New To Me Cornwalls, I Have Some Questions Concerns

macaltec

Metal Master
This is actually my second set of Cornwalls. Had my Dad pick them up for me in NY, Im in NC. All I have is pics for now as they are 10 hours drive away. S/N is 19Txxx (79's) on both and roughly 50 units difference between them. I have a few concerns. First the tweeters, they obviously don't match. Which one is original which is the replacement? How much difference in age is there between them? Second, from the pics only can anyone shed some light on the crossovers? Do they look unmolested/intact excepting the obvious new wire? The added drivers are not hooked up, they will be removed, should I patch the holes up, make a new baffle, or make some sort of CornScalla project with them? If I make a project I have Heresy I cabinets that could receive the tweeters and midranges. The back will also need some attention with new/better plywood and and a modern terminal cup. Depending on whether I leave them "original" or make a project out of them the crossover will at minimum get a Crites recap. Opinions/suggestions please. Thanks.
 

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both tweeters are k77 the one with the round magnet is an older Alnico version and the one with the square magnet is a newer ceramic magnet. Some folks simply prefer one type over the other. I would recommend you ask Bob to sell you a new and very much improved set of tweeters, buy a set only replace both sell off the old parts. Remove the two new cone mids and place plywood disks into the holes with an overlapping square of ply over the back of each disk. Won't look pretty but will be 100% functional. Hope that you enjoy your new to you CW.
 
Scary, your fix for the "extra" drivers is exactly what I was thinking. Probably the quickest and easiest way to go. Hadn't considered selling off the tweets to help fund new upgrades. Gonna have to talk to Bob in the next few days. Also have to measure to see If I can fit these in the car and plan a trip back home to get them.
 
Yes, 2 extra holes that must be patched.

In addition, last photo seems shows that speaker wires go through the hole in the bottom of the rear panel.
Originally, it should be plastic speaker termination part on the top of the rear panel; I don't see it.
 
Just had a conversation with Bob Crites about changing any of the original wiring to larger strands (looks like the previous owner had similar thoughts).He clearly told me to "not" change the gauge of wiring; 16 gauge is more than enough to transmit correct signals to the individual speakers. My suggestion for these speakers would be to purchase new cap boards from Bob (yes, your's will be bad), along with having the correct size of wiring. Probably wouldn't look at dumping a whole lot of dough into this set. The newer varieties of Klipsch Cornwalls are that much better... Will apologize if these comments weren't what you had hoped to hear..
Pat
 
Pat C, No apologies necessary. What exactly are you saying here, replace the entire crossover or just recap it? As to the newer variety of Cornwall's being that much better, I would say they probably cost that much more as well. I don't have much in these and I already have a set of 82's with recapped crossovers. I have an idea of what I can expect even though they aren't of the newer variety.
 
Crossover looks original - you can just recap it - that is what I did with Crites caps - about 40$. Also - at the same time replace the rubber gasket/orings on the mids - Bob has all the parts.

Good ole Bob has some new Tweeters out too that I keep thinking about - I already have his CT125s that I'm more than happy with.

Good luck!
 
CW ll imo the best of the lot. CW3 a big step backwards it is just a 15" reflex loaded Heresy with its tiny K701 mid horn. I would give the CW3 a yellow BS button thought they did raise up the woofer which I see as positive but they did nothing with the vent. You don't want woofers and vents close to the floor or other boundary. I know it boosts level but at the cost of a lot of turbulence resulting in distortion. Build your own cabinet and upgrade a set of CW2, best bang for your buck and your ears.
 
Not everyone is able to recap. You need to be careful when taking the older units off... Caps retain a fair amount of electricity. I had made the comment about purchasing new boards because of the (what appeared to be )cobbled up wiring... And yes, everything in life is relative... Just have to remember, we can't take the money with us... Bob also has new horn drivers that were just released.. Am kicking this around for my own K-horns... Want to get my tube amp sorted out first..
Hope this helped...
Pat
 
This isn't my first rodeo. I think I can handle it. Hopefully the "new" wiring is only for input purposes and the crossover hasn't been modified. With the additional drivers added this very well could be wishful thinking on my part. I won't know until I can get them home.
 
I can't tell for sure, but the woofers cones don't look original to me. As for the tweeters they definitly need to be upgraded. And I would scrap the crossovers and start off with a new pair from BOB. I wonder how some of their new Horn designs would work with the older Heritage line? The next question would be even if the are better would customers accept them as part of the Heritage Line. If Paul could figure how to fold a bass horn, why doesn't some figure out how to fold a 350 Hz horn for a Cornwall and then use a 400 Hz Crossover.
 
To those that are recommending I buy complete new crossovers, can you elaborate (and send money) as to why instead of just a recap? If its just an upgrade thing well.........................I'm not trying to make a Ferrari out of a FIAT. The tweeter upgrade makes sense given the mis-matched pair. I just want them to work well, they dont have to be the best. If I didnt know any better I'd get the impression from some of the responses that these things are total crap and only fit for the scrap heap or burn pile.
 
Looks like the inside picture shows the woofers to be Klipsch woofers (look similar at a distance)

Maybe you can confirm that they're K33's (which is what you want)
 
To those that are recommending I buy complete new crossovers, can you elaborate (and send money) as to why instead of just a recap? If its just an upgrade thing well.........................I'm not trying to make a Ferrari out of a FIAT. The tweeter upgrade makes sense given the mis-matched pair. I just want them to work well, they dont have to be the best. If I didnt know any better I'd get the impression from some of the responses that these things are total crap and only fit for the scrap heap or burn pile.

Quote: Depending on whether I leave them "original" or make a project out of them the crossover will at minimum get a Crites recap. Opinions/suggestions please. Thanks.
well they are not original to begin with. remove the new cone mid drivers plug the holes and install a set of Crites CT125 they are a really fine sounding teeter when compared to the original unit. make sure the network is connected as per the schematic. you are then as close to stock as possible (with better sounding tweeters) and good to go, they should sound very good. upgrade the filter caps they are old and it is a reasonable time to do so, you don't have too but you can your call your money. That gives you a speaker you can listen to for decades with the minimal of fuss. These will sound really good but the resale will not be really good. so you need to decide how much of a project you want or if you want a project at all.
I like the CW2 with the K79 tweeter. the K79 when modified is a nice sounding tweeter you can then make the jump to all ti horn drivers (both tweeter and more importantly mid) which is nice. All the Cornwall boxes need brace work and building a new cabinet where the woofers are and raised and the vents are raised is a possibility or you could flip the cabinets to raise both. these are all project discussions/options. There are a host of modifications that can be performed to improve performance it all depends upon what you want to do and what you want to spend in time and money. Depends too if you want an experience or just a speaker.
If I was in need of a speaker and these came to me I would deal with the additional mid drivers install a set of CT125 and enjoy them just like that. They could also be used as a learning tool to experiment on but I don't really know many people who are into experimenting with speakers. Stock Klipsch do in fact have the capacity for greatly enhanced performance it all depends on what you would like to achieve and do with them. You have all sorts of options. I never looked to see what these cost you or if you even mentioned the cost that has to factor into matters as well. I have simply assumed that you bought them for a very good price considering the superficial modifications made to them. I hope you enjoy your new to you CW.
 
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Moray, you are correct. I did ask. Yes I got them for what I feel is a great price, under $400. I have since tried to gain a different perspective. Thanks to all for the suggestions. The only way I will replace the crossover is if the original is missing parts, damaged or FUBAR, otherwise it will just get a recap. The reason for the original question about the xover was to try to determine, from pics alone, what the condition of the xover might be. If the xover is found to NEED replacement then this will become a larger scale project with a mind towards a major upgrade. The fix to the cabinet is obvious and bracing is easy enough to add. If this becomes a more in depth project reworking the front baffle is also and easy fix. The tweeter upgrade is also obvious given the current mismatch. I am certainly not "in need" of a set of speakers and I do like experimenting with speakers.
 
Moray, you are correct. I did ask. Yes I got them for what I feel is a great price, under $400. I have since tried to gain a different perspective. Thanks to all for the suggestions. The only way I will replace the crossover is if the original is missing parts, damaged or FUBAR, otherwise it will just get a recap. The reason for the original question about the xover was to try to determine, from pics alone, what the condition of the xover might be. If the xover is found to NEED replacement then this will become a larger scale project with a mind towards a major upgrade. The fix to the cabinet is obvious and bracing is easy enough to add. If this becomes a more in depth project reworking the front baffle is also and easy fix. The tweeter upgrade is also obvious given the current mismatch. I am certainly not "in need" of a set of speakers and I do like experimenting with speakers.
to appreciate the difference that moving the vents and the woofers make you can get an idea by raising the speakers up off the floor lift them up enough to place the centre of the mid horn at your seated ear level which will be around 39 - 40 inches up off of the floor. This will remove floor induces turbulence from the vent and the woofer so play a good recording with quality deep bass bot before as your reference and after raising them and you will clearly rear the difference. Placing a vent near to a boundary is a trick used to get some additional load on the vent along the floor as in the CW is simply design convenience nothing more. You may looses what feels like some bass weight but you will find the speaker to be far more articulate and detailed in the lower register. Your vents can be lengthened some to lower the bass tuning easy enough to experiment and see what you think. You could also experiment with stuffing the top half of the cabinet and the lower surfaces with high density fiberglass this will result in an apparent increase in cabinet volume to the woofer. You need to leave a large volume area open to freely resonate and couple the vent and the woofer but you do not need all of the box volume to do this. You could realize perhaps an apparent volume increase of 10% to maybe 15% which would be worth while. Like I said before there are a lot of things that can be done. If you do brace start with the front baffle and place a horizontal brace below and above the woofer a vertical on the sides and a front to back on the top and a brace on the rear baffle (two would be better) then make sure to tie all the braces together with stringers in several spots. The result will be a very rigid structure using minimal materials. A brace should be 2.5 times as wide as it is thick so if you use one inch thick material the brace will be 2.5 inches wide all braces will mount on edge to obtain maximum stiffness. That's a decent start. moray james.
 
Yo Mac, great score on the C's. I've redone 4 sets of these and here is my two cents. I realize you probably already know a lot of this but here goes. The cone mids look like Yamaha cones toss them and cut a round hole just smaller than the current hole with a square back like Moray suggest then you can fill in with wood filler in the gap, sand and paint or veneer. Ifin it was me I would install a larger mid horn (yeah I know later potential buyers might not like that and it is really not a C anymore) but an 8 x 12 Partes express horn works great in these. Here's a pic of a pair I reveneered using that hown ($10 each).

I would also suggest doing some fron to back bracing. The C have a large non braced rear panel that vibrates. See attached pic how I did it.

I suggest the cap replacement only. The coils and autoformers should still be good. They are solid wire so they don't blow. Bob C can send you the Sonicraft caps or you can get the Dayton caps from Parts express which a lot of people like. Or you can go crazy with ultra expensive caps.

Amen on Bob C's tweeters - much better high end and range. Worth the money. Good luck with your project
 

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