Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 12, 2006 Moderators Share Posted August 12, 2006 The addition of our new Cornwall III's to the house and of course, comparing the Cornwalls to the Forte II's leads me to this question? How many of you have ever had the opportunity to audition the Forte II's? Your impressions, if any? Comparison to Cornwalls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 12, 2006 Share Posted August 12, 2006 F 2's are my fave Klipsch speaker ... nudging out even my CW2's, Ch2's obviously thier no competition for my KH, but i love'em anyways just got done listening to them ... they always leave me with a .......[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Yes, they are a fantastic speaker. To me they give off a full bodied, rich sound that hit my soul. Though the CW are louder, I just don't get the same Thrill with the CW that the Fortes provide. In my humble option, Fortes are the speaker that Klipsch should bring back.........the best bang for your dollar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 I really need to hear a pair of these...I have a pair of Quartets and whenever you guys go on about the Forte' IIs I feel exactly the same way about the little brother Quartets...the Forte' II must have hit that synergy between components, eh??? I think my Quartets sound so good, it makes me wonder why they ever stopped making them (cost??? $1100.00 in 1990 bux) Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 I love my Forte II's so much (bought new in 1989) that I have now bought another pair. Except for the most serious HT applications, they will put off any desire for a sub-woofer indefinitely. Mine are even un-modded, one of these days when i put in popbumper's crossovers I can be amazed all over again at a new level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikekid Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 The Quartet, Forte, and Chorus family are among the finest Klipsch ever! Without a doubt...........[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 The Quartet, Forte, and Chorus family are among the finest Klipsch ever! Without a doubt...........[] yeah, 'cept that speaker in the back don't work so good, some of them don't even have wires connected up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Two points or question, depending on your point of view; My friend has Forte II's, they are large and rather heavy, doesn't that hurt their popularity? I find the Forte II's to be rather loud or harsh in the Mid range, do you owner's find the same thing?............I'm talking tone controls in FLAT position........nothing added or taken away................I know there are tone controls, but I run everything Flat.........I could add Bass to compensate but choose not too............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted August 13, 2006 Moderators Share Posted August 13, 2006 Two points or question, depending on your point of view; My friend has Forte II's, they are large and rather heavy, doesn't that hurt their popularity? I find the Forte II's to be rather loud or harsh in the Mid range, do you owner's find the same thing?............I'm talking tone controls in FLAT position........nothing added or taken away................I know there are tone controls, but I run everything Flat.........I could add Bass to compensate but choose not too............. I never realized it before but Oldbuckster is correct . I put the Forte ll's on "B'' of my receiver, so I can just switch from a to b quickly between the Cornwalls and Forte's. The biggest difference is between the mid horn and high frq horn. The new Cornwalls is much more quiet in the mid and high's. When I say quiet the actual music is just as loud but [ damm this is hard to explain ],I got it. It's like if you had a trumpet playing in a very small room with hard walls and heard all the reflections. With the Cornwalls it's like you took that trumpet player in the middle of a open field no reflections all you hear is the trumpet and quiet. Also a noticeable difference in bass ,deeper and faster and also fills the room better. I still Love the Forte ll's edit; They also sound bigger, because they are ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikekid Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 []Yup...large and heavy. I do not think it has hurt their popularity at all. Still, they are in demand. The Chorus's that I listen too (pretty much everyday) sound very well ballanced and quite powerful too ME. But, as has been said millions of times, these are my ears. I take care of them too. Why, I clean them everyday, and sometimes even apply lotion to them as I like them not only clean, but soft and supple too. I think my ears are capital. (My lame attempt at humor..oh well.[]) Occasionally, I find a recording that just plain sucks through these though. But, most of the time, the material I play sounds soooo sweet to me. They truly are very revealing of the source recording. I will never give them up............................. (Tried to place a picture in here?? It's that little box in the upper left corner?? What did I do wrong? Take care Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 So Christy, Have you decided you like the Fortes better than Cornwalls? Remember: Offer them here first! ;^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 yeah, 'cept that speaker in the back don't work so good, some of them don't even have wires connected up! Passive aggressive statement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Two points or question, depending on your point of view; My friend has Forte II's, they are large and rather heavy, doesn't that hurt their popularity? I find the Forte II's to be rather loud or harsh in the Mid range, do you owner's find the same thing?............I'm talking tone controls in FLAT position........nothing added or taken away................I know there are tone controls, but I run everything Flat.........I could add Bass to compensate but choose not too............. First, I find the forte II actually rather manageable compared to its big brother the chorus II. Second, I find the midrange to be one of the dominate features of the quartet ,forte II and chorus II. Harsh?.......... noway........No bass?.......Let the woofer see some juice. Third, if you find you have not the power to move the woofer but would like to enjoy the woofer with some added compensation by all means proceed man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 well my 14 whoppin' watts per channel EICO HF-81 can sure drive the Quartets and their bass...sweeeeeeet. Enjoy those speakers. Cheers! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 13, 2006 Author Moderators Share Posted August 13, 2006 So Christy, Have you decided you like the Fortes better than Cornwalls? Remember: Offer them here first! ;^) I don't like the Forte II's better than the new Cornwall III's. I do however now realize how good the Forte IIs actually are. The new Cornwall III's are very clear, kind of like dtels explanation above about the trumpet. I can say the Forte II's are definitely one of the best speakers Klipsch produced for the price. They definitely would have been a bargain even at MSRP new prices when they were produced. It is also my understanding that Forte II's are not truly considered, by some, to be part of the "Heritage" line. After listening to both the Forte II's and the Cornwall III's side by side, and considering the age of our Forte II's ('92 and 93'), and our Forte II's have all original components it is apparent the Forte II's have the right to be considered by all as a true Heritage speaker. I would like to make a few minor "repairs" to our Forte II's. I think some new caps or possibly new(as close to original) crossovers would allow a more fair comparison of the Forte IIs vs Cornwall IIIs. I have to be totally honest here. The Cornwall IIIs are definitely a keeper. Even if I did prefer the Forte IIs to the Cornwall IIIs I would never consider selling the Cornwall IIIs. At this point, I don't think I will sell any of my KIipsch speakers to enable "moving up". We will buy additional KIipsch speakers, but I will not sacrifice my two pair of Forte IIs or my Fortes or our Cornwall III's to do so. We will buy more Klipsch speakers as our finances allow without selling what we have now. I have a genuine emotional attachment to the Cornwall III's. They will always be a physical reminder of the friends we have made through this forum and what the "small person" in America stands for. The tour of the factory, meeting the forum family and experiencing the generosity of Klipsch will forever endear my heart to the Cornwall III's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbuckster Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Stormin'.........When I mentioned Bass, it was to compensate for, I my opinion, the harshness of the Mid Range..........................turn up the bass, smooth out the Mid's.........To be totally honest, after playing around with the Forte II's for an afternoon, I decided to buy Heresy II's.......................I really did not care for the overall sound of the Forte's...........I am not knocking or degrading them, I heard them through a Scott 299, and a Mc Intosh forget the model 50 watts per channel, two different sources, and just felt the mid range was too much for my taste..............Still a Klipsch, still a fine speaker..............just my uneducated opinion........for whatever it's worth.....................The Forte on it's own produces more than enough Bass.................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted August 13, 2006 Share Posted August 13, 2006 Low frequencies have a lot to do with the percieved midrange. There are lots of technical explanations for it too, but I'm not sure if many of them will make much sense to anyone so I won't bother trying. Heck, some of them don't make sense to me either! [] I just accept it as that's just the way it is...kinda like the sun coming up every morning. It wasn't until recently when my friend Brandon and I "broke into" our old highschool to go practice some Kuk Sool Won that I realized there were Forte II speakers in the orchestra room. I had always wondered what they were considering how big and open they sounded, but wasn't much into "home audio" those days and never bothered to look. You can imagine my astonishment when it said Klipsch on the back label. Brandon is well aware of my Klipsch addiction, but it seems 75% of the time I comment on good sound we find the Klipsch logo. Either I'm totally brainwashed into the Klipsch sound or my addiction is fully justified [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted August 14, 2006 Moderators Share Posted August 14, 2006 DrWho : it seems 75% of the time I comment on good sound we find the Klipsch logo. Either I'm totally brainwashed into the Klipsch sound or my addiction is fully justified I feel the same way, and don't care why I like the sound , just glad I found it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted August 14, 2006 Share Posted August 14, 2006 The question invites the issue of whether anyone has heard FII with CW, side by side. Hard to find that. Not me. Actually my my most recent exposure to CW was at Boomac's house. Darn good. It was very informal, playing in the background. Nonetheless very distinctive. This is pretty much the same old story of anyone hearing the quality of the CW. OTOH, as everyone knows I have FII at the office. In my view, they too are magic. Part of it is very good bass. By spec they go as low as the CW. There is also what I think is the unique midrange from the tractrix horn. I'm a big fan of the FII, Q, and Chorus II. These are in my view, the Neo-Heritage and a culmination of PWK's work in smaller speakers. Arguably, the passive radiator is the next step in port loaded boxes with low distortion and another radiator. Note that PWK invented the tuned port. This was the next, logical step. The "tractrix" midrange addresses some of the directional control issues which the K-5 and it forebearers were designed for. So, what we wind up with is a baby, momma, and papa bear of boxes with passive radiators making optimal bass, which are the decendants of the CW box. The midrange is to some extent, a mini K-5. These make for some very good sound. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheltie dave Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 The Fortes are a sweet deal, and because they have a smaller footprint, they work well as HT mains in our basement system where the Corns would block a door. Back in the day, Stereo Review loved the Fortes, and they got probably the best review of any Klipsch speaker ever in a major rag. Being a Paul design, I always considered them to be in the Heritage lineup. They are furniture quality, and do not look like some malnurished waif model like many other Klipsch towers. The Fortes also have the best looking frequency response of the Heritage line, FWIW. The Cornwalls thump major league, the Fortes are not far behind, and I place the Chorus in third, because they always are the honkiest every time I compare. Have two of the three downstairs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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