stereophile.com n August2019 117
KLIPSCH FORTE IIIof Forte IIIs and Shindo amplification, I could easily hear
the moments of contact between Ray Brown’s fingers and
his bass strings, Manne’s sticks and drums, Kessel’s pick and
guitar strings—those instants when action becomes visceral
music. The superefficient Klipsches reminded me that the
Shindos are unique in their absolute faithfulness to what I
take to be the spirit of every recording I play through them:
When I fire them up, it’s always like returning home. The
Forte III bared the Shindo’s natural, honest beauty of sound.Conclusion
The Klipsch Forte III didn’t rise to the majestic peaks of the
Volti Audio Rival. It lacked that speaker’s ability to describe
the richest, densest tonal complexities. Yet, otherwise, it
achieved the same results: Used with the best recordings and
associated gear, it disappeared in service to them. Likewise,
the Klipsch lacked the generous warmth of the DeVore
Fidelity O/93 but surpassed it in terms of dynamics, trans-
parency, speed, and low-end extension. And it was uber-
sensitive to every piece of gear upstream—only the relatively
soft-sounding Auditorium 23 speaker cables would do, and
it didn’t take kindly to the lit-up signature of the Parasound
Halo HINT 6. It was, above all, a truthteller.
Designer Roy Delgado’s words came back to me: “It’s like
a magnifying glass.”
For sheer elation, for joyous jumps and shouts, for ex-
hilaration of hi-fi enjoyed and music revealed, the Forte III
is a one-of-a-kind loudspeaker. It gave me serious bliss and
musical insight. Somewhere, Paul W. Klipsch is smiling. ntion. Casting an immersive soundstage, the Fortes resolved
all level of microdynamic interplay between the three
musicians. Far from isolating each instrument in its own
space, there was considerable bleed between piano, bass and
drums, creating a fully alive sonic experience.
Discovering talented jazz vocalists is always a kick in the
head: Ashley Pezzotti’s We’ve Only Just Begun (CD, Ashley
Pezzotti Music AP0001) is a spirited performance, the Mi-
amian powerhouse equal parts Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day,
and Diane “Deedles” Schuur. Via the Fortes, in the album’s
speed-demon opener, “It Only Takes A Moment,” Pezzotti
soared as drummer Kyle Poole popped his brushes and bass-
ist Bob Bruya traced a superfast walking line. The upright
bass sounded so rich and palpable it was irresistible.
The Schiit Ragnarok/Klipsch pairing produced consis-
tent magic in terms of bass reproduction, some CDs or
LPs creating visceral yet agile, creamy yet forceful, sculpted
low-end frequencies; Kruder & Dorfmeister’s beat-heavy
G-Stoned—CD, Quango 162-448 011-2—was ballistic in that
regard. Bass like buttah!
The Fortes were also consistently transparent to the
source, sometimes painfully so. Bad recordings were undeni-
ably bad. The Parasound Halo HINT 6, which leans toward
the cool side, could make the Fortes sound tonally light,
while with other recordings it seemed the III’s horns were
muted or shut down. But those concerns were swept aside
by great recordings like pianist Greg Reitan’s West 60th (CD,
Sunnyside SSC 1542): With that disc, the Fortes disappeared,
leaving Reitan’s grand piano reverberating in what sounded
like a large space (L.A.’s Concept 2 Studios). And again there
was no sense of boxy, shouty, or spitty upper-frequency
colorations. (Maybe the Mumps were doing their job!) Ap-
proaching the see-through quality of electrostatic speakers,
the Fortes seemingly vanished as the trio joyously swung.
And on Jersey by the Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet (CD, Mo-
téma MTM0233)—Guiliana was a passionate and popular
jazz drummer long before working with David Bowie on
Blackstar—the music emanated from well beyond the confines
of the speakers: The soundstage was wide and deep.
I’m a drummer. Percussive sounds always capture my
attention. I’m aware, for example, of the difference in sound
between felt and lamb’s wool bass drum beaters. Felt beaters
create a harder, more direct bass drum sound, while lamb’s
wool is like soft cotton swooshing the head, moving its inter-
nal air more gently to create a softer sound. On Jersey’s title
track, I heard the soft, warm sheen of a bass drumhead being
driven by a lamb’s wool beater. The Forte was wonderfully
transparent to this detail buried deep within the music.
Klipsch meets Shindo Laboratories
I switched to vinyl and to my beloved Shindo Allegro pre-
amplifier and Haut-Brion power amplifier, which I suspect-
ed would be a winning combination. ($20k in amplification
might seem like overkill for a $4k pair of loudspeakers—and
indeed I would expect less expensive tube components to
also lock in well if carefully matched.) Good friend and hi-fi
guru Steve Cohen visited not long after the Klipsch/Shindo
pairing was in place, and we sat and listened in silence to this
mighty system: Good sound, good friends, and good music
make for joyful living.
Playing a perennial favorite LP, Poll Winners Three! with
Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, and Ray Brown (Contempo-
rary Records S7576), the Fortes reproduced the essence of
this natural-sounding recording. Through the combination
Analog Sources Kuzma Stabi S turntable & Stogi S tone-
arm; Kuzma Stabi R & Kuzma 4Point 11” tonearm; Thorens
TD 124 turntable & Jelco TS-350S tonearm; Denon DL-103,
Hana EL.
Digital Sources Sony Vaio computer running Qobuz and
Tidal; BorderPatrol DAC SE, Tascam CD-200iL CD player;
Western Digital T2 Mirror Drives (2).
Preamplification Auditorium 23 A23 moving-coil step-up
transformer, Shindo Laboratory Allegro preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers Mytek Brooklyn, Shindo Haut-Brion.
Integrated Amplifiers Heed Audio Elixir, Parasound HINT
6, Schiit Ragnarok.
Loudspeakers DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Klipsch
Heresy III, Elac B6.
Cables Digital: Mytek (USB). Interconnect: AudioQuest
Water, Shindo Laboratory, Triode Wire Labs Spirit II.
Speaker: AudioQuest Castle Rock, Auditorium 23, Tel-
lurium Q Black, Triode Wire Labs American. AC: manufac-
turers’ own.
Accessories IsoTek EVO3 Aquarius line conditioner,
Mapleshade Clearview Double Helix Mk.II power strip;
Music Hall Aztec Blue & Mooo record mats, Spec AD-UP1
Analog Disc Sheet; Salamander five-tier rack; IKEA Aptitlig
bamboo chopping boards (under preamp, power amps);
Mapleshade maple platform (15” by 12” by 2”, under
turntable), mahogany blocks (2” by 2” by 0.5”); 3”-thick
studio-treatment foam damping (ceiling, walls).
Listening Room 12’ by 10’ by 12’ (L by W by H), system set
up along long wall; suspended wood floor, 6"-thick walls
(plaster over 2x4), wood-beamed ceiling.—Ken MicallefASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT