Klipsch speaker question, help me make a choice

[JSP]

Members,

I need your advice on making a speaker choice. I am
seriously considering upgrading to some vintage Klipsch speakers.
Currently I'm using KG4's but am now looking at some options. I have
located some Cornwalls, Chorus and perhaps Forte's in my general area (
I am looking at about a 250 mile radius).

All speakers are in
the $600-750 range per pair. Assuming all are in very good condition
what is the consensus among those who have experienced these different
Klipsch speakers? I have not had the opportunity to listen to any of
them and given the locations and such I will not be able to do a side
by side comparison in my living room.

room size 14 x 18

marantz 2238b / 2 channel

marantz SR7200 5.1

titanic sub

smooth jazz, rock, classic

I need experienced advice here. What say you all?

[LoudnClear]

I'm partial to the cornwalls. I really think you'd be happiest with those. They're the ones in my collection that make me the happiest.

Are the chorus and forte I's and not II's? The big mid horn on the II's is something that helps make chorus and forte play sweet like the cornwalls.

Also, the fortes sound high priced at the 600 pricepoint. Unless they are immaculate.

[tom b. 57]

I own two pairs of Cornwalls and a pair of Fortes. I enjoy them all and I believe you would be happy with either of these. I don't have any experience with the Chorus. I think that if you don't mind the size of the Cornwall, that would be the way to go. They are quite a bit larger than the Forte. They also dig a bit deeper in the LF area, which I think is quite nice. They both do well with the type of music you listen to.

Tom

[hammertop]

This one say Corns.The 2238 does sound vary nice on them. One can never know which direction will come in the future!

All of them are great units, but I'm kind liven in my little neck of 2ch. You really cant go wrong anyway you choose.

Price, Looks and what one likes is all that matters.

Enjoy!

[lwhaples]

Cornwalls,only cause I have three and Love'm. Sounds like a good price for them also.

Larry

[oldbuckster]

Cornwalls............top choice........

[HarryO]

Cornwalls and Marantz. Nice

Harry

[Daddy Dee]

I'd suggest cornwall or Forte II. Forte is a smaller footprint tower configuration. Can't go wrong either way, IMO.

[Modified-Tractrix]

Well, since speakers are subjective and you are asking for opinions here goes... The Chorus is better than a Cornwall, and the Forte is better than a Chorus on some things, not on others. The Forte has puts out the lowest bass of the bunch, many well say the Chorus and Cornwall go lower, not true. Also, $600.00 for nice Forte's is not steep, I have seen very clean to mint examples routinely approach the $1000.00 mark. I think what draws people to the Cornwall is that they sound exciting, a moderate amount of bass distortion plus the tweeter hiss make you think you are getting a real dynamic speaker, but long listening sessions often end in fatigue. In closing 1st- Forte', close 2nd Chorus, 3rd Cornwall.

[rplace]

My first Klipsch were KG4s. I haved owned Chorus and still own Forte II. I have heard lots of Cornwalls. While I am in the minority I don't like the corns as much. The bass sounds way too "fake" IMHO. They do have tons of bass if that is what you are after and they sound great when you are listening to them. It is when you switch form corns to other Klipsch that you say, ahhhh, that sound more realistic. Again, just my opinion and that is what you asked for. My ranking in order of preference would be

Forte (1 or 2)
Chorus (1 or 2) 1s might be easier to place
Cornwall

[dkalsi]

I own the Corns and Chorus I,

I will choose Corns in a heartbeat....but as you can see, many also perfer the Chorus and Forte over the Corns,

If you are committing $600+, I would highly encourage you to hear all before you buy...you can take all the speaker measurements you want and get into the nittygritty specs - ultimately you should only choose whats sounds best to your ear.

For the longest times I use to read these stereophile magazines, and absolute sounds, etc. etc. - always buying components that they rated well. I always bought equipment that sounded good to the "reviewer" and forced myself to believe I made a good purchase what I knew that I wasn't really enjoying the sound. I was spending more money than I had.

Then, I auditioned my first Klipsch Heritage speaker at a local sale with absolutely no intentions of buying (I mean who, other than crazy Klipsch members here, whould think that a speaker that is nearly 30 years old would sound so good). Mind you, the day before I bought my first pair of Cornwalls I auditioned JM Labs Focal 1027be ($9000 a pair) - between the Focals and Corns - to me there was no competition - the Cornwalls sounded just perfect.

Maybe its the loose bass, maybe its the hiss that others mention (which I can't hear in mine), or maybe its the "fake" but its a combination of these sounds that make me like my Cornwalls as much as I do.

Hence, I think you should really audition before you buy.