Tell me all the bad things about Cornwalls..

Hmmm. Not sure what you mean by this. They certainly don’t need a lot of power because they are so efficient. My Cornwall iii’s play absurdly crazily obnoxiously loud with less than 20 Watts. I suppose if an amp is very powerful and has a very high noise floor, then a lot of power may be a disadvantage. . Thankfully, my 200 W amp produces very little noise. With no source playing and the amp turned all the way up, I have to put my ear right next to the tweeter to hear any sort of hiss
Yeah I don’t get that either. In fact I’ve never heard of a speaker not liking a lot of power. It’s just a load, it takes what it wants..

In any case they sound lovely with 100w/side of tube power via the cronos magnum ll. Do look forward to trying them with 30w of class A via my m-22 though
 
My sneak them in plan is working so far. I put on Lyle Lovett's Pontiac (a great hi-fi show off record) this morning and my wife was like "This sounds awesome I love this album" and came over right in front of the stereo to see who was singing backups. Didn't notice :) We'll see how long it lasts.:rockon:

Haha, very clever. That's a great album - thanks for mentioning it! It's been too long, I'll have to give it a listen this weekend.

My go to album for impressing my wife with the Cornwalls sound is Adele's 25. "Million Years Ago" is the track that she swoons over; it sounds great on CW's. I do like the song but to me it sounds like a rip-off off Charles Aznavour's "Yesterday When I was Young" (Roy Clark's cover was perhaps more popular).
 
One of my all time favorite albums to listen to. I remember when I first heard it when I was working at a higher end home audio store (I managed the car audio side, but...) and they were playing it on various speakers which, in turn, prompted me to buy many more Lyle albums. Love the song "If I Had A Boat". That sounds quite good on the Belles I built. Not as much bass as your CW's but that's ok. My wife has no quarks with large speakers in the living room...especially these. She even helped me bring them in the house when I was done building them and prodded me to get the finish on them and set up....on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, they'll be going in a dedicated listening room in the new house we're building.
 
One of my all time favorite albums to listen to. I remember when I first heard it when I was working at a higher end home audio store (I managed the car audio side, but...) and they were playing it on various speakers which, in turn, prompted me to buy many more Lyle albums. Love the song "If I Had A Boat". That sounds quite good on the Belles I built. Not as much bass as your CW's but that's ok. My wife has no quarks with large speakers in the living room...especially these. She even helped me bring them in the house when I was done building them and prodded me to get the finish on them and set up....on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, they'll be going in a dedicated listening room in the new house we're building.
Yeah sonically it’s an amazing album, great arrangements, superbly recorded/mixed/mastered. Sounds great on great systems :)
 
I forgot to mention, I got a great deal on these. They're pretty mint, except for a small tear in one of the grills, and some light staining on the cabs (which is no big deal, since they're oiled, I'll just sand and oil them again). They were bought new by the guy whose house was being liquidated (estate sale) and put atop a clerestory/half wall in their great room and apparently never moved since 1979ish.
I tried to offer the woman $50 less than her (very reasonable) asking price, but she said she had 10 people who contacted her after me (I met her first thing in the morning the day after she posted on CL, while she was getting ready for the sale. But she let me take ~100 records :biggrin:

Here's a better pic of them. And unbelievably, my wife noticed them this afternoon and was only concerned with how much I've been spending on hi-fi lately (a legitimate concern, I have a problem) not really with the placement. Win.

The quality of bass on these is just so pleasing. Acoustic bass sounds amazing, Timpanis sound amazing. Crazy french custom lucite synthesizers sound great :beatnik:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1404.jpg
    IMG_1404.jpg
    125.2 KB · Views: 223
Congrats on the Cornies! Gorgeous room, too.

Wondering if you can put that table somewhere else so it’s not flush up against the speaker? Don’t know if it’s affecting sound but probably doesn’t help.
 
Congrats on the Cornies! Gorgeous room, too.

Wondering if you can put that table somewhere else so it’s not flush up against the speaker? Don’t know if it’s affecting sound but probably doesn’t help.

Yep I’m sure it’s a travesty (acoustics-wise) but for casual listening it’s fine, especially if she’s letting me keep the speakers up here. When I want to actually sit down and listen it’s super easy to pick up and move that table out of the sound path. Still have the windows and the back of the couch throwing reflections but whatcha gonna do
 
You may never notice the change in acoustics anyway. I'm sure I wouldn't.

Enjoy!
 
I agree with both of the above. I love them. Will eventually redo the crossovers with crites kits but for now I’m just enjoying the hell out of them.
...well not right now. Right now I’m working. But I get to listen to a pretty good system here too :)
 

Attachments

  • 417123FC-4CE7-4676-9508-DF424F08A787.jpeg
    417123FC-4CE7-4676-9508-DF424F08A787.jpeg
    87 KB · Views: 107
I find the highs can be a bit strident with the volume up, but I have mine in a relatively small space

I also added a pair of subwoofers, that I keep very low, just to round out the bottom on the Cornwalls

nice setup you have there!

and the mixing console etc too...hot damn
 
The quality of bass on these is just so pleasing. Acoustic bass sounds amazing, Timpanis sound amazing. Crazy french custom lucite synthesizers sound great :beatnik:

Agreed. I continue to be surprised each and every day just how natural and effortless my very old-school CW III's sound and how much I prefer them to my two previous speakers which featured very modern and rather exotic technologies.

The Paradigm S8's with their Beryllium tweeters, phase-plug mid-range and vault like cabinet construction. ..And the Vandersteens w/ their 1st Order cross-overs, "time alignment" , baffl-less cabinet and granite-solid construction. ..By comparison, the CW's seem almost primitive: the cabinet is unbraced and sounds as hollow as a shoe box when you knock on it, and it uses two horns which I was always led to believe were better suited to PA systems than hifi. ..All that notwithstanding, these are the best speakers I've ever owned.
 
Last edited:
I really like Cornwalls. The things they do well are so good that it can sort of mask their less-good attributes.

Stridency in the uppermids/highs tend to increase at higher volumes. Some find them piercing.
In a small room, the listener may be unable to sit far enough away for the three drivers to integrate well.
They sound best in larger rooms, they need room to sing.
And small rooms don't tend to be bass-friendly, which impacts one of their good attributes.

Many owners will disagree with those opinions (which is all they are), and despite their flaws, many listeners will favor them, All speakers are flawed.

I still have my Fortes in the bedroom, and while I think my Monitor Audios are more refined and less colored, I yet love the Klipsch, too. They are opposites in some ways, and I like both. But the Khorns were not amenable to my room and placement - didn't give of their best in here. It took me some time to realize it, though.

I love Cornwalls, but try to be objective. This should elicit no one's defense mechanisms. My words aren't edicts, just my opinion about a speaker I like a lot, worth two cents perhaps in some galaxy far, far away.
 
I agree with both of the above. I love them. Will eventually redo the crossovers with crites kits but for now I’m just enjoying the hell out of them.
...well not right now. Right now I’m working. But I get to listen to a pretty good system here too :)

Nice Cornies. What are the large monitors in the background of the studio?
 
Nice Cornies. What are the large monitors in the background of the studio?
Giant Tannoys, can’t remember the model. Sitting on 600lbs of sand filled boxes . They only get turned on to impress the client with how awesome you’ve helped them sound, or to check the bass sometimes. 90% of the listening happens on the NS10s. Which sound great when fed with $100,000+ of electronics and (more importantly) a purpose built, acoustician-designed control room.
 
Bad things about Cornwalls/ The early models could only handle 30 watts. Until the model II came along the tweeter could only handle 4 or 5 watts. The horizontal dispersion is moderate so the sweet spot is pretty narrow, Because the cabinet is so shallow the mid horn is short and the woofer crossover is to high. The different arrival times from the three drivers don't make for the most precise imaging. A Belle makes a better center speaker between to Corner horns. The cabinets aren't neutral and need more stiffening. If the enclosure were bigger you wouldn't need that resonating port, the causes bass over hang. The new tweeters are too bright. It will reveal any irregularities in your source material or electronics. Good tube amps worthy of the speakers will cost a fortune. Source material better be the best it can be or a Cornwall will reveal all the irregularities. If you want full concert level in your home according to Paul Klipsch, Cornwalls won't suffice.


Personally, for average folks its the best speaker Klipsch builds. Its not a large speaker, requires only moderate power , and has nice firm bass, can be placed in a corner, or against a wall. The tweeter and midrange are almost at ear height. Its 8 ohms with high sensitivity and friendly to SS amplifiers. And you can find well taken care of models from the 70's and 80's at reasonable prices. What more do you want. Its cheaper than an equivalent JBL by a large margin, new. I loved the pair my room mate had while in college .
 
Contrary to popular opinion here, you will still need a subwoofer, especially if your name is "20hz". And I am talking an EXPENSIVE subwoofer that has the speed and low distortion of an original Klipsch design.
 
It's funny, all my "Tell me about....." threads end up the same.....

I ask people to tell me about something before I buy it, then just go buy it anyways before I get any real advice.

Congrats, I absolutely love the space where you have them set up. It is the ying to the yang of my dark insulated basement.
 
Back
Top Bottom