evoroadster
Active Member
A set of Klipsch Belles have popped up on Craigslist for $1600. Should I go for these or buy a new set of Cornwalls? I currently have a Crites modified set of Heresy and Forte II speakers.
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Belle's or Cornwalls?
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New Cornwalls will cost you a lot more.....
avguytx
Lunatic Member
Depends on what condition, wood type, etc., for $1600. I'm a big fan of that full horn loaded sound that the Cornwall just doesn't have. I never could find a set I was willing to pay their asking price so I just built a set with all new drivers. Next is a horn sub.
I've had Cornwalls and Cornwall II's. Both are nice but aren't the LS's, Belles, or Klipschorns.
$1600 is quite good of a price based on how stupid high used stuff is anymore. But condition dependent.
I've had Cornwalls and Cornwall II's. Both are nice but aren't the LS's, Belles, or Klipschorns.
$1600 is quite good of a price based on how stupid high used stuff is anymore. But condition dependent.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
Belles have a great sophisticated look. But they don't hve the bass capability of the Cornwall though they are slightly more efficient. They don't have the large horn of the La Scala and there fore don't stand out and are not as dynamic. I prefer them as a center channel between two Klipsch horns as they don't call attention to them selves like a La Scala, and being more efficient than a Cornwall fill in better as the center speaker. having three for HT with two great Subs sounds great using Hersey for side and rear. But for larger rooms I would choose La Scalas with great subs. $$$$$$$. Cornwall is my favorite Klipsch speaker for stereo and really doesn't need to be supplemented if located properly in most rooms. If you want a more extended bass you could always choose JBL 4435 or DD6700 or the older DD6500. You loose about 5 db efficiency, but they handle more power with much lower distortion.
Nyjblbob
Hooked on Horn's and Tubes. Go big or go home
I know this is somewhat sacrilegious with the Klipsch crowd, Has anyone ever saw or heard of the Adding a large Bottom Bass reflex enclosure to either the Bells or LaScala's?
I saw one on another forum, not AK. Obviously to add Bass extension.
I saw one on another forum, not AK. Obviously to add Bass extension.
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
We've had AKer's add more back chamber space to the Lascala by adding to the cabinet bottom, apparently to very good effect.
But, i think the hands down winner for custom builds is the Cornscala as it fully deals with that ultra-honkin' cupped hands sounding heritage Klipsch midrange.
That said, i should be very up front in revealing that in my own opinion, the Belle is the most attractive production loudspeaker ever made. Given the right opportunity, there'd be a pair in my living room no matter what they sound like.
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Coytee
Super Member
I'd think once you got accustomed to the dynamic, clean and high articulation of the horn bass bin....adding a direct/radiator type 'bottom end' would probably draw attention to itself and be a source of frustration (not to be confused with Bowtie's commentary about adding volume to the back chamber, so if that's what you mean, ignore this)
Having owned LaScalas since 1979, I've grown up with horn bass and feel myself to be rather ignorant of 'non horn bass' issues.... and then I heard the very incredible Klipsch KP-600 stack. All horn loaded but had two 18" DR subs for each stack. I don't want to be dramatic and say it totally ruined the sound for me, that's too strong......but it did sour the milk quite a bit (I was contemplating buying a pair of these Hen's Teeth)
For the Cornscala.... the ORIGINAL design of it was to take the bass from a Cornwall and mate it with the K401/K77 of the LaScala. Some have said specifically that this was taking the worst of each speaker and mating them together. I know since then, they've brought out some refinements to it.
I've owned Belle's, K-horns, Cornwall's and Lascala's. Now have modified Lascala's with ALK crossovers and base bin on the bottom. My Belle's, although one of the most beautiful to look at were just lacking in my listening space. Cornwall's always sound good here, and I have a set in my tube room used with my Fisher collection and others. The K-horns only lasted a couple days here before a friend offered me a hefty dollar amount I couldn't refuse. They were really impressive and I was regretting letting them go until I traded for my current Lascala's. These have ALK extreme slope crossovers Crites replacement drivers, and custom bass bins that give you K-horn type bass. The crossovers actually give these a smoother, less harsh sound with the ability to adjust the highs. They out perform the K-horns and do not need to be in a corner to sound correct. I actually run them on my WOPL 1000 which sounds crazy since they are efficient speakers, but the ALK crossovers do make them more power hungry. I like this setup more for retro / smooth jazz where the recordings are of higher quality than classic rock and other genres. I would of liked to experiment with the belle's more with using a sub and possibly ALK crossovers, but the crossovers are very expensive. I like Cornwall's for just about everything except high power solid state equipment, they really shine with tube equipment and low wattage vintage stuff. Their size and shape make them sort of blah to look at but they make up for that with sound.
evoroadster
Active Member
Waiting to hear from seller. Thanks for all the input so far. Much appreciated.
Neck Beard
Member
......my thoughts exactly.....most beautiful speaker.......add a couple of nice subs and call it a day!
The subs need to be able to track the dynamics of the Belles, no mean feat. You wouldn't want the subs compressing before the Belles and altering the tonal balance.
avguytx
Lunatic Member
I agree. I've been using a single Sunfire HRS-12 sub with the Belle inspired clones I built a few years ago. I've had the sub since I was a rep for them years ago and , while not optimum, does a decent job crossed over around 50 or 60hz I believe. Eventually I will build a horn loaded so to go with them if I ever get done with new house projects (after having moved in a year and a half ago).
But I do enjoy the dynamics of the Belles and I run them on an 80 wpc Onkyo Reference M-5000R amplifier that sounds quite good on them.
I'm not surprised that sub works well; a fella in the old Chicago horn club used the small Sunfire with a pair of Lowthers in Medallion rear horn cabinets and the sub kept up at robust sound levels. I was quite taken aback as I was a firm believer in large cone area over long stroke as the better method of making the needed displacement. Evidently since the cutoff was low the midrange distortion caused by a long stroking woofer (as opposed to a subwoofer) was of no concern.
When I used Altec A5 VOTs, for subs I used a pair of JBL Pro 4648 bassbins with 6db of boost at 30hz. That gave me flat response to 25hz along with about 100db efficiency (accounting for the 6db subtracted for the EQ) and the 4 direct radiating 15s, powered by 150 watt plate amp, effortlessly tracked the dynamics of the Altecs.
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