Shoud I... (upgrade question)

[chuckears]

All,

I have a Forte-Academy front soundstage, with RS3 surrounds...

Let's say a pair of Chorus' that match my Fortes really well (oiled oak) became a possibility, and with the notion of moving the Fortes to surround duty, replacing them with the Chorus (and keeping the Academy, as well). There is just barely sufficient space for the Fortes in the surround spot (althought one of them would be very close to a couple of seating positions, 3 feet or so).

Here's another factor in the equation I'm trying to balance... I fell in love with the K-Horn\Belle\LaScala fully horn-loaded sound (especially that sexy fat midrange horn) a while back, and have been patiently waiting for a possible deal (probably on a pair of LaScalas), but am slightly concerned about the LaScala\Academy (mis?)-match.

Any purchase of a new big pair of speakers is going to take some serious selling to the S\O.... if it all came in under a grand, it would make it easier.

So... try for the Chorus-Academy-Forte deal, or keep on waiting for a more horny alternative?

Discuss amongst yourselves; I'll be back after the movie....

[Bill H.]

Chuck,

Since you already have the dream system Fortes w/an Academy.........to my thinking -if you could

grab some chorus speakers for the rear- You'd have a system for next to nothing.

Plus it would probably satisfy the S/O more than if you bought something else into the mix.

If you like what you have, stay with it........

[bhendrix]

Chuckears,

We've spent the last 6 months experimenting with a variety of combinations for HT & 2ch listening. The room we're using is 24 x 18 x 8. We've tried using both the long wall and the short wall as the "stage/screen". In that room, as of this writing, are:

1pr K-Horns

1pr LaScalas

2pr Cornwalls/Cornscalas

2pr Chorus

1pr Heresy

1 KLF C-7

(Yes, it's a crowded mess.)

After numerous room position experiments, we have concluded that using the 24' wall as the focal wall generates the biggest sound stage and the best (deepest) bass with all speaker combinations. No sub-woofer has been used yet.

The BEST system, by far, is K-Horn L-R main, LaScala center, Cornscala rears. With this combo, I don't need a sub. The sounstage is HUGE and the bass is deep and clean. Any 400 squawker in the front will be better than other Klipsch options, imho.

The second choice for a stock (unmodified) Heritage system is Cornwalls all around. LaScala mains would be good with this, too, but they lack the deeper-but-not-cleaner bass of the Cornwall. The Heresy does surprisingly well as a second choice to the Cornwall for center between Cornwalls.

The third choice, but still better than most other options, is the Chorus or Fortes all in the four corners. If Chorus or Forte is not an option for center channel, the Quartet uses the same tweeter and mid as the Chorus II and Forte II and is only 31" tall. The KLF-C7 works great, too. Never had an Academy, so can't comment. The Chorus/Fortes are great speakers! If I didn't have the K's, LS, and Corns as options, I would keep the Chorus/Fortes.

A huge improvement / mod to the Cornwall we've worked on is to adapt Bob Crites Cornscala concept to the stock Cornwall. Build a "top-hat" for the Cornwall cabinet like the K-horn top-hat. The top-hat houses a K-400/K-55 and K-77 and sits on top of the stock Cornwall cabinet (like the K-Horn), raising the mid/tweet to nearly the height of the K-Horn. The mid/tweet height increase seems to really improve the size of the sound stage and the imaging, at least in this room.

Remove the K-55 driver, K-77 tweeter, and crossover from the Cornwall (I) cabinet. Plug the K-600 horn throat and the seal the cut-out for the K-77. Buy a K-401 horn from Bob Crites and mount it with the K-55 and K-77 in the new top-hat. Have Bob Crites update and convert the "B-type" Cornwall crossover to "Cornscala" crossover. The result is K-horn/LaScala mid/top and Cornwall bass for minimal cost. Using Bob Crites tweeters instead of the K-77 will be another option that, according to other's comments, should be even better.

Disclaimer: The foregoing comments are meant to provide our subjective comparison of the various speaker combinations in our possession and are in no way to be considered beyond that. Not affiliated with Bob Crites, just a very satisfied customer. Yada yada yada.

[dtel]

" I fell in love with the K-Horn\Belle\LaScala fully horn-loaded sound (especially that sexy fat midrange horn) a while back "

Now thats not really a hard thing to do is it.......

Talk to the wife see what she says, or not ,i don't know how yall work that kind of stuff[]

If you think about it it may be cheaper in the long run to head in the that direction a little a time than have a bunch of changes in speakers till you get there IF that is what you really want.

If everybody could have figured out what they wanted from the start there would not had spent half the money they did.

[Olorin]

Naturally the Khorn/La Scala setup is the grail. Given the space constraints, ISTM that Heresys would be the surrounds of choice for that setup. I doubt you'd be happy with the Academy at center between the Khorns -- it just can't move the air, and it sounds different from the big fellas. I'm extremely happy with my setup, which is very close to what you propose with Chorus/Academy/Forte. Rplace had the same setup you're proposing and was very happy with it. Of course, once space allowed, he found the grail. []

[IndyKlipschFan]

Sorry, look below

[IndyKlipschFan]

Don't forget because the bass is sooo good, and your seating position is directly in the front too... A older vertical now on its side Cornwall II, is a great match for the K horns too.

I am very pleased with mine upstairs a lot. A Cornscalla might even be better here if Split. (Or sideways again??)

I still like the idea of a CornScalla.

[rplace]

I say have your cake and eat it too! If the Chorus is a decent price and a nice WAFing match then get them and enjoy them now. Down the road you will have no problem selling C/A/C F/F HT should the bigger boys fall into you lap.

For the record I ran F/A/F A/A and C/F/C A/A. I can say that no matter how you mix and match your Forte, Chorus and Academy you will have a killer system.