Belle Klipsch review

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by SKATTERBRANE, Mar 18, 2018.

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  1. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Please do not think I can hear the cabinet in any way. It is not like sound comes from the cabinet separate from the music like (and extreme example) the buzzing of a Honda Civic with a cheap subwoofer. I am talking sympathetic notes that are PART of the music. It would be like someone turned up a graphic eq to 10 in the 160-200hz range leaving everything else flat.

    Does that make sense or clear up any confusion? Another thing, volume has nothing do to with it. The sympathetic notes occur at the same proportion and ANY volume. And I have never played them very loud in the first place. That same problem occurred with the K-horns at varying low to mid volume levels.
     
    Last edited: Apr 3, 2018
  2. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    The Klipsch bass horns have issues, they're really old designs. When I had Khorns about 18 years ago, I experimented with active crossovers for them and the output above about 200hz wasn't clean at all. The Jubilee cabinets solve most of these issues.
     
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  3. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Nah, I’d just get a pair of Cornwalls. :cool:
     
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  4. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    I'd suggest Cornscalas of some type or KI-396s like I have, unless he has room for Jubilee bass bins.
     
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  5. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I had Cornwalls back in the 1980s, just before my ears were opened by Martin Logan, B&W and Rogers and before I even thought about imaging, soundstage, all the above. I was a typical Klipsch owner back then.
     
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  6. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I’m thinking about building a pair of cornscalas. I think the kit is less than 2k, seems like a great value.
     
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  7. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I was thinking about having Crites build me a set, but he doesn't do veneering and I wanted a plug and play set. Also, I am very happy with my Rogers Studio 1A back in my system. My daughter had them for awhile so my speaker search has ended for all practical purposes.
     
  8. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I can’t say that I love Klipsch speakers, I totally get the criticisms. What I do love is they way they pair with low power tube amps. I have my fisher 400 working with a pair of Rogers ls3/5a’s and it sounds nice enough but nothing like it does with the big Klipsch. An apples to oranges comparison I know.

    I feel bad like I sent you down a path of buying tube amps that you don’t need. Hopefully you can find a use for them or move them on without a loss. I do have a feeling if that if your run them very long with those other speakers you will get lonesome for the Belles.
     
  9. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I am keeping my Forte Is so there is that. No, no one put me down the wrong path. I will sell of the extra stuff. The only thing that will be difficult to sell are the Belles. I am confident that anyone who digs Klipsch, if they came to my house to hear them, would love them. What they do well, they do impressively well. It is just they do not do some things well that are important to me. I am more grateful for the suggestions I have gotten here than it may seem. My frustration lies strictly with the Belles and nothing else. I certainly learned about how different nice preamps and amps can sound from each other! I have never had so much stuff laying around at the same time! :laugh:
     
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  10. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Funny, as my Cornwalls are replacing my B&W 805d's, which I'm just about to hunt a buyer for. Love those B&W's, but I always fear someone/something doing damage to their ever so fragile diamond tweeters. A few years ago, when a friend who had a specially designed room in his basement with expensive acoustic room effects and speakers that cost $10,000 a piece and one chair, perfectly set in the "sweet spot" to enjoy them and I stepped out of that "sweet spot", I said these kind of guys are NUTS to listen to music that way. Klipsch speakers may not be perfect, but what they do well is "fill the room" with sound. I know how "loud" they can go, but that's not the point for me, as I rarely turn the volume up past 11 am on the volume control. The other day I was playing my Chorus 1's at barely 8 am on the volume control, which is next to zero and they were perfect to fill the room, softly and warmly. I will say though, that nobody cries the statement that I live by, more than I do, especially when it comes to speakers and that is, that speakers do not sound the same to all ears and what I find good for my ears, is not necessarily good for all. Choosing the perfect speakers for yourself is a VERY hard and challenging job to properly get done, as it's not as easy as saying if you like The Beatles or not.
     
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  11. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    And contrary to what some believe the Rogers at 89 spl vs the Belles at 103 (105?) spl are just as dynamic, it just takes a LOT more power. But I have plenty of that lying around!
     
  12. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    And considering how much I like my Fortes, I would not doubt I would also like the Cornwalls properly set up (away from all walls and into the room, vs the way PWK suggests) in the sweet spot. I listen to music a lot from a critical perspective. I am an active listener most of the time. However, I do also listen casually when doing work, chores etc. Where many may watch TV as their primary entertainment, I am sitting in the sweet spot, listening to one of my 5000 CDs. Women who I have lived with do not care about this, but they do enjoy the casual aspects of listening. So, it is not like anyone challenges me to give up my sweet spot.

    Another thing that is at least, if not more, frustrating in choosing turntable, tonearm, cartridge combos. It seems that preamps, amps and CD players tend to sound better with the more money you spend (in general) but cartridges and speakers are far more based on personal tastes vs an absolute quality.
     
  13. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I don’t know about this. I’ve yet to spend more money on a cart, phono stage or table and found that I liked it less. Quite the opposite unfortunately.
     
  14. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Well that is probably true, but personal taste seems to play a more important role when it comes to transducers vs electronics.
     
  15. allied333

    allied333 Audiophile

    Location:
    nowhere
    Cornwalls blow away Forte even with upgraded crossovers and titanium tweeter domes at $200/pr.
     
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  16. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    In what respect? In imaging, soundstage, keeping instruments proportionate in size, disappearing and such matters? Or are you talking bass extension BIGNESS of sound, efficiency, dynamics, etc? There is no Klipsch on the planet that can image like an electrostatic like Martin Logan, Magnepan, Carver or Quads for example.
     
  17. rebellovw

    rebellovw Forum Resident

    Location:
    hell
    Ok Belles I'm cranking my Cornwals hopefully you hear them in Tucson.

    Would love to hear your Belles but I'm a couple hours away.

    If you end up near Prescott hit me up.

    Cheers.

    Chris.
     
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  18. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I lived in Prescott Valley between 1994 and 2009. I visited only once and that was last year.
     
  19. allied333

    allied333 Audiophile

    Location:
    nowhere
    All of the above.
     
  20. cadeallaw

    cadeallaw Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    ...but Klipschs go to 11
     
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  21. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    It is almost like a religion, or maybe a cult.
     
  22. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    Belles are classic looking speakers in my opinion. They certainly speak to me, and have a timeless appeal in my book. I was seriously considering buying a pair if I could find some in driving distance. The plan was to install VTRAK horns in them, and do the crossover upgrade. Pair them up with my Electraprint 300B Custom amp, and revel in the sound.

    Then an unexpected opportunity presented itself, and I bought a pair of 1 year old JBL 4365. I found out to my chagrin that the JBL were not happy with SET amplification. This meant the EP gear got sold, and I bought a Musical Fidelity NuVista M3 integrated. I am happy with my stereo these days.

    However, nothing tops the looks of a pair of Belles in my book. Pair them up with a Leben integrated, or Tokyo Sound Labs, and you have something that looks like it came out of the finest architectural magazines of the late 50's or early 60's.
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2018
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  23. jcmusic

    jcmusic Forum Resident

    Location:
    Terrytown, La.
    I have heard a lot of speakers in my 60 years, until you have heard a properly setup pair of Klipsch speakers with an SET amp in a room that has been treated and Eq ed you haven't heard what Klipsch speakers are capable of...
     
  24. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I am now using my Forte Is and they are more similar to the Rogers Studio 1A than they are to the Belles, sonically speaking (once adjusted for volume). I am happy with either the Forte, Rogers or maybe another pair of ProAcs are in my future? The three different models of ProAcs I had did the best for female vocals than any speaker I have heard. So many have stated the Belles had such a good midrange, and having liked my Forte I, I thought it would be a no brainer to get the Belles. Live and learn.
     
  25. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    End of story. I no longer own the Belles and since I like my Forte I speakers so much, I am getting Forte III speakers. (since I also like my Heresy III speakers!)
     
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