To all Klipsch Heritage fans

have Forte speakers, with a 200wpc vintage amp, they will almost never be a boomy speaker. Sadly they do not have good punch/slam as they are short throw high SPL woofers, they produce tight accurate bass. That being said, they do like to be at least 10in off the back wall. Have messed with mine for over 2 years, and have settled on 24in off the back wall with 2 subs to add punch/slam. Again, they do not lack bass, you just really can't fee it unless you are running around 95+ db. 

As they will be "new" speakers, swapping out the crossovers will give you almost nothing. The Crites XO's are made to give the house sound, if you go with the "gold" upgrade it will change the highs quite a bit. Forte's do not need help there. 

The Forte is very good at filling a room with sound, they have awesome sound stage, and imaging. They do not need a ton of power to sing. But they are really revealing, they will let you know if there is any noise in your system, or you have a bad recording. 

I can’t comprehend why any informed audiophiles continue to buy Klipsch Heritage speakers when these days, there are so many far superior options from a multitude of factory-direct brands. Arendal, Philharmonic, Ascend, Clayton Shaw, MonAcoustics, heck, even Tekton, make significantly better products for similar or less money. Once upon a time the Klipsch Heresy was a decent buy at <$2000/pair, but that was mostly because of its uncommon efficiency and WAF. You could squat them relatively close to a wall, power them with a modest tube amp, and get “musical” sound at low SPLs that you didn’t have to judge critically because they were relatively cheap after all. Now they are absurdly overpriced considering you can get Tekton Lore Reference Bes for half the price, and Philharmonic BMR Towers for just a little more. I get that most don’t pay full MSRP for Klipsch Heritage (for good reason), but still…

Their Cornwall and LaScala have almost no (older models—zero) internal bracing or panel damping, they’re simply lined with loose foam, which only works to damp internal reflections. Their cabinets are so noisy I just don’t understand how anyone takes them seriously beyond their ability to play loud background music. Yes they are dynamic, but so are the $1200/pair PA speakers down at the local pub, and those probably sound better too be honest.

Sorry if this offends anyone, but I really don’t understand the continuing affinity for these antiquated designs, especially in 2026. 

@helomech My modified Lascalas bring me so much listening pleasure. You do not need to like them, but I certainly do. Have you ever heard a good set of them? They do "what I want" from a speaker, work extremely well in my room, and work with any amplifier I have driven them with. My best, MrD.    

Thick carpet, unless it’s like 1-ft thick, will have very little effect on SPL in the bass frequencies. Absorption materials tend to be frequency dependent. The higher in the frequency range you go, the more typical absorber materials will have an effect.

Anything below 200 Hz is really going to cut through your carpet like it was acoustically transparent, hit whatever hard subflooring like plywood or concrete (the worst, an acoustic mirror!) and bounce up at an angle incident to it.

So I wouldn’t take that into account. Part of why monitors are put on angled stands is to direct the plane of the woofer’s output up, away from the plane of the floor, while aiming the beaming frequencies in the mids and highs toward the listener’s head.

@mrdecibel 

A few months ago I auditioned a pair of the AL6 LaScalas. They were way too forward in the midrange and had terribly audible cabinet resonances. I think I actually prefer the much older (probably original) design I once heard setup at the Woody Guthrie museum in Tulsa.

I get the appeal of their effortless dynamics at lower SPLs, but otherwise I don’t really understand the appeal. I imagine modded ones can sound quite good.