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?
catsmeow
Used with a low powered tube amp (in my case a Decware SE34I.2+) there are very few speakers that can compete with the Klipsch Heritage line of speakers for under $1000. The end of a long 15 year high-end audio journey for me. I've probably spent $100,000 dollars on audio stuff and I've ended up with a $4000 system that sounds incredible.
Well Tempered Labs Classic, EAR 834p, Deware Zen integrated, Cardas cabling, tweaked Forte IIs. Maybe I'll try the La Scalas someday....
Forte's, Cornwalls or above (within the Heritage line). If you don't think they sound great, you're probably thinking too much. I, too, have owned and listened to many speakers, but after three decades, came back to Cornwalls last month.

I had them ready to go for a New Year's party. Everyone was dancing. Enjoy the music.
I own Forte I's,bought last summer on CL for peanuts. For me, they are a one way ticket from audiophilia. Now I don't listen to the gear and wonder how it would sound if.... Instead, I spin the tunes and relax into in the music. It really is a nice place to be, not worrying about having to upgrade anything or dropping silly money on cables or other tweaks.

Previous audiophile brands (not knocking any of them): Thiel, Magnepan, Paradigm, Chartwell LS35a, Spendor, Snell, and others.

I power them with a vintage Marantz receiver.
I just bought a pair of Forte ll's and really am shell shocked at how wonderful these speakers sound. I am a huge fan of horn music, whether classical, jazz, funk, and so on.. rock with horns.. and I think vocals sound best through horn driven speakers. Having the two horns to me added the dynamic range that was not in other single horned speakers I have owned. What really blew me away was the bass response.. not just the volume of bass, but the CLARITY of the low end. I am a bass player, and as an electric bass player, any great bassist worth his salt KNOWS that you need a 15 inch woofer in your cabinet. I don't care what the modern tech guys argue about smaller coned long throw subs... they just ain't the same my friends. A 15 inch speaker is going to move air in a different way.. and if you want proper sound replication... you need a 15 inch woofer to properly re create what the original microphone diaphram picked up from bass guitar coming out of a fender bassman cabinet or similar set up. I would argue that acoustic bass also sounds much more REAL coming out of a 15.

I don't like powered 15 inch woofers. The 15 inch passive radiator is the way to go. It was a great invention and should be in any serious audiophile's speaker stack. Pushing the speakers back into the corners is the right way to do it. This way you really get the walls working for you. I have owned Bella's and heard Cornwalls, and as far as detail .. the Forte ll leave those others in the dust. These are incredibly musical speakers that should be able to contend with just about anything out there from any era.

I am using these with vintage restored Scott Tube amp, and Music Hall with a Goldring cartridge. Silver stranded cables.

It's a really simple yet solid set up.
Picked up a pair of oak-veneered Forte II's from a pawn shop about 15 years ago for around $120, cabs have some dings on the corners but drivers, xovers & sound is flawless. Ended up giving them to my daughter for Christmas a couple of years ago along with my old Onkyo system. Negotiated a trade with her today for a pair of Mirage 790s; I'm planning on using the Fortes with my Knight KA-55 integrated tube amp and Thorens TD-160 for a nice little living room system. I like their balance and accuracy, as well as the way they handle jazz, classic rock, blues, speedmetal, blues, industrial, bluegrass and most anything I throw at them...