NEW
LISTING
11/8/17
(click
on above thumbnails to enlarge photos)
warranty
UPGRADED
/ REFURBISHED / FULLY SERVICED
PRE-APPRECIATED KLIPSCH STEREO SPEAKERS
KLIPSCH FORTE II
W/ BOTH BOB CRITES UPGRADES
'WESTERN ENVIRONMENT SPEAKERS SO NO 'HIGH HUMIDITY' CABINETS'!
CIRCA 1989-96
MADE IN U.S.A.
SOLD 4/21/18
SHIPPING TO ARKANSAS
Our
senior tech has completely gone through and 'Certified' these.
(in fact, these are some of the personal
speakers of our 'senior technician'. If they were mine, they
wouldn't be leaving)
All drivers were removed, tested individually.
The tweeter diaphragms were replaced with 'Bob Crites',
'Titanium' diaphragms.
The original crossovers were also removed and entirely replaced with
'Cedar Planked' Bob Crites crossover networks, and an upgraded
internal wiring harness to the drivers.
New, thick gasket
/
sealant material was added to all driver mounting flanges, prior to
re-installation,
as
well as the input panel
to the mounting surfaces,
to
eliminate any possibilities of vibration,
air leakage or acoustic
anomalies
that can be allowed with the 'anemic' foam rubber gasket installed
at the factory.
Poly-Spun batting added to minimal existing damping material to
'tighten up bass response' and reduce cabinet 'ring'.
Cosmetically the cabinets were cleaned, coated in
Restore-A-Finish, followed with Lemon Oil, and look fabulous with only a
very minimum of wear (see photos above).
The real, walnut wood, veneer looks great, with lots of well defined
and 'book matched' grain. You can't get walnut grain like this for
the past couple dozen years.
Both grills in
perfect 'structural'
shape as is the original, terry / knit
cloth. All 'magnetic' fasteners in place as are the original logos.
Felt feet
were installed to the cabinet bottom plates.
Next, as always, they were tested with both recorded material, PN 20-20k
and swept them with our AF generator from 5Hz-5kHz.
Even
following their upgrades / tech work, I found a couple 'sonic
anomalies' that needed to be corrected prior to listing.
Then came our standard, 'issue exposing' and on some levels,
'abusive' test recordings. These speakers are ready to go!
We auditioned
this pair extensively and 'THEY DELIVERED' beyond
what was expected. The 'bass'
is not only completely solid and tight on these speakers, but goes VERY DEEP.
Handling power from our 'more than adequate' power amp FLAWLESSLY up
to 'painful levels'.
Worth noting, these have spent the past couple of decades in 'The
West', where the humidity is generally less than 30% (usually WAY
less), so the cabinets and veneer has acclimated and dried out well.
They've settled well, with no issues.
No need to worry if speaker cabinets from more 'humid' (read
Florida, and most of the Southern / South-East Coastal states)
environments will shrink and have joints open up, or veneer start to
split and separate.
Our demo cuts included the following;
Dire Straits' "So Far
Away" from their album 'Brothers in Arms' album,
Donald Fagens, "I.G.Y." from the album "Night Fly"
(solid
/ snappy reproduction),
'24K Gold Edition of Jennifer Waren's "Famous Blue Raincoat'
(open, airy, natural and balanced'),
TLC's "Scrub" from their album 'Fan Mail'
(did 'sub-bass'
note @ 1'25" & 1'35" VERY WELL. It shook
the concrete floor better than most speakers we've had, including
most powered subwoofers!!!),
Cowboy Junkies ‘Sweet Jane’ (airy and open’),
Donald
Fagens, "I.G.Y." from the album "Night Fly" "solid and
snappy"
Calvin Hampton's, "The Wedding March" from "Digital Pipes, The
Splendor of the Organ", a digital recording of a cathedral pipe organ
('natural
low-end and good top-end!
Open and HUGE!),
Trapt’s “Headstrong” (was ‘solid’ and the woofers exhibited no sign
of fatigue even at upper power levels)
Just about anything from "KORN"
ROCKED!!!
Don Williams' DDD version of 'Country Boy'
(a
bit 'beamy' without the addition of an EQ to 'settle them' for
acapella male vocals that are as strong as this recording),
Most of the cuts from Michael Jacksons' 'Number Ones' such as "Bad"
"Beat It", and "Billy Jean", were ‘strongly’
reproduced and VERY solid (and I didn't have to worry
about backing off the volume with it as I usually do),
Van Halens' cut "Drop Dead Legs"
and
"Hot for Teacher" from the CD "1984"
ROCKED!
YAZ"
"Punchy, snappy and solid"
Malcom Arnolds, "The Padstow
Lifeboat" from our 'Tutti' Reference Recording; "great
balance, and a wide sound-stage"
Mussorgsky-Ravel's,
"Baba Yaga; Great Gate At Kiev" from "Pictures At An Exhibition"
, again, from our 'Tutti' Reference Recording; "was HUGE and
a very 3-D feel'"
'Friday Night in San Francisco', with Al Dimeola, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia,
"WOW!!!...was fabulous at about 'half volume' on the Hafler DH-500"
Nickel Creeks’ “When in Rome” from their CD "Why Must the Fire
Die?" (was a BIG,
open and
up-front),
and a few others, all digitally recorded and some 'DDD'.
Incredible power handling characteristics for a speaker this size. They
are able to handle "power" MUCH better than your average speaker. Not
simply referring to their wattage rating, but just the way they perform
at higher power / volume levels without "falling apart" sonically. We
'stood' on them HARD with our test Hafler 500 Watt power amplifier.
'Solid', punchy and 'tight' low-end, with no, I
repeat, NO 'mush'.
Klipsch Forte II Features include:
- 3-way,
'Vented' (via, rear mounted, 15" 'sub-bass', passive radiator)
-12" Low
Frequency Driver (woofer)
- 15" "Sub Bass", Passive Radiator
-
Klipsch K-61 Midrange Horn
-
Klipsch K-75 Tweeter Horn w/ 'Bob
Crites' Titanium diaphragms installed
- Cedar Planked, Bob Crites Crossover Networks
installed
- Banana style 'Binding Post'
Klipsch Forte II Specifications include:
System Design: 3-way, 'Vented' (via, rear
mounted, 15" 'sub-bass', passive radiator)
Frequency Response:
32Hz-...
HEY, WHY ALL THE 'X'd' (...) OUT /
OMITTED SPECS AND TEXT?
...+/-3dB
Sensitivity:
99dB SPL, 1W@ 1m
Nominal Impedance: 8Ω each
Power
Handling:
100 Watts continuous /
xxx Watts peak
Again, we have completely gone through these,
and afterward, each was AF swept from
5000 Hz all the way
down to 5 Hz! Interestingly in
doing this we did find a 'spider wire' touching the spider on one
woofer. That is just one of the things that without doing an AF
sweep, you wouldn't likely have found and might never have been
rectified. These speakers ROCK!!! (and no,
I don't just mean they excel at "rock". Just re-check the list of
demo pieces listed above.
I used to
sell the Klipsch Forte's when new, back in the mid '80's. We had the
K-Horns room with a few other speakers, but we had the Fortes in a
dedicated room, on their own system. Once someone heard them,
isolated from other distractions, they were an 'easy sell', meaning
that 90% of the folks that listened to them, LOVED them, with about
any genre of material, and if the price wasn't too much for their
wallet, it was hard to find another speaker at any other dealer in
town that could compete with them.
Great speaker for just about any volume level and any genre of music.
I would recommend decent amount of power to appreciate these,
meaning at least 90 to 100 Watts of "old school" power (not from some
anemic AV / Surround sound, 5.1, 7.1 or 8.BR549, crappy receiver. I mean
a REAL amp / receiver (likely from the '70's) with 'real' output
transistors, backed up by a 'real' power supply.
Perfectly happy as back ground music reproducers (check
their "99dB" efficiency rating) or for "peeling paint off
the walls" at your next party! Look beautiful, work
perfectly and sound AMAZING! Cabinets measure
35.5" H x 16.5" W x 12.25" D and weighs a hefty 67 lbs each. Includes our
standard 30 day limited warranty (excluding problems due to under / over
powering.)
KLIPSCH FORTE II
Cond.
8+++
(Cons.)
B.F.
SOLD 4/21/18
SHIPPING TO ARKANSAS
(Due to the nature of these speakers, S,H & I will slightly more
involved than most 'bookshelf' style speakers. Custom, double-wall boxes
will be manufactured specifically for them (not really a 'big deal' as
we are having custom boxes made most every week locally). This will
however, add about 5-10 days to their ship time.)
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