If the description sounds a little convoluted, it's because after 50 years, history turns into a myth when you consider the brand names that used this particular loudspeaker in some of the most sought after, albeit rare and underrated, British cabinets of the Post-Invasion era (it is rumored that the infamous speaker was custom manufactured by FANE in the Gilmour Hiwatt heyday, but no recognized source will confirm).

Vox, Marshall, Laney, Carlsbro and numerous other lesser known British amp builders installed it.

At the start of the '70s, Vox wanted to compete with the American Fender Twin amp, two 12" speaker model, so it developed the AC-120, which specified two "Forte" 12s (see/read the VOX promo literature in the photo listing). However, Marshall was already using the McKenzie speaker in some of its legendary cabs and that's how the history conflates. Today, a few lucky players on guitar amp speaker blogs froth over the "Forte" Marshall cabs, which are few and far between, in fact, almost non-existent in the United States.

The rub on the Vox AC-120: THE "Forte" combo amp itself weighed over 90 pounds! No wonder nobody bought it!

Now, whoever obtains the "Forte" 12 speaker will discover a sparkly British tone, not of this era at all. It's interesting that loudspeakers of another era can actually contain a semblance of a begone era. Because when speaker sounds are accurately captured in the studio and consecrated in hit-record recordings -- then reproduced on radio and vinyl records -- the memory prints those sounds in subconscious brain tissues: thus a recollection of a musical artefact lives inside of us forever.