Forte 20th Anniversary?

[fmushkin]

I first became aware of the Forte from Julian Hirsch's glowing review in the July 1986 issue of Stereo Review. I've been listening to them ever since.

Considering the lead time on the review, we must be very close to the 20th anniversary of the release date.

Does anybody have any good stories about the Forte, including incept date, designers, strategy, etc? How about anecdotes?

Happy 20th Birthday, Klipsch Forte!

[rplace]

How about a Forte II story?

I had been happy with my KG4s for a few years. My wife (actually future wife back then) and I ducked into a Hi-Fi store (Back in the day when they existed in many towns) We had picked up a few used CDs at Wazoos in the great town of Ann Arbor, Mi. We decided to check out what the next step up of Klipsch speakers might sound like. The salesman happily took or recent booty from Wazoos and threw them in a player. If I remember correctly we listened to LaScala (too big and expensive) Chorus II (smaller, but still too expensive) and Forte II - a bit out of the price range, but looked like they would fit into our 900 square foot home. I liked the Chorus, because, of course, they were bigger so they must be better, right?[8-|] But we both fell in love with the Forte II. Thanked the sales man and said we would be back "some day" but funds right now were not quite in order.[:'(]

Before I split I asked him if I could use the bathroom. They said sure. Down the stairs and to the left. This was not a public bathroom...more like employees only. It was like a scene from Pulp Fiction. This place was dingy and nasty. Dripping basement, boxes piled up everywhere...you get the idea. No door on the head either. So I am standing there doing my thing and I hear foot steps on the stairs. Next a voice..."Ah, do you really want those Fortes I can get you a deal on them". My mind races a 100 miles an hour...this guy is going to corner me in the john from hell and have his way with me. Yikes, no speaker is worth that.[]

Turns out to be a younger guy from the store. He goes on to tell me that he can buy one pair a year at cost, but he does not need them. He offers me brand new in the box Forte IIs for 1,100 bucks. No idea what his cost was, but if I remember correctly the store's price was either 1500 or 1700 and they did not deal on price at all. We worked out the details in low voices in the dungeon like basement. I think I partially agreed to buy them just because I was relieved to be offered speakers and not something else. Funny how your mind jumps to ridiculous thoughts out of nowhere.

A week later I gave him 500 bucks. A few weeks later 600 more (added bonus no sales tax) and the boxes were loaded up into my car. Direct from Hope to the store, to my house. Nothing like opening up new speakers for the first time.

I remember that day like it was yesterday.

I just listened to them this morning before work...live is good.[][H]

[rplace]

Wow, almost a day has gone by and no other Forte stories? WhatsUpWithThat!!??

[SilverSport]

I am pretty shocked by this as well...I have not heard Fortes (or IIs) in quite a while and have heard them described as Heresys with more bass or the "best Rock and Roll speaker made"...I see them sell all the time on eBay (no where around me or beofre 'Vette gets 'em...[] ) and still only 2 people come back with a story...c'mon people!

Bill

[SilverSport]

...oh, by the way...about 20 years ago when I bought my KG2s, they used to give you Julian Hirsch's review with the speakers...I think he likes Klipsch!

Bill

[Cal Blacksmith]

Ok, you want another Forte story, here is mine, though it has been posted here a few times before.

It all started when I was in the Army, Ft Bragg N.C. Sound Systems Inc. I was looking for a higher end stereo system than the local stereo shops had. I look around and the salesman came up to me and asked to help. I told him I was just looking and he asked me if I would like to listen to something really nice. I say Sure and he takes me into the listening room. He cranks up Linda Ronstadt sp? golden chains and silver needles, on a pair of new '77 Khorns driven by some Mac power amp. The walls shake with clean bass, the mids are sweet and smooth and the highs are crisp and bright, miles above anything I had listened to before in my life!

While I am grinning from ear to ear, he tells me the price and the smile quickly fades as an E3 (just above private) in the Army does not have the funds for such lofty things. I thank him for the experience and start to head out the door. He leads me around the store and I buy, what was for the time a quite nice system, a Yamaha (only sold in high end stores during those years) Ca600 amp, CT400 tuner, B&O 1900 turn table and a Tandberg 1600 reel to reel tape recorder and a pair of NS 600 speakers. Well I was the king of sound in the barracks and I still have everything but the speakers which were stolen in transit on the way home. I replaced them with a Sat/Sub (passive) system from a local high end DIY speaker store. I was happy for many years.

Fast forward to 03-16-04 (check my enrolment date!), I am at work and the subject of speakers comes up. I tell my tale of the best speakers I have ever heard and get on the internet to see if I can find a picture of the mighty Khorns. I do and I tell all who would listen about the wonderful sound they make. I later look on Ebay and see if I could find a pair for myself. They are still priced higher than I was willing to spend but a local pair of Fort'e 1s were for sale with a starting price of $400. The auction closed without a bid on them and I contacted the seller and told him that I would be willing to buy them for his opening price if I could listen to them to make sure that they were ok. He says sure and gave me the address to his shop where they were. I get there and he is still out to lunch. I remember that I had hit something on the road that morning and I lay down under the front of the car to check for damage while I was waiting. Nope, no damage and I stand up. I start to take a step and I catch my foot on the curb and take a short step to keep from falling. I step on something and find out it was my cellphone which had fallen off my belt while I was under the car!, Yep it is a goner[:'(] About this time the man came back from lunch and we go inside the shop. The place is loaded with audio gear of all types, makes and models. It turns out he buys at estate sales etc and sells on Ebay and to Japan.

He brought out the Fort'es and they are in a black finish, thats ok by me and he connects them up to the first amp he could reach and fires up a CD. Well I must say I was underwhelmed with the sound. I checked and all the drivers were working properly but the bottom end was weak and the highs were very bright. I looked at the system he had setup and it was a SS rig and the speakers were in the middle of the room so there was no bass re-enforcement from the passive drivers in the back of the speakers. I pay the man the $400 and we load them up into the back seat of my car and I drive off happy with my new babies but slightly bummed about the cell phone.

I got home and parked in the street and I was going to wait until the wife left for choir practice to unload the speakers, figuring that once in the house, the impact of buying the speakers would be lessoned. The wife finally left but came back in a few minutes later. She said that an accident just happened out front and I needed to go outside. I could smell the booze on the driver from 15 feet away and went back into the house and called the police. When I returned to the accident, I found it was MY car that was hit. Not was it hit, it was pushed back 15 feet and sideways through a chain link fence 10 feet! YES MY SPEAKERS WERE IN THE BACK SEAT, NOT TIED DOWN! The police come and long story short take my neighbor to jail. The family helps me carry in what was left of the speakers, and I use my bobcat to move the car back out to the street while the tow truck hauls away the truck my neighbor was driving.

The damage to the speakers though was minimal and in total, one had the edges chipped up and the other had the grill cloth torn but the cabinets were still solid and there was no other damage to them. I hooked them up to my system at the time, a Fisher 400 receiver and was instantly in a better place. The bass solid and deep, the mids sweet and clear and I could easily hear the sizzle of the cymbals as they rang to a stop, Yes Audio nirvana I thought and it lasted until I started hanging out on this board and was bitten by the upgrade bug! but that is another story!

[Frzninvt]

Well, as a younger guy I had heard Klipsch speakers many times over at friend's houses and a gorgeous pair of Belle Klipsch at an outdoor party so I was familiar to Klipsch from back in the mid-70's.

Fast forward to the mid-80's I am in the USAF stationed at Ramstein AB, GE. I was only an E-4 and certainly did not have alot of disposable income. I bought a pair of HBR Heresy's since the Ramstein AB BX has them on sale for like $380/pr. I kept them in the system for awhile and then decided to use the Heresy's for the system I put in my Mercedes 240D with a Nakamichi TD-500 Cassette Deck, Alpine 3015 Computer Eq, and a Carver M240 Power Amp. Talk about awesome! The locals would freak when I drove by.

So I hunted for new speakers, I bought a pair of Cerwin Vega D-8's they sounded great but they had a reset button for the MF/HF that would annoying kick out everytime you really tried to crank the things up. I kept them around 4-6 months and sold them, next I tried a pair of Polk Audio SDA-1's only to find out later that they were not compatible with the DBX CX-3/BX-3 combination I had because they could not be used with floating ground amplifiers so I traded them for the Polk RTA-12C's that did not have the interconnect cable between the speakers. They sounded good but could not handle the huge power (300W + 300W) from the DBX BX-3, in addition I ended up buying a pair of Silver 20th Anniversary Bose 301-II's to use in the car since the Heresy's took the whole back seat up. I propped the 301-II's atop the Polk Audio RTA-12C's and connected them up.

To my total shock and surprise they sounded better than the Polk's I could not believe my ears, I bought the things to use in the car after all. So I decided to sell the Polk's and go on the hunt again. It is now 1988, being overseas and in the Military I did not even realize that Klipsch had expanded their lineup. Every summer AAFES would have a huge audio tent sale with all the manufacturer's offering their entire lines at discounted prices for GI's. I was considering a pair of JBL L100t's until I spotted the Klipsch Forte's, I never knew they existed! I looked at the Chorus's as well but the specs told me the Forte's went lower, were smaller, and easier to move around which is important when you are in the military. I bought them on sale for $780, got them home, placed and was totally blown away by their performance! They had some black La Scala's that looked like used demo's for $1000 (I was tempted - but they were too big for me to consider) While they were only rated at 100W continuous they could take everything the DBX BX-3 could throw at them and ask for more!

I eventually added a JBL B-380 15" Subwoofer and the matching BX-63a network running off the mono channel on the DBX BX-3 Configurable Power amp that I had. What a killer combo that was!

I kept them for 12 years and was never disappointed, I only traded them in 2000 for a stunning pair of Oak Lacquer Belle Klipsch that I found locally for $1000 in a high end audio shop that could not sell them because they were too big.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Forte's - truly a tremendous speaker!

[RichardP]

I, too, was impressed by the Julian Hirsch review in '86, and thought

then that if/when I upgraded, I would get Fortes. In 1989, I was

living in New Orleans (a sh!thole of a place to live, IMO), and had a

10-yr old JVC integrated amp, a fairly cheap CD player, Toshiba maybe,

and large Advent speakers. The amp switches were dirty, causing one

channel to drop out, and one speaker had some problem also (they had a

toggle switch for different high freq curves). Well, I went out of town

for a couple of days, and came back to find my house had been

burglarized. Burglars had gained access to the attic via a trap door in

a laundry closet off an outside porch, then stomped through the ceiling

inside. Stole the malfunctioning amp and speakers and about 75-100 CDs,

and an electric guitar I never played anymore. The happy ending was

that I had replacement cost insurance coverage, which paid out much

more than the individual stolen items were worth. I immediately

got my Fortes, along with a Denon amp, and was able to replace the CDs

I wanted but could also choose many new ones.

In 1994, I went to HT, and used KG2.2s as center and surrounds. In

2003, got more Fortes and a Quartet for center, which is/was an

incredible HT set up. I have also purchased Cornwalls and Belles "to

see what all the fuss was about."[]

[Corvette6769]

Okay, you want a Forte Story.......How about this one Yesterday!

===============================================

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Klipsch Forte Floorstanding Speakers - $100

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Reply to: mailto:sale-138082451@craigslist.org?subject=Klipsch Forte Floorstanding Speakers - $100
Date: 2006-03-01, 1:18PM EST


Pair of Klipsch Forte floorstanding speakers. Riser bases need repair, one binding post broken. Walnut veneer.

this is in or around Wellesley, MA

no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

138082451

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Copyright © 2006 craigslist, inc. terms of use privacy policy feedback forum

[mrock]

Ok - Here's my story...

In the mid 80's, I was newly married and had just bought a house.

I had an old Pioneer SX370 receiver, driving a pair of original Bose 501's.

I was working in the Framingham Ma. area at the time, and was asking so-workers if they knew anyone that worked at Bose, that could get me a good deal on some 901's. I was interested in the 901's because an in-law of mine had them, and they sounded awesome.

I was told that if I was looking to spend that kind of money, to listen to Klipsch Fortes. So, off I went to Tweeter Etc and listened to them. I bought them on the spot, and they sounded even better at home.

After listening to the Forte's for a period of time, I visited my in-laws with the 901's. I was shocked. Not to trash the 901's, but they sounded like they were playing through a blanket that was draped over them. I had gotten used to the Forte sound and the 901 sound was now sounding muddied, not clear and crisp at all. I knew right then I had made the correct decision.

Some friends stopped by a few months later, and liked the sound of the Fortes. My friend had a relative that worked for General Cinemas(GC) and that they(GC) were upgrading their theater speakers to some professional model of Klipsch speakers. Through the relative, my friends were able to get Fortes for half-price. Well, I asked and was also able to get a pair of Fortes for half price. A second pair of Fortes for my home. A great score!

My receiver had room for A and B speakers, so my "stereo" room was now full of even more sound.

When Dolby Prologic came out, my Forte's worked well for years with a Yamaha DSP receiver/decoder.

When the Yamaha receiver finally gave up the ghost(about 3 years ago), I moved to real DD5.1 HT, with a Denon 3805. A sub and a center speaker were added to my existing Fortes.

I've been most pleased with the longevitiy of these speakers and how they continue to impress others, in additon to myself. I'd recommend Fortes to anyone that can get a pair.

"That's my story, and I'm sticking to it."

[j-malotky]

I've posted here many times that the Forte is one of my favorite all time speakers. That is why I had a near mint pair in my basement storage for years. I just could not sell them.

I remember when the Forte, Quartet and Chorus came out. I went to the store to hear them with a bias twords not likeing them. They were made out of MDF.... Passive radiators.... What was PWK thinking hiring people with these radical ideas[] I tried really hard not to like them.

It did not take me long to change my tune Maybe 2 minuits.[]

JM

[Mike Lindsey]

Never heard Fortes, but I love my Chorus's. I had a pair of Chorus II's as well but sold them. Might be one of the few on here who preferred the I to the II's.

Mike

[PunctualAlex]

I am happy to say that I am the proud new owner of those very same Fortes and they are currently sitting in the living room after the trek back from Wellesley to Worcester, their new home. So, this is my Forte story:

I read the CL electronics classifieds obsessively. I have been reading them for a year or so in order to score awesome deals on speakers. I'm a college student so I sometimes am late on postings because of class or work, and I've been passed over so far for a pair of KG4.5 for $75 and a pair of Cornwall IIs for $50 (I still doubt the validity of this post, but someone might have gotten lucky). Well, yesterday was my lucky day. I caught this one after about 3 minutes and went to get them today. They look beautiful, but there is indeed some damage. The riser base on one has completely fallen off and one binding post is completely snapped off... Anyway, I am so excited about them, I can't wait to hook them up. I'll post a thread about them soon.

EDIT: I'm referring to the ones from Craigslist that Corvette posted a little ways up from here. For the record, they're totally worth $100.

[Dave in ABQ]

Great stories!

Here is my story which I posted as my introduction on the Klipsch Forums. My Forte's have given me a great amount of listening pleasure since then. When I found my '78 Khorns a few months ago, I had thought I'd sell the Forte's to pay for the Khorns. Couldn't do it. Ended up selling other equipment instead.

Hello Everybody,

I've been lurking at this great forum for over a month, and its past time I say Hello.

My dreams of a great sounding home system started some years back when I first heard a "high end" system at al local retailer. A year ago, I subscribed to TAS and Stereophile. A pity I modestly support a family of five, with my wife full time in Collage to actually afford their highly recommended interconnects, let alone the latest Wilson/Halcro etc. systems. []

Being the frugal sort of guy I am, my wife and I often hit the local Goodwills to see if any bargains are there. I've found some AR3a's in need of refoaming, some nice little Baby Advent IIs in great shape and some other misc. finds, but a month ago while sitting at the computer at work (doing work of course), I get a call from my wife saying she saw a "big pair of nice looking speakers, K..something. KLH? Klipsch?, I say? Yes, Klipsch might be it she says. Too bad the stores closed now. That evening I gain a couple more grey hairs as I imagine what these speakers may be. $150 a pair my wife said, pretty pricey for Goodwill, and for our budget at the time.

First thing in the morning I hop in my Jeep to the store. There still there. 1986 oiled Forte's!! Very good shape, minus a few light nicks and scratches. $150/pair. I try to look bored for the store employees. Being the cheap *** I am, ask the manager if he might sell them a little cheaper. "Depends on how much cheaper", he says. I'll take them for $120, says El cheapo.....

Sounds good the manager says !!!

Klipsch Forte's in Jeep, one happy Forte owner.

Happy 20th! Forte's!!

[fmushkin]

Great anecdotes!

Amy, are there any behind the scenes facts to be known, like about the designers and why the Forte was developed, any last-minute changes, whether PWK was happy with them, whether they were the best seller ever for Klipsch, etc.?

[j-malotky]

Great anecdotes!

Amy, are there any behind the scenes facts to be known, like about the designers and why the Forte was developed, any last-minute changes, whether PWK was happy with them, whether they were the best seller ever for Klipsch, etc.?

I know for a fact that PWK had Fortes in his office. He liked them a lot.

Did'nt Jim Hunter have a bit to do with the Klipsch line at that time.

JM

[merkin]

I went to the loacal high end audio store to look at speakers. I told the salesman that I wanted something that I could hook up to the VCR for movies also.(1989 a little before HT got popular) He said these forte II's would do the best for video sound. I don't even remember what else he showed me. I had never had any higher end audio equipment and the only thing I had seen was some lascala's at another store a couple of years earlier. He sold me the forte II's OO and a sony ES 100 wattx 2 receiver. I still have both. I now have three more forte II's and 2 quartets and working on going 7.1.

[Corvette6769]

I am happy to say that I am the proud new owner of those very same Fortes and they are currently sitting in the living room after the trek back from Wellesley to Worcester, their new home. So, this is my Forte story: I read the CL electronics classifieds obsessively. I have been reading them for a year or so in order to score awesome deals on speakers. I'm a college student so I sometimes am late on postings because of class or work, and I've been passed over so far for a pair of KG4.5 for $75 and a pair of Cornwall IIs for $50 (I still doubt the validity of this post, but someone might have gotten lucky). Well, yesterday was my lucky day. I caught this one after about 3 minutes and went to get them today. They look beautiful, but there is indeed some damage. The riser base on one has completely fallen off and one binding post is completely snapped off... Anyway, I am so excited about them, I can't wait to hook them up. I'll post a thread about them soon. EDIT: I'm referring to the ones from Craigslist that Corvette posted a little ways up from here. For the record, they're totally worth $100.

I thought so too when I communicated with him before you did and won out since you were local to him. Congratulations!

[oldtimer]

I've posted this before, but the short version is that in 1989 I auditioned Fortes and since they weren't in stock, ordered them. Forte II's came instead from Hope. Still use them as my mains and bought another pair for surrounds last summer.

[fmushkin]

Was the Forte designed to be a mini-Cornwall?