while. All accounts are this was greatly improved in the IV, but I have not heard of the midrange described as recessed until now.

 

BTW, I wouldn't judge any speaker on how it reproduces Rolling Stones recordings. I love them too, but most of their records are highly compressed and sound pretty bad. The exception is "Stripped", which is a fantastic recording. If a speaker makes terrible recordings sound good, then you will be missing something on better recordings. It's just the way that sh*t works.

 

 

Thanks for the Crites update. Yes, the midrange on the IVs are recessed, seeming more back than forward of the speaker; several reviewers also noticed this. It's still good, but what I heard from the Sonus Faber was totally different in a good way, but I bet the Cornwall IVs really kick butt, but I can't afford them. Thanks

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4 hours ago, Mark in PA said:

Thanks for the Crites update. Yes, the midrange on the IVs are recessed, seeming more back than forward of the speaker; several reviewers also noticed this. It's still good, but what I heard from the Sonus Faber was totally different in a good way, but I bet the Cornwall IVs really kick butt, but I can't afford them. Thanks


Cornwall IVs are a great speaker. I’ve owned them too. If you are patient you can get a used pair for not much more than a new pair of Fortes. You might reach out to Corey or Steven at Paducah Home Theater for a quote. I bought my Cornwalls from them new and the price was very attractive.

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13 hours ago, Mark in PA said:

 the Cornwall IVs really kick butt, but I can't afford them. 

Last deal on a mint used pair of Forte III was 1500$  in VA  ,  a mint pair of used CW IV was 3500$ in GA   ,as you can see , the Forte III was less than 1/2 the price .

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On 1/13/2023 at 10:35 PM, Mark in PA said:

Thanks. That's what I thought: bad recordings are bad, period. There may or may not be something I can do with it, but probably not.

The Sonus Faber were at a different dealership than the Faber dealership. But I demoed only LPs and CDs on the Sonus Faber because the owner is blind and doesn't stream at all, so the music I gave the Faber's wasn't the best quality but these speakers really made any song and any music genre really a pleasure to listen to.

I have always wanted a pair of their higher end speakers.  Just beautiful to look at and I hear the same, they sound good with a lot of different music. 

 

Check the link below.  In your ballpark, dynamic and easy to drive, but the midrange is not forward, just really accurate.  Forget about surround system, those of us who have put together a surround system are not willing to sell, but a great price on a serious dynamic speaker.  They sound good on many different types of music. 

 

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649918594-klipsch-palladium-p37f-flooor-standing-speakers/

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/13/2023 at 3:09 PM, Shakeydeal said:

I've owned the Crites Cornscala "C" version. They were pretty good after I replaced the stock xovers with ALKs. But the shortcoming of this speaker, and any speaker with a removable panel, is that they will sing at certain mid bass frequencies. Once heard, it cannot be "unheard" so I eventually moved on.

 

I have not heard the Forte IV, but did own the IIIs for a while. They are a somewhat forward speaker, especially with less than stellar recordings. I enjoyed them but tired of forwardness after a while. All accounts are this was greatly improved in the IV, but I have not heard of the midrange described as recessed until now.

 

BTW, I wouldn't judge any speaker on how it reproduces Rolling Stones recordings. I love them too, but most of their records are highly compressed and sound pretty bad. The exception is "Stripped", which is a fantastic recording. If a speaker makes terrible recordings sound good, then you will be missing something on better recordings. It's just the way that sh*t works.

 

 

The 1/2” thick back panel in the Heresy 1 is bad about muddying things up with the way it resonates.

I added a layer of 3/4” MDF to the back of mine and had a measurable improvement.

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