bear-hifi
Well-Known Member
Has anyone done these http://www.alkeng.com/ mods to there Cornwalls? Or any other mods? And how did it turn out?
http://www.alkeng.com/
Thanks
Frank
http://www.alkeng.com/
Thanks
Frank
Cornwalls x-over mods
- Thread starter bear-hifi
- Start date
I did them and liked the results. With the original crossover the Cornwalls had that "vintage" sound with strong but loose bass and upper midrange / treble that was a bit harsh sounding. I believe I read somewhere the high freq harshness is the result of a 9khz peak in the midrange horn which disappears when you replace the original first order crossover with the ALK 2nd order midrange crossover. The ALK crossover upgraded them to a more contemporary sound. Some of my vintage speaker enthusiast friends like the vintage sound; I find it about as appealing as a fat girl. THe ALK does change the Cornwalls to a four ohm load, but my Paramours and 300B amps drove them ok. In spite of my having said all these good things about them I'm not completely sure they were worth the $300 or so it costs to build a pair using premium parts. Too bad you're not in South TX or you could hear them at the next Lone Star Bottlehead meeting. They are now at the home of the guy who's hosting this meeting on May 8.
Actually, Austin is not so far from DFW. Several Dallas members usually come to the Austin meetings. Information on the meeting will be posted at http://wardsweb.org/audio/index_audio.html under "tubes / Lone Star Bottleheads. You should plan to come.
Interesting you should ask. I can't say that I prefer the Linus system over the pricier main system with Phillips SACD, Sonic Frontiers pre and amp, Magnepan spkrs, etc, but but it's interesting that my wife and I always gravitate toward the room with the Linus system after pouring a glass of wine in the evenings.
The Linus initially had a overabundance of midrange and it took a long time for the breakin process to resolve that issue. Now the midrange has settled to a rich and warm presence that attracts one's attention in a very nice way. I have also added a couple of subs with PE Titanic 1200 drivers and 250 watt plate amps. Both the subs and the Linus are in sealed enclosures, and they blend nicely. A sub is a must with the Linus if you want to feel the impact of bass drums or hear the 16' stops in a classical organ recording. Rick Craig has introduced some other line arrays including one that's much like the Linus but with far more expensive drivers including eight Aurum Cantus tweeters per side, and I might consider building one later this year, but at this time I feel no great need to upgrade.
If you would like to hear the Linus 2's Houston is just four hours from the DFW area and the bluebonnets will be at their peak in a couple of weeks, so it would be a really nice drive then.
