Klipsch Forte IIIs vs. Heresy III with a sub

Boxy in the sense that it sounded more like a hollow box speaker. I’d describe it as a box without sound deadening. 

It's kind of hard to get horns to sound "boxy", isn't it?

Oddly, I just had a chance to hear a pair of Forte III. Their sound characteristics were completely different than what I get from my Heresy II's. The two speakers were not directly side by side, but at no time have my Heresy sounded like the Forte III in the sense that the Forte III have a boxy kind of rough, loose, hollow sound to them. IMO, the Forte doesn't sound as tight and controlled. For example, I compared the B&W 601 S3 to the 602 S3. The 602 is a slightly bigger cabinet and slightly larger bass driver. When I played Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, the trumpet and voices clearly sounded better in the smaller 601 speaker. They sounded tighter, real and more controlled in the smaller 601 speaker. In the 602, the trumpet and voice were less coherent and less controlled. They sounded more loose. It was only while playing large classical orchestra where the larger 602 out shined the 601 overall because of the 602's larger sound stage and bass extension. I said hell with the Forte III's after that and have completely lost interest in them after hearing them last Friday. They sound nothing like my Heresy's and they don't sound as smooth and silky. I added a new 8" REL sub to my Heresy and dropped my jaw. It's like a wall of amazing sound.

It's absolutely true that crappy recording won't be masked by Heresy IIIs or Forte IIIs, nor will crappy gear upstream, or at least if not "crappy" per se, gear with characteristics you don't like such as uncomfortable treble tone won't make it with these speaker designs as they sort of toss the sound at yer earballs with speed lacking apology.

The Forte IIIs really lay recordings bare.   The difference from good to bad ones on  the Forte IIIs is about as big as I've heard.    Not sure the Heresy's are similar in that regard.   

Helps to listen though and it also depends on the room settings. The issue too is so many audio enthusiasts are just relying on flat audio settings.  In my opinion this whole thing about playing music flat is for the birds. That means one assumes that one setting works for every album and  that’s absurd.  When I buy records at store I’m not gonna know how well the recording really is until I play it.  Every room has a different sound and every album has a different sound.  If a person has an amplifier that has harsh characteristics, it’s just going to get transmitted through the speaker.  Tone controls help tone it down.  Some music is very warm like Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith.  On the other hand Herb Alpert albums typically sound more harsh.  With tone control I can make  adjustments to bass and treble.  I don’t think it’s practical to find amazingly well recorded albums all the time.  Some have a good bass extension and some don’t.  I’d still love to hear the Forte  side by side.

the stereophile measurements for these! yikes!

Decided to share my take on the Heresy and Sub.

https://youtu.be/IuS8JfXRJhc

I like tighter and more controllable bass which might be why I formed that opinion from an initial listen, plus I already had the subs subs that are very adjustable. The "new" mid horn has been accepted by Klipsch freaks as an improvement and I did like the general clarity of 'em, but the Heresy IIIs sounded more like the speakers I was using I suppose...those are Silverline Preludes I only replaced as I wanted the 99db efficiency for my little SEP amp. I still have the Preludes as I can't bring myself to sell them...yet...

Wolf,
The drivers in the Forte III and Heresy seem to be similar, at least I think. Would the wider spacing of the drivers along with the larger front baffle of the Forte be some of the cause of the lack of coherency you hear between the two? I'm just curious...

What? You ignored my advice? Wow man...and using your college kids to pressure your wife isn't even legal in most places. Unfortunately, you likely will enjoy your Forte IIIs for many years regardless of your crass self centered attitude clearly calculated to make Heresy owners feel bad. You have to live with that...however, get a Dennis Had Firebottle amp and I'll try and get over the Forte III issue...not going to be easy...*sniff*...

Update...

Well with the help of my two college age kids I was able to convince my wife that two Fortes is better than two Heresys + two subwoofers. Along with that I listened to some Chainsmokers and Sylvan Esso last night when nobody was home to distract me and have decided I have enough subsonic bass to live with....at least for the time being. So the Forte IIIs stay! They truly are wonderful sounding and well built speakers. Now to add the MC2105 and see if everything improves!

 

Thanks to all of you for your advice and insight. I look forward to many years as a happy Klipsch owner now.

Trade the wife.

The Batphone just rang...clearly I relish any opportunity to blather about Heresy IIIs...I listened to the new version Fortes at around the same time I was auditioning the Heresy IIIs, and although the Fortes are a somewhat unique design they do sound similar to the Heresy IIIs, but for my tastes anyway, not quite as coherent overall. Also the size of the Heresy is more appealing to me so when I found an "open box" deal on Ebay I snapped 'em up...1000 bucks off list price (surprisingly it was the "Capitol" version that arrived, although this version is sonically identical to the regular version for 500 bucks more, these come with unique finishes...black is sort of dark purple). You can still get that deal by the way...some company based in Nevada called "acousticsounddesign." Free shipping to my house near Boston took 3 days! The price difference is such that you can buy a great sub and the Heresy's for less than a Forte pair...I already had 2 REL subs, and those combined with the Heresy IIIs 58hz low frequency limits sound astonishingly good. The short and fat stature of the Heresy cabinet is somewhat unobtrusive relative to tower or standmount speakers I've owned so that's a good thing also. The 99db efficiency and 8 ohm rating fits with my little single ended amp perfectly. Here's a cool review: https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-119-ken-micallef-june-2018

dweller, that is another way to do it, but imo, might confuse the op to what he would want, as there are some design differences. Just a few, lol. Enjoy ! MrD.

@mrdecible - I was going to say: Borrow some La Scallas for a week. They will make the Forte's seem tiny!

Show your wife pictures of some other larger speakers and she will change her mind. Enjoy ! MrD.

I say stall and make excuses until the Forte become the norm. I have the Forte and friend has the Heresy for similar reasons you may get. I find there are no comparisons and it may prove difficult to intergrate a sub. Just my 2 cents.

note... I have not heard the 3s for either version.

Paging Wolf Garcia! Wolf Garcia to the courtesy phone, please!