Upgrading a pair of Klipsch Forte

[wapo54001]

In the mid 1980s I bought a pair of Klipsch Fortes for my living room. In some ways they were very nice, but the bass always struck my as 'muddy' and the highs, when played loudly, seemed stressed, not natural. So, when the space got smaller, I switched to a pair of Roger LS3/5s to good effect, and I didn't miss the Klipschs.

Now, I want to fill a bigger space again, and play at high volume. I've dug the Klipschs back out. A few minutes of playing reminded me of why I set them aside in the first place, but a little research on the web brought me to Bob Crites, who sells many Klipsch repair and upgrade parts. We exchanged emails and, based on his advice, I'm getting new diaphragms for the tweeter horns and new capacitors for the crossovers. He says the midrange horn doesn't improve much with a new diaphragm, and these upgrades are the sweet spot in the price/performance curve.

Still, I'm wondering about the tubby bass and what, if anything, can be done to tighten it up. Does anyone have any experience with these speakers and/or a suggested solution to this part of the problem?

Those parts are enroute. As I wait, I'm

[Frank Berry]

The following link provides some useful information:
Greg Smith Reviews....

I purchased a pair of Klipsch model F3 loudspeakers a couple of years ago. The bottom end sounds terrific. I'm powering mine from a pair of little 4WPC vacuum tube monoblocks. I've also used higher powered solid state amplifiers. They all sound nice.
Perhaps your problem is the positioning of the loudspeakers in your room.

[Racket Scientist]

You might consider adding some internal bracing to the cab, and possibly adjusting the amount and type of stuffing.

[WithTarragon]

Don't bother with the bracing, that is not your problem. The F3s are a different critter, so there is no reason to compare them.

The original Forte actaully had better bass then the version 2. You might want to look at what the differences were. The crossovers were set up differently, but I don't remeber if the drivers were different.

An inexpensive strategy would be to spend some time and energy on speaker placement and possibly some modest room treatment. If you don't have measurement tools, then the task is tedious, since you need to try-listen-try --- again and again.

You might want to post this question over at the Klipsch site. Some of the folks are quite helpful.

[wapo54001]

Originally Posted by WithTarragon

You might want to post this question over at the Klipsch site. Some of the folks are quite helpful.

Thanks for this response.

Actually, I have done some reading since I posted, and have found some interesting info on the airtightness of these boxes. Apparently the gasket between the passive radiator and the box is problematic and should be replaced (these are 25 years old) and also the plastic inserts that the grill posts fit into can be very loose, allowing considerable air to escape.

Someone noted that if you press in on the passive radiator, the woofer should move at the same time, and stay pushed out for 'at least three seconds.' For sure my boxes aren't nearly that airtight.

If I have air leaks in the box and the passive radiator doesn't track the woofer, it seems logical that sound would deteriorate since an air leak will allow the passive to not respond fully, and to return to centered well before the woofer does, and you'd have these two diaphragms operating out of sync.

I'm going to order some gasket tape from parts-express and re-gasket all the drivers and the binding post area, and re-glue all the grill pin parts.

After I replace the capacitors and reseal the boxes, I'll hopefully have a better sounding bass.