Recomended rear surrounds & center to match the Forte I

[alannick]

I have a pair of Forte I's which sound great. They are currently matched to an inexpensive pair of Infinity speakers and an Advent center channel. I am building a home which will be wired for theater.

1) What is the best subwoofer, rear, and center channel speakers to match against these great Fortes?

2) What is the best type of wiring to have run for the speakers and should I use speaker connection terminals mounted on the wall or just direct wire?

The room is 23' x 17' with the main speakers on the 17' wall. The rear speakers will need to be mounted on the side walls approximatly 14" away from the TV & front speakers. The center channel will sit on a Mitsubishi 50" projection TV. Everthing will be driven by a Sony STR-DE825 receiver. I know nothing about speakers so I'm looking for somebody to provide specific model numbers and recommendations. I've been to many stores and everbody tells me something different.

Second option, do I move the Fortes to another room and start with a complete new system? I would like to keep the cost under $2,000 for the rear, center channel & sub.

I went to a local authorized dealer this week and they are suggesting that I use an RC-7 for the center channel and the RS-7's on the rear. They also suggested using 16 gauge wiring for everything. No need for a new sub at this time as I already have one (non-Klipsch) and the Fortes' have excellent lower level response. Since this is well within the budget should I go ahead and purchase the RC-7 & RS-7 speakers? ?

[ShapeShifter]

Regarding center and rear speakers; The best match would be a single Forte I or Quartet. That said, an Academy center channel is the best when a center with a smaller footprint is desired. It's only available used, hard to find and oftentimes commands premium prices. The best match for the rears is a Forte or Quartet too. Some members are using Reference Series (RC-7, RC-3 or RC-3II's) for centers and RS-7's, RS-3 or RS-3II's for rear surrounds. Klipsch's has introduced newer Reference Series Centers; the RC-35 replaces the RC-3 II, and the RC-25, with an even smaller footprint.

As far as subwoofers go there are many good makes and models to choose from. Klipsch has their RSW line which gets good reviews and there are many SVS users here as well. You may want to scroll down on the main forum page and visit the Subwoofer section. You will find many good recommendations and can get great feedback.

Wire is a very touchy subject and has sparked many lengthy debates. I recommend a good 12 or 13 AWG OFC wire that fits within your budget. You may want to give more consideration to wire type and cosmetic covering, if you're running the wire inside walls or on baseboards that will require painting. If you are interested in a Flat Self-Adhesive type for sticking to baseboard, you can take a look as Accessories4less.com's web site. They have a large selection of in-wall wire too.

http://accessories4less.com/

[jerohm]

Heresy IIs share the same Mid-range - draw your own conclusions

[wireless]

They used to recommend the klf-20 and c-7 I believe. That's what I bought along with an LF-10 to go with mine. I use the Forte's as surrounds. I would use them for fronts because they sound better than the Klf-20's but they wouldn't match the c-7 properly.

I think the system sounds good. You don't really hear enough out of the surrounds to really notice any mismatch or when you do hear something like rain for example it is a lot of times separate from what's coming out of the fronts.

The 20's aren't shielded though and for that reason I'm going to let 'em go. I plan to buy either a complete rf-35 system or if I wait long enough an rf-55 (not yet announced I believe).

I'm setting up a separate 2-channel system with my Forte's in another room. I just won a Yamaha pre-amp last night on ebay to replace the exact same glitchy model I have in storage.

-David

[j-malotky]

Alan

Use the Fortes in your HT. They sound awesome. A Heritage HT is really hard to beat.

I match my Forte 1s with Heresy 2s. Not as much bass, but the mids and highs are a great match. It will work great for your center and rears. A lot of others use Academys for center, but they are hard to find, and IMHO, the Heresy will sound more live than the Academy.

Look into a single SVS sub. $2000 cost is very do - able for your system.

JM

[igor2]

I use a KG 5.5 for the center with my Forte II's. To my untrained ears is seems to be a very good match. I also use Kg 5.5's for rears and I think that they are also a very good match. I do not use my sub very much since the II's go so low but I do have a KSW12 for movies with explosions and such. Monster cables all around.

[jhawk92]

Al-

Fortes are a great speaker. Keep them and use them as your anchor. If you can find an Academy, that is the best "compact" center channel. Or, you could pick up a KV-3 and that would sound almost as good.

For surrounds, if you think you will ever do SACD or DVD-A, and have the room, then find another pair of Fortes. Those formats require full range speakers. If you are short on room, then look at the KG 1.2 or 2.2 series. I have a pair for rear center and they were my surrounds on my Pro Logic system. Great little speakers for the size/price.

For sub, any of the SVS cylinder subs or the PW2200. I don't have experience with the SVS box subs but would think they are just as good as the cylinders. Both SVS and the Paradigm PW2200 match up great with Forte/Chorus line.