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Fortes... Tubes or SS???


PHIL O

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Phil-

I have been powering Forte II/Chorus II with Denon for a long time, first a ProLogic receiver, and now my AVR-4800 and both sets of speakers sound great with them. Yes, I hear tubes are the way to go, but I don't have the time/space for that right now. Maybe someday, but for now, I love the SS.

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I'm running Forte II's with a late 70's Luxman SS Receiver - conservatively rated at 50 wpc - the Luxman has a much 'warmer' tone than many newer SS's, but having said that, the Forte II's perform splendidly with it: clear rich crisp sound, beautiful definition. The only defect may be that the bass end, though strong, is a little on the sharp side....it's possible tubes may do better here. Moral of the story: with a good (older, powerful and 'warm') SS amp/receiver.... they should do well.6.gif

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  • 1 month later...

Low distortion at low power is important to keep the Fortes from sounding harsh. Also, distortion will make the Fortes sound thin.

Only a select few ss amps provide low distortion at low power (I mean under a Watt .. see folowing paragraph). Others on this site have suggestions for good ss amps.

Even though you may use over a Watt when listening to the speakers, it's the amp's capability under a Watt that determines how smooth it sounds. While you listen at over a Watt, ther are certain frequencies (mid and upper harmonics) that are much lower in power than the music fundamentals. It is mostly the harmonics that determine the presence or lack of harshness.

I would look for a good, low power EL84, KT66, or EL34 based tube push-pull amp. Best if the amp can be configured in triode, class A mode with minimal or no feedback. 10 Watts of power is sufficient. An alternate offering, that breaks many of those rules, but is meant for use with horn speakers is the "Quicksilver Horn Mono."

If you don't listen real loud, a 3.5 Watt or 8 Watt SET is even better.

leok

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tillmbill,

Yes, I notice a difference with the speaker cable and interconnects I use... I could not begin to recommend interconnects, because the impact they have on sound in different for every single cable I have auditioned, and thus (most likely) every one of the possible combination of components could potentially yield different results. I say "different", because whether or not that difference is noticable to all is unclear; and personal preferences are going to determine whether the sound is better or worse, and whether it is worth paying for.

I can say that, in general, I do not like using any interconnects which have a significant amount of silver with Klipsch speakers; I have found the sound to be too harsh for horns. I have been happy with Nordost and Kimber, but there a many other choices out there. As I have written regarding the "cable question" in the past, some components are more susceptible than others to different cables. In general, the "higher-end" components are going to generate better results with better cables, but I do not discount the possibility that mid-fi equipment can be similarly impacted. All I did was read a lot of reviews, and spent what I thought I could afford; a combination of acquired information and luck produced a sound with which I was pleased.

I settled on my current crop of cables when I had a solely two-channel system, with a McCormack amplifier and preamp, which are known to like quality cables. I have not done much testing with my Anthem\Rotel combo, but I would like to upgrade to balanced XLR interconnects sometime in the future, since both units support them...

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