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In Reply to: RE: KEF, B&W, etc. posted by Lt Einhorn on April 13, 2015 at 22:14:54
I auditioned the K-horns, Cornwalls and Heresys side-by-side back in the mid-'70s. I don't want less bass than the Cornwalls produce, and adding in a sub for fill isn't all that trivial. So, forget I asked. It's probably not the best way to get this done.
Seems there's now a pair of original Cornwalls within a day's drive for about $1k. If they're still available this weekend, I'll go for a listen. I'd rather have the MkIIs, but I'm not hopeful of finding a pair anytime soon.
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
Follow Ups:
The originals may be made listenable with a few changes.
Changing the tweeter is the first step, then a minor network change, and lastly a cabinet brace.
At that point you will be 99% of the way to a Cornwall II performance.
As was pointed out elsewhere (unless you take a chainsaw to them) you should be able to recover your investment without a problem (should you truely hate them).
A thousand dollars for a decent-condition pair of Cornwall 1s is not too bad of a price. As was already stated, if it turns out you do not like them, you will probably be able to recoup most or all of the purchase price until you find something that better meets your needs.
Let u know how it works out!
George
We had the 60th Anniversary Klipschorn's at the store I worked at. They sounded terrible at the store. Very very shrill/bright...ect. Zero low bass. We didn't have the greatest amps for them either. Although I did bring in a couple of my tube amps in, better but still very harsh, no bass. Maybe it was the rooms we had them in? IDK?I owned a brand new pair Heresy II's for 6-12 months. Used them on a rebuilt and modded Dynaco ST-70, Sonic Frontiers EL34 amp, maybe some others. I never warmed up to them. Maybe I should say, they never warmed up. Again, bright/harsh no low bass. Basic Eminence PA off the shelf woofers. Something you would find in a basic stage monitor.
Also had a pair of Klipsch KLF-30's when I was 19-23yo. They actually had plenty of low bass and were very efficient too. Had nothing but quality problems though. They gave me a lot of trouble. Cabinets going bad, mid driver not lining up with the horn, all kinds of stuff. Some was my own doing. I use to JAM them things! The cabinets were made poorly. Very little bracing. Very hollow sounding if gave them the old knuckle knock. They were also fatiguing. Not as bad as the Heritage Series but still. Starting to see a trend here? But at the time, I did love them.
I do think the Cornwall's are some of the best Klipsch ever made and with proper care, system matching, placement...ect You can get good sound from them. But for me, I thing I have outgrown Klipsch. It's like you're first car. You will always remember it, it was awesome at the time, but would you want to own it today?
Again, this is my opinion. You MUST listen and decide for yourself.
You ever listen to any crossover-less single driver speakers? Maybe a small full range electrostate? Electrostatics love tube amps! Most people don't believe it, but I can drive my Martin Logan CLS with my Dynaco ST-70 pretty well.
Another thing you can try is joining a HI-FI club in you're area? The have one where I live, they meet up once a month at someones home. Always interesting stuff and intelligent people with different views and ideas. Always find it better to learn from others face to face, hands on type of thing.
Edits: 04/14/15
"We had the 60th Anniversary Klipschorn's at the store I worked at. They sounded terrible at the store. Very very shrill/bright...ect. Zero low bass."
So those were the IIIs? That wasn't my experience at all, back in the '70s. The K-horns were awesome, and the Cornwalls very similar, but a little less volume and low bass. The Heresys were as loud as the Cornwalls, but low bass was virtually non-existent.
Good idea about the club. I'll check my area. Thanks!
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
No, they were not the III's. They were the 60'th Anniversary. Check the link I posted below for the info on them. They only made 200 pairs of these and retailed for $18,000.00 a pair if I remember right.We could not get rid of these speakers even at cost! I even made a framed sales add we placed on top of them explaining them and that we were basically selling them at cost.
My memory of them from when I was a kid was the same. I remember them being awesome! We had tried these in many rooms and in 2 different stores. We just could not find anyone to buy them. Don't believe we ever found anyone who preferred them over the B&W 800 series we had in the same rooms. Even at cost they just did not compare to the B&W's, like the 802D and later on the 802 Diamond's or even the 803 and 804's. They just sounded like big PA speakers you would find in a bar or concert.
One issue I believe we had is the size and the fact you need to have them in the corners. Also, you MUST have a tube amp on them. I just don't think we had the customer base for a speaker like that. Usually a customer that would look for or be interested in Klipschorns would be a completely different customer than a B&W customer.
I bet you they are still sitting in the store today.
Here is a link to them.
Edits: 04/14/15
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