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Cornwalls? Altecs? Save me from myself!

Redboy

Redboy

a few good watts
I should really start by noting that I don't need another pair of speakers. And that I'm really very pleased with my Klipsch Forte's. They've got great tone, good bass extension, and decent WAF. I've already been told that they represent the Maximum Allowable Speaker Size (MASS) in my house, so what I'm considering promises to be an uphill battle either way.

Problem is, I've got it in my head now that I need some Cornwalls. Why? I don't even know! Part of it is probably pmsummer's fault (:D ), with his gorgeous monastic listening room, flanked by some righteous Corns! :thmbsp: I'm a sucker for good aesthetics. But when I read posts about them, I'm also led to believe that they represent "the next step up" from my beloved Forte's. Which may or may not be the case (Klipschophiles, weigh in here...)

Then there are those odd, intriguingly ugly Altecs... You Altec fanatics are so dang excited about them, and there are all those mysterious model numbers that mean nothing to me but can spark heated exchanges with an almost religious fervor! Do I need those more than I need Cornwalls?! Hmmmm... :scratch2: (Altec guys, that's your cue...)

I guess what I'm really after is something with crazy high efficiency for my tube amps, and gorgeous tone for my ears, and nice aesthetics for my wife, and a rock bottom budget for my wallet. Could it be that the Forte's in my house are those very speakers?!

If I were to sell every extraneous piece of audio gear that clutters my home and build up a pile of seed money for the ultimate horns, what would they be?

I need to be convinced or cured!
 
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I'm not sure I'd help you, or make your problem worse :D

Like you, I have Fortes (well, II's actually, but who's counting...) and like you, I have upgradeaphilia...

Listening to those Altec 811's and 15" biflex woofers was quite the experience over the weekend, but my $500 budget is killing me :(

Guess I'll be watching this thread closely.
 
Nate, are you a seeker of the truth?

Asking questions of others will not get you closer to the answers you seek.

RC
 
I have a lot of experience listening to both, and I own a pair of Cornwalls. I prefer the big Altecs. Big throated horns (and big horns, in fact) just sound more effortless, relaxed, and natural. By comparison, the EV T35 is a spitty little tweeter, and the cast-aluminum horns on the older Cornies have a nasty resonance that can make the female voice, at just the wrong frequency, piercing. The Cornwalls can be entertaining and satisfying with extremely high-quality program and empathetic amplification, but...

AlNiCo Altec 604 coaxes ("Duplexes") are awfully hard to beat. I am just biding my time to get a pair of Billfort-style corner enclosures built for my 604B's.

The A-5 and A-7 VOT's can get the job done, too.
 
no cure available me thinks

I feel your pain . . . it's to the point where I'm treating speakers (and tube stuff for that matter) like baseball cards or comic books. MUST COMPLETE THE SET ! ! !!

LUCKILY (for me, due to my wife's righteous wrath) I'm only REALLy hunting for KLH, AR, Advent, Magnavox, RCA . . etc . . good thing my wife loves me :D

I think what you should do is get the Cornwalls . . .then K-Horns . . then you'll have that Klipsch thing mostly covered :para: and can move onto other stuff . . . Altecs . . .19's, VOTT, 604's . . . and so on . . .and so on . . .

Oh - and get a barn :thmbsp: (don't mind me - I'm projecting - I want a barn . . .. )
 
Redboy,

When I brought the Cornwalls home and set them up, my wife took one listen, and then gave me her "bedroom eyes" look.

We're not monastics at Casa de Verano.

Go for the Cornwalls. :yes:
 
doucanoe said:
Nate, are you a seeker of the truth?

Asking questions of others will not get you closer to the answers you seek.
Click to expand...
Try them all firsthand, decide for myself, right? I'm in for a lot of pain, my friend! :twak:
 
macaltec said:
I have Cornwalls and Altec A7's. The Cornwalls sit idle in the corner with my Klipsch HT speakers.
Click to expand...

Might as well donate them to Goodwill.....

Some like the A-7's, but to me the 604 is king...
 
ALTECS, YUK!!! 604's, A7's, Model 19's, all JUNK, I repeat, ALL JUNK, that said, send them all to me!!! I love my Altecs, I've had A7's for daily use now for 30 years and still love them all!! They're good investments and it really helps to have a wife who enjoys them too, mine listens to them twice as loud as I do, I had to bitch at her this evening becuase nobody could hear themselves think!! Enjoy, Dave. :music:
 
I really like Cornwalls and 604s too...but you are talking big boxes. Having said how much I like those two, I ended up putting my pennies down on Tannoy Reds and right now the Cornwalls are moved out of the main system. I'm not done with the Corns yet but....

For size and price, you've already got a real winner speaker.....but I sympathize with the sickness...always wanting more/better....
 
Redboy, all I can tell you is that I bought a pair of Altec Model 17s ( 9 cu.ft oak cabinets) with 604-8g in them about 18 months ago and only look for good deals on speakers to flip and make a little money if possible. Either that or hook up my friends. Model 17s are much more eye friendly than some of the other Altecs. They do weigh 140# each, so they aren't tiny. My wife isn't into music, but when she has a friend over, she does like me to show my system off to them. So they must sound good to her too. My speaker search is over.
 
while I am just setting up my Altec M19's, I must say they are giving my Khorns a run for the money and more. While the Khorns are super if good tube equipment, the 19's have much better depth which may be the bass is superior. I will not pass full judgement yet as I have not listened to the 19's to any great length as they are still set up in the garage until I can relocate them to my upstairs listening room and run the same equipment and compare apples to apples.

My Khorns are certainly better looking and with two proper corners like I have in my listening room, they are a great fit. I will have to change the room around to accomodate the 19's properly as I will be dealing w/ a narrower sweet spot.

And back to the original question of the Fortes, I have never owned a pair so as someone else has stated, your ears and the WAF will be the determining factor. The price on the Fortes is also a factor as they run less than half of the cost of the M19's and much less than Khorns.

Just buy a pair and take the plunge. You are savvy enough to pick up a nice pair at a fair price and if not to your satisfaction, you can turn around and sell them. However, if you can find a nice pair of 19's in the 1K price range, I would STRONGLY encourage you to go for it. A little more WAF styling than A-7's although they are BIG!

I'm sure whatever you get along these lines, they will sound great!
 
Well....

I now own a pair of Forte II's, Chorus I's and Altec Vegas (!!! :D http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1072504#post1072504)

Currently I have the Chorus and the Altecs hooked up to a 60 WPC tube amp affectionately known as the Green Monster. All in a 12' by 12' office. I've been switching back and forth, and I'd call the Altecs a little warmer, a little mellower, and a bit more "relaxed" is the best word I can think of. The Choruses are a bit brighter, a bit more forward, and a bit bigger on the bottom end. Where are the Fortes? Sitting idle in my guest bedroom for the time being....Life is good!:yes:
:music: :music: :music:
 
analog addict said:
"hooked up to a 60 WPC tube amp affectionately known as the Green Monster.
Click to expand...

What exactly is the "Green Monster"? I saw it posted in the pics of the NC gathering but was curious as to who the maker is and any other info you wish to provide.
 
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