1990 Klipsch Forte II's: How do they stack up?

[kenshone]

I inherited a pair of tower speakers, with the attached tag. These were from well before I got into audio equipment, so I was hoping to get some advice from some of the more seasoned members here. How do these stack up compared to modern towers from SVS and/or Klipsch? Would they get thrashed by modern ASR standards? And does anyone know, roughly, what their MSRP was back in the early 90's?

 

[Blumlein 88]

http://assets.klipsch.com/product-specsheets/forte-II-brochure.pdf

My guess is they don't stack up great in modern terms. They'll play loud on not much power and wouldn't terrible for the time. Hardly unlistenable. Power them up and listen to them.

 

[Achim1812]

I made my way from the early Fortes up to my recent IVs.
What shall I say? Even identical speakers, f.e. 2 pairs of Forte IIIs, can sound different in different environments. So, speaker characterization is in my opinion is the most difficult and often misleading way.
Not very helpful...I know.
Something like a mantra, in Miles Davis' words: "Listen!"
Short wrap from my side: The Forte 2 and 3 are more "typically Klipsch", which means more punch, more party than the new 4, which in my ears is more "audiophile in a good way" than the predecessors. Not better, but different. I loved them all.
PS: I checked my archive, but nothing left from the Forte II. Something around 2.500 DEM (1.250 Euro) for the pair in Germany is in my head. Which for me was a fortune back in the early 90s.

 

[AwesomeSauce2015]

My guess is they don't stack up great in modern terms. They'll play loud on not much power and wouldn't terrible for the time. Hardly unlistenable. Power them up and listen to them.

Looking at the link, Klipsch quotes the bass extension as 32hz, and given the response graph in it I'd say that these are pretty good, even for today's standards.
Yes, they will have the "Klipsch sound" (recessed midrange), but given their sensitivity and power handling, they should sound pretty good since they can actually get loud, unlike a lot of modern stuff, and you can easily fix the elevated treble with EQ,

(That's all assuming that nothing is broken.)

My recommendation would be to hook them up to a decent amp, and take a listen.

In comparison to the SVS Ultra Tower (Though it has been established that the SVS speakers aren't exactly the best, though they do make good subs):
The Fortes use a horn loaded midrange and tweeter, which, given Klipsch's reputation and experience, is probably in line with the SVS tower's midrange / tweeter array performance, or at least close to it. (I am basing this off the fact that the horns will handle more power, and hence dynamics will be better, but the old horns will have distortion issues that the modern drivers shouldn't have.)
The Fortes use a single 12" bass driver with a 15" passive radiator. The active driver area is about 113 sq-in.
The SVS towers use 2x 8" bass drivers, with a port. The active driver area is about 100.5 sq in.
Now, the new SVS bass drivers probably have more excursion than the 90s 12", so the SVS towers will win in the bass department.

So yes, the SVS towers probably are better than the Fortes, but I would have to compare them side by side to be sure.

Compared to a tower like KEF's R11, I would give the win to the Fortes 9/10 times. The KEFs just don't sound alive like a good horn system.

Compared to a Klipsch tower like the RP-8000F 2, I would have to hear both in the same room. The RP-8000F 2 will be much better designed, and with modern driver technology, it has much more potential than the Fortes, but given that the Fortes have a horn loaded midrange, I can't be sure as to which I would prefer.

So given my personal tastes in audio, I'd probably hook up the Fortes in my living room, to a nice amp (maybe a tube amp? They are high sensitivity...), and when I have friends over / when I am relaxing I would turn it up. They aren't a modern reference speaker, but they are special in my book.

 

[Angsty]

This is a review of the original Forte for comparison. I recall being very impressed when it came out originally in Stereo Review - I still remember wanting to try them out then.

Klipsch Forte Speaker System Review price specs - Hi-Fi Classic

www.hifi-classic.net

 

[Lsc]

I inherited a pair of tower speakers, with the attached tag. These were from well before I got into audio equipment, so I was hoping to get some advice from some of the more seasoned members here. How do these stack up compared to modern towers from SVS and/or Klipsch? Would they get thrashed by modern ASR standards? And does anyone know, roughly, what their MSRP was back in the early 90's?

View attachment 282716

I still have my Forte II from 1993. They were $1199 MSRP for the pair back in the day.

I haven’t used them much in the last dozen years or so but I do hook ‘em up from time to time because I miss the dynamics every now and then. But it’s hard for those Klpsches to compete with my salon2 w the Gothams or my Revel F12 in the basement with the F113. Not saying I can’t use subs with the Forte’s…just stating what my speaker system consists of.

I have never heard the SVS towers nor any modern Klipsch speakers but given a front end that leans towards the warm side, the Forte’s sound pretty good still. These were my pride and joy for many many years so they have a lot of sentimental value…hence I can’t sell em for what they are worth which is not very much.

 

[dlaloum]

I tried out a pair of Forte's in the mid 90's...

Wanted to try out the opposite extreme from my Quad Elctrostatics.

Found them disappointing - loud, yes, but lacking in micro detail (which the Quads excelled at of course!)

Even though they were very efficient, they also seemed to require an amp with serious "grip" - and were paired by the previous owner with an Adcom 555 (which lots of people love).

I tried them with the Adcom (came as a set) - I also tried them with my older Quad 405-II - found that they sounded better with the Quad, less "shouty" (from memory)

In the end, they didn't suit me.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

There are no any "ASR standards", forums for a diverse public do not define standards.
There is nothing wrong with these speakers (sensitivity is very OK. bandwidth is OK, everything is OK) other than their physical condition.
Time has no mercy on anything.
This means that the condition of the speakers should be carefully checked.
The first thing that definitely needs renovation is the internal acoustic damping.
If the loudspeakers haven't been taunted, there shouldn't be anything _especially scary_ about the speakers, but anything can happen.
Well, be sure to look at the crossover - what components are used in it.
Nothing will happen to inductances, but capacitors ... If there are electrolytic ones (everything happens in this best of all worlds), they need to be changed 100%.
And then decide for yourself.
I wouldn't throw those speakers away.
Their restoration is fascinating and informative. Well, it's a collectible after all.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

There are no any "ASR standards", forums for a diverse public do not define standards.
There is nothing wrong with these speakers (sensitivity is very OK. bandwidth is OK, everything is OK) other than their physical condition.
Time has no mercy on anything.
This means that the condition of the speakers should be carefully checked.
The first thing that definitely needs renovation is the internal acoustic damping.
If the loudspeakers haven't been taunted, there shouldn't be anything _especially scary_ about the speakers, but anything can happen.
Well, be sure to look at the crossover - what components are used in it.
Nothing will happen to inductances, but capacitors ... If there are electrolytic ones (everything happens in this best of all worlds), they need to be changed 100%.
And then decide for yourself.
I wouldn't throw those speakers away.
Their restoration is fascinating and informative. Well, it's a collectible after all.

2 horns, beautiful hardwood boxes, cool crossovers.
Yes, you are lucky.
Congratulations.
Best of all, try to chat with those who have already restored these speakers.
These people are easy to find with a Google search.
For example:

 

[Angsty]

2 horns, beautiful hardwood boxes, cool crossovers.
Yes, you are lucky.
Congratulations.
Best of all, try to chat with those who have already restored these speakers.
These people are easy to find with a Google search.
For example:

There are also several Klipsch fan sites where people trade info on restoring and upgrading older models. It turns out the SR article I posted was published in 1986. So, I did not read the article when it came out. Instead, I must have read it in the library archives, where I spent a lot of time in my early twenties reading old reviews. The Forte II in 1990 was likely priced at around $1500 per pair.

Forte in Stereo Review 1986

Here are the two pages of Julian Hirsch's 1986 Stereo Review article on the original Forte. I haven't seen this posted here before; given the popularity of the Forte, here it is FYI. It was this article that got me wanting the Forte, and three years later, I got them. Hopefully, page 1 will appea...

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