Klipsch Cornwall 4

The problem with Klipsch finish is that Chinese made product is better finished with better terminals at 1/3 rd the price and less (UK designed brand). UK made Tannoy of course costs a bit more and up. I suppose little else other than Tannoy do large drivers. (12" & 15").

 

Unrelated to the topic on hand...Im a huge Heritage fan, but the Heresy is one I could just ever get my ears around. Id take the KG4 over them for a smaller model in the Heritage line

related, my Cornwalls are the centerpiece speakers in my house and every day listening. My Lascalas are sitting idle at the moment

 

The conversations about Heresy are lengthy and many. Clearly, it's a love it or hate it kind of speaker. Count me in the "love it" camp but if someone tried to replace my Cornwalls with a pair, I'd beat them with my fists until the following court case would be difficult to win.

I think (at least for me) it has a lot to do with sequencing. Meaning, what have you heard before you heard Heresy for the first time. I had a neighbor who was spending far too much time at my house listening to my stereo so I took him down to my local shop and put together a system for him. (and his wife was super pissed when we brought it home). For him I chose Heresy because he was the kind of 'audiophile" the felt it was all about volume. They kind of guy that would turn it up past the level of distortion and like it. I wanted something that he couldn't blow up and that volume thing really is what the Heresy's do well, you will tap out before they do or drive the amp into clipping.

Move forward a few years, I joined this forum and the nonstop talk about tubes got me all worked up. I needed to find out what I was missing so I bought a fisher 400. I ran it, I liked it just fine but I didn't own any efficient speakers so it was just a nice little office system. Then one day I decided I'd take the fisher to the neighbors house to hear what is sounded like with the Heresy. I remember clearly putting on Miles Davis Kind of Blue and the combination of tubes, horns and listening to a horn just blowing me away. If I would have heard another Heritage speaker in the same context previous to Heresy, or really any other 97db efficient speaker with a tube amp, perhaps all I would have taken away from the first impression is what it doesn't do well rather than what it does.

You can find them used for $500 almost every day, they look cool, don't take up a bunch of space, can be driven with a tube amp or can turn your living room into a PA from a 1983 Kiss concert. That's a lot of good stuff in the plus column for a speaker.

 

I owned a pair through several house moves and stereo variations. They were just too far removed from what my own ears are seeking from the music and substantially different then the rest of the line. They never scratched the itch. Finally sold them to someone who thinks they are the best on the planet so my views are purely my own.

 

A big reason why you can always find a used pair for $500.

 

Those Cornwallis look sexy. But too big and not my money range, I guess.

 

Money range is tough especially when listening to them first seems to be impossible. I mean how do we know they sound $4,000 better than any pair you gen get used with Crites upgrades.

 

Yeah, it's a Cornwall thread, but I'm thinking Forte III's might be an easier point of entry for me to see if I like that sound in my room.

 

I was considering getting only one, which would solve both issues for me.

 

Perfectly stated.

 

If you're going to audition Heresy's, don't listen to Cornwall's first. The difference in sound is as big as the difference in size IMO.

 

Great speaker the Forte III. I may be bias since I own them. Bought them about a year ago next month and I have been very happy with them. Just the right size for my room. But I would love to hear pair of the new cornwalls.

 

This is a Fairly compelling review. The Parasound amp need to be taken into consideration. I know I wouldn’t be looking for a 200wpc amp to drive them.

 

Me either, but the Parasound are supposedly biased pretty heavily into Class A which they may never leave with Cornwalls.

 

I’ve got a BAT Bk-500 that is a dual mono block class A design that makes 250 wpc. I’ve not tried it with my Cornwall’s, I did with my audio note kit speakers and it wasn’t successful. Perhaps an experiment is justified but at 120 lb, that amp isn’t fun to move.

 

You likely only using about 3 watts which will be Class A as @JackG mentions. Also plenty in reserve for effortless musical peaks. I would happily put my 500W MF through these.

 

I’ve been on a very winding road lately, listening to lots of different amps and speakers. Today I heard the Forte III and Cornwall IV almost back-to-back (a pair of Spendors in between!)

On this thread it seems that many are fans of the entire Heritage line, but I have to admit I didn’t care for the Fortes. They seemed very harsh and hard-edged to me (but I’m accustomed to KEFs). The Cornwalls on the other hand I thought were great.

The size may end up being a non-starter, but I’m thinking of bringing them home for a demo. At the dealer I was driving them with a PrimaLuna EVO 100 and it seemed like a very pleasant combo, so I may bring that home with them.

Everything I listened to sounded great, except Primus, which kinda threw me for a loop. I’d be curious to hear more stories about what you feel sounds both good and bad on these speakers.

I’m also curious to hear about favorite/least favorite amp & Cornwall combos.

 

Just a new 1 minute short:

 

Wow, the side-by-side with the Heresy III (which already loom large in my living room) makes it look huge.

 

I've heard them side by side, and the sound is equally as large.

 

Steve Guttenberg dropped his full review of the C4 today.

 

I’m going to order the new Cornwalls once mine wear out.

 

You might want to rig them up in the back of a pickup truck and do spring break at Lake Havasu. Otherwise, they are going to last longer than any of us.

 

They were born in 1977 so perhaps any day now?

 

Mine are 71 (older than me), in much better shape and show no signs of slowing down. I however have some harder miles on the motor, I’ve done spring break at Lake Havasu.