Your review gave me good 'chills' ! I have the Forte 4's paired with a Willsenton R8 in my smallish 18x24' dedicated space and I could not be happier ! They are joined by a pair of Martin Logan Classic 9 ESLs with all Parasound gear as an alternative system. Thanks again for such a great and HONEST review and so glad you kept that pair for yourself, they look great in the 'great' room 👍
Klipsch brought me out of the audiophile doldrums last year. Oh, I still have my Focals and LS3/5a among others , but man my HeresyIV’s on tubes with subs… I’m happy again.
Good to hear and Interesting, what do you think they bring over your other speakers? I have recently done the same with a pair of horns, the JBL 4367 and moved away from traditional audiophile stuff. I demoed the Cornwall IV and Forte before buying the JBLs. I feel the JBLs are more refined (smoother with less box/cone noise etc) and crazy dynamic. I feel is the best of both worlds as it does the audiophile refinement with slam at all frequent and bass texture many speakers lack. They are a lot more money but worth seeking out if you can find a deal. The bass detail is so good I lowered the highpass on my JL subs down from 60hz to 40hz because the 4367 is out performing them at 40-60hz with more detail. So yes horns have changed my option on what is important. Dynamics have moved to the top of my list.
Recently and I feel very lucky I obtained two pair .. of the Klipsch 4K model 3. New in the box grade A.. apparently they've been sitting hiding in a warehouse since 2017. Without anyone really knowing that they existed.. and I asked a certain retailer about them.. he scoured his inventory and voila. Receive them 2 weeks ago and are they wonderful. American Walnut with Lamb's wool coats.. all four speakers are in sequence.. and the price for the forte model 3 new in their boxes 8th grade.. was a genuine gift thank you so much..
Very good review. Ive got Cornwall IVs amplified by tubes, and a pair of REL 212sx's, and your description of the strengths & limitations of the Forte IV hold equally true with my speakers.
Thank you for this honest informative review. I have a chance to buy a pair of 1 year old IV's from my brother in law for about $2k USD so I appreciate your "earview" of them.
I found a 3/4 watt 1626 Darling tube amplifier on my local Craigslist for $200. Hooked it up to my 1996 Forte II with a 50 year old McIntosh C26 preamplifier and streaming Tidal MQA on a Bluesound and the sound is amazing!
Thanks for the review. I do believe I'm getting them. I just got my first HiFi system in more than 30 years. It was a close call between Sonus Faber , Klipsch Forte and Martin Logan Motion, but I settled for the Sonus Faber, but I miss the Forte's they had "that" sound and fun. I think I'll move the Sonus Faber upstairs and use the Forte's in my man cave.
I have the fortes, I like them, but very different from the totems (totems are more 3-D sounding) that I have. They definitely have a vibe, and if would ever replace them, it would probably be with the bigger heritage speakers.
Thank you for the detailed and informative review. I’m considering purchasing a pair to replace my 24 year old Dynaudio T 2.5’s. The darker stand mounted speaker looks like a Dynaudio special 25. How do they compare to the Forte fours? Thanks for your time.
I love my cheap HS8 for record listening too (not just for critical, flat, neutral studio use)… but dream of Klipsch one day. Would Forte or Cornwall be a considerable upgrade, difference, change for the better?
I have the Heresy IV, and they have the qualities of dynamism and excellent, excellent, for low-volume listening... but I'm yearning for the big TALL soundstage, so I'll be trading in the Heresy for the Forte IV.
Klipsch to my knowledge doesn’t have any bad products. Even the smallest bookshelf speakers sound good. I have a midrange bookshelf and I enjoy every piece of music that I listen to with them.
Great review, funny...I came close to the same conclusions but by using poor man's versions of the types of amps you mentioned. Ulimately though I kept my class A Vincent hybrid amp and sold my Decware tube SET and Yamaha AS2200. Loving these with classic rock though cause I can't do without it, some is recorded better than others, and my Wharfedale Lintons just didn't rock loud enough. With the Vincent, I'm happy listening to an old Marantz FM tuner or a nice R2R or tube dac as it just gives such pleasant soft but weighty presense to music without the overbearing upper mids and highs. They are still not particulary forgiving but certainly are amazing and a good choice if you can only have one set of speakers that can do it all (much more impressive than my Kef and Wharefedales and sounds like can compete even with much more expensive speakers in many ways)
@@allenwilliams8962 yes, that's correct...I much preferred the character (added bass weight and sweeter more forgiving mids and highs).The Decware's mids and highs ran me out of the room on many songs that sound just fine on the Vincent. Always had to turn it down whereas the Vincent makes me want to turn the music up. Also found the Forte's love the 140 watts even though they are efficient. I'd imagine the better the class A amp, the better the Forte's sound
Heard… Somewhere Down the Crazy River” by Robbie Robertson, on these speakers… Wow! It is entirely possible a very high-quality tube amp, like the Leben, might be the perfect mate for the Fortes. Softer sound tendencies mated with a potentially slightly bright speaker. Btw, that Dan Patlansky song doesn’t sound acoustic, more like an electric Strat
I would try some John Fahey if you like acoustic. I’m on day 2 and Radiohead killed, especially OK, In Rainbows especially. Put on the 2018(?) White Lp remaster and I’ve never heard these album like that. Joe Jackson’s ‘Stepping Out’. I think I need a bit more control on eq but I’m digging it day 2. I may need to treat my corners. Loving it in a 16 x 28 ft. foot run.
Acquaintances of mine who had never thought before that I would be smoking the good stuff.. call FedEx come up to the house and bring in four of these... Now understandably for I thought why not just six so that's what was done and then to finish the surround sound setup for the other three speakers I brought in 3 have some really fun same model right left in the center good towers still haven't decided yet whether I really need subs but you never know even if the subs are just perfect to put that punch in the bottom end of what you're listening to without blowing the room up and vibrating the nails out of the foundation of your house..
Were ya using the Leben as a pre-amp or direct amp to speaker? or which amp were you using in addition.? And how does one procure the Leben? I saw Tone imports is their listed retailer, but their website does not elaborate.
I use it as an integrated amp with just a streamer/DAC going into it. Yes they are imported by Tone Imports who then distributes them to a dealer network. I'm sure if you reach out to them, they could point you in the right direction to some of their dealers.
It's funny how everybody mention efficiency. If you pair any Klipsch with a low wattage but poorly designed amp, you'll end up looking for an ENT in your network... if you know what I mean. So here is my advice: regardless of being 99Db efficient, pair it with a good amp. At this point, the "equation" ends up like this: "affordable" speakers (Forte IV) with low wattage top notch not that much affordable amp. Don't believe me? Go ahead and check any tubes amp made by a reputable brand. It is known that Klipsch plays well with valves (old term-valvulas). Go figure.
No disrespect to Klipsch lovers, but nothing I've ever heard from Klipsch, including the entire Heritage series, did it for me. I'm not sure why - they just sound boring next to my ADS 1230s which I've had for over 40 years. A couple years ago, I heard a used pair of the discontinued Chorus (similar in size and drivers to the Forte) in a local audio store (Just Audio). Again, my reaction was meh. I heard an a/b of the Cornwalls against my ADS 1230s. No contest. I've wanted to like Klipsch but have never been able to get there. To each his own.
Funny I’m considering these and that why I am here and I currently have the Heritage specials, I know they are different but curious what you prefer to listen to?
@@TriAmpHiFi Perhaps. But please elaborate your direct experience with these speakers and how the height of the tweeter has such a positive or negative impact on the sound that would necessitate calling it out.
