Klipsch Cornwalls Modifications.....Thoughts?

[dc270]

I will be coming into a set of Cornwalls soon. I am studying the 1980 design these are and wondered something. Would it be worthwhile to pull the drivers a "round over" the horn and woofer edges for(perhaps) improved propigation/ definition? The drivers are mounted internally in the cabinets and edge difration issue was a concern to me.

I plan a recap of these and do a cabinet refinish - perhaps a tweeter c/o to the CT125- or would a phragm c/o do as well? Does the mid horn pragm improve when c/o?

I have had several Klipsch products ouer the years, these would be my first vintage set of Cornwalls to experiment with.

Thanks for your hopeful wisdoms........
DC

 

[theebadone]

Yes, pull all of the Klipsch drivers out, and replace with Altec :yes:

 

[avguytx]

I'd personally not modify the cabinets on them in any way. I'd rather keep them as close to structurally and cosmetically stock as possible. But I'd rather have the Cornwalls than another pair of Valencia's. I would have gladly traded either pair I owned in the past for Cornwalls. But that's just me and my ears and preferences.

 

[dc270]

OK, good to know your thoughts here. Would there be any more Cornwall people or "modders" out there to spread out the opinions/thoughts with?
DC

 

[DanO55]

I am sitting on a pair of Cornwall 1.5s at the moment, well not actually sitting. I plan on doing a recap, seal up the back better, perhaps add a small set of walnut feet to them, say three inches, no risers at the present, and just sit back and enjoy. I don't think they need much in the mod area to shine. Improve, perhaps you may find something to do with them in that area, but as they were designed is something to be more than pleased with. Cornwalls have a reputation well earned. I will probably never sell my La Scalas cause I just love them. I would be hard pressed to find a reason to ever let the Cornwalls find a new home either. IMO restore and be happy with what you have. I am in the group.

 

[rebellovw]

I would hit up the Klipsch forum - I've made a bunch of upgrades to mine as part of a restoration project and went with what many where recommending - my upgrades include:

Crites crossover rebuild kit (new caps)
Cast Frame Woofers (mostly because mine are decorators and my old woofers were discolored over the years) many notice a slight improvement
C125 tweeters

I did all the upgrades at once after I my cabinets came back from the woodworker(they were in the shop for a couple of months) - so it was very difficult to notice A/B results - they sounded great before - I'm blown away now is about all that I can say.

I may some time in the future look into the Ti mids - I'm just not sure what I need to do to use them yet - mostly folks are using these on the Fortes - I do not read many posts on this mod to the CWs - I also do not read many posts on the ALK networks on the CWs.

Good luck

 

[dc270]

Thanks for the contribution thus far- I always enjoy reading others impression-good, bad or even indifferant. From reading the input I can gather what people are really doing & how it is actually working fo them. I do not subscribe to modifications just for modification sake- there has to be a valid history and reasoning that I can understand before I subscribe to it.

Reading the Bob Crites links helps quite a bit, I am looking into the Klipsch links as well. I want an improved speaker sharing the same "flavors" are was originally designed but with the valid sound improvement that say a cap upgrade can offer. Understand, respect and retain the original "intent" of sound- but make it better where you reasonably can. The more I look into the pre 1980 Cornwall design the more I am drawn to it and want to make it better.

The Cornwall speaker I think is a great Klipsch platform, after all they brought it back in 3 differant versions so they saw ongoing potential with it. Taking the near original version to upgrade from would allow the most latitude and possible potential.

Thanks again for the input! I gather & grow!
DC

 

[Altec Best]

OK, good to know your thoughts here. Would there be any more Cornwall people or "modders" out there to spread out the opinions/thoughts with?
DC

Yes I have Cornwall II's and I changed the Crossover to a Bob Crites and replaced the phenolic diaphragm to a titanium diaphragm. The funny thing is I thought the original XO's sounded a bit better. And those XO's were $$$ expensive. They are pretty much all i could do with them without destroying the cabs.

The biggest problem with the Cornwalls IMHO is the Mid horn ! It's way too small.But also IMO if you have to do too much to the Cabs you would be better off with different speakers.

But with just those 2 Mod's they sound pretty darn good !! :thmbsp:

When you start to Mod them too much they are no Longer Cornwalls !!! They become Frakenwall's


Just my opinion ya'll understand !

 

[dc270]

Yes I have Cornwall II's and I changed the Crossover to a Bob Crites and replaced the phenolic diaphragm to a titanium diaphragm. They are pretty much all i could do with them without destroying the cabs.

The biggest problem with the Cornwalls IMHO is the Mid horn ! It's way too small.But also IMO if you have to do too much to the Cabs you would be better off with different speakers.

But with just those 2 Mod's they sound pretty darn good !! :thmbsp:

When you start to Mod them too much they are no Longer Cornwalls !!! They become Frakenwall's


Just my opinion ya'll understand !

Would you rather seen the LaScall or KHorn mid in the Cornweall design?
DC

 

[Altec Best]

That would have helped !

 

[Coytee]

wouldn't the K400/401 have been too deep for the cornwall?

Now that they have it, I'd like to see their K510 installed in some of their offerings and take them to a 2-way system.

Could make that an optional top for the Lascala II while at the same time, keeping the 3-way version available.

K510....the Little Horn That Could...

 

[theebadone]

Since the mid horn seems to be the weak link in the cornwalls, and since Klipsch used EV parts, why not use the excellent EV 1823 driver, of course you will have to modify the cabs but the mids will be an excellent upgrade.

 

[avguytx]

Another question I have is.... Do you plan on keeping these after the upgrades to substantiate modifying a good set of Cornwalls? I would just have a hard time modifying something like those to the point of where they weren't close to stock in looks still. For that matter, they are a simple rectangle cabinet and are the easiest thing of all time to build from scratch and use whatever drivers would fit the bill.

But that's just me...

 

[Tom Brennan]

Some years ago I replaced the stock mid horns on some Cornwalls I owned with some tractrix flare horns I bought from Klipsch Pro; only the flares were replaced not the Atlas drivers. The larger opening I cut merged with the tweeter opening and allowed me to easily front mount the tweeter.

Note that the mid horn has a larger throat than the stock horn which necks down quite a bit from the compression driver opening. This would theoretically lead to less throat distortion.

I think the sound was better, smoother and more open, but one must always be aware of how Berenek's Law applies----if you think a mod will make a speaker sound better it will sound better. In any event I traded these speakers to a pal for a set of Altec 605 As. I thought the Altecs sounded better and he thought the Cornwalls sounded better, a win-win deal.

 

[dc270]

Some years ago I replaced the stock mid horns on some Cornwalls I owned with some tractrix flare horns I bought from Klipsch Pro; only the flares were replaced not the Atlas drivers. The larger opening I cut merged with the tweeter opening and allowed me to easily front mount the tweeter.

Note that the mid horn has a larger throat than the stock horn which necks down quite a bit from the compression driver opening. This would theoretically lead to less throat distortion.

I think the sound was better, smoother and more open, but one must always be aware of how Berenek's Law applies----if you think a mod will make a speaker sound better it will sound better. In any event I traded these speakers to a pal for a set of Altec 605 As. I thought the Altecs sounded better and he thought the Cornwalls sounded better, a win-win deal.

I am undecided as yet about them being keeper, however I am intrigued about the horn used/ replaced here. what sie is it? It look somewhat like a wave guide.
Thanks
DC

 

[Tom Brennan]

I am undecided as yet about them being keeper, however I am intrigued about the horn used/ replaced here. what sie is it? It look somewhat like a wave guide.
Thanks
DC

That horn was used on a pro speaker Klipsch made some years ago, a 3-way with a 15" woofer, the KP-301 as I recall. The flare was a tractrix and I think the pattern was 60x40 but I'm not sure anymore. It was not a constant directivity horn.

The horn flares were available at the time as a part for about $20 each. The speaker has long since been dropped from the company's line.

 

[dc270]

Thanks Tom-

I went to the Klipsch websight and foud the thread regarding the upgrage- very interesting!!
DC

 

[dc270]

Where do they sell that horn lens Tom?
I found one sililar at PE
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=294-808

Not sure it would be the same thing however.........
DC

 

[Tom Brennan]

Where do they sell that horn lens Tom?
I found one sililar at PE
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=294-808

Not sure it would be the same thing however.........
DC

No, not the same at all. The Klipsch was a tractrix flare (one of various shaped curves of the horn flare; fans of the tractrix horn believe it gives the sound wave a better "launch" so to speak than other shapes) and was not constant directivity. Also the horn in the link has a 2" throat, the Klipsch was 1".

Perhaps Klipsch still has that horn available as a part. It was from the KP 301-II. I'm under the impression the same horn was used in the Forte II and Chorus II home speakers. Call Klipsch and see if the horn is available as a part.

 

[markw300d]

I'm under the impression the same horn was used in the Forte II and Chorus II home speakers. Call Klipsch and see if the horn is available as a part.

It does look a lot like it. They list it as a 90(o)x40(o) Tractrix Horn