Rf-7's or heritage

[twistedcrankcammer]

wsu99999,

What do you use the old GFA-2 for???

Roger

[wsu99999]

I was running it to my rs-62s

[Bill H.]

Quote from Review by Greg Smith in 1996.

http://www.soundstage.com/greg01.htm

Placement

The other thing that really can bite you and leave a bad impression
of these speakers is how you place them. All of Klipsch’s speakers are
designed to be placed closer to the corners than typical designs. I like
these best sitting about 1-2’ from the left, right, and rear walls. Pull
them far out into the room and they don’t sound as good. Another things
to watch out for is toe-in. Most people angle their speakers so that the
drivers are directly facing them. Bad idea here--you want these facing
directly forward, with no toe-in rotation toward the center. When pointed
right at you, the harshness that’s always waiting around for the unwary
comes right out. The off-axis sound is much smoother and more pleasant
to listen to. The manual that comes with the speaker has very generic recommendations
that recommend toe-in for all their speakers; ignore all of their suggestions.
They may very well be true with other models, but with the Forte II they
are just plain wrong (current production might have a revised manual that
gives better advice).

[SWL]

Thank you SO much for everyone's input. I decided to take everyones' advice and went with a heritage speaker (technically, not heritage). Picked up a pair of Forte II's. I will be perfectly honest - I can't hear too much of a difference from my RF-35's, which is really dissapointing. The good thing is I can sell them for basically what I paid anytime I want (that is the good thing about Klipsch speakers - as long as you don't buy them brand new, they never loose too much value.

When in 2 channel mode, the speakers actually sound a bit worse than my RF-35's do. The bass is boomy, and not tight and refined. I can, however, remove my subwoofer from my system with these. When used in correlation with the rest of my surround system, they really don't sound any different than my 35's. Am I doing something wrong? Shouldn't these be a huge upgrade? I've had 3 people over and no one could see any improvemtns, only negitive stuff.

Thanks again

wsu99999............I had a similar experience..........sold the Forte ll's a week later after extensive placement experimenting...........powered them with ss, pro-amps and yes, tubes. They just couldn't come close to the sound quality of the RF-7's sitting right next to them. I am biased, I've got gold woofers all over my house!! If you like the sound of your 35's and want more.........the 7's are calling your name.

[bigdaddy]

I hat to hear this about the Fortes I have a pair being delivered tomorrow. I'll give them a month and if they don't significantly sound better than my B&Ws I'll sell them off. I really want them to sound better but they have some big shoes to fill. We are moving and I'll have 2 corners for as ideal a placement as they can get so we will see what they sound like.

[oldbuckster]

twisted, Thanks for explaining your speakers .............

As far as the Forte's go ..... Remember guys, you're buying OLD pre-owned speakers, that in all honesty probably need atleast a cap change, if not a whole new crossover. Parts wear out, become weak with age, you'll see what I mean as you grow older, and that could be part of the problem. Spend the money, freshen up your speakers, and enjoy them for 20 more years ............ it's sorta' like Old Cars, they need replacement parts from time to time. If you think I'm wrong, ask around ......... I'm doing that right now with my Cornwalls, but I knew this going in, I planned on it ..........

[SWL]

Yeah...I have a pair of 74' Heresy's that I picked up about two months after the Forte ll's........I plan on a cap change, etc.

And Bucky.......I heard some Cornwalls about a month ago at a friends house........some of the best speakers I've ever heard!![Y][Y]

[twistedcrankcammer]

wsu99999,

Just a thought, but there is a nice used Adcom GFA-5503 Amp on ebay right now from a guy with lots of great feedback. You have Adcom, so you probably know the GFA-5500 was made to replace the GFA-555, and the GFA-5503 is a 3 channel times 200 watt RMS amp to complete a 5 channel surround with a two channel GFA-5500, so this would be a perfect match to run your front 3 channels and move the GFA-555 to rear surrounds. You could recoupe some with the sale of the GFA-2? Just a suggestion...

Roger

[Catbo]

I will be perfectly honest - I can't hear too much of a difference from my RF-35's, which is really dissapointing.

When in 2 channel mode, the speakers actually sound a bit worse

You have to be patient with yourself and listen very carefully to what you are hearing. The Forte's will have a quick snappy-ness to the sound and a sort of holographic airy sound. This may come across as a little thinner sounding at first from the RF-7's because the RF-7's have a more fuller center sound and a more tonal cone quality type from the cones and the RF-35's are of simular sound like the RF-7's. You are used to the RF-35's sound and have to give yourself some adjustment time to take-in the sound of the Forte's. Because the RF-7's and RF-35's use cones for part of it's midrange, it has a slight softness to the sound in the low level clarity. Yes the RF-7's and RF-35's are very detailed and has great clarity resolution for the type of speaker it is, but slightly softer than the midrange horn. This isn't saying it's bad or good for either, just some differences in sound. No one can tell you which is the best because what is best to you is only what you like better of your own personal choice that sounds best to your ears. It's all subjective and only you can answer it by listening to both and deciding what you like "best" to you! [] It's always this way when it comes to speakers and sound equipment!

I have Klipschorn, RF-7, KLF-20, RF-3, Forte II, and Super "C" Walls (very large Cornwall Clone).
All the horn midrange I have, have a certain low-level clarity that the RF is slightly less, little more softened. The RF-7's come close if you give it some high-quality equip, but still not the clarity of the Klipsch Midrange horn speakers I have, but you have to have equipment that can reveal clarity too. If you listen very closely to pickup on these differences, you should hear these differences from your RF-35 and Forte's. You have to decide what sound differences you like best to your taste and go with that. I enjoy all the Klipsch speakers I have, each just a little different. If I were put in a situation where I could only keep one speaker, it would be one with a midrange horn, but I still haven't been able to give up my RF-3 and RF-7 speakers! I probably will always keep my RF-7's because I like them that much but some people either love them or hate them and I still haven't figured out how anyone could actually hate them! I can only think that those people never have really heard what it's capable of but on other forums I some times hear people saying they hate anything from Klipsch and I don't understand that! I just think those people must have never really heard a well setup Klipsch speaker and don't know what they are missing! [] It just comes down to personal choice of what speaker you like more! I also really like my Forte II speakers too! [Y]

[SWL]

Klipsch speakers.........crap in = crap out.........they're not gonna lie.[Y]

[bigdaddy]

Catbo your not talking about Pulliam are you? LOL

I actually got my Fortes yesterday and I'm loving them. They are quite a step up from the KG-4 I have. I agree about getting used to the sound of speakers.

I think this is what people think is break in on new speakers. But let's not derail the thread with that issue.

UMM to the OP if you really don't like your Fortes I'll take em off your hands for you.

[colterphoto1]

Those are TSCM in the garage if no one answered the riddle yet.