Behold the Klipsch Forte III speakers

joeinid

joeinid

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The Audiophiliac checks out Klipsch’s brawny new horn-loaded speakers.



https://www.cnet.com/news/big-for-a-reason-klipsch-forte-iii-speakers/


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Having an in home demo now! They are pretty impressive and a lot of fun.
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JW Home Theater Solutions was kind enough to bring one Distressed Oak and one special edition California Black Walnut to check out.


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Thought I would post a little update. I went ahead and bought a pair of the special edition California Black Walnut Fortes.

For me, these things are awesome! I, like many here, have been through a handful of speakers in the past few years. Most of them (retail) have been as expensive or multiples of what these cost.

Sure, these don't do everything better than my set ups in the past have done but they seem to effortlessly cut to the core of the music. They do a great job at revealing textural, timbral, and dynamic information. I'm surprised to find they sonically disappear quite well in the room as well and do a fine job with soundstaging in all dimensions. They are a blast to listen to across all genres and work well in my smallish 14'x15' room.

In all, I think I have found the sound that I have been looking for in a reasonable package and at a reasonable price. It's impressive how little they give up to some of the other speakers I've had while having their own considerable strengths. They have gotten me to the place where I am excited to listen to the music and not the gear and I'm pretty excited about that.

Right now these are being driven by my brute force solid-state integrated amplifier, the Coda CSiB. I do have a little noise in the system but otherwise the sound is great, probably owing to the fact that the Coda is biased for 12W in class A before transitioning to a/b. Given how good it sounds now I plan to keep this set up but I am definitely looking forward to playing around with some tube amps in the future. You guys have me pretty hyped on the LTA gear right now. Should be fun!

Edited.

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Congratulations! I had a pair of Cornwall IIIs. Loved those speakers and sorry I sold them. Worked superbly with an 8wpc ASL amp. Never realized how loud I was playing them until the music stopped! Wow!

So happy you love the Forte IIIs.
 
I would think the Coda amp to be plenty warm.

The original Forte had a rear passive radiator, is that the same for the III or did they go to an actual driver?I had a set of Forte for a while, the overall balance, and bass was very good.
 
These look like a really fun set of speakers. With the right amp, a blast I’m sure. I loved my Cornwall 3 with my 8wpc ASL Wave monos.
 
joeinid said:
These look like a really fun set of speakers. With the right amp, a blast I’m sure. I loved my Cornwall 3 with my 8wpc ASL Wave monos.
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That they are! Though I haven't heard the Cornwall's in person I'm guessing these have a smoother, less overtly horn sound with the updated midrange horn.

Any good ideas for a reasonably priced (<$3k used) tubed integrated that would pair well?

I need to hear a set of the JBL 4367's at some point. Whatta speaker!


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Those are high sensitivity speakers - use that to your advantage and get an OTL amp ! Tenor 75i instantly springs to mind. One of the best integrateds, cost no object (you can find them used for ~$5k; I know that it is more than you want to spend, but we are talking about an absolute performance, the amp that on high efficiency speakers sounds better than most $10-50k designs, tube or solid state. Another option would be Graaf GM-20 (~$2000 used), but that amp would need a preamp, or a DAC with a quality variable output.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I've heard good things about the Line Magnetic, sounding good and being an over achiever for the money.
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I'm semi familiar with them and they are certainly on my radar. Were you thinking 219ia or 508 or? I know last time I looked there were several variations and I'm not up to snuff on all the traits of various models. Thanks!


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Elberoth said:
Those are high sensitivity speakers - use that to your advantage and get an OTL amp ! Tenor 75i instantly springs to mind. One of the best integrateds, cost no object (you can find them used for ~$5k; I know that it is more than you want to spend, but we are talking about an absolute performance, the amp that on high efficiency speakers sounds better than most $10-50k designs, tube or solid state. Another option would be Graaf GM-20 (~$2000 used), but that amp would need a preamp, or a DAC with a quality variable output.
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Awesome suggestions, I was aware of neither of those! OTL is certainly of interest to me since the LTA buzz that has been going around.

Budget could certainly be extended with time, I'm just being cautious and may just dip my toes in the water initially. If anything I want to add to my stable not replace given the enjoyment level I'm at.


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nile49 said:
I'm semi familiar with them and they are certainly on my radar. Were you thinking 219ia or 508 or? I know last time I looked there were several variations and I'm not up to snuff on all the traits of various models. Thanks!


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The Line Magnetic souped up 219ia is definitely a keeper. Another would be the Leben CS-300XS would be good as it did keep good company with my Kilpsch heresy III's 70th Anni. I am thinking of the Cornwall 3 70th Anni, if I can find a pair. Indeed tubes are the perfect match for Klipsch. Very musical, very nice and very light on the pocket .. as a combo. The Forte III's I understand were the bigger brother of the Heresy ... to extend below the 58Hz ... I could be wrong. But you do have a pair of wonderful speakers. Nice looking too. Congrats!
 
Mr Peabody said:
I've heard good things about the Line Magnetic, sounding good and being an over achiever for the money.
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heard the big line magnetic speakers for first time last year at a show , they were delightful . just sad that this french outfit had put so much time and effort and and hardly anyone was at show which was a bit of a flop really
 
I heard these today at Excel Audio in Newport Beach, CA. Mike Love is the proprietor and his shop is very vinyl/tube-centric. We were listening to a few of his 'big' rigs in the main room ($100k+) and out in the lobby he had Forte III set up with Quad tube pre/power combo (15 WPC) and an entry level Clearaudio LP spinner with Clearaudio MM cart. to say I was caught off guard is an understatement, blown away is more like it. We put on Neil Young's Live at Massey Hall. These aren't your Dad's Klipsch's they were well behaved on top and transparent to the source, like unbelievably so for a quasi-horn priced at just $3.5K retail. Very nice speaker that doesn't offend in any particular way. Suddenly these have risen to the top of my short list of speakers for a 3rd pr behind Quad 57s and Ls35/a's. For best value i think the Tannoy Cheviot is off my list. I will make up my mind once I audition the JBL L100 classics. The Forte in Black Walnut are stunning to look at as well.
 
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