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Upgraded Forte III to Forte IV - wow!


Last Lemming

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Best $800 bucks spent. 
 

to me it sounds like a whole new speaker.

 

all the things about the III I liked are still there except now there’s:

 

1. More coherent frequency response 

2. Smoother frequency response

3. bass is waaaay better - deeper and tighter, I even had to check if my REL sub was on. It wasn’t. 
4. Soundstage is wider and deeper

5. No etch to sound at all

 

if in doubt do it!

 

 

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So, I received this kit for Xmas and installed it that day. My experience was just the opposite and I'm trying to determine if I did something wrong.

 

I loved my IIIs, but like so many of us, I couldn't resist the promise of something even better. But now my upgraded III/IVs sound like everything Klipsch-haters think about Klipsch speakers -- bright, harsh, fatiguing. I can't really listen to them for more than a half-hour or so before I throw in the towel. I'm using high-quality upstream components -- Decware SE84UFO (with 25th anniversary mods), Line Magnetic tube DAC, BlueSound Node 2i — and this setup sounded magical before my upgrade.

 

Question for you: The terminals on my new tweeters were not marked positive/negative as the directions said they'd be. I wired them the way the originals were wired, with black on top, green on bottom (with terminals to the left when looking in from the front). Is that how yours are wired? I can't help but think something isn't wired right, but I've double-checked everything. That's the only thing I can think of.

 

 

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Posted (edited)

The only other thing I can think of is the wiring might be wrong somewhere else when you installed it. Unplug the speaker wires and speaker binding panel and start there. Failing that pull the tweeter and mid and recheck those. 

That being said I can’t imagine you did anything wrong, the install is simple enough even considering the tweeter. Which is the same tweeter as you already have except for a phase plug which is supposed to smooth things out. 
 

Supposedly the crossover accounts for most of the change anyway. 
 

I’ve read from another Forte IV owner the quality of the binding posts are not good. Hard to disagree with that. I’ve ordered some copper posts and I’m going to solder the wires. He did this mod and said the sound got even smoother. Easy enough mod and easy to reverse. 
 

BTW the image above the original is on the right. 

Edited by Last Lemming
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Thanks for the reply. I'm traveling until tomorrow but will double-check all of my connections when I get home. Just curious: Was the improvement obvious immediately for you or did the speakers take a while to "break in"? I'm a bit or a "break-in" skeptic. I'm sure there's something to it for some components, but I think in most case it's just the listener's ears adjusting to a different sound. Still, I'm curious about your experience and whether it was an immediate "Wow!" or a gradual "Yeah, I think I like this sound better?"

 

 

Edited by djcindc
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For me it was immediate. Even before I sat down in between the speakers I heard a difference.
 

I hope you find something that’s causing your distress, so you can resolve your issue. 
 

Failing that if everything is hooked up correctly and you still don’t like it I suppose you can always put back what you had and sell the kit.  Though that’s always a major PIA.  

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1 hour ago, djcindc said:

Thanks for the reply. I'm traveling until tomorrow but will double-check all of my connections when I get home.  

what kind of amplification are you using , do you have 8+4 Ohms taps , if you do , switch them around .

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I'm using a Decware SE84UFO (with 25th anniversary mods, for any Decware fans reading this). It has just one set of taps, but is said to be able to handle anything. It was pretty much the ideal match for these speakers before the upgrade. I've heard systems costing many times as much that I didn't make me anywhere near as happy. I'll be home tomorrow and will dig into this. I have a feeling I did something stupid -- I got the kit for Xmas and, like a little kid, had no patience, so I rushed to do the install. I was pretty sure I did everything right -- I took pics of most steps -- but I could have done something as stupid as incorrectly wire the terminals. I'll report back for those who are holding their breath ... 

 

FWIW, I got the kit from Paducah Home Theater and Corey referred me to Klipsch. Klipsch asked me to send a video of how they sound, which I'll do if I can't sort it out myself. 

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On 1/4/2024 at 6:50 AM, djcindc said:

Thanks for the reply. I'm traveling until tomorrow but will double-check all of my connections when I get home. Just curious: Was the improvement obvious immediately for you or did the speakers take a while to "break in"? I'm a bit or a "break-in" skeptic. I'm sure there's something to it for some components, but I think in most case it's just the listener's ears adjusting to a different sound. Still, I'm curious about your experience and whether it was an immediate "Wow!" or a gradual "Yeah, I think I like this sound better?"

 

 

The drivers need 100 hours to fully break in. The tweeters on both my Heresy IV and Forte IV sounded grainy when new. The last thing to really open up on mine were the midrange. It really blossomed and became more open and transparent. It was a gradual change but then one day it was like "wow holy schiit that sound is so alive". Everyone who's a break in skeptic never broke in a pair of Klipsch IV speakers. Both pairs I broke in changed dramatically. I didn't really like the Heresy prior to break in. I didn't notice any change after 100 hours or so (I did not time this).

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On 12/28/2023 at 7:45 PM, Last Lemming said:

Best $800 bucks spent. 
 

to me it sounds like a whole new speaker.

 

all the things about the III I liked are still there except now there’s:

 

1. More coherent frequency response 

2. Smoother frequency response

3. bass is waaaay better - deeper and tighter, I even had to check if my REL sub was on. It wasn’t. 
4. Soundstage is wider and deeper

5. No etch to sound at all

 

if in doubt do it!

 

 

You have no idea of the problems this post has created for me. I've been happy as the proverbial clam with my Forte IIIs and you've given me a severe case of FOMO! Time to start saving my pennies, I guess. 😉

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For anyone out there losing sleep over my upgrade woes (I'm sure that is absolutely no one) ... sleep well tonight. I don't know if it was break-in (I let them run for two full days) or changes I made to my room treatments, but all is now good. More than good. The nasally, bullhorn-ish sound I was getting is gone, and I can second the original poster's rave review. I absolutely loved my IIIs and only upgraded because I can't resist the possibility of eking out just that little bit more from my system. This upgrade gave me much more than just a little bit more. The bass punch and finesse, and the depth and layers (it's the layers more than anything!) that I'm now hearing in the soundstage are just amazing. The Decware/Forte IV combo really might have me at the end of my search. I can't see myself wanting to upgrade either amp or speakers anytime soon, if ever.

 

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1 hour ago, djcindc said:

For anyone out there losing sleep over my upgrade woes (I'm sure that is absolutely no one) ... sleep well tonight. I don't know if it was break-in (I let them run for two full days) or changes I made to my room treatments, but all is now good. More than good. The nasally, bullhorn-ish sound I was getting is gone, and I can second the original poster's rave review. I absolutely loved my IIIs and only upgraded because I can't resist the possibility of eking out just that little bit more from my system. This upgrade gave me much more than just a little bit more. The bass punch and finesse, and the depth and layers (it's the layers more than anything!) that I'm now hearing in the soundstage are just amazing. The Decware/Forte IV combo really might have me at the end of my search. I can't see myself wanting to upgrade either amp or speakers anytime soon, if ever.

 

Omg you sound like Steve Huff with his never ending best ever reference system. Then next week the next best thing comes along. Lol

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