Cal Blacksmith Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 What a day! On the way to work this morning at 4:30 am I ran over a LARGE piece of tire someone lost! Work was ok, nothing special but through the magic of email, the man selling the fortes and I arranged to pick them up TODAY! I got to the business that he owns buying and selling vintage audio gear to sell to Korea. I got there before he had returned from lunch and while I was waiting for him to get back I noticed some front end damage to my car from hitting the tire this morning. Well, after a brief inspection I determined the car would live and stood back up. I took a step and heard the crunching of plastic and discovered that my cell phone had fallen off my belt while I was under the car. Yep totaled, Oh well the phone was 2 months old anyway (grin) The man arrived and we went to get the fortes. He went in the back room and retrieved the objects of my affection. They are finished in piano black. Grills are in great shape and over all a 9 on a 10 scale for appearance. He then hooked them up and turned them on. Well to say that I was UNDERWHELMED would be putting it mildly. No bass to speak of and a harsh high end. So I looked at what was in front of me, there were the speakers in the middle of the room being driven by a SS amp. I could hear the bass trying to get out but there wasnt any more the speakers could do with what they were receiving. So I paid the man the $450 and loaded the speakers into my little Neon (I drive 120 miles a day and any help with gas mileage is welcome.) On the way home I thought about the fact that I hadnt talked to the wife about the speakers so I parked on the street and was going to wait until she left for choir practice before I brought them in. I knew she would see them the instant she came in but by then it would be too late and it would be ok (she is very understanding) At last she and my son left and my chance would be at hand! She came back in the house and told me I needed to get outside because there was an accident and I needed to be there. Well, I got out there and saw that my little car was hit by the neighbors truck. Well, hit isnt quite right. He pushed it back 20 feet, sideways a good 10 feet and through a chain link fence taking 30 feet of fence with it. Of course he was drunk as a skunk, driving on a suspended license (for drunk driving) and was without insurance. To top it off, I realized that MY FORTES WERE IN THE BACK SEAT! After the cars were pulled apart and I could get inside, I saw that the speakers were thrown around quit a bit. We unloaded the speakers and discovered that one had the top front edge chipped up fairly badly and the other had ripped the grill cloth sliding into the back of the right front seat. GROAN I hadnt even hooked them up and they had gone through this! The details of the accident were taken care of and the people dispersed to their homes. Hey, the wife and son hadnt returned yet, so I went into my den and set up the speakers! With the discussion of 4 ohm vs. 8 ohm still in my head I hooked them up to the amp at 8 ohms. I had looked in the owners manual that came with the amp and they said you might need to play with the impedance a bit to get the best sound so I figured if they werent too worried about it I wouldnt be either! Ok, cables on, amp bias set, pre-amp down, tuner on, rotate the stepped gain controls and JOY, RAPTURE, UNBRIDLED GIDDIENESS! I sank into my chair and listened to the sweetness that only a pair (or more) of Klipsch could bring! The highs are crisp, the ring of the cymbals fading off. Smooth mid range notes and a thumping bass! Out came the Mike Oldfield recording or TUBULAR BELLS. If anything could test the speakers this vinyl could. Twenty-three minutes and fifty seconds never passed so fast. Lost in clouds of drifting notes, the events of the day faded into the back of my mind and I came to the realization that cars will come and cars will go but these Fortes will STAY FOR A LONG TIME! The Jbls will be retired to the surround sound system the wife uses for movies. A good use for them I think, they will compliment the Sound Research AL-13s that are the head speakers for the movie system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 What a day! Congrats on the Fortes and welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Congratulations - You made a great decision regarding the speakers - You will never regret them ! As for the rest of your day - Yipe !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillmbil Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 At least ther was a great end to a horrible day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench_peddler Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I don't know, we haven't heard from him since his wife made it home. ?????????????????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 ---------------- On 3/18/2004 9:10:08 AM wrench_peddler wrote: I don't know, we haven't heard from him since his wife made it home. ?????????????????????? ---------------- I imagine she must have been distracted by the car. On the other hand if it was drivable maybe she ran over him in the thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandi Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 I want to know, would you have parked where you did if you were not trying to get the fortes in the house? I would claim them on the insurance and try to recoup some cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschfoot Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Hope you see some humor in this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipsch RF7 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Im happy for you and I can concur with the speaker damage, when i got my Klipsch KG 5.5 in from UPS one of the speakers had some chipping and damage at the 4 corners from UPS dropping them, other than that they sound great. So you are referencing these from a pair of JBL correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Congrats on the Forte acquisition. Sorry to hear of your troubles (man thats an understatement). I think you should go back to bed and start that day over way too much s%*t for one day. I was fairly convinced you'd like the Forte's over the JBL's. They are truly a great speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Wow, quite a story. Even with a bit of rough and tumble in the back of the Neon, I know they will delight you with their sound. Fortes are great speakers, as well as their Tractrix brothers, so your ears will be in good hands, er, horns. Enjoy and welcome to the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted March 18, 2004 Author Share Posted March 18, 2004 Well, this is a new day and I feel much better now! I havent bothered to go out and look at the car yet and I stayed home from work to mend the fence so the dog will stay in the yard. Professional repairs are to follow. The wife and the speakers, she is fine with them I TOLD YOU SO! after being married for 24 years, we kinda know each other pretty well. Thanks again for the welcome, this is a great board and the people make it so. The quality of the sound from the speakers is outstanding. The room they are in couldn't be worse for listening but they do a wonderfull job of filling it (and with any volume at all, the rest of the house!) As I have read on this board, for the money, it is impossible to buy a better built speaker with as high quality componants as these have. I will agree they are built strong by the way they came through the accident. The damage to them is only on the surface and due to the black piano finish, the chips shoud be easy to blend in. The grill cloth on the other hand........ does anyone have a source for 19 year old grill cloth? GRIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neo33 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Congrats! You will be happy for many years with the Fortes. I replaced my RF-7s with the Fortes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssh Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Welcome to the forum, & thanks for sharing your story. Bittersweet day, but lots of time to play. SSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeritageBob Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Welcome to the forum What a story.... I believe you can try and call Klipsch parts department directly for the grill replacement. They still carry many grills and grill cloth from discontinued speaker models. By the way, did the neighbors accident damage occur in the same area as the tire from the freeway damage? , if you get my drift........ Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted March 18, 2004 Author Share Posted March 18, 2004 First, I was parked where I always do, nothing different....... gotta stay in the stelth mode sometimes ya know GRIN The new damage... well, the car is history and yes the mornings damage is lost in the carnage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 cablacksmith, Talk about Murphy's law!!! I was just hoping to read about your joy with the Fortes today not a saga out of a John Candy movie! Sorry for your travails. On the bright side you were not in the car waiting for SWMBO to leave and are uninjured and the Fortes, although injured, survived to finally bring you sonic joy! Enjoy!!!!!! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Curious about this black "piano" finish. To me, that's an extremely high-gloss, extremely smooth finish. To my knowledge, Klipsch never finished any Forte's that way. Just "black," which was a black low-sheen lacquer sprayed over the wood veneers that didn't pass QC. If yours truly are piano finish, sounds like they've been redone. I can imagine how cool those must look (er, have looked before the accident). Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted March 19, 2004 Author Share Posted March 19, 2004 Well, I guess the finish isn't Quite a high gloss, they were fairly shiney and a deep black, so either they had been reworked or they put on a real nice coat of paint at the plant. If you look close you can see some wood grain. The good thing is that they wern't affected sonicly. I instantly traveled back to 1977 the first time I heard a Klipsch speaker when I turned them on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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