edc

Celine Dion, Live in Las Vegas, A New Day, Blu Ray, this concert DVD is a great surround sound demo -- great video and audio

Thanks for the info. I am going to limit my system to 5.1 so I can use the other power amps (6 and 7 outputs) to add another zone or two. Without boring you with diagrams and dimensions, I only have about a 9" vertical wall that surrounds a large inset into the ceiling of my listening area -- placing the speakers on that vertical 9" wall would put them about 7 or 8 feet behind the listening area and over 9' above it. The actual room goes another 20 feet or so and is a dining area with a wall of mostly glass -- no place for speakers and too far I think from where we sit. The only other alternative is ceiling speakers and I don't want to cut big holes in the ceiling. So I looked for Klipsch surround speakers that would fit in this 9" area and the 4 I mentioned are what I found. There are other brands (Polk Audio etc.) that fit but I was trying to stay all Klipsch (not sure why). So it is this form factor I am after more than the cost of the speakers. You guys have me convinced to get a sub-woofer, but the surround speakers will be next. I have read that the location of the sub-woofer is not too important so that should be easier to locate within the room. And, again, I am so pleased with the 3 Forte's up front that if I never added another speaker it would be fine. But it is like an unfinished project so it will become 5.1 soon.

Interesting, but I don't think we have a good place to put another Forte in the room (I am quite sure that is my wife's position). But out of curiosity, how does a center surround fit into the 5.1 model? And wvu80, I also do not have room to use two Forte's for the front center. I am building two equipment cabinets to go between the 3 Forte's in use and that pretty much uses up the width I have for the system. Another interesting idea however, I guess it would like one big 4 ohm speaker??

Hi all. Some time ago I joined your great forum with many questions about how to set up my first surround sound system. I had an Yamaha stereo amp and two Klipsch Forte's (purchased new about 30 yrs ago). I was using your knowledge to figure out how this stuff worked and what speakers were best to go with. After many posts and responses from you I came up with a plan and then due to some forced travel and several delays the implementation was slow but the initial system is operational and exceeds my expectations. One of my primary goals (besides wanting a new larger TV) was to improve the dialogue in TV shows, movies, etc. I am hard of hearing and use hearing aids and it was getting more and more difficult to hear dialogue -- esp the way they mix sound today. So based on a lot of advice from many of you I decided to use my Forte's as LF and RF and I purchased another set of Forte's from craigslist so I could again follow your advice and use a Forte for the Center. (I will probably sell one of the Forte's when I get time, unless I find a way to put two stereo channels into one speaker ) To go with the speakers I purchased a Sony XBR 850B 70" TV and a Sony STR-ZA3000ES amp. So now I finally have an operational system but with only the 3 front speakers at this time. I am blown away by this system, the picture and the sound are excellent, I tried blue ray concerts for the first time and they are spectacular, and again of major importance to me my ability to understand dialogue has improved 100%. I still miss a little now and then but for the most part I can understand it very well. And all of this is without any special settings of the amp -- I just went through the standard setup with the microphone etc. I went from almost no understanding of dialogue to a very acceptable level of understanding. I think maybe by playing with the center speaker level and "small" or "large" settings it may even get better --but it is good enough now that changing these settings is a low priority. We also picked up the ability to stream Amazon Prime free HD movies (via the TV while the sound is sent to the Amp using the audio return channel that is in the HDMI cable that typically sends content from the amp to the TV). One indication of how great this all works is that we have watched more movies in the last couple of weeks than we watched in the last couple of years on our old TV. In summary, thank you all again for your patience and advice, it was spot on. I am going to add some rear surround speakers. I have a large recessed area in the ceiling that goes around the entire listening/viewing area that we use. There is about a 9" vertical wall (the ceiling goes from 9' to 10') that I plan to use to mount the two rear speakers (which will get me to a 5.0 system). I looked at Klipsch offerings that would fit well in this area and came up with the S-10, S-20, KS-14 and RS-41 models. It seems they would all fit and look well in the area I have. Any suggestions on which of these to use with my 3 Forte's (hey guys, I don't have room for more Forte's or I would go that route). At this time I am not thinking of getting a sub-woofer as I seem to get great bass out of the Forte's --- but who knows as the system evolves. So far I love the speakers, the TV, and the amp (and having a Sony TV, Amp, and Blue-Ray has seemed to simplify things a little). Thanks again, Ed

Well I do not know anything about speaker design however after spending some time of this forum I think I should get a book and learn a little, however, I would think a center channel could by design be optimized for voice frequencies via speaker selection, crossover freq, size etc. and not be compromised by trying to achieve the full 20-20KHz audio spectrum. Therefore if most dialogue goes to this voice optimized speaker it should work better. This is my conclusion after talking to many and I think even the opinion of a few on this forum. But, please note, most of you strongly suggested I add another Forte as my center speaker so I am trying that first. I bought two more Forte's but have not picked them up yet. The 70" TV is installed and I love it. The Sony 3000ES amp is still in the box but will be in soon. I am very anxious to get the speakers and hear the results in my living room with my ears (which unfortunately are not as good as my speakers or my amp, probably due to USAF jet engines many moons ago).

Interesting, I was not aware the setup let you define a speaker as small or large. It might be interesting in my setup to see if there is any dialogue difference by setting the center Forte as small vs large. Ed

I now own 4 Forte's (not II's). My room is large and not perfectly rectangular. It is 20+ feet wide and about 37' long including a dining area. On one end next to a fireplace there is about a 9' wall at a slight angle towards the center of the room, we sit 10 to 16 feet from this wall for viewing TV/movies. I will have the speakers on this wall, they will not be in a cabinet. I will have the end speakers about 6' apart on centers, with the center between them. They will be approx. 12" from the wall sitting on the floor. I will build two component cabinets approx. 22" wide to sit between the three speakers. I will experiment with setup and testing in an initial 3.0 configuration. I have never had a surround sound system or amp before so I have a lot to learn with setup and trial and error on the types of decisions you are discussing. These are Klipsch Forte's so they will sound good to great especially when I play my old rock and roll tunes-- question is if I will be able to hear dialogue the way they seem to mix them today. If not I will try a small center with two forte's, if that doesn't work I will assume the issue is my hearing and I will read more. This is going to fun and the stuff starts arriving next week. Thanks again for all of your time and guidance. Hopefully I will soon have a single Forte on the market. Ed

Again, thks to all for your time and guidance. Roger, a couple of questions to make sure I understand what you are advising, first I have made the decision to find another Forte to go with two I have and that will make up my R, ctr, and F speakers. You specifically say Forte II, are the Forte's close enough or is the II that much better. I have plain Forte speakers but I can focus my search on adding two Forte II's if it is that important. Otherwise I will get whatever I can find Forte or Forte II. And I do not understand what you mean about how I am "going to get hat Bass out front on your center channel with all Forte fronts" followed by the comment on using 3 Heresy II's etc. etc. Can you please explain this to me, I thought that the 3 Forte's would provide decent bass and adding the subwoofer would be the next step along with the surrounds if and when I wanted to move on from the 3.0 config. I think I am missing something here. Also if I add surrounds (likely) to the 3 Forte front, it will be something smaller than a Heresy II that I can mount in an approx. 1 foot deep soffit area I have around the ceiling of the room. I haven't even started figuring that out yet. The 70" TV/monitor and the Sony ZA-3000ES amp should be here next week and I can start putting things together while I try to complete the Forte procurement. Thanks again for the help.

Wow guys, lots of good insight, thks. I do not have room for Forte's as rears or rear center speakers. I plan to start with 3.0 and then if I get decent dialogue I will add smaller rears mounted up near the ceiling and a subwoofer somewhere. WVU80 you are making a point similar to what I heard from a non-forum source and that is what motivated me to start this thread and ask about the choice with dialogue as the main criteria. Most of you advise use of a Forte as a center and it some of you have that or something similar so you have heard the results. While it is not impossible to go with the three Forte's and then change later it is a path I hope I don't have to take as I will build a couple of cabinets to go between the three Forte's for amps and equipment. I guess if the dialogue is obviously not improved I can chage paths quickly but from what I am hearing I will likely be very impressed with the three Forte's. An easier path would be to just get an RC-62 center, keep my current cabinet and then if I didn't like the results I could get another Forte later -- but I might always wonder what the 3 Forte's would have provided. Life is tough, but isn't it wonderful we have these kinds of choices to make. Thanks guys, even if the election is not unanimous.

Thanks all. Good suggestion Youthman, I'll look into that. I have found a set of Forte' II's that are a few hours drive from me (northern Calif) and I hope to be able to get to them by this weekend. I probably can't just get one of them but I can always try to sell one later -- there must be someone else doing what I am trying to do . I have found others on ebay but with this size speaker the shipping is an issue (most refuse to ship at all). Now that I have settled on a goal (3 Forte's) I will find one or two soon hopefully.

When looking around for these used speakers I see there are different Heresy models I, II, III. Would some be better than others for matching my Forte's ? So CECAA850 and Sanchez I am reading your responses as first choice would be another Forte (I or II I assume), a close second would be a Heritage -- very similar to the Forte but a little smaller. Both being preferable to the RC-62. Thanks guy for the time, I have little or no experience to make these calls myself. I have a mongrel bookcase speaker I will likely use as a center until I find a Forte or Heresy. Ed

First of all thanks again to all of you as my path into surround sound has been mostly defined by you through posting my threads and reading others. I am still floundering with the speaker selection. I am zeroing in on a newer Sony amp (ZA-3000ES). I have a 70" Sony 4K TV on order. I plan to keep my Forte's as L and R front speakers. I would like some advice (maybe additional advice would be more accurate) on the center channel. I will either use a temporary solution while I find another Forte or Forte II to match the three front speakers perfectly. Another option is to just buy a new RC-62 to use with the two Forte's. After this is decided I will rebuild my cabinetry to suit the speaker decision. I have been told that considering music, and movies, etc. the three Forte's would be a great setup. I have also had some non-forum advice that a newer possibly crisper sound speaker design would be a good center channel to address my desire to improve my ability to understand dialogue better than I do now with just a stereo amp or TV sound system. Most agree that the center channel is probably the most important speaker in the system. So, should I continue my search to find another Forte, or should I use an RC-62 as a center channel -- considering dialogue primarily? Thank You Again, Ed

I have seen this asked a lot on the forum. And I mostly remember the answer being front ported. Any characteristics of each that form the basis of the answer? is it just personal taste from listening to both? What are my Forte's? Sorry for the dumb questions.

Actually I believe the rubber has become brittle from age, I don't think anyone poked a finger through it as it seems to be splitting along a bend in the rubber. Which makes me wonder if I should send them both back for rebuilding (same 30 year old age) -- but that violates the rule of "don't fix it if it isn't broke". And I am still trying to decide if I should use the Forte's or move into the future with a couple of rf-62's and an rc-62 for my new surround sound setup.

Any chance of getting another opinion or two on this decision. I see a certain elegance in moving on to a new design with the RF/RC-62's. But my Forte's have been in the family a long time. I really want to go with whatever you think would be best without being able to listen to them both. Thanks again for the only vote so far K5SS. Ed