Klipsch Cornwall 4

Two of those boxes would look great under the Christmas Tree.

"Sorry kids - your stuff just won't fit."

 

I heard Volti loudspeakers at AXPONA in April. They were amazing. I'm curious to see how the Cornwall IVs compare. Volti stuff runs near and above $10k and really seems like Klipsch product with extra engineering. If the Cornwall IVs sound as good they are a steal at $6k.

 

Volti's entry level product is the Rival, which starts out at $8,900.



It would be interesting to hear this up against the new Cornwall.

 

My dream speakers, period

 

Love the way they are priced 'per speaker.'

 

...but I need a pair of! (not an uncommon request BTW)

 

When you get away from bookshelf speakers, larger speakers are usually priced by a single unit.

 

awesome. I’ll expect my invitation to visit for a listen soon. K thx

 

Bump. Has anyone heard the new Cornwalls yet?

@Warren Jarrett did you get to hear a pair yet?

 

I'll follow up with a question: I've never heard Cornwalls, outside of a minute or two demo when I was purchasing Heresy's off a guy locally, 15 or so years ago.

I liked the Heresys on acoustic guitar and acoustic jazz, but that's about it. I didn't like how harsh they could be or how the whole soundstage was collapsed onto the floor. I'm not sure if this should rule Cornwalls or Fortes out for me.

I still can't help wonder if Cornwalls might be the ticket for me. I listen to a lot of Grateful Dead (a lot). I also listen to a lot of very dynamic music/sound art such as Oren Ambarchi, Alvin Lucier, Jim O'Rourke, eai-type stuff....Can, Neu!, and all the krautrock stuff, as well as electronic/dance-ish music like Andy Stott, Demdike Stare, Raime, etc.

But then I also listen to more delicate/subtle stuff like Bonnie Prince Billy, Jack Rose, Grouper, Wilco...plus plenty of jazz and a little classical.

I suppose I need a jack of all trades that is particularly good at rhythm and dynamics, and can also be placed relatively close to walls/corners. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

I listen to almost every artist on your list with my Cornwalls. I think these are the speakers for you, but I'm unfamiliar with your amplification. I'm sure you know that the Heritage series excels when partnered with tubes. I'd try to reach out locally to see if anyone would invite you over for a deep listen with your own choice of music. Cornwalls are everywhere so it's just a matter of tracking some down in your area.

 

cool, thanks! I see yours are from 1979. You don't find them too harsh? I've read that criticism of them and became interested again because of the updated horns.

If I were to pickup horn speakers I'd be inclined to track down a Line Magnetic 518ia again as I really really liked that amp for this type of music

 

Well, Heresy and Cornwall are very different speakers. I know, same parts and same company but the same can be said of a Ford Mustang and F150.

Because the cabinet is about 1/3 the size of a Cornwall, the bass on the Heresy is a bit out of balance with the horn. If you turn it up enough to get the bass right, the horn is shouting at you. For that reason, an acoustic guitar that doesn't have a preponderance of critical bass sounds better on a Heresy than other music. If you have the Room for Cornwalls, they are really hard to beat, especially if you like the sound of live music. And I don't mean the sound of the PA of a Kiss concert from 1983 (though there is some of that) but I mean the sound of being in the room with an instrument or voice, it just sounds real. The reason why I own a pair and perhaps their most compelling attribute is that you can light them up past 100 db (clean) with a lower powered tube amp and they are designed to be placed against a wall and/or in a corner. Hence the name, "cornwall".

But... I have certainly had some very unsuccessful amp combinations that can indeed make the horns sound harsh. Always a safe bet on the used market, $800 to $1,200 and you can always get your money back, the value isn't going down.

 

I updated the tweeters to B&C DE-110 drivers, rope-caulked the mids and use EL34 amps. With garbage CDs they will amplify that harshness. The Cornwall is excellent at low volume listening because of how well they handle dynamics, whisper quiet to make you shart your pants peaks. I think I've tamed mine enough to avoid the harshness that some experience. I think a lot of those accounts are from ones who heard Klipsch mated with cheap AVR receivers due to them often being sold under the same roof from big box retailers.

 

^this^

and in some cases over driving them with too much power. I know many people say they like the “headroom” from running high powered amps but every time I connect more than 100wpc, it’s been a little ugly.

 

I love my Heresy III but I don't consider it a full range speaker. A lightweight, short-throw, accordion-surround woofer in a sealed cab is not going to make deep bass despite the fact that it's a "12" (even reviewers miss the point). It's quite efficient, though, with great midbass punch and the smooth sealed rolloff makes it easy to mate with subs for real bass. Sitting on the floor rarely helps a 24" tall speaker, either, so I raise them up.

 

Has anyone has spent time with the new Cornwalls and the new Tannoy Cheviots? They are similarly priced.

 

I’m a fan but as you know, there are concessions to me made for the small footprint. The new Heresy 4 has shipped and they are rear ported. I’m very interested to hear how that changes things. I would assume that means wall placement is no longer a great idea but I guess that’s not a given. Still, a big fundamental design change for the first time in about 50 years.

 

Very doubtful. The new cornwalls just came out and are going to the established fans as fast as they can make them, they are on back order at the factory. Finding a pair to demo at a dealer was next to impossible with the previous models, no hope to find 4’s sitting in a demo space.

at some point this thread will get bumped by someone that bought a pair but it hasn’t happened yet.

 

I've had a pair of Cornwall IVs for over a week now. I'm getting my head around the 'horn sound' coming from a SOTA active speaker with DSP and three times the cost of the Klipsch. So far im impressed, using tube and SS amps, vinyl and digital files as sources. I've never owned Klipsch speakers or had the desire to until I heard the Forte III. At the time I preferred the bass on the Cornwall III but wished it had the superior mid-top balance of the Forte III and now we seemingly have the perfect marriage.

 

The Cheviots were also on my radar, I heard them at Upscale Audio. That was some months ago and im now breaking in a pr of Cornwall IVs. As for build quality, hands down the nod goes to Tannoy and for SQ the nod (so far) goes to the CIV. the mid range is more lucid and free of artifacts and the bass goes deeper on the CIV. If the CIV did not exist I probably would have sprung for the Tannoy. YMMV and all that...Uncle Kevvy is a dealer for both brands and likely has them in the same demo room for a proper shootout.

 

great info, thanks

are the tannoys particularly well made or are the klipsch’s less than ideal in that regard?

 

Tannoys cabinetry is much finer (veneer, finishing) and the hardware for tweeter shelving on the front panel to speaker connections on the back are higher grade, bespoke parts. The basket, cone, surround and over-all quality of the driver looks the same you'd find on the Westminster Royal. The veneer and over-all finish on the Klipsch is passable, the black splatter paint aka 'orange peel' on the front/rear baffles are not for looks but to cover irregularities that would otherwise add labor. the speaker binding posts are kinda chintzy and the stick on labels are already peeling off. The woofer and mid/tweeter horns look like generic parts from a DIY catalog. All that said I wouldn't change a thing about the CIV if it meant the price would have to increase appreciably to 'improve' on those things I mentioned. At $6k me thinks the CIV is pretty good value as-is.

 

Hearing “American Beauty” through a nice pair of Cornwalls will change your life.