New Klipsch Forte IV

One thing that I forgot to mention. If you are listening to a well produced piece, these sound unreal! If you are listening to something not so well produced-The Fortes will make you well aware of it....There are some 1960's Blues records that were very well recorded back in the day that make my jaw drop. There are pop records recorded last year that make me cringe. So there is that to factor in...

Heard the Cornwall Iv vs Heresy IV in the showroom. Was blown away. I was auditioning speakers in the $4-8k range vs. my historical $1-2k budget. 
 

I didn't hear the Forte IV's that day, but the store owner would only play high res jazz. I had to depend on online reviews to evaluate the bass characteristics of the heritage line, and in an unprecedented move (for me) ordered the Fortes without hearing them. I was afraid the Heresy's would fall short in the bass department, but they were so similar to the Cornwalls (compared to other lines he carried) I was confident that the Fortes would have the same open live sound they I liked. 
 

indeed, the Fortes liven up my room compared to my Paradigm 800F's that sounded so good in the store but got swallowed by my room characteristics (although they are amazing in their new home, my recording studio). I can't comment on the III's, I've never heard them. 
 

So the Fortes are doing quite well, and provide an experience that is new to me and way better than the $1-2k speakers that preceded them. That being said, since I have had numerous speakers in this room and their respective room correction measurements I can say without a doubt that the Fortes roll off the high end quite aggressively. Not sure how that is possible with horn tweeters, but it is what it is. It's completely opposite the Klipsch Reference Premiere center channel that I bought to go with them. Otherwise, they sound amazing with all types of music and in all listening positions. I'm not sure if the Heresys would have made me happy, but I have a hard time saying that the Cornwalls I heard would be all that much of an improvement 

 I compared them to the B&W 702 ( which the Store didn't do them any favors in setup). They sounded blase to me. 
 

Hmmm. Was that a BB? 702's are a real lively speaker. 

That was a wise move with the Forte over the Heresy..   I like the Heresy but the Forte rocks and doesn't need a sub

I’d like to share my recent experience. The binding posts on my Klipsch Forte 4 are always coming loose. As I was planning to replace the cheesy pound-in metal caps (like you find on a chair leg) with spikes, I decided to open the binding post panel and tighten things up as long as the speaker was off its base.

This is what I found: 1. speaker wires were reversed on one of the woofer’s binding posts (positive on negative and vice versa). 2. Discovered that Klipsch is using .002 inch/thick stainless steel strips as "extenders", that bridge the distance from the binding post to the wire that goes to the crossover. These strips are approximately 3/4 X 1/4 inch (and .002, two thousands inch thick). I replaced these (8) strips with beefier solid copper copies. To my ears, the copper extenders made a world of difference. Sound is much less strident at volume, soundstage width and depth increased dramatically, sound is more natural and organic, and instrumental identity and imaging has improved.

As far as the always-loose binding posts, the easiest solution is to use banana plugs on your wire.

For spades, the most you can do is drop the BP panel (six screws) and tighten the inside nut of each post, with a small screw driver inserted in the hole of the outside post. This is as tight as it will ever be. I’d advise against Locktight as it may hamper contact and reduce the audio signal. Once the binding post assembly is tight, reassemble everything and NEVER tighten the large nuts more than finger tight when you connect your speaker wire (any tighter will just re-loosen the assembly).

IMO, this binding post design is, to be polite, bad engineering.

Please note: These improvements while using a 14 year old Onkyo HT receiver. I can't wait to hear what a good tube amp will sound like!

The good news is that the Forte 4s are much better speakers than I thought!