Klipsch speaker choices

" Did you know there is a Klipsch forum where good deals are posted?
Those guys don't know other brands exist. You can tag along on the
annual pilgrimage to Arkansas to pay your respects. Those folks eat, live, breathe and expel Klipsch products and tweaks. "
 Sure is and the garage sale section and the alerts section have goodies at times. Local searches on Craigslist and Letgo and Facebook Market place also have items for sale often
  We do know other brands exist and many of us have gone through a ton of them and we keep coming back to Klipsch. After a while we don't bother trying to fool with other gear because it has been disappointing too many times. You are also not going to find $45,000 speaker cable nonsense there either which is nice. Lots of hands on serious audiophiles there who can take you deeper into the science of good sound reproduction no talk about things like cable cookers and other equally silly junk unless it is ridicule. DIY forum can also help out on those legacy repair and parts problems.

  The community is one of the great things about Klipsch and you can get advice and parts to repair speakers 50 and 60 years old and some models are still in production after that much time. The only other company that comes close to supporting legacy speakers is Great Plains Audio which still produces parts for Altec speakers. The Altec JBL forum is the second biggest biggest speaker forum I know of.

There is something about that Klipsch sound. It just takes you there and captivates you to stay and listen! Own Klipsch Forte iii and RP-160m. LLK. 

I think you are making the right choice to stick with Klipsch and try their better offerings - especially since you are running a low-watt amp. The "Heritage" series is a different league and the reason the Klipsch name is still around - it is their audiophile class and the rest are more consumer/big box/retail class. But, there are really two Heritage classes: the actual "Heritage" series that is the recent reissue of some of their classic designs and then there is more of the dictionary definition--buying one of the original models on the used market (I’ll refer to these as "used").

I own a pair of used Chorus II (there isn’t a Heritage reissue). They are the Forte’s bigger brother and replaced the Cornwall before they brought the Cornwall back as Heritage. Basically looks the same as a Forte, but taller/wider and has a 15" woofer on the front and a 15" radiator on the back and a larger midrange horn. Since The Chorus is essentially a Cornwall in a different box, the Forte's were chosen for the Heritage series reissues because the smaller size filled a different niche. I love my Chorus IIs though. Because they are 30 years old, I recently replaced the crossover with a Crites (capacitors start to go bad after 20+ years), along with an upgraded Crites tweeter (critesspeakers.com has upgrades and replacements for ALL used Klipsch worth keeping.) The rest of the speaker will last forever - they were built that way back then before home audio & video became a replaceable/consumable. The crossover replacement and tweeter upgrade were both very easy DIY jobs that took about an hour and can be done by anyone who knows how to use a screwdriver.

I also just listened to the new Cornwall IV at the Rocky Mtn. Audio Show last month and thought they were great. If money were no concern, I’d consider the Cornwall IV. But, honestly, I didn’t notice a major difference from my Chorus II and I’m not getting rid of them until I have a place large enough for some K-horns - and I’ll probably get a used pair when I do since my experience with my Chorus II has been so good. Between the speakers and the upgrades, I paid $1500. A new pair of Cornwall IV are $6000; Forte III are $4000/pair. If that price difference doesn’t matter to you - go new. If it does, you aren’t missing much - if anything - by buying a used pair of older Klipsch.

I had only solid state amps when I first bought them and eventually was tempted by all the recommendations for pairing Klipsch with a tube amp, so I bought a tube amp. I was wary of going tube and I really didn’t want to buy in to the "old" technology. But, it sounded amazing! I couldn’t believe it because I thought I liked my speakers before, but the tube really shows off the Klipsch horn drivers. No matter what amp you use, you’ll learn quick that source quality is important because you hear everything and bad recordings start to sound worse than before. No low-res mp3s or streaming with these and even bad studio work is noticeable. Overall, I think you’ll be very happy by upgrading your Klipsch.

I ordered a set of Cornscala style "B" this week.  I am buying these without listening!!  I am not too worried about it.  This is only the 4th set of speakers I have ever owned and I think these may be the last. 
Also,  I appreciate the thoughtful and informative info I was given by all who took the time to help me.  It gave me a good first impression of the forum. 

As far as the rest of my system goes, I feel I have it really dialed in.  Even with my 20 yr old RF3 the imaging, dynamics and sound are well above average.  I can't wait to go to the next level.

Klipschorns if you have the $$ and the room.

Forte III for everyone else..........