Klipsch Speakers

I have several models of Klipsch Heritage. I have pulled the horns and used dynamat on all, and I now use a 45 watt tube amp. I have also used some vintage ss amps, Bryston, and even a 6 watt tube amp. I have Thiel, Vandersteens, Ohms, B&W, Advent, but I generally listen to one of the Klipsch. Never owned the Forte but consider dynamat on the horns, place them right, and you should get some great sound and not be forced into a high dollar amp due to inefficient speakers. I mostly stream and CD Earl Klugh, Mark Knopfler, James Taylor type music. I am also old and probably have lost some hearing, not a perfectionist nor an audiophile, so YMMV. Seriously you can make them work. Don’t give up. Good luck.

I own both Forte III’s and Forte IVs and can absolutely attest to several things. First, Klipsch horns can sound bright in certain systems. I had this problem with current McIntosh solid state, and it required tone control usage to get rid of the harshness. On vintage solid state and tubes I have found the Fortes to be magnificent, thus my decision to buy a second pair when the IVs came out. I am currently running one pair of Fortes with vintage Citation I and II tubes. The other is being pushed by a Marantz 8B. I have also played the Fortes on a Fisher 800c. In all instances, tubes are amazing. I’ve also enjoyed the Fortes with a slew of vintage SS receivers, like Sansui, Pioneer and the like. But in my experience there is truth to the saying, “tubes love horns.” All in all, the Fortes provide excellent value for the dollar IMO. If you have brightness, pair em with something else, or at least employ tone control. 

So I have a pretty interesting take in this thread.  Here’s why. I actually started reading this thread while waiting for my daughter to help me unbox a brand new pair of Cornwall iv’s.  I only listened to the forte iv’s before purchasing these.  They sounded absolutely amazing in the listening room coupled with an anthem amp.  So the theory that klipsch heritage need or want low power is totally out the window.  I’ll be honest after reading the replies here I thought “dang, did I make a mistake buying these? Was I suckered by their listening room, high dollar amp, Dax, streamer, cables and a perfect room!”   Well after unboxing those Cornwall iv’s I hooked them up to a Yamaha avantage RX-a3080 just to break them in while they finish painting my dedicated theater and listening room.  As I turned the receiver on I was fully expecting to hear exactly as described here.  Bright, overrated, horny, crappy sound.  Well I can tell you. That’s not what I heard.  I’m my living room with a Yamaha receiver and airplay off of my iPhone they still sounded great.  No brightness. No horniness. Nothing as described by the other posters here. I’m certain their ears are different.  I’m certain yours are.  But I also believe as Carlsbad said.  If you are hearing brightness I’m sitting here with a just ok receiver and horrible room listening and so far liking speakers that have been out of their boxes so far around 30 minutes.  

That’s interesting galvarado69, maybe it’s the Naim Uniti Atom, I have a old Yamaha receiver collecting dust in the garage, tomorrow I will hook that up and see what happens…

I have a pair of Cornwall II’s from 1977. Have driven them with both tube and ss. I don’t find them to be bright. And I can’t  stand bright speakers. Try another source?