First Heritage speakers

[Cambo5159]

Hello. I’m wanting to get my first pair of heritage speakers for my 2 channel set up. Small room, 12x12. But we play music loud when we entertain. Currently solid state. Marantz 2245 with a turntable and streamer but I’m interested in tubes at some point. Right now I can pick up a pair of Quartets for $850 or a pair of Forte 1’s for $1000. Should I grab either of these or wait and save $$ for some Forte 2’s or save even more for Forte 4’s. I’m not against Heresy but I’d rather not run a sub if I can help it. Thanks in advance for your advice. 

[OO1]

  the Forte 1  would be a better  choice ,   did you audition the speakers   ?  the Marantz 2245 is  45 wpc  ,   the Forte's rating is 100 watts each 

[Fido]

I own a set of Forte 1s that were my fathers before his passing in 2000. They were my main speakers  until two years ago when I bought a pair of Forte IVs. The ones are fantastic speakers and have great bass. I owned heresey 1s that I converted to super heresies and they sounded almost identical to my Forte 1s. In my opinion the IVs are the better sounding speaker of those 3 choices. The IVs have a wider and deeper soundstage and are so dynamic with clear mid range and sparking highs without fatigue. Low bass is very good but you won’t get lower than 30 hrz without a sub. Some people here love the Forte 1s but if I could have only one of the above choices it would be the IVs.

[Cambo5159]

26 minutes ago, Fido said:

I own a set of Forte 1s that were my fathers before his passing in 2000. They were my main speakers  until two years ago when I bought a pair of Forte IVs. The ones are fantastic speakers and have great bass. I owned heresey 1s that I converted to super heresies and they sounded almost identical to my Forte 1s. In my opinion the IVs are the better sounding speaker of those 3 choices. The IVs have a wider and deeper soundstage and are so dynamic with clear mid range and sparking highs without fatigue. Low bass is very good but you won’t get lower than 30 hrz without a sub. Some people here love the Forte 1s but if I could have only one of the above choices it would be the IVs.

Thanks. I’m considering Forte 1’s now, then save for the 4’s or maybe they’ll have 5’s by the time I can afford it. Did you do the titanium tweeter swap with your 1’s?

[Cambo5159]

34 minutes ago, OO1 said:

  the Forte 1  would be a better  choice ,   did you audition the speakers   ?  the Marantz 2245 is  45 wpc  , the Forte's rating is 100 watts each 

Oh, I thought the heritage speakers were super sensitive. I thought my Marantz would be plenty of power. Now I have to rethink things. 

[OO1]

[Fido]

1 hour ago, Cambo5159 said:

Thanks. I’m considering Forte 1’s now, then save for the 4’s or maybe they’ll have 5’s by the time I can afford it. Did you do the titanium tweeter swap with your 1’s?

I did the titanium tweeter diaphragms on my Forte 1s and then changed to Dave As LMAHL tweeters. That combo sounds best IMHO. As far as power the Forte 1s are very efficient and would go very loud and clear  with your Marantz. I powered my Forte 1s for many years with my Yamaha AVR before purchasing my Mcintosh 252 Hybrid integrated. I now run a full tube Primaluna Integrated which can blow my brains out with either the Forte 1s or Forte IVs. Klipsch speakers are extremely efficient but they just need clean amplifier power.

[Southern]

1 hour ago, Cambo5159 said:

Oh, I thought the heritage speakers were super sensitive. I thought my Marantz would be plenty of power. Now I have to rethink things. 

The Marantz will provide plenty of power but will not unleash the full potential of the Forte's when driven with more clean power.

I have Forte 1's and with plenty of clean power they can produce concert volume levels in my basement.

The same is true for my RF-7 1's.

[John Chi-town]

Your Marantz is more than capable of driving any forte version to its full potential.  In room efficiency of 99db requires only 1 watt of power.  I owned forte II that I purchased new in 1992 until 6 months ago.  I sold to a forum member.  I purchased forte IV used, 4 weeks old, with all paperwork and shipping cartons etc. Absolutely flawless pair.  As Fido said, the series IV is the best of the bunch with very tight punchy bass.  Although they only go down to mid 30Hz, they sound an octave lower INMHO.  Unless you want sub terranean bass no sub is required.  I paid $3,500 for the pair I mentioned above.  Unless you do something really STUPID you will never need to exercise the 10-year warranty.  In other words, do not overlook a mint used pair.  You can save $1,500.00 with taxes like I did.  Good luck on your search.

[Bananas and Blow]

On 4/9/2023 at 5:36 PM, Cambo5159 said:

Oh, I thought the heritage speakers were super sensitive. I thought my Marantz would be plenty of power. Now I have to rethink things. 

 

I owned the 2245 and it's conservatively rated and I've read it puts out about 60 watts continuous. None of this matters with the uber efficient Klipsh. You will be just fine with either model with this amp. More was not better with my Heritage speakers. In fact sometimes it was worse. Best I've heard mine sound are with 25 Watts of tube power. 

[Bananas and Blow]

I own the Heresy IV and the Forte IV and in a 12X 12 room I would prefer the Heresy. The Heresy IV has great tight punchy bass. In your relatively small room you will get musical bass. It would be easy for the Forte to overpower that size room with bass. Hersey is the smallest of the bunch but it is in the same category of refinement as the rest of the lineup. You can get the Heresy deep by placing it close to the back wall. Do that with the Forte and the bass will floor you which is cool. But something you might want to listen to for very long. I keep my Fortes about 28 inches from the back wall to balance the bass is a much larger room.

 

This depends on personal taste on bass. If you like to shake the walls, go Fortes. If you like a balanced lighter bass do the Heresy. I love these speakers both equally. So much fun to listen to. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Bananas and Blow

[Peter P.]

In a small room like your 12 x 12 a Quartet or Forte will occupy a good deal of valuable space not to mention the rear clearance needed for the passive radiator. Aesthetically either will be huge compared to the room size. I'm with Bananas and Blow above; the Heresy's will fit the room better, you can tuck them right into the corners and free up valuable entertaining space, and in that room can play loud enough to annoy your neighbors, as well as the people in the room!

[the real Duke Spinner]

Forte 1

But why dick around ??

Just buy the KH now

  You eventually will end up there. 🙂

 

[82 Cornwalls]

5 hours ago, Bananas and Blow said:

 

I owned the 2245 and it's conservatively rated and I've read it puts out about 60 watts continuous. None of this matters with the uber efficient Klipsh. You will be just fine with either model with this amp. More was not better with my Heritage speakers. In fact sometimes it was worse. Best I've heard mine sound are with 25 Watts of tube power. 

 

qft

Quality over quantity every time.

 

fwiw speaker power ratings = one of the most useless specs ever

[Shakeydeal]

Congrats on the new speakers. Pay no attention to those who would tell you the Fortes are "rated at 100 watts". That means not much, and 45 watts will make them sing. But I'm going to ask the question that is weighing heavily on everyone's mind.

 

How do you "entertain" in a 12x12 room?

[Cambo5159]

Well, it’s a Tiki Room. And it’s adjacent to our kitchen. So we have cocktail parties where everyone hangs out in both the kitchen and the Tiki Room. So the music has to carry outside of the Tiki Room when we entertain. 

[OO1]

Specifications : BANDWIDTH: 32 Hz - 20 kHz :f: 3 dB SENSITIVITY: 98 dB SPL, one watt one meter NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 8S1 POWER HANDLING: 100 watts maximum continuous ENCLOSURE TYPE: Vented box (via drone), three-way system DRIVE COMPONENTS: K-75-K tweeter, K-53-K midrange, K-23, 12" (30.5 cm) woofer KD-13, 12" (30.5 cm) drone  

[Shakeydeal]

39 minutes ago, OO1 said:

 

 

Specifications : BANDWIDTH: 32 Hz - 20 kHz :f: 3 dB SENSITIVITY: 98 dB SPL, one watt one meter NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 8S1 POWER HANDLING: 100 watts maximum continuous ENCLOSURE TYPE: Vented box (via drone), three-way system DRIVE COMPONENTS: K-75-K tweeter, K-53-K midrange, K-23, 12" (30.5 cm) woofer KD-13, 12" (30.5 cm) drone  

 

 

What are you getting at? 100 watts max. This has no bearing on whether or not a 45 watt per channel amp will drive the speakers. It most certainly will, especially in a 12x12 room.

[Shakeydeal]

Quote

Well, it’s a Tiki Room. And it’s adjacent to our kitchen. So we have cocktail parties where everyone hangs out in both the kitchen and the Tiki Room. So the music has to carry outside of the Tiki Room when we entertain. 

 

Fortes are up to the task and 45/channel will not be an issue.

 

 

[billybob]

Affirmative...