MY KINGDOM FOR 5 FORTE IIS

[Roc Rinaldi]

I am seriously searching for 5 Forte IIs, oiled walnut preferably, in mint condition. I will buy three pairs if necessary.

I have two Forte IIs and want to add 5 for a 7.2 set up. They need to be within 350 - 400 miles of Baltimore, Maryland so that I can drive to see them, hear them and buy them.

(...see me..hear me...feel me. Oh, that's something else, sorry)

I am desperate to find the Forte IIs and will pay fair and reasonable prices for them.

Please forum members help me find these speakers and end my search before my wife balks at my plan.

Roc Rinaldi

rrinaldi@jhsph.edu

410-256-8590

[Coytee]

Show her a picture of the Jubilees and she'll NEVER balk at your plan!!

[A]

[Spongeworthy]

I have a pair of original Forte in Oiled Oak if you are interested in Raleigh, NC. Thanks.

[Roc Rinaldi]

I have a pair of original Forte in Oiled Oak if you are interested in Raleigh, NC. Thanks.

Thank you for responding Spongeworthy. Right now I am holding out for Forte IIs in walnut. I know it is a long shot that I could find 5 or 6 of these but, I would hate to compromise quickly only to find what I truly want after I buy.

[Roc Rinaldi]

Show her a picture of the Jubilees and she'll NEVER balk at your plan!!

[A]

I'm not familiar with Jubilees, sorry.

[Coytee]

hmm... do a search on "jubilee" and have fun

[RichardP]

A pair of original Fortes ("1s") are available in Bowling Green Kentucky, on Ebay, buy-it-now for $475, auction # 170078098775. I don't know if that is within your driving radius or not.

You might wait a long time for 5/6 pristine Forte IIs in driving/pick-up distance. If it were me, I would get a pair of original Fortes and use them as rear speakers, increasing the chance of finding three F IIs for the fronts and center. You will never hear any difference in the 1 vs. II sound, especially if 1s are in the rear. $475 is a very good price.

[Roc Rinaldi]

A pair of original Fortes ("1s") are available in Bowling Green Kentucky, on Ebay, buy-it-now for $475, auction # 170078098775. I don't know if that is within your driving radius or not.

You might wait a long time for 5/6 pristine Forte IIs in driving/pick-up distance. If it were me, I would get a pair of original Fortes and use them as rear speakers, increasing the chance of finding three F Is for the fronts and center. You will never hear any difference in the 1 vs. II sound, especially if Is are in the rear. $475 is a very good price.

Thank you RichardP, you make some good points but I am struggling with the choices.

My luck of course is that what I want shows up right after I compromise and get the Forte Is. I'm pretty sure that these will be my last set of speakers so I hate to give up on the Forte IIs but you may be correct about the slim chances.

BTW, did you notice that one of the passive woofers is damaged in KY?

What to do. What to do.

[popbumper]

Roc:

You CAN'T go wrong with Forte I's - I have five and they are lucious.....just a dam* fine speaker and reasonable plentiful/priced. They are especially excellent after crossover treatments. Good luck, I know it's tough, and it takes a while.

Chris

[Roc Rinaldi]

Roc:

You CAN'T go wrong with Forte I's - I have five and they are lucious.....just a dam* fine speaker and reasonable plentiful/priced. They are especially excellent after crossover treatments. Good luck, I know it's tough, and it takes a while.

Chris

Thanks pop, your comments are helpful. But there must have been enough justification for Klipsch to produce the forte II or else why did they change from forte I? I heard that the forte IIs produce more bass with the change to a 15" passive woof and that their mid-range horn changed from plastic to metal. Mike Colter described the horn change by talking about how smoothly a bubble would flow out of it. (this part was hard to follow)

Have you had any opportunity to do an A/B comparision with both the I & II side by side? If not, how does one actually make the comparison withour listening to both?

I currently have two forte IIs so I am having trouble with wanting to accept Is. I can wait weeks or God forbid, months hoping for excellent IIs to go up for sale. I know it is a gamble to pass up really good Is while waiting for IIs. But with my luck I can almost guarantee that as soon as i buy Is then the IIs that i have been looking for will show up.

BTW, this part of building my system is very, very stressful and is aging me quickly.

[RichardP]

"BTW, did you notice that one of the passive woofers is damaged in KY?"

Roc:
if the damage is only that the dust cap is pushed in, it won't make any
sonic difference. The passive rear is just an unwired paper cone which
vibrates with the back wave of the main woofer. There is nothing behind
the dust cap, so as long as there is no actual perforation, it is fine.
It is not uncommon to see pushed in dust caps on passive radiators due
to their exposed position. They can usually be pulled out with a vacuum
cleaner hose, or sticky tape, or as a last resort, sticking in a bent
straight pin to pull it out, then repairing the pinhole with glue.

Concerning
the bass output, there is no difference in the specs offered by
Klipsch, so even with a larger passive, you would not notice any
difference. Also, if you are building a 5.1 system, won't you have a
subwoofer anyway? Most people would run such a system with the Fortes
set to "small" meaning that all signals below 60, 80, or 100Hz will be
sent only to the sub, so any subtle bass differences between 1s vs IIs,
even if they exist, would be moot.

[jamesV]

Roc,

You have a pm.

James

[SilverSport]

...and the moment you give up on them and move on...they appear...

Good luck...I am sure it is a fine speaker...

Bill

[dtel]

I don't know, but can a oak speaker be lightly sanded and stained darker like walnut. I know you can see the difference in some wood grain but how close is walnut to oak ? I just looked at my Oak f ll's and my C lll's in walnut and the grain is very close, maby just those particular speakers are close ?

The only reason I ask is it seems there are more oak than walnut, or it's just a phase in sales lately ?

How close is Sandwich Mass, from you. ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-OF-KLIPSCH-FORTE-II-OAK-CABINET-FLOOR-SPEAKERS-WOW_W0QQitemZ230088173039QQihZ013QQcategoryZ61378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Roc Rinaldi]

dtel, I'm on it like mosquitos on a swamp !!!

My new amp. is due in this week so the pressure is really on. I am willing to compromise on the walnut. I'm guessing oak stained dark will be close enough to walnut, given your comparison of f IIs & c IIIs. TOP PRIORITY is SOUND, second priority is looks, third priority is cost. (who am I kidding, cost doesn't matter very much at this point.)

Sandwich Mass. is 8 hours away....a two day trip with an overnight...........but what the hell, I got nothing better to do and anything worth getting is worth working hard for.

BTW, what is the status of the Alabama f IIs? Do you know if they are still available?

The way I figure it, get something close in f IIs, later, if I then find exactly what I want, I'll just buy it and sell the oaks.

I'm getting old so time is running out. What good is it to wait for the perfect match but be on my death bed at the time. I don't think I am allowed to take the forte IIs with me when I go. Although my wife has threatened to bury all of my gear with me. I'll let you know where the burial plot is so that ..........one dark night.......................when nobody is looking........you and Chrissy can make a night visit ...............for a scavenger hunt.

Please continue to keep me in mind since I now have a vision of a total of 7 forte IIs to go along with the new JL Audio f113 sub I picked up last Saturday. The adrenalin is building now. I will send pictures to the forum members when I am done. ( I meant equipment pictures, not me & wifey pictures)

[Roc Rinaldi]

...and the moment you give up on them and move on...they appear...

Good luck...I am sure it is a fine speaker...

Bill

Bill, it is a mighty fine speaker. Sounds great and I haven't blown a driver yet since I bought a pair of them in 1990. If Led Zep, AC/DC & The Stones haven't fried them in over 16 years of use (105db at my ears), nothing will. And they look good to boot.

[Roc Rinaldi]

"BTW, did you notice that one of the passive woofers is damaged in KY?"

Roc: if the damage is only that the dust cap is pushed in, it won't make any sonic difference. The passive rear is just an unwired paper cone which vibrates with the back wave of the main woofer. There is nothing behind the dust cap, so as long as there is no actual perforation, it is fine. It is not uncommon to see pushed in dust caps on passive radiators due to their exposed position. They can usually be pulled out with a vacuum cleaner hose, or sticky tape, or as a last resort, sticking in a bent straight pin to pull it out, then repairing the pinhole with glue.

Concerning the bass output, there is no difference in the specs offered by Klipsch, so even with a larger passive, you would not notice any difference. Also, if you are building a 5.1 system, won't you have a subwoofer anyway? Most people would run such a system with the Fortes set to "small" meaning that all signals below 60, 80, or 100Hz will be sent only to the sub, so any subtle bass differences between 1s vs IIs, even if they exist, would be moot.

I'm not most people. My guess is that I will set all of the speakers to LARGE and send the low signals to the sub also.

[oldtimer]

Roc, great post! Just how old are you anyway, that you have no patience to cobble a forte II system together? Well, um, the Alabama f II's are basically mine since you asked. I really want to upgrade to separates and a better video screen but just could not pass those up first since they fit into my master plan (which is very similar to yours). On the finish side, let me tell you that my second pair of f II's are the oak but a previous owner stained them darker and/or put a polyurethane coat on them. This makes them darker than oak oil and more walnut like. The color is fine from that stand-point, of course I can tell they are oak but that is just because of my exposure to different furniture as i grew up antiqueing with my dear departed mom. It may take longer than you think but it will not take too long so keep looking and don't hesitate when opportunity is there. I will also post any leads I find that are near enough to you.

(Referring to your post responding to dtel)

[remdog]

Roc,

I have a pair of FII's in Walnut you may be intersted in. Im in Massachusetts and figured that was out of your driving distance.

I've owned them since new in 88. The finish is not perfect but not bad either. If youre heading to sandwich, MA you should stop by and see if they meet your standards.

remdog

[Klipsched with Yamahas]

AudioKarma listed a set for sale (oak), and he PM'd me a price of $500 firm + shipping.

Out of my range, but if you want his PM address, let me know and I believe he's outta Vermont! Excellent condition + original boxes.