Been looking at these Klipsch Forte II's on CL for about a month. I figured as time went by, they were getting more and more into my price range. Finally contacted the guy and tried to agree on price. He was still about 3x what I wanted to give - even though his price was in line with what these should bring (in good to very-good condition at least).
Gave it about 2 more weeks to simmer and contacted him again. He told me "You really need to come listen to these before you make up your mind". I agreed and we met this morning. Super-nice guy btw. He buys the abandoned storage lockers like you see on TV and sells the contents. These speakers were inside one that he purchased - go figure?
Once there, I was stunned at how frickin' big these things are. Wow, didn't think Forte II's were that big. I was right, they are not - what I was looking at was Chorus II's, not Forte's. Another bonus: Consecutive Serials :thmbsp:
Some say the Forte's are better, some say the Chorus.... regardless, I'm just trying to figure out what kind of bribe I am going to have to promise the wife before she will allow these huge things in the house?? :scratch2: I think I already dodged a bullet with the DQ-10's, but these things are in a whole other league - size-wise.
Anywho, back to the story.... The guy has them hooked-up to an 80's Yamaha 120 watt receiver. He puts on some 80's rock and cranks the volume all the way to MAX! I kid you not - full volume! My ears were on fire!
He yells "Sound great huh? They don't even distort at full volume!"
Well, yeah they do and all sorts of bad things are likely to happen real soon so I sneak my hand over to the volume knob and lower it down to about 11 o'clock. They were still rocking the foundation btw. "That's cool", I say hoping the VC's aren't already melted.
He reaches over and cranks it back to MAX and yells "They are louder than any bar speaker I have ever heard!".
Again, I sneak my hand over and back it down to reasonable levels all the time thinking Jeeze, don't blow them up before I can buy them.
We were able to come to an agreement on price and I loaded them into the back of the truck. :yes:
Here are some pics.
I always complain that people should at least knock the dust off before posting pics but I wanted you to see them "farm-fresh".
Not too many problems.
Wood is decent, grills are sagging a bit. Emblems are missing.
The radiators have the dust caps push and one of them has a small puncture in the cone. I think I can fix that will a little glue on the back side and some tissue paper. The dust caps should be no problem.
One of the risers is separating on the corner but that should be fixable too.
All the screws have some rust on them.
All drivers are functional and sound great. I don't think anyone has even been inside.
Stay tuned, I will post pics as the restoration progresses.
Gave it about 2 more weeks to simmer and contacted him again. He told me "You really need to come listen to these before you make up your mind". I agreed and we met this morning. Super-nice guy btw. He buys the abandoned storage lockers like you see on TV and sells the contents. These speakers were inside one that he purchased - go figure?
Once there, I was stunned at how frickin' big these things are. Wow, didn't think Forte II's were that big. I was right, they are not - what I was looking at was Chorus II's, not Forte's. Another bonus: Consecutive Serials :thmbsp:
Some say the Forte's are better, some say the Chorus.... regardless, I'm just trying to figure out what kind of bribe I am going to have to promise the wife before she will allow these huge things in the house?? :scratch2: I think I already dodged a bullet with the DQ-10's, but these things are in a whole other league - size-wise.
Anywho, back to the story.... The guy has them hooked-up to an 80's Yamaha 120 watt receiver. He puts on some 80's rock and cranks the volume all the way to MAX! I kid you not - full volume! My ears were on fire!
He yells "Sound great huh? They don't even distort at full volume!"
Well, yeah they do and all sorts of bad things are likely to happen real soon so I sneak my hand over to the volume knob and lower it down to about 11 o'clock. They were still rocking the foundation btw. "That's cool", I say hoping the VC's aren't already melted.
He reaches over and cranks it back to MAX and yells "They are louder than any bar speaker I have ever heard!".
Again, I sneak my hand over and back it down to reasonable levels all the time thinking Jeeze, don't blow them up before I can buy them.
We were able to come to an agreement on price and I loaded them into the back of the truck. :yes:
Here are some pics.
I always complain that people should at least knock the dust off before posting pics but I wanted you to see them "farm-fresh".
Not too many problems.
Wood is decent, grills are sagging a bit. Emblems are missing.
The radiators have the dust caps push and one of them has a small puncture in the cone. I think I can fix that will a little glue on the back side and some tissue paper. The dust caps should be no problem.
One of the risers is separating on the corner but that should be fixable too.
All the screws have some rust on them.
All drivers are functional and sound great. I don't think anyone has even been inside.
Stay tuned, I will post pics as the restoration progresses.
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