I have never understood why Klipsch discontinued the Forte II and Quartet, both of these speaker have all the power, emotion and clarity Klipsch are famous for.  I had Heresy II's and got the Forte II's in trade, the F II's needed some cabinet refinishing, when that was done, I ended up with a really room filling experience.  The large midrange horn and powerfull bass line are truly incredible.

I was my impression was that the Quartet and Forte II were at price points below the Cornwall, and both spec out as well or better than the Cornwall.  The Heresy series are the most amazing little speakers on the face of the planet, but the size of the Heresy series limits their bass ability.  A wise man once said, "with the Heresy you want a subwoofer, with the Forte II, you want to turn the bass down..."

I had converted my '85 HII's into HIII's via the conversion kit, the difference was remarkable.  The tweeter, sqwaker and woofer were all signifiganty improved, and the Heresy has always been a pretty speaker when well taken care of.  The Forte II's I got were black ash, not the prettiest finish, but a little sanding, some wipe-on poly and vacumming the grilles made things a bit better.  The Forte II's have some serious power, far exceeding much of the Reference line as does the Quartet series.  So the queston is why discontinue something really good in place of something ok.  Granted PWK never annointed either series, Forte or Quartet, but surely he wouldn't have annointed a good part of the Refernce of Synergy line.  

My proposal, bring back the Forte II and Quartet II, have a Klipsch family member bless them as Heritage and sell them as Heritage.   Surely they have the performance and  sonic quality worthy of the Heritage line.

 

 I ask this question to Mr. Klipsch at the last Klipsch gathering. Though they would like to, the labor and source materials are not cost effective , in todays marketing scheme................

The correct family would be the Chorus II, Forte II and the Quartet. 

A great family of speakers! 

 

I love my Forte II's.

Jay

I don't need them nor do I have any room for them, and it has been 20 years since I have heard them but yet, I still want a pair anyway. How do you explain that to the wife when you wheel in the handtruck? What the Heresys aren't good enough for our tiny apartment, where you sit 10 feet from the speakers???

I think the main problem with the Forte II's is that they're too good. I seriously doubt Klipsch could remake the Forte II and sell it at the $1200 a pair they used to sell for. It's also pretty obvious that they aren't easy to make as they have that extra moving part stuck in the back compared to the other heritage speakers.

 I agree with you on both counts. The H II to H III conversion kit is well worth the money, and forte II is a fantastic speaker.

 

M

My Forte II served me well as my fronts for quite a while and are kickin butt as my rears now. I agree they are a great speaker.

Wait a minute.  I believe PWK did have his hand in the Forte II.  Rumor was he had a pair in his office.

Also, the family all had autotransformers.  That hasn't happened since (?).  In my suspicious mind, that happened because PWK wanted it that way.

I can see the problem about this line causing the rest to blush.  OTOH the three-way design with the passive must have run up manufacturing costs. 

Further, Klipsch seems to have determined that very tall and thin is what the consumer wants. 

I like to think that the Paladium is the decendent of that line.  Unfortunately, with the curved panels, there was no room for a passive. I'd love to hear Forte II and Paladium in a run off. 

- - - -

I like to tell the tale of how I went to Milwaukee on Amtrak to pick up my second hand Forte II units, cash on the barrel head, without listening to them. (I' was a trusting soul, back then.) 

The seller on the forum made it sound like he might sell them, and they were oak, I wanted walnut.  In week or two he really wanted to sell them.  (Maybe a job issue.)  This happended sooner than I thought, but now I was committed. So I took Amtrak from Chicago up to Milwaukee on a Saturday.

The Amtrak people just about insisted they had to be put in the baggage car and would be delivered to the baggage claim in Chicago.  For a whopping $10 buck charge. Heck, cheap.   I went over to a local department store for lunch waiting for the train to return to Chicago.  The store was like something out of
"A Christmas Story."  It was early December.  Ralphie was there someplace.

After the trip back to Chicago I found the airport style baggage conveyor.  Waiting, waiting, waiting. The two big cardboard boxes didn't appear.  Oh gosh. They must be still sitting next to track in Milwaukee or waiting for the same train to shuttle up and back, again.  Horrors.

The nice Amtrak lady traced them down.  They were in the baggage storage room in the bowels of Union Station , and I could get them.  Wow, Union Station is a rabbit warren going down six levels.  Maybe the boxes were too big for the conveyor.  It is a shame this infrastructure is not used anymore. 

I got the boxes on the folding hand cart I brought along and went up the elevator. Then about five blocks in the light snow including over the Chicago River (it had been snowing since the top of the page).  Finally into the office in the shadow of the Chicago El. 

I tested them with a table radio which really didn't impress me. The next day I bought a Sony mini-system and hooked them up in place of the shoebox speakers.  Impossibly good, fantastic.

Well, this is just part of the lore of most purchases of second hand Klipsch speakers. The long, sometimes challenging journey is part of the deal and enhances the pride of ownership.  The seller was wrong,  They were walnut, like I wanted.

Wm McD

 Great story Gil!  Thanks.

I just picked up a pair of Forte on the side of the road the other day. I was looking at them and the guy selling said they were asking 40.00 but would take 30.00. They do have some moderate veneer damage (split and raised up on top of one of the speakers) and one of the speaker binding posts is broken off but after looking at the drivers which are in nice shape I took them.

Erniek:

but after looking at the drivers which are in nice shape I took them.

You didn't take them, you stole them at that price!   Incredible deal!!