Klipsch forte II what league are they in?

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...

I have owned fortes, have heard forte 2's, and own Quartets. I love to talk about this trio of vintage Klipsch speakers. I have used them with NAD, Acurus, Onkyo, vintage Marantz, vintage Denon, B&K, you name it, and come away amazed every time I hear them. Klipsch forte II's are the middle child in the Quartet, forte II, Chorus II, family and I think they are the most balanced of the three. Very hard to beat at their used prices.

Bill

With about 10wpc from 20' on my deck, "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" sounds incredible. My moronically cheap T-amp/Playstation 1/ Forte II combo still amazes me!
$81 source and amp...people just shake their heads...