Chorus II and reference series

[firedawg24]

I am new to the board, Its nice to know that this place exists for

novices like myself. My question is will the CII's sound good with any

of the ref series center surround or sub? If so, what specific model?

If not, what will sound good? Keep in mind that I dont have room to put

any more big speakers, I need speakers that I mount in the

corners/ceilings of the room. The center must go on a shelf above my

TV, so it must be smaller as well. I dont consider myself an audiophile

but I do want a good sound that I wont want to upgrade later. I already

have the CII's by the way, greatest sound I've ever heard, I bought

them just to hear Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight". Anyhow any help

would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Dave

[colterphoto1]

To keep both efficiency and the timbre (or voice) of the sound the same as HT effects sweep across the front wall, you'll want to get a center speaker of as close to the same vintage and construction as the ChorusII. For most of us, that involves the hunt for an Academy or KLF-C7, both speakers intended to be center channels, both of the approximate vintage as ChorusII. Put a WTB Academy topic up here with the preferred wood finish Oak/black, and your part of the country and we'll help you locate the center box of your dreams.

Welcome to the NEW FORUM!

Michael

[kenratboy]

I am keeping an eye out for another Chorus II.

Front projector with three Chorus II's across the front...DROOL

[Olorin]

Dave,

What Michael said.

Now given your space constraints, you have a couple ways to go.

The Academy is the best center for the Chorus IIs. They are

relatively rare and very desirable, and the price they fetch reflects

that. They are also the only small(ish) speakers you could use

for surrounds that are made to match.

However, I have heard that the small KG bookshelves -- 1.x and 2.x --

work well as surrounds for the Chorus/Forte/Quartet line. I have

not heard this setup myself, so I'm only passing along the information

that others have shared.

The other way to go, and the one that is probably your path of least

resistance, is to set your C IIs aside for use in a stereo system and

buy yourself a Reference HT setup. The Reference series is

available now in several performance levels, comes new with a warranty,

and can be bought as a turn-key setup.

Welome to the board. The fun and the madness are about to begin. []

[firedawg24]

Thank you all for the quick feedback. What kind of money are the academy and C7 fetching?

As far as being the path of least resistance, I don't know if my wife

would see it that way :>) Honestly, I don't have the room to set up

another 2 channel system, besides I don't think I could get rid of the

CII's.

On another subject; I am glad to see there are people more in love with

there Klipsch than I am. When my friends come over and I show them my

speakers they just look at me funny, then say they never heard of them.

Thats when the partys over:>)

[colterphoto1]

"Thats when the partys over:>)"

Correction: That's when the REAL Party begins!

Michael

[rplace]

Thank you all for the quick feedback. What kind of money are the academy and C7 fetching?

A beat up black one might be had for 300. Less if you are lucky. A WO or OO in nice shape might run more then 650. Currenlty they tend to be a little cheaper in the 400 to 500 range. Once the weather turns cold and people turn their focus indoors they price will go back up.

What finish are you CIIs? Trust me you want an Academy. Save your pennies, beg, borrow and steal to get one. They are that good with Chorus/Forte/Quartet.

Just to give you an idea of value back in January or so I bought three black ones for 1800. A bit on the high side, but I am a "must have it now" type of guy. My needs changed and I sold the last one for 500 or 550 I can't remember.

Do a search on the forum for Academy and you will find out that you simply must have one. Stick with it and you will be rewarded. Your Choruses are great mains for a HT and the perfect starting point.

Good Luck

[krispykoilz]

I waited and watched for deals on near mint Chorus II's. I have 3 in front and 3 in back, sounds pretty good to me. You can pick up a pair of Chorus II's for the same or less money than an Academy although be prepared for a lot more shipping costs than an Academy.

[rplace]

I totally agree on three chours up front. In reading the original post I belive he needs a smaller center. If that is not the case then by all means look for Chori in the 600-900 dollar range over an Academy. If a C I would fit the bill check out this almost perfect pair here http://mantistech.com/klipsch/Chorus/ChorusPix.htm

[firedawg24]

As far as the color, they are black. I would love to be able to fit

more CII's but I simply dont have the room. It sounds like the academy

is the way to go for the center.

What about the rear and side surrounds? Do the reference series make a

decent choice? I think they would be easiest to get, plus they get good

reviews especially when proper placement is an issue.

[Olorin]

If you need a small surround, a KG 1.x or 2.x bookshelf is likely to be

your best bet. The Reference will not blend well at all.

[rplace]

Hate to spend all you money for you but Academies would make killer surrounds as well. They are pricy and hard to find. I think that is why Olorin originally suggested you might consider a new line of speakers for HT and keep the C IIs for 2 channel. It is not impossible to find 3 academies, see my earlier message about 3 for $1800. If that is in your budget and you are diligent about ebay/audiogon you can probably swing it in the coming months.

The problem is they don't make them any more so it is totally supply and demand. I am shocked that nobody has figure a way to make an Academy clone and sell them for 400 or so each. I would think they would sell several each month.

If you have some space check out Quartets as well. Same family as Chorus/Forte/Academy and smallest of the floorstanders.

[Olorin]

Rich, is there an echo in here? []

[rplace]

Guess I should re-read before posting.[:$]

I was going from memory (which apparently is failing) I knew you suggested starting fresh, but forgot you mentioned the Quartet. I should have know better you are nothing if not detailed and thorough.[]

[Olorin]

Wasn't you I was referring to, my friend.

Maybe I should help firedawg out with some background on my

system. I run Chorus II mains, an Academy center, and Quartet

surrounds. I really like the way it sounds -- so much so that in

my mind, the only step up I'd really be interested in would be what

Rich has done. The C II/Academy/Quartet combo sounds good enough

to me that the Reference system doesn't interest me. Nothing

against it -- it's just that I already have what I have and don't see

the cost/benefit in the Reference. To each his own, and all that.

Just the same, I know I wouldn't be happy with my Chorus IIs in this

setup if I didn't have all the other stuff to match, and getting stuff

to match entails some compromises. Patience, for one -- getting

an Academy can be as challenging as buying a single Belle in

Maryland. Space is another. I have a room of my own and an

indulgent spouse, so I can use Quartets for surround speakers.

Come on, now. How many people have speakers the size of a Quartet

in their house at all, and I'm using them for SURROUNDS? Sheer

lunacy.

I still wouldn't have it any other way, though. I've had Heresys

for years and I love them. The only thing I don't like about them

is that they're lousy surrounds for Chorus IIs. Reference

speakers will be lousy surrounds for Chorus IIs, too.

What I'm getting at is that there is more to a home theater speaker

setup than putting a speaker in each of the five or seven positions and

letting it rip. They need to match, or at least come really

close. I really really like my Chorus IIs -- they are the best

sounding speakers I have ever owned -- but if I couldn't match them due

to space or time constraints, I'd look to the Reference. I would

do this because I would end up with a better SYSTEM. I might not

like the Ref 35s as much as the Chorus IIs in a head-to-head, but a

matched Ref 35 system is going to be a better system than a hodge-podge

built around the Chorus II.

[feersum dreadnot]

My wife suggested adding an exterior wall (a fomer porch), tearing down others, and eliminating a closet to build a "better room for your movies and such" - then just nodded when I said "of course, that will demand better center and rears" - leading to another pair of Fortes for rear surrounds, and an Academy center.

she previously bought into the mighty SVS sub as well...

that said, the 4 forte + academy system + SVS system is really starting to satisfy me. sat down and watched "Spy Kids" with my 11-yr old girl yesterday (last hurrah before 6th grade started today), and the rear effects were noticably better (damm well should be, after replacing KG.5s with Fortes).

anyhow, lunacy is good, and more is better.

[firedawg24]

How about KG4.5 for surrounds? Since they are skinier I might be able

to fit them in better or at least incorcoprate them better.

Also are the Kg's and even the academy's dependant on positioning for

the surrounds. From what I understand some speakers dont need to be so

precise when placing them. Thats what I liked about the reference for

surrounds, they say they dont need to be positioned so precisely to get

good sound. Where as some need to be pointed in a certain position.

Like I said earlier I'm new to this and I am not an audiophile. When I

first got my CII's I was 20 and was in the military and they had really

good deals on Klipsch and a dorm mate had them, so I had to get me

some:>). That was 12 years ago.What I'm trying to say is I'm still

learning.

[krispykoilz]

Hi firedawg24, I used Kg 4.5's with a KV3 center for about 8 years. They are not a good match for the Chorus II's. They are also rather large themselves and the 10'' woofer will not keep up with the 15's in the Chorus. Here's the sizes of the different speakers,

Kg 4.5

DIMENSIONS:

37.5" (95.3cm) x 12.25" (31.1cm) x 12.75" (32.4cm)

Forte II

DIMENSIONS:

35.4" (89.92cm) x 16.5" (41.9cm) x 12.25" (31.1cm)

Quartet

DIMENSIONS:

31.2" (79.25cm) x 15.9" (40.39cm) x 12.25" (31.12cm)

Academy

DIMENSIONS:

23.25" (59.06cm) x 11" (27.94cm) x 10" (25.4cm)

Actually the forte's aren't a whole lot larger than the Kg 4.5's, 2" shorter and 4'' wider. If the size of the Quartet's or Forte's are prohibitive go with 3 Academy's. All of these sound good together and you will be much more pleased with the overall matched sound. My Kg 4.5's and KV3 are a good match for the Kg 3.5's that I bought and they sound awesome together on my computer.

HTH

[firedawg24]

Olorin,

How are the quartets? I think i have come up with a solution for the space issue for the surrounds see my post in architecture.

Sorry i cant figure out how to link.

basically it involves building a wet bar with space for some floor standers below. What other floor standers would sound good?

[Olorin]

Firedawg, I think the Quartets work very well -- much better than the

Heresys did. When I had the Heresys and surround effects were

used, I heard the speakers. With the Quartets, I don't hear the

speakers -- I hear the effects.

I'll have a look over in Architectural to see what you have in

mind. Remember that the Quartet uses a rear-firing passive

radiator, so the whole speaker has to have room to breathe; boxing them

in is going to cause bad things to happen. When time permits I'll

be building shelves/racks to get them up onto the walls so I can get

the tweeters two or three feet over my head. IME you can get by

with as little as six to eight inches of rear clearance for the passive.

Hope this helps!