Crites crossovers, rebuild or new for Forte IIs?

I had Forte IIs for ten years, what seems like a long time ago now. Rebuilt my own crossovers with some paper in oil caps, purchased a bunch of upgraded resisters to dial in close tolerances. Added vibration damping to the backs of the horns.
After all that, it wasn't much if any different than stock. Probably because I put in upgraded replacement parts with stock values.

My advice, buy the ALKs. You can always put updated parts in the stock crossovers to refresh them which would be more similar to the Crites and stock versions.

 

Believe me, you want the better sound than the factory Forte II's.

As Al form ALK indicated, the decision to upgrade to titanium diaphragms is up to you.

I don't particularly care for them myself. One of my pairs of A7's has them and I don't care for them. They sound metallic to me.

My main A7's with the ALK crossover's, don't have metal diaphragms and I think they sound more natural.

I would do the ALK crossover upgrade first and then decide from there.

I would definitely want you to hear the Fortes II with the upgraded crossovers first, before you do anything else.

 

I agree, if you go this route, do these, listen for a while and decide if further upgrades are needed and if you do the diaphragms you will then know the changes you are hearing due to the diaphragms. I built a pair of Super Heresy's (google them if interested, Claude on Klipch forums) and used ALK crossover. Being these were built from scratch I don't have a frame of reference to compare but I think they are quality built and sound good, but nothing to compare against. Good luck!!

 

I have Forte 1's. Did the Crites full crossovers last Saturday. Made a already great sounding speaker even more enjoyable. Took all of an hour to swap out. YMMV

 

As I have already commented, it is not only Klipsch, but Altec Lansing. They both know how to manufacture outstanding speakers, but neither of them knew all that much when it came to crossover technology. Besides that, capacitor technology, with regard to audio has vastly improved over the years.

This is on of a pair of A7's that another individual had customized. He spend a lot of money cutting 8" off the bottom of the original cabinets and enclosing them in an outer cabinet, which he had veneered in what appears to be a black walnut real wood veneer.

The Eminance Kappa Pro bass drivers that are in my main pair were $175/ea. and the bass drivers he used in these cabinets are from Europe and cost $350/ea. by themselves.



The drivers for the HF horns that I use are the 908 series, which have the Altec Symbiotic diaphragms, while this pair has their 9+02 series, which are aluminum. I don't particularly care for their "metallic" sound. I don't particularly care for most metal tweeters.

The 908 series drives handle twice the power of the 902 series, which are supposed to be the better sounding drivers. I don't agree.



These also have their original Altec Frequency Dividing Networks (which is what Altec calls their crossovers). The previous owner spent some money having them recapped, I don't know with what, but I still don't care for them. They need to be replaced with ALK crossovers and the diaphragms need to be replaced with the Symbiotic variety.



These cabinets have custom made, removable grill cloths, so they look like large monoliths, with the grills installed.

The grills are photographed in front of a corrugated aluminum warehouse door.



Just because you use expensive components, is no guarantee alone, that you are going to end up with a superior sound.

These custom speakers are still going to require some time, money and effort in order for them to sound their best.

 

Just bought the Crites crossovers and new tweeters for my Chorus II's... I am excited to see what happens. These are all original from 91 so I am stoked to hear in an increase in performance!!!

 

You should be very happy! I certainly was when I did almost the same to my Chorus 1's (I got his crossovers, but instead of buying complete new Crites tweeters, I just exchanged his updated diaphragms in my tweeters) and it almost seemed like I gave them a new blood transfusion, if that makes sense to you?

 

It does! I am a luddite and not technically proficient, but was the install easy?

 

My wife helped me immensely with getting all of Crite's stuff installed for me and it took a few hours, which I'm guessing is not that bad for two amateurs. The ironic thing about my wife is that she works in the lab at a local hospital and she can basically tear apart and put back together $165,000 equipment, but she can't remember how to turn on my McIntosh amp and pre-amp, LOL.

 

I am also looking forward to any thoughts you have on the work to replace the crossover and any improvements in sound. I am thinking of doing the same to my original Fortes.

 

Ok I did it, installed today in one of my two...(myself! Very proud only took me 90 minutes)-definitely Brighter, symbols and vocals are clearer- but almost harsher in your face...I kind of find myself preferring the original softer sound right now- Playing Bealtes Sgt Pepper mono. Any advice? Will they settle in with break in?

I am slightly ambivalent. Vocals are clearer but I am not sure I enjoy listening as much...

 

It might be the new tweeters you put in. I would give them a bit to settle in. For the most my Quartet's we like that too when I first put in the new crossovers. Not sure how much was everything settling and how much I got used to the new sound. I have found that I don't need as much volume to enjoy my system now with everything being clearer. This is a CD only system tho.

 

Definitely would agree with that! (which is probably a good thing in the long run!) I am going to switch over the other one and see. Definitely is clearer though, people were not wrong. I am going to store the original parts and if I get tired or not impressed I guess I can always re-install....

 

I still have mine too. I think in the long run I enjoy listing at a lower level. I use a Marantz 2040 and never go above 10 o'clock for the most part. Give them a chance and you ears to run in. I think you will like how they sound.

 

Haha wow, so I took out the new tweeters and reinstalled them and now its different. Ok , I will give them a week!

 

I have Forte Is and I replaced the crossover with an ALK designed crossover that I built myself. I chose all of the resistors, inductors and capacitors and mounted them on a piece of wood with point to point wiring. I also replaced the internal wire and tweeter and mid diaphragms. I also used Cardas copper binding posts. I put some braces inside of the cabinet. I advise putting a cross brace on the front between the mid horn and woofer where the Forte I front baffle is very thin (not the same with the Forte II).

Scott

 

I can always revert to the original components if I decide its not for me right?

 

Just recap it yourself....why send it away...piece of cake....

 

So I pulled the trigger on Crites updates and it was not the sound for me- too bright.

Crites cannot take the crossovers back. What should I do? I listed on the third party sales page if anyone is interested. I am kind of bummed but I really dig the ti tweeters.

 

Thanks for passing on your experience. I am considering some updates to my Fortes as well. Could you elaborate on how the titanium tweeters changed the sound? I would have thought they would add to the brightness?

 

Originally I did both upgrades together (new tweeters and new crossovers). It made the experience almost in your face and with reduced depth (I actually got headaches, but I have medical issues). I described it has listening fatigue.

I then installed the tweeter in my left speaker and kept the original crossovers. It made the symbols crash more vivid and gave more bite to the highs but the warmth I liked I about my original sound remained. So went that route- I prefer warm sounding speakers over bright. Perhaps I just got lucky with this particular pair of Klipsches (I know that is not the usual Klipsch sound)?

Hope that helps!

 

So glad I found a discussion on Forte ii speaker crossovers! Perhaps I should start a new thread?
I am planning to replace the capacitors in a pair of Forte ii. I have Mundorf supreme 2.2 400v caps on hand. Would someone be able to give their opinion on the impact on the sound of the speaker by replacing the 2 uf capacitors with a 2.2?


thanks,
mike

 

My understanding is it should still work. You should go to DIY Audio forum

 

Ask the builder if the crossover slopes/ points are changed from stock. If not the sound should be close to the same. There used to be a fella by the name of Dean that also made Klipsch crossovers. It's a giant rabbit hole. Enjoy.