You can laugh all you want. I've owned Vandersteens, Aerial 10T, Dali's, PSB's, Inner Sound and a bunch of others that don't come to mind right now. First of all it's a misnomer that Klipsch need to be used with tubes, they can work wonderfully with SS. I have a pair of Forte I's, they sounded good but grainy when I first got them, I replaced the caps in the Xover which made a large improvement. The Klipsch do some things that other speakers simply don't do like dynamics and pace and rythym, set up properly with tilt back and toe in they image suprisingly good, they also benefit from good speaker cable. You want some volume, go ahead they will coast when other speakers will be popping their woofers. They have a fullness of sound that audio weeny approved speakers will never have. No they are not perfect, no speaker is, if your priorities match up with the Klipsch they are a lot of fun. The bonus is they can be used with low powered tube amps. If you are into music you may love them, if you are into sounds then don't bother. For what they sell for I will keep these around and upgrade the tweeter diaphrams next then damp the horns and the woofer basket. If you can find a pair at a good price you will always get your money back if you don't like them.
Klipsch forte II what league are they in?
Read some good things on the net about these. Fine, but do these play in the same league as the likes of harbeth, proac and reynaud or are they just a really good, middle of the road, fun, plays loud, good bass, economical, musical, party speaker? Are they a serious audiophile speaker by comparison with the others?