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Forte in Stereo Review 1986


RichardP

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All food tastes the same(if you have a zinc deficiency), all women kiss the same(if you're a eunuch), VHS and Beta look the same(to Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder), and all amplifiers sound the same(to the deaf old men at Stereo Review).

WHO?

Tell the deaf/dumb/blind kid to go play pinball.

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although his reviews did begin to read like he was getting tired of the whole thing....

Once you say all amps sound the same, you are losing about half of your target audience. Not a good long range plan to keep subscribers.

They do.. Just like most women.. I just cut the audiance in a quarter. Be Honest, who gives a shit about subscribers. If you care about subcribers, join Oprah's book club.

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I could kick myself in the *** for selling my Fortes back in the late 90s. I picked up a set of Cornwalls a week or so ago from a member here and saw his set of Fortes. Maybe I will get the chance to purchase a used pair someday when another dumbsheet like me sells a pair. Heresy, Cornwalls, LaScala, each has it's signature sound. The Forte's are hard to beat. Consider yourself blessed if you own them.

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Guest Anonymous

IIRC, Julian wasn't so much saying that all amps sound the same as saying that if you could not measure it, it probably wasn't real. His bias was toward hard, measurable, verifiable data.

In my experience, going back to the sixties when I began dabbling in hi-fi, is that amplifiers with similar design features DO sound remarkably alike and that differences are largely due to interactions (amp interaction with the RCL load presented by the speaker, speaker output interaction with the room) and due to human psychology.

Finally, it is easy to posit and demonstrate "difference" between audio components. Whether different is "better" is purely subjective.

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"Whether different is "better" is purely subjective. "

Right (and wrong).

Whether or not you like it is subjective, whether or not it sounds less (or more) like real music is not.

90 out of 100 people can't hear (in the sense of a music playback system). Of the 10 out of 100 that can, 9 will pick the least musical sounding gear. I would take these 9 to a nearby music store and we would listen to a real piano, and maybe an acoustic guitar. Returning to the hi-fi shop these 9 could now identify the most musical gear. I alway suggested that people buy the most musical geal, and if they didn't like how a particular piece of music was recorded, that's what tone controls and equalizers were for.

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Guest Anonymous

It appears we are in violent agreement [:D]. As a nothing-if-not-persistent amateur musician (guitars everywhere hate me), how closely a sound system approximates what I remember as the sound of the instruments (to include the human voice) is my measure of its "goodness".

Remember that in the fifties and sixties many manufacturers were fast and loose with published specs, standards were just emerging. As I recall, much of Julian Hirsch's attitude was a reaction to the "golden ears" of the time, many of whom dismissed the idea of objective measurment of gear. Some still do.

These days it is difficult to buy a genuinely bad bit of audio electronics. Back then, it was just the opposite.

The problem these days is finding someplace to audition good gear. The few high end shops still in business carry very little I am interested in (or can afford for that matter) and the rest of the B&M world is far too much like Best Buy: uninteresting selection, poor or non-existent faciities for auditioning stuff. I think that it is informative that two of the largest "mainstream" speaker makers, Polk and Boston Acoustics, have a 30 day trial with a no-questions-asked return policy, including shipping. Whatever you think of their products, that is smart marketing and good customer service.

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  • 10 years later...

I came across this site today and have no idea if anyone still views it. If so, I'm hoping for some help! I have an original pair of Fortes purchased new in 1986. During a recent move the red wire connector on one of them was snapped off at the base leaving me no way to connect speaker wire to that terminal. The local dealer has no suggestions about how to fix. I'm hoping someone who reads this may have an idea! Thanks in advance.

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On 8/3/2021 at 9:33 AM, Bob C said:

I came across this site today and have no idea if anyone still views it. If so, I'm hoping for some help! I have an original pair of Fortes purchased new in 1986. During a recent move the red wire connector on one of them was snapped off at the base leaving me no way to connect speaker wire to that terminal. The local dealer has no suggestions about how to fix. I'm hoping someone who reads this may have an idea! Thanks in advance.

Can you solder? Sounds like you need to replace the binding post. Good time to maybe update the capacitors in the crossovers too since they are part of the same assembly. In the past I have used binder clips to connect to broken posts, but that will only work if theres enough left.

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3 hours ago, CWOReilly said:

Can you solder? Sounds like you need to replace the binding post. Good time to maybe update the capacitors in the crossovers too since they are part of the same assembly. In the past I have used binder clips to connect to broken posts, but that will only work if theres enough left.

Yes I am thinking new post. On my Heresy speakers there was a terminal strip that mounted right to the back of the box. I replaced them with posts mounted right on the board. If your speaker has factory posts there is probably a panel or cup that the posts go through. Also on my Heresy the crossovers were not right up against the board, they were elsewhere. So a warning, a picture of the back of the speaker will lead to a request for pictures of the inside. But I am convinced this can be fixed. 

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On 8/3/2021 at 9:33 AM, Bob C said:

I came across this site today and have no idea if anyone still views it. If so, I'm hoping for some help! I have an original pair of Fortes purchased new in 1986. During a recent move the red wire connector on one of them was snapped off at the base leaving me no way to connect speaker wire to that terminal. The local dealer has no suggestions about how to fix. I'm hoping someone who reads this may have an idea! Thanks in advance.

they sell the entire binding post on Ebay -------remove the terminal cup ----- unscrew the electronics board from the terminal cup , unscrew the old  binding post section  - , 10 minutes and a cup of coffee--

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124559253230?hash=item1d004f5eee:g:dM0AAOSwXcJgbP6I

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1 hour ago, Pondoro said:

Yes I am thinking new post. On my Heresy speakers there was a terminal strip that mounted right to the back of the box. I replaced them with posts mounted right on the board. If your speaker has factory posts there is probably a panel or cup that the posts go through. Also on my Heresy the crossovers were not right up against the board, they were elsewhere. So a warning, a picture of the back of the speaker will lead to a request for pictures of the inside. But I am convinced this can be fixed. 

The Forte has a terminal cup and the binding post has a soldered connection at the crossover. 

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49 minutes ago, CWOReilly said:

The Forte has a terminal cup and the binding post has a soldered connection at the crossover. 

you can remove the terminal cup , unscrew the crossover board , and separate it from the cup ,  the binding posts can be removed by unscrewing the nuts

 

term

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On 1/1/2011 at 2:08 PM, Guest Anonymous said:

As I recall, much of Julian Hirsch's attitude was a reaction to the "golden ears" of the time, many of whom dismissed the idea of objective measurment of gear. Some still do.

 

I think amps sound different from each other, but to determine this reliably, validly, predictably, with potential falsifiability, isn't easy.  Reviewers who make detailed and extraordinary claims about the sound of an amplifier they heard a few minute ago vs. one they heard 6 weeks ago strain credibility.  Sure, even I can say that I have a strong impression that a pair of restored Marantz 9s (70 watt, tube) made in 1960 sounded better than a Marantz 2252 (52 w.p.c., solid state) of 1978, the one time I heard the comparison (A-B, single blind, on Khorns) in 1979.  If I had them at home, or hung around with them at the collector's audio shop for a few days, I would have a little more confidence in the ranking.  But how about in different rooms, with different speaker positions, different program material, different speakers, etc.  Emotionally, I'm "sure" the model 9 sounds better.  I'd even bet a small amount of money on it.  But I've heard a few reversals that surprised me.  It isn't easy.

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