vandyman Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 First time post at this site or any other audio site. So please forgive any mistakes or stupid questions. I have original fortes in walnut finish and would like to know what would be the best center channel speaker and surrounds for them ? I can purchase new Klipsch stock at a decent price, but would prefer the best sounding match for the fortes. The surrounds will be placed above ear level and at a 45 degree angle to the listening position, and attached to the wall. My wife loves the fortes and this is my third set to date. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. If my options are limited I will place my Vandersteen 3A sigs into the room and use the rest of the Vandy products, a far more costly option considering the bigger amps that will be needed. The room will be mostly used for HT purposes, so no multi-channel music is needed. I'm hoping for some good suggestions from this devoted and passionate following, Thanks, Vandyman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 If you have to have the "center channel" form factor, the Academy is the best match. $300 to over $900 depending on your patience, your diligence, your timing, and your luck. The Fortes are a challenge to properly surround. I used Heresys with mine and found the match less than satisfactory. Quartets should be good, and more Fortes are impossible to beat. You need to have space and an accommodating spouse to pull that off. If you get really lucky or extremely determined and can score three Academys at a pop -- it does happen once or twice a year -- you're golden. That is a $1,000 to $1,800 occurrence. You can see by my sig what I use. It wasn't easy to assemble in that it took a lot of time and a little luck -- like getting my Quartets and Academy together for $650 -- but the end result is worth it. Some people will suggest near matches because of the relative difficulty in getting an Academy. Some people are happy with near matches, while others aren't. Only you can decide if you want to risk spending the money twice vs. going straight to the real solution. Oh, and welcome to the Forum. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 All right, I'll be one of the guys to bring up a near match...[] The KLF C7 is a pretty amazing center channel if you have the space for it. It is a 38 pound monster, so it isn't a a speaker to set on top of your TV. I really like mine between my original Walnut Oil Fortes. (If you are ever looking to get rid of your Forte's , look me up here on the forum. At some point I want a pair of WO Forte's for surrounds in my HT. Farther down the Klipsch food chain for a center match would be KV4 or KV3 KG2.2v or 2.5v (same speaker--different model year.) Good luck and welcome to the forum... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 The KLF-C7 is NOT a sonic match for the Forte's, not even close. It would be easily detectable with pans across the front stage. It is certainly not going to sound bad by any means but it is not going to blend seamlessly. Your best bet without spending the big $$$ for an Academy would be a KG 2.2V or 2.5V and they are not the same as the KV-3, and certainly not the KV-4 that was designed to go between the Epic Series CF-4, CF-3, CF-2 or CF-1's. A KV-2 or KV-3 would be the runner up to the KG series to run between the Forte's. It is troublesome to get a matching center to the classic extended Heritage line. It would be alot easier to change to Reference series speakers to get an all timbre matched system. The Forte's are certainly worth keeping if you want to take the time to gather the necessary used speakers to piece together a timbre matched system. Klipsch has yet to respond with a dedicated center to the Heritage and extended Heritage line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feersum dreadnot Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Welcome Vandyman - this is the place to ask such questions, and get lots of good suggestions. I had the KV-2 between my fortes for 8 years. after reading this forum, I convinced myself to get the Academy. I found a huge difference, and recommend you start trolling e-bay and find yourself an Academy. I built a new HT room into the back of my house this summer, and convinced my wife the little KG.5 surrounds had to go. they did, and I swapped in another pair of fortes for surround duty. the whole thing sounds great, and now I only itch for more amp power. That said, at 100 WPC x 5, my room is plenty loud as is, I just somehow think it would improve with more power... bottom line - my $0.02 says go shop for used Heritage, and you'll get great sound at a lower price point than all new Reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Here we go round the mulberry bush the mulberry bush the mulberry bush...... I know that their is no perfect sonic match for a center channel speaker for original Forte's.--not even the Academy--except another Forte I used a 2.2v for several years between my Forte mains, and the my C7 is light years ahead of it in power, clarity, efficiency and timbre matching. I always noticed a timbre mismatch with the 2.2 on left to right pans, and rarely do with the C7. Just my 2 cents again, but maybe I'm just an idiot with lousy hearing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Get the Academy and turn "rarely" to "never," but then you'd have to be bothered with listening to the setup before commenting on how it matches or doesn't. That's really inconvenient. In the absence of knowing what the things actually sound like, I can see the appeal of resorting to the "no perfect match" argument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fletcherkane Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I'll try again.... I know that the best match for a Forte is the Academy. Pardon the pun...its academic at this point. I am not arguing the point that it is a better match than the C7. I have heard an Academy between Forte's and would love to have one....still not my point. I have however listened extensively to a 2.2 between Forte's and would vehemently argue that it is not a better sonic match than the C7. My original post was simply to give the newbie a few choices, because we all know that the Reference series and the Synergy series would be the worst choice of all of the aforementioned centers in his situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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