Klipsch Forte II good?

cstmar01

Kinda never got into the Klipsch vintage stuff, but seeing a pair of these pop up for 500 bucks locally I'm thinking about giving it a shot.

First is 500 for good condition worth it?

What do I need to look out for when inspecting? Such as is foam rot an issue with these?

Just curious as I've read various places prices (a few years ago) were around 400-600 for mint Fortes. These are not mint and the asking is 500 OBO which I can work with him. Drive is about 20 mins away from me.

How would you compare these to any Polk offerings. I read that it goes from they are keepers, to they are only good for HT.

Thanks!

nguyendot

I'd offer 400 and see where it gets you. Mine are almost minty in my main rig.

Check for foam rot, the grilles are magnetic so check the frame of the grilles.
Check the rear radiator to make sure it's in good shape.

make sure the horn is not blown - but even if it is a new diaphragm is very cheap. Upgraded diaphragms are like $80 which can make them sound amazing.

There are no comparisons to Polk offerings. These are apples/oranges honestly. I couldn't compare my ForteII's to say, RTi A7s or A9s..they're different animals.

The ForteII's will be more in your face. They're horn loaded so they will throw sound at you. I hear they are made for tubes, but I don't have any so I couldn't tell you. They are very efficient, 99db/m. Go give them a listen. You can see in my sig what my Klipsch setup is.

leroyjr1

Horns aren't for everyone, so what I'd do is see if he'll let you listen to them and go from there. I had a pair and liked them. I own a pair of Palladiums and love them, but they have a different sound from SDA's.

I think Nick from Indiana had a pair and in his thread he said he liked them better than his SDA's. Might want to shoot him a PM.

nikolas812

Did I say that? I may have. I've said a lot of stuff. And then contradicted myself later, many times... But to clear things up so theres no confusion. My SDA's were much much better speakers. No comparison really. I had 1.2TL's.:biggrin:

The problem I had with the SDA's. Is I couldn't afford to give them the quality gear they needed to shine...

On the other hand. when I got the Klipsch's. I had a very very sweet sounding single ended tube amp to pair with them. The two paired together was amazing. And one of the better rigs I've ever had. That said the Klipsch paired with anything besides tubes was horrible. WE also had a get together while I had the Klipsch. And paired many different separates with them. And nothing was really desirable...

I think I paid $500 for a MINT pair from the original owner. Given the condition or how bad you want them. I would try to get them for $350.


There defiantly in your face kind of speakers. But with the right equipment. You can tame the beast and get a very very good sound. And something completely different then any Polk. I'm glad to say that I had a chance to experience a nice pair of vintage Klipsch. YMMV..


Nik

Conradicles

Nik what is up man!

I have had several pairs of vintage Klipsch and love them, but not had a chance to here the Forte's yet. Hopefully one day...

nguyendot

I got my ForteII's from goodwill for $75...

Conradicles

nguyendot wrote: »

I got my ForteII's from goodwill for $75...

I'll give you $300

dee1949

....The Forte II's are excellent with tubes. You need a good size room to appreciate them. In a smaller room they are too in your face. But with tubes they might mellow in a smaller room. The Forte II's are supposedly the speakers that are in the office of the designer. $500 for excellent pair is a good price. Remember that small scratches can be sanded out. I loved them for accuracy, but my room was too small to appreciate them. They love SPAcE to roam. I loved listening to them in the next room where my computer is located. 26' x 16' would be optimal.

nguyendot

LOL.. no way.
I think I'm keeping them until I get a set of LSi or Vienna Acoustics.. or one of the newfangled high end brands you guys love so much.

What's sad is they're going to be Rotel powered... hehe

BottomFeeder

I had the original Fortes & agree that they can be very in your face sounding. But i loved & missed the incredible detail & awesome bass. Wish I had tried them with tubes as, from what I've read, I still might own them.

I think $500 is too much.

indyhawg

I own a pair and love them. Like others have said, they are very different sounding than the Polk Speakers though. For 500 bucks, I would make sure they are mint. You should be able to score a pair between 4-450. Something else to consider is have they been recapped and do the tweeter and midrange diaphragms need replacing?

dorokusai

indyhawg wrote: »

I own a pair and love them. Like others have said, they are very different sounding than the Polk Speakers though. For 500 bucks, I would make sure they are mint. You should be able to score a pair between 4-450. Something else to consider is have they been recapped and do the tweeter and midrange diaphragms need replacing?

Spot on and a great pair of Klipsch.

cstmar01

Thanks for the info. I'm going to be going over there this weekend to give them a listen. I asked him what he has them currently hooked up to but didn't say and just said they are too large for his livingroom.

So we'll see, I currently don't have any tube stuff to hook it up to. I was planning in the future though to pick up a Manley Stingray and run a small system off of that, and if I did go with these it would be something to mate it with.

tonyb

Yeppers, I'd go tubes on Klipsch all day. I do like the older KG series, the big boy 5.5's I thought had some good sound to it. If the Forte's are all original, you may have to upgrade them a tad. AVS has a good Klipsch following with plenty of threads to cover the bases. Hope you snag them, 5 beans seems about right,4 beans even better.

cstmar01

Thanks Tony.

Also just found out through another board that there is a guy in the same city the speakers are that does a lot of custom tube amp work and built his own 300B mono blocks. Who knows, maybe I'll find some time down the road to build something myself, but then that means I might have to stop working 70-80 hours a week lol.

DaveHo

I have a pair of Forte II's I picked up within the last year. These were one of the "I've got to own these someday" speakers from my younger years. Price wise my pair ended up costing me less than $400, mint condition, oak clear finish, factory stock everything. The woofer & passive surrounds are rubber, so there's nothing to rot. Sound wise they are really in your face, no Polk speaker sounds anything like them. They need good quality, but laid back amplifiication to shine. Unfotunately I don't have a dedicate 2 channel set-up at the moment, but every now & again they get pulled out of the closet for a listen in the theater rig. I'm not planning of getting rid of them any time soon & am looking forward to the day I have space for a 2 channel system.

-Dave

concealer404

Nik's Fortes sounded very good to my ears. Not anything that i'd personally like to own, but they weren't nearly as harsh as i was expecting, even on sand amps.

nguyendot

In your face = great theater sound.

If you want to go HT, they are awesome speakers. That is why they're in my projector room.....not my 2 channel or other living room.