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Klipsch Chorus II or Forte II - Secondary system

I have a secondary system in my basement that's been neglected for years. It's a combination of Rotel electronics combined with a pair a DCM TimeWindow 1a speakers. They are nice speakers, but I really have no reason to listen to them when my main listening system has Vandersteen speakers that do everything better.

I've decided to shake things up a bit by going a completely different path with the sound of my second system. I want to go from the more laid back sound of the the DCM's to a more in-your-face rock sound.

I've narrowed my choice to a set of Klipsch Forte II or Chorus II's based on whats locally available and price. I'm looking for opinions from anyone that's listened to these. The Forte II's have a better bottom end, but the Chorus II's are generally regarded as a better speaker. My preference would be to NOT use a subwoofer.

Thanks!
mustangjeff

Showing 2 responses by mustangjeff

mustangjeff OP
30 posts
 
I've listened to the Forte's in the past, but it's probably been about 20 years or so. I remember listening to the Nirvana Nevermind CD when it was first released and thought the speakers had great punch.

I agree about the 180 on sound style. The DCM's share some of the same smooth, non fatiguing, laid back characteristic that the Vandersteens have. That's why they get ignored. I'm looking for something where I can regress into younger years and play some Zepplin loud :)

The Chorus II's look really interesting, but it's counter intuitive to me that a physically larger speaker with a bigger woofer won't dig as deep. From what I've read they have a bigger sound, but in a basement it's probably overkill.
mustangjeff OP
30 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I ended up finding a beautiful mint condition pair of oiled oak Chorus II's.

These are a completely different animal than the Vandersteen's and not necessarily in a bad way. I have them placed in the corners of my living room, and toed-in to face my couch. They are extremely sensitive to placement, but it also means you can tweak the sound by simply moving the speaker just a little bit. I need to play around this weekend to fin their sweet spots.

I ran through tons of different music, and I have to say that they sound great. I'm running an Anthem MX receiver with the front pre-outs going to a Rotel RB-1080. Even though I'm not running tubes I didn't find them harsh at all.

I find them extremely lively and engaging. Vocals really pop out at you. Copious amounts of low end for a speaker that is supposed to be weak in that area. Initially I found the low end a bit boomy, but moving the speakers about 3-4 inches away from the corner made a huge difference in tightening up the sound. The horn tweeter and midrange have an airy quality to them, and in my room I thought they imaged extremely well.

These things really shine as you increase the volume. The louder I went, the better they sounded. I'm going to have a hard time moving these to the basement. I think I'm going to leave them on my main system for awhile.
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