Cornwall restoration project, anyone got anything laying around?

ohmadv

New Member
I acquired this (sort of) pair of Klipsch cornwall’s today. With the grills on they look like a matching pair but pull them off and you discover a different story. One is a Cornwall I and the other is a Cornwall II. Both the tweeter horns were replaced with an automotive realistic twin piezo horn and one 15” driver was replaced with a realistic driver...

I’m really stumped as to what to do with these. I was thinking about getting the correct tweeter horns, one more correct bass driver, and a pair of new updated crossovers so they match.

Thoughts?
 

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Depends on the cost of the replacement items and the price you paid for the speakers themselves. It appears the cabinets are in good condition, which is a good start. As you stated, replace that RatShack woofer for the original to match the opposite speaker and replace both tweeters for matching originals. Make sure the mids match. You could also decide on standard upgrades like Crites mids and tweets and ALK crossovers for more bang for your buck.
 
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I vote for restoring to original. Sign up as an Audio Karma subscriber at a cost of $25 annual. Then in the “wanted to buy” section advertise for original components. That famous auction site beginning with the letter e can also be a source. Soon you will have a technically correct sweet pair of well regarded speakers.
 
I don't know, because I am not all that familiar with Cornwalls other than listening to a few sets (so this is an honest question), but are there crossover issues that are going to need to be addressed between series I and series II?
 
Yeah so I was planning on addressing the crossover issue but also planning on keeping the originals so I could sell as a pair or individually as center channels or something down the road if I get board with them. Idk if I will ever get board of them...
 
In reality, you're going to have to decide what versions you want to redo them as. Bob Crites has all newer style drivers you could use and them be all new. Otherwise, if you wanted to go Cornwall I's, you have a single K-33 woofer and K-600 horn to work with, a single crossover, etc. If you go Cornwall II's, you basically have no woofers as the II uses the K-34-E versus the K-33 but you have a crossover, horn and a mid.

It's really going to depend on how much you want to sink into them as to what you do. Let's just say you were able to salvage those baffles and install all new Crites drivers (which I personally use in my homemade Belle's I built....except K-33 woofers), for what you spend, you'd could almost buy another set of Cornwall's that would be authentic. So most likely well over a grand for new woofers, mids, tweeters, and crossovers. That's about what you see intact Cownwalls go for.

If it were me personally and with how rough of shape those are in with the two different cabinets, I'd just pick the version I wanted to go with and look for used parts online as they came up. It may be a waiting game. Neither horn nor tweeter will really interchange size wise and crossover wise. Refinishing the cabinets is an entirely 'nother story, too. Not to mention the grills being slightly different.

There are rare occasions where you see a single Cornwall for sale too. But don't hold your breath.

Ugh....I'd personally have a rough time with deciding what to do. I could build all new cabinets about as easily as refinishing those.
 
So here's what you'd need...

Original Cornwall:
K-33 woofers
K-55-V mids with K-600 horns
K-77 tweeters
Can use Type B, B-2 or B-3 crossover I believe.

Cornwall II
K-34-E woofers
K-57-K midrange (same as Chorus I)
K-79-K tweeters (same as Chorus I & II)
Crossovers could be B-2 or B-3 maybe. New crossovers from Bob Crites are $275 a pair by themselves with all new parts and include wires.
 
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In either case (going v1 or v2) you have a lot of work to do (I went off and did some homework out of curiosity). Either way, you are going to have a substantial investment in drivers/crossovers, baffle modifications, and even then, they still won't match. I hope you don't have too much invested in them. Personally, I'd probably just punt and part them out and look for a correct matching pair, if you are really looking to have Cornwalls, or you could salvage some of the drivers to apply toward one of Crites Cornscala builds.
 
I understand you may want to keep these original (all Klipsch parts). However, you could install a larger mid horn with response down to 400-500HZ (see Parts express number 299-2305 or 299-2304 ($16 each) which would require you to cut a larger hole on the motorboard. I've done this in a C remake for a friend with an 8 x 12" PE horn (see pic)

It looks like the piezo horns have a larger cutout than the K-77 so you are probably going to have to fill in the hole and recut anyway. You can always cut the mid horn larger hole down toward the woofer. I think the larger horn would basically give you a "Cornscala" which would require lowering the xover point to 500Hz. I believe you would have more open sound with the above horns than the K-400 or K-700 horns. Just my thoughts. Good luck
 

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If they were mine... I'd get the Klipsch K510 horn and make them a 2-way.

Disclaimer: I do not know if any passive has been designed for that specific use (it has for a LaScala, MWM, Jubilee and a couple other bass bins but I doubt a Cornwall)

Going 2-way will increase/enhance the intelligibility of the speaker. Going with the K510 (a 2-inch throat) will help make them sound "bigger" (not necessarily louder although they will then probably play louder with less distortion than the smaller horns)

Look up their KP (or was it Ki??) 396 and you will get an idea of what I mean. I've heard that speaker and it's freaking awesome. (note, I heard it outdoors and thought it was their Grande series playing)
 
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