Klipsch Speakers Thread

Single biwire- two connections per speaker at the amp end- normal. Four connections at each speaker- bass and midrange/treble are wired separately and the jumpers get removed.

Bi amping with another C298 would be insane. Depending on how you did it, youā€™d end up with 370 or 620 watts per channel. The 185 per channel I have now is great. Nate at MD did recommend a minimum of 100 watts per channel with the Fortes. I have that covered easily and donā€™t see any reason to make another change amp wise.

Once the new cables arrive, Iā€™m officially done except for the occasional cartridge exchange with Grado as needed.
I had seen it said that biwiring doesnā€™t really do anything. Iā€™ll be very interested in your thoughts as this was something I figured I might play withā€¦. But you know donā€™t want to spend a few hundred bucks doing nothingā€¦
 
I had seen it said that biwiring doesnā€™t really do anything. Iā€™ll be very interested in your thoughts as this was something I figured I might play withā€¦. But you know donā€™t want to spend a few hundred bucks doing nothingā€¦
IMG_2226.jpeg

Well @Lee Newman @David A. (because he asked in a PM) I can tell you that my guy Nate at MD and @Slimwhit33 and @kvetcha are right. In my case, biwiring the Fortes makes a big difference. Big. Difference.

I was kind of surprised that I didnā€™t have more/deeper bass considering the 12ā€ woofer and the 15ā€ passive radiator. I had good bass, but expected, well, more. And that was ok. The dynamics, realism, and midrange purity are so awesome I didnā€™t really worry about it.

Everything I played up until last night was awesome. Then I figured Iā€™d try Lynyrd Skynyrd ā€œOne From The Roadā€. Nope. Didnā€™t even get through the first track. Bright and tinny. Leon Wilkersonā€™s bass was way way down in the mix. A dozen great experiences to 1 dud. I can live with that but the dud was a surprise as this album sounded a bit above average on the Lintons.

After installing the AudioQuest Gibraltar single biwire cable, I figured Iā€™d try it again. Yep. We are good. Still a bit more treble energy than the Lintons, but it sounds like it sounded when I saw them- floor seats in Tampa. Imaging is insane. These cables stay. I expected a minor difference, and a difference where it comes down to personal preference. I didnā€™t expect an improvement. @Lee Newman these were a few hundred bucks more than a few hundred bucks- at 50% off.

Why the big jump in performance? I can think of some reasons. This is just a list in no particular order.

The Fortes need to be biwired to perform their best.

The AudioQuest are just better cables than the Analysis Plus that Iā€™ve had for 20 years.

The AudioQuest solid conductor cables sound better than stranded cables.

The banana plugs make a better electrical connection than spades.

The wacky 72 volt DBS system battery power on the AQ cables makes a difference. Nate at MD says it sounds like snake oil but isnā€™t. He said in 4 years or so when the batteries die, Iā€™ll know. They are easily replaced at any hardware store apparently.

So in short, should you biwire if you can? I donā€™t know. Itā€™s going to come down to your speakers and what cable you choose. If you are curious, get some cables from somewhere with a money back guarantee. If you donā€™t hear or like the difference, return them.

The other thing you could do (and probably should if you arenā€™t going to biwire) is get some wire jumpers to replace the jumper plates your speakers came with.

For now, I have a Lynyrd Skynyrd show to attend. šŸ˜Ž
 
View attachment 173753

Well @Lee Newman @David A. (because he asked in a PM) I can tell you that my guy Nate at MD and @Slimwhit33 and @kvetcha are right. In my case, biwiring the Fortes makes a big difference. Big. Difference.

I was kind of surprised that I didnā€™t have more/deeper bass considering the 12ā€ woofer and the 15ā€ passive radiator. I had good bass, but expected, well, more. And that was ok. The dynamics, realism, and midrange purity are so awesome I didnā€™t really worry about it.

Everything I played up until last night was awesome. Then I figured Iā€™d try Lynyrd Skynyrd ā€œOne From The Roadā€. Nope. Didnā€™t even get through the first track. Bright and tinny. Leon Wilkersonā€™s bass was way way down in the mix. A dozen great experiences to 1 dud. I can live with that but the dud was a surprise as this album sounded a bit above average on the Lintons.

After installing the AudioQuest Gibraltar single biwire cable, I figured Iā€™d try it again. Yep. We are good. Still a bit more treble energy than the Lintons, but it sounds like it sounded when I saw them- floor seats in Tampa. Imaging is insane. These cables stay. I expected a minor difference, and a difference where it comes down to personal preference. I didnā€™t expect an improvement. @Lee Newman these were a few hundred bucks more than a few hundred bucks- at 50% off.

Why the big jump in performance? I can think of some reasons. This is just a list in no particular order.

The Fortes need to be biwired to perform their best.

The AudioQuest are just better cables than the Analysis Plus that Iā€™ve had for 20 years.

The AudioQuest solid conductor cables sound better than stranded cables.

The banana plugs make a better electrical connection than spades.

The wacky 72 volt DBS system battery power on the AQ cables makes a difference. Nate at MD says it sounds like snake oil but isnā€™t. He said in 4 years or so when the batteries die, Iā€™ll know. They are easily replaced at any hardware store apparently.

So in short, should you biwire if you can? I donā€™t know. Itā€™s going to come down to your speakers and what cable you choose. If you are curious, get some cables from somewhere with a money back guarantee. If you donā€™t hear or like the difference, return them.

The other thing you could do (and probably should if you arenā€™t going to biwire) is get some wire jumpers to replace the jumper plates your speakers came with.

For now, I have a Lynyrd Skynyrd show to attend. šŸ˜Ž
Hmmm, now I need to try to figure out how to biwire the Dentonā€™s to the AudioSprout. Do I need to go with Audio Quest cables?
 
Hmmm, now I need to try to figure out how to biwire the Dentonā€™s to the AudioSprout. Do I need to go with Audio Quest cables?
No, but you want ā€œsingle biwireā€ cables. 2 connections per speaker at the amp (normal) but 4 connections on the speaker side. The connections on the speaker side will be marked ā€œbass and trebleā€ or ā€œlow and highā€ or something like that. Get banana connectors.

Having seen your setup, youā€™d likely get more for your money with speaker stands, getting the speakers off of the same surface as your turntable.
 
No, but you want ā€œsingle biwireā€ cables. 2 connections per speaker at the amp (normal) but 4 connections on the speaker side. The connections on the speaker side will be marked ā€œbass and trebleā€ or ā€œlow and highā€ or something like that. Get banana connectors.

Having seen your setup, youā€™d likely get more for your money with speaker stands, getting the speakers off of the same surface as your turntable.
Iā€™m going to have two speaker outputs. Would I still need a single biwire cable or can I just run to both outputs and turn speakers to a+b? (Like Iā€™ll remember however many years from now I get some klipsch/any speaker with the possibility)

I mean i kind of thought it didnā€™t make sense that you would have to have two amps. Rather just enough power to push effectively, but I donā€™t pretend to understand most of this yet.
 
Iā€™m going to have two speaker outputs. Would I still need a single biwire cable or can I just run to both outputs and turn speakers to a+b? (Like Iā€™ll remember however many years from now I get some klipsch/any speaker with the possibility)

I mean i kind of thought it didnā€™t make sense that you would have to have two amps. Rather just enough power to push effectively, but I donā€™t pretend to understand most of this yet.
Youā€™d connect the single biwire amp end to your A outputs.

B is if you want to run a pair of speakers in another room or outside.
 
View attachment 173753

Well @Lee Newman @David A. (because he asked in a PM) I can tell you that my guy Nate at MD and @Slimwhit33 and @kvetcha are right. In my case, biwiring the Fortes makes a big difference. Big. Difference.

I was kind of surprised that I didnā€™t have more/deeper bass considering the 12ā€ woofer and the 15ā€ passive radiator. I had good bass, but expected, well, more. And that was ok. The dynamics, realism, and midrange purity are so awesome I didnā€™t really worry about it.

Everything I played up until last night was awesome. Then I figured Iā€™d try Lynyrd Skynyrd ā€œOne From The Roadā€. Nope. Didnā€™t even get through the first track. Bright and tinny. Leon Wilkersonā€™s bass was way way down in the mix. A dozen great experiences to 1 dud. I can live with that but the dud was a surprise as this album sounded a bit above average on the Lintons.

After installing the AudioQuest Gibraltar single biwire cable, I figured Iā€™d try it again. Yep. We are good. Still a bit more treble energy than the Lintons, but it sounds like it sounded when I saw them- floor seats in Tampa. Imaging is insane. These cables stay. I expected a minor difference, and a difference where it comes down to personal preference. I didnā€™t expect an improvement. @Lee Newman these were a few hundred bucks more than a few hundred bucks- at 50% off.

Why the big jump in performance? I can think of some reasons. This is just a list in no particular order.

The Fortes need to be biwired to perform their best.

The AudioQuest are just better cables than the Analysis Plus that Iā€™ve had for 20 years.

The AudioQuest solid conductor cables sound better than stranded cables.

The banana plugs make a better electrical connection than spades.

The wacky 72 volt DBS system battery power on the AQ cables makes a difference. Nate at MD says it sounds like snake oil but isnā€™t. He said in 4 years or so when the batteries die, Iā€™ll know. They are easily replaced at any hardware store apparently.

So in short, should you biwire if you can? I donā€™t know. Itā€™s going to come down to your speakers and what cable you choose. If you are curious, get some cables from somewhere with a money back guarantee. If you donā€™t hear or like the difference, return them.

The other thing you could do (and probably should if you arenā€™t going to biwire) is get some wire jumpers to replace the jumper plates your speakers came with.

For now, I have a Lynyrd Skynyrd show to attend. šŸ˜Ž

Nice! Just watch out for the Spanish, theyā€™ll keep claiming true ownership of the cables šŸ˜‰
 
I think the Fortes are fully broken in now. Iā€™m beyond thrilled with them. I really cannot imagine wanting anything more or what I could possibly be missing.

I mentioned up thread that Iā€™d try them with the NAD 316BEE and I have. The little NAD has no problem driving the Fortes to satisfying levels (and way beyond) but honestly itā€™s not a good pairing. The 316BEE canā€™t show the full capabilities of the Fortes. Bass response is diminished and the midrange (already somewhat forward compared to Lintons) is a bit too forward for me.

I far prefer my existing NAD separates but itā€™s not a fair fight- they retail for over 7 times the NAD (although I didnā€™t pay that) and my speaker cables are far more expensive than any sane person would use with the 316BEE.

The 316BEE is still my favorite budget amp and is likely to pair well with anything most would pair with it. Itā€™s an amp I could live with long term connected to another pair of more reasonably priced speakers.

My little experiment did reinforce something Iā€™ve known for years- the ā€œspend most of your money on speakersā€ crowd is misguided.
 
Hope to be joining this subgroup soon. My first foray into adult electronics had me with a Klipsch Reference set up. Started with RB3's and then had some RB5's that ended my journey. I think if I had gone the floor speaker way vs. bookshelves, I would have stayed the course. I moved to danish speakers and have been there ever since (die hard Dynaudio speaker fan...which present their own issues - power issues). I picked up a Fischer 500c tube amp and I am ready to get back into some Klipsch. There are some Heresy's going up at an estate sale next week, and I plan on going super early and maybe walking away with them. I am not interested in spending more than $400 for them. I have no way of telling which gen heresy they are. Is there any way to tell from the label on the back?
 
Hope to be joining this subgroup soon. My first foray into adult electronics had me with a Klipsch Reference set up. Started with RB3's and then had some RB5's that ended my journey. I think if I had gone the floor speaker way vs. bookshelves, I would have stayed the course. I moved to danish speakers and have been there ever since (die hard Dynaudio speaker fan...which present their own issues - power issues). I picked up a Fischer 500c tube amp and I am ready to get back into some Klipsch. There are some Heresy's going up at an estate sale next week, and I plan on going super early and maybe walking away with them. I am not interested in spending more than $400 for them. I have no way of telling which gen heresy they are. Is there any way to tell from the label on the back?
Itā€™ll be on the nameplate on the back.
 
Hope to be joining this subgroup soon. My first foray into adult electronics had me with a Klipsch Reference set up. Started with RB3's and then had some RB5's that ended my journey. I think if I had gone the floor speaker way vs. bookshelves, I would have stayed the course. I moved to danish speakers and have been there ever since (die hard Dynaudio speaker fan...which present their own issues - power issues). I picked up a Fischer 500c tube amp and I am ready to get back into some Klipsch. There are some Heresy's going up at an estate sale next week, and I plan on going super early and maybe walking away with them. I am not interested in spending more than $400 for them. I have no way of telling which gen heresy they are. Is there any way to tell from the label on the back?
Heresy III and IV have 5 way binding posts. Series I and II have screw terminals for bare wire only.
 
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