Klipsch Forte IV. The end.

this episode is brought to you by the all-new nad m10 v2 featuring a size defying and conservatively rated 100 watts per channel of amplification the m10 v2 sets a new standard in audio so [Music] [Laughter] [Laughter] [Music] do you have an idealized sound in your head like can you imagine an ideal sound for you i can but it actually relates to vintage speakers and that sound is very dynamic a little bit warm up top and a fairly good amount of low-end swing it's sort of like almost like a pendulous base and that's what lives in my head i know it's a bit strange if we look at the klipsch forte four loudspeakers behind me they definitely look like a vintage speaker don't they now the forte series was first introduced by klipsch in the 80s but then due to sort of i guess demand changes or people wanting smaller speakers during the 90s it was discontinued but then about four years ago it was revived for the fort a3 and we covered that in 2019 so today's video is about the forte four which i think came out at the start of this year so we're just doing a bit of an update but if you haven't watched my forte three video please do so before going any further with this one and no i'm not going to put the 4a4 on wheels this time [Music] i prefer to listen to these with the grilles on but if we take the grilles off we can see some of the changes that clips have made in going from the forte 3 to the forte 4. so the tweeter here is still a k100 ti it's a titanium tweeter and it is coupled to a klipsch horn mounting and apparently the update is actually to the phase plug on that driver however the biggest change here relates to the mid-range driver which is also in a klipsch horn a tractrix horn now this driver was apparently first developed for the cornwall 4. in the fort a3 it was made of titanium in this new driver it's made of polymide don't ask me what polymide is i don't know if you know what polymide is and why it might matter to a loudspeaker driver let us know in the comment section below because we can all learn the bass driver it's still the same i think as the forte three so it's a 12 inch composite fiber driver but it works in tandem with a driver on the back of the speaker because it's not ported there's a passive radiator driver there and that's 15 inch so those two work together to produce the lower frequencies in the forte4 updates that we can't see apparently klipsch seriously overhauled the crossover in going from the three to the four and this version are rated down to 38 hertz by the manufacturer the nominal impedance here is 8 ohms and the efficiency is 99 db now those of you who saw my sort of best products of 2021 video will know that the zoo sol 6 also have an efficiency of 99 db so that sets up a nice sort of comparison situation both of these speakers sell for roughly sort of five six thousand euros per pair so they're price comparative and yeah i think that this the zoos help us understand better the sound of the clips i hope [Music] now like the zoo the clip she's another big sounding speaker so that means the sound stage goes like crazy wide crazy tall depth not so much i would also say the image specificity from the klipsch comes up just a shade short on the zoos as does mid-range transparency and pop i'd say that the zoos sort of like leap at you the clips are a little bit more sort of standoffish a slightly bigger difference with the klitsch is that their mid bass is a bit richer than the zoos but more than that the clips give us a sort of more low end heft and push in you know right in the bottom they sound like a weightier speaker than do the solve six and that means that the clips will likely play better in larger rooms than the zoo and also the clips i really don't think they need a sub you can add one of course you can but i'm much happier listening to the clips without a sub than i am the zoo and that means the forte4 have a fleshier sound than the zoo the zoo are a little bit leaner and the forte four therefore are richer in their tonality than the zoo so that might appeal to some people however the zoo's speed is unmatched there's such a fast sounding speaker to the end i would say that the forte four aren't quite as sort of snappy and lickety-split as the soul six when it comes to dynamics but dynamics here with both speakers are exceptionally strong and that's the message here for both these speakers they're both really sort of part of a family of very very dynamic sounding loudspeakers now i would say that the zoo are probably the most dynamic i would say that the the klipsch forte4 are probably closer to more sort of traditional hi-fi speakers you know like i know wilson's or vivid audio that i've got in my little storage area back there so if you want something that sort of straddles the middle ground between a sort of traditional sort of hi-fi speaker and a zoo speaker the the clip sort of seemed to sit in the middle there [Music] but what dynamics means for the listener two things as the way i see it first of all it's a much much much more exciting listen but it's also more satisfying at lower listening levels especially these forte4 now you might be asking well john how do the forte4 compare to the forte three i no longer have the forte three so i can't really tell you and audio memory is far too fragile for such potentially small deltas how does the forte4 compare to another speaker you're thinking of i don't know because i don't have that loudspeaker i'm just using the zoos here as a contrast to better explain how i think the forte4s sound because talking about sound in absolutes as in they have a big strong base like what is a big strong base they're very strong with dynamics but what what is that and what does that mean but what's really interesting about the forte4 is that they are the closest i have heard to date to that sound that lives in my head relating to vintage speakers you know they kind of have that nice heavy push into the room they're dynamic and ever so slightly warm up top especially with the grills on if you want a bit more zip you take the grills off but i prefer them with the grills on here but it's amazing you know how you know i've been reviewing speakers for like 11 years now and i've finally come across a speaker which is new production i must admit that yeah plays to this sort of idealized vintage sound that lives inside my head and if you've got an idealized sound that lives inside your head and it doesn't have to relate to vintage speakers and please let us know what that is to the best of your ability in the comments below anyway as a famous dude once said that's all i have to say about that if you like this video please hit the like button down below if you like my attitude towards hi-fi and high-end audio then please consider subscribing to this channel and as always thank you ever so much for watching

Channel: Darko Audio

Views: 204,441

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Id: A7kGRmJ0MpI

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 19 2021