Klipsch Forte III--Pleasantly Surprised


First off, I have to say that I always had significant bias against Klipsch speakers. I thought maybe some of the Heritage Series were possibly decent, but in no way audiophile grade.

I recently bought a pair of Forte’s in distressed white oak. They look super vintage and the grills are very tasteful. My impetus for the purchase was I moved to a house this past spring that has a dedicated music room for me, and I wanted to experiment seeking a bigger sound as the room is large (25 long x 15 wide x 10 foot high ceilings). My system is the following:

Winter: Primaluna Dialgoue HP Premium Integrated,
Summer: Schitt Freya, NAD M51
Constant Year Long: Bluesound Node 2, NAD M22 DAC, Manley Chinook Phono Pre, Technics 1200 GAE Turntable, AudioTechnica ART9 Cartridge.

I’m really enjoying the Forte IIIs out of the boxes. I haven’t even tried them out with with tube amps (only tube pre) yet. I thought they would be fatiguing and have tons of bass. The treble spectrum (midrange northbound) is sweet and doesn’t sound cupped. The bass is perfectly integrated but not as prominent as I’d expected. The soundstage is seamless and they are not fussy about positioning.

The other thing that surprised me was how much of the NAD M22 juice I can use. I thought that I’d never move volume much due to the whopping power of the NAD M22--not true. So this is making me curious--what will happen when I hook up my 300B tube integrated? I think it has 8W per side. Will I miss the NAD’s power? That’s going to be fun experiment.

And, it’s going to be super interesting to try the Primaluna integrated with them. I can’t wait to see if I like my KT150s or EL34 variants better.

I’m not going to give some glowing review because it’s too soon and I’ve learned some speakers may sound so so with one system and great with another and even more so with different rooms. There is, however, a big takeaway for me personally: I can use reviews as guides but you have to try stuff out in your room with your stuff to really know. I recently sold a near mint pair of KEF LS50s because my $500 Wharfedale Dentons just sang better with my Creek integrated in the specific room they are in (downstairs system). And that doesn't say anything about the KEFs--they are still amazing boxes.  



128x128jbhiller

Showing 10 responses by wolf_garcia

Roxy54...I think a 20" long room, at less than 2 feet, is somewhat smallish. Also, I hope to never ask mrdecibel about anything in the Oxford English Dictionary as the answer might lack brevity. And thirdly (thirdly?), I own a pair of these and I can say without a doubt the Heresy IIIs are great speakers, especially matched with the brilliantly carefully selected fabulous amps and things I use with them...Georgehifi hurt my feelings a little...*sniff*...
Roxy54...I was noting you used the symbol " for a dimension description, one that is universally used as inches and not feet. Therefore I made a silly yet astonishingly hilarious comment regarding this gaff, which clearly spread joy and mirth to all corners of this thread. I will note for future comments that you have the ability to chew the fun out of my gum.
The Heresy III horn damping process is interesting, and worth it if only to make mrdecibel happy depending of course on how important his happiness is to you. They do sound somewhat smoother, and I should have done an A/B test before damping the second horn as I no longer remember the pre-damped sound...meh...these are astonishingly detained speakers, and really come into their own once you  really listen to them over time...they will not sweeten a harsh recording, nor should any speaker do that, but with well sorted gear they will allow a truly accurate and coherent representation of recordings into your earballs, which is a good thing. Detail is right there with Heresy IIIs, as I can hear stuff previously buried in the mix...I use a tube preamp and a simple SE tube power amp and they really shine with Heresy IIIs to a degree that nothing among the great speakers I've previously owned can match. Maybe it's the efficiency, maybe it's the horn and crossover design, but these things are absolutely a high end bargain speaker.
Mrdecibel: You gave me no choice in the damping thing, so I expect you to issue an apology to my wife as I gummed up her favorite scissors...they got un-gummed...still...took some "splainin'". The term "detained" means they are held in my listening room and have very little chance of escape (I generally fear they could try to get back to Arkansas if allowed). Detailed was a more apt term, so yeah...detailed. And please continue posting as these posts are one of the few bastions of defense against the anti-Klipsch horn movement that exists in the demented minds of the mindlessly demented.
Jbhiller...yes I did dampen the things if only to get mrdecibel off my back! It was interesting as I'd never used Dynamat before and the operation does make sense...I'm always up for logical and inexpensive tweaks, especially if reversible which the Dynamat clearly is, so you have nothing to lose except a finger maybe. The Fortes are worth opening up as it's cool to see the detail and professionalism used in Klipsch USA construction...if they're anything like the Heresy IIIs you'll see clean and sophisticated innards with high quality wire and generally clean construction, and I always take any new thing apart anyway...tighten speaker bolts or screws, etc.
I’ve had fun with a Freya for nearly a year, and it mostly stays out the way...utterly quiet in all modes, which is easy to test as I use horn loaded speakers, and if I put my Schiit Loki EQ in the path and turn up the higher frequencies with my ear to the tweeter horn the Freya is still dead quiet...microphonics free! I run it onto a smallish single ended tube amp. I’ve had a lot of preamps over the years and the Freya, especially with good sounding NOS tubes (of which I now have a pile), is a great preamp regardless of the silly low price. The clicking sound doesn’t bug me at all (because I know I'm causing it), and since my Freya has a lot of air above it (the thing gets a little hot from both the tubes and transformers) I’m used to reaching over for the switch. I say don’t fear the Freya!
For me the only fault in the Freya are the LEDs...too bright, fixed with a green sharpie and a maddeningly fiddly operation to get the top back on the chassis with the LEDs lining up to the holes...if there's an easy way to do this I'd like to know that it is, but I managed it after a struggle.
Note that Freyas are so cheap it's utterly worth it to try one and send it back if it sucks...note that mine came with the Russian 6N8S tubes that worked fine with no microphonics, but I had to try the new Tung Sol 6SN7GTB and some NOS Sylvania "chrome domes" and NOS RCAs...currently using the RCAs in the inputs and Sylvanias in the output...this changes often. 
Tomcarr...The Tung Sols seemed to have a somewhat clearer overall tone than the stock el mysterioso Russian tubes, and I suppose warmth was a component of that. I like the build quality of them...very quiet. I couldn't leave well enough alone though as the more I read about various 6SN7GTBs, the more I was compelled to try NOS Sylvania Chrome Domes and NOS RCAs...RCAs have more bloom in the bass, and Sylvanias just seem accurate and snappy...or something...small differences of course, but it's always fun to roll around in tubeland. All of these tubes are relatively affordable.
It's not necessarily an expensive proposition, and sticking with NOS tubes that test well and are matched has worked for me...the RCAs and Sylvanias actually cost about as much as or maybe less than the new Tung Sols.