thebes Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 Have an opportunity to buy some forte 1's in the DC area, but I am wondering how they match up with a solid state receiver. Many on the forum advocate running these with tube amps but I am currently running a Denon 2802 reveiver and will not be changing it out anytime soon (recent purchase on close-out). Right now I have a timbre matched system with Kg3.5's for the mains, a kv2 center and kg 1.5's in the rear. Aside from above if I get them should I leave my current setup in place and use the forte's for music only? With only one receiver that's a bit of a hassle. Well Ht is great, but my primary focus is on music. Would have posted this on 2 Channel but that's restricted right now. I AM NOT, REPEAT NOT, trying to send this thread off topic, but I am hoping some of the 2 channel guys have migrated over here and will be of assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Disc Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 The Fortes are good speakers. Don't pass on them. They may not mate well with your Denon, but if you have a opportunity to get the Fortes at a good price... hang on to them until you can get a inexpensive tube integrated unit. Lots of choices here. Most of us have built our systems one component at a time. It's best to separate your Home Theater with a musical 2-channel listening setup. good luck tb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Shomaker Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 If I were you I would leave your home theatre alone then take the fortes and make a stereo. If you want ss amps you could get an old harman kardon, they sound really good. If you decided to use the denon for music I don't think you will be very happy because I think it sounds like crap in stereo mode but is awesome for surround sound. Does your denon have pure direct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 I agree with tb. Get the fortes and keep em stashed until you can afford a decent tube integrated. If you want to run them through your Denon, a switchbox makes it a simple task. It just won't sound as good as it will with tubes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 It's all relative. The Forte's with your Denon will sound very nice. The Forte's with a nice, quiet, tube amp/preamp will sound wonderful. I know - I've done both, with a Denon and a Fisher tube amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 ---------------- On 3/19/2004 9:52:49 PM garymd wrote: I agree with tb. Get the fortes and keep em stashed until you can afford a decent tube integrated. If you want to run them through your Denon, a switchbox makes it a simple task. It just won't sound as good as it will with tubes. ---------------- so i could get a switch box and run a tube amp and my Old harmon for surround sound. Wait you didn't say that, but could you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Wheel, As others have said, Get the Fortes. Listen to them Yourself first, and see what you think of the sound of the Denon/forte setup...........Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Thanks guys, but the forte were sold before I could get to them. Bummer, but I compensated by purchasing a set kg 5.2's. Sounds like I have a tube/amp in my future. Any other suggestions (lower price range) besides the HK? My apologies Gary I must have been dropped on my head a few times as a child. Don't need a switch because I have an a/b switch already on Denon. Duh! I may have lost out on the Forte's but I strongly suspect that I'll be climbing the speaker upgrade ladder down the road. Who knows maybe there's some Khorns in my future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Your KG 5.2s would sound great with a classic tube Scott, EICO, Fisher, or Heathkit integrated amp. If older SS amps interest you, the harman/kardon 430 or 730 would do, along with vintage McIntosh amps. You may also want to check out the latest tube amps/preamps/integrated/monoblocks, either DIY kits or assembled, and the newest tube offerings from China, etc. There are alot of options to choose from IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Jet, Consider me to be on the hunt! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 I'm in the minority here, but I would recommend a fairly powerful higher-end solid-state amp... everyone is probably tired of reading this, but I'm going to post it again, anyway (maybe I'll write it all out for my joke of a website sometime, to save repeating myself): I have had the chance to listen to my Fortes with 5 different amplification sources over the past 16 years, and the best sound I have derived from them was from a 185-watt per channel McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe. I had powered them for years with a 120-watt Carver amp, and the sound was OK, but when I hooked in the McCormack, I was treated to 1) a bass slam I did not think they were capable of, 2) the sweetest midrange I've heard in my house, 3) the most realistic highs, and (most importantly) 4) music that seemed to be RIGHT there in the room. This was a sound that literally brought me to tears more than once. The reason the bass this amplifier provided sounded so good with these speakers was, not only great design and really good electronics and connections, but the cone woofers in the Forte (and any other speaker that sports cones) need power to move enough air to provide realistic bass. The fully horn-loaded Klipschorn, LaScala, and Belle work on a different design philosophy: the K-Horn uses your walls as an extension of its bass horn; the other two, while providing incredible sound in the range in which they produce it, are nevertheless considerably shy in the bottom couple of octaves of bass. These completely horny speakers, with their insanely high sensitivity, thrive on tube amplification; while lower-powered tubes will drive the cone woofers of Klipsch's other speakers (and make the horns sing, as well), they are not physically capable of moving the cones in bass-heavy passages as well as a powerful solid state amp. This does not mean that Forte/Chorus/Cornwalls, etc. sound BAD with tube amps; on the contrary, I believe I have gone out of my way to state otherwise. I just feel that, in my own experience, to really derive a full, live-sounding experience from these speakers, the cone woofers need POWER; and the horn midrange and tweeters demand that it be QUALITY POWER. That is why I look on the classifieds every day for a 5-channel version of the McCormack line, because I foolishly sold my 2-channel DNA-1 a year ago when I converted (not "upgraded") to a 5-channel Rotel... a nice powerful amp, which provides plenty of slam, but does not come near to the sweet live sound I had gotten spoiled by with a higher-end amplifier. Sorry you missed out on the Fortes; I've had mine for 16 years, and don't plan to let go of them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 thebes, If you ever want to hear tubes and heritage, you're welcome to come up to the Baltimore area for a listen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Chuckears -- I'm sure it helps that you are using one of the best sounding solid state amps ever built. I've never heard the amp myself, but it's impossible find a bad word about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 DeanG, The great thing is that, not only are the McCormack DNA -series amps built like tanks, they are available used for half their original retail... I picked up the DNA-1 Deluxe for just over a grand... a steal for this unit, IMHO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted March 20, 2004 Author Share Posted March 20, 2004 Hey Gary I'm up for it! Let's work it with a game. See how the Orioles are doing this year. You wouldn't happen to have a couple of tickets to the O's/Yankee matchup would you? (heh,heh,heh) Hodogs are on me! Chuck, I'm glad for your counterpoint on the tube amp questions. Especially since I just dropped five bills on the Denon. I gotta tell you guys that I love the sound stage and dynamics from the Denon but I'm having some harshness problems, a lotta sss"s from my female singers with current setup despite setting delays, test tones setup with sound meter,fiddiling with base and treble, placement etc. I'm hoping the kg5.2's will solve that problem. Well I'm at it has anybody been listening to Cyndia Lauper's At Last. Love a lot of songs on it, and her voice is incredably powerfull yet controlled but it's still comes accross as harsh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 ---------------- On 3/20/2004 8:36:20 PM thebes wrote: Hey Gary I'm up for it! Let's work it with a game. See how the Orioles are doing this year. You wouldn't happen to have a couple of tickets to the O's/Yankee matchup would you? (heh,heh,heh) Hodogs are on me! ---------------- As long as you're not a Yankee's fan! I can usually get a few games in the company suite. If not, O's tickets aren't as hard to get as they used to be, unfortunately. We'll work something out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 I run Forte II and its little brother Quartet on low power and old (in one case) SS units. Sounds good to me. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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