Klipsch Cornwall III - What Can I Expect?

Yeah I had a hard time with Klipsch until I got PrimaLuna amps. I suppose MANY tube amp brands would be as good or even better with Klipsch. But PrimaLuna solved many issues for me. I still prefer my Forte III over my Cornwall III, but that is due to the extra fullness the Cornwalls have over the Forte II. That fullness and my room is not a good mix. But what surprises me most is the PrimaLuna even moderated that for me. I expected a tube amp to ADD that fullness rather than tame it a bit.

 

I think I had my Fisher 500b when I had the Hersey III

 

I heard the Forte III at AXPONA very small room, very loud volume, high watt, high quality solid state amplifier and they sounded FANTASTIC. I could listen for days. Rockin' smooth from bottom to top. My ONLY complaint is a high amount of midrange coloration (techni-coloration) that made male colcals sound like they were singing in a barrel.

 

guy- listen to this guy- this is what to expect.
it's looooong but he seems to know his stuff....

 

Seems like Klipsch is a polarizing product. People either love or hate it

 

Yeah, he goes on and on and on. He could have easily imparted the same pertinent information in about 25% of the time (or less).

 

...or people think they are just ok.

I’m in the “Love” column, however

 

love

 

yeah and there are more chapters to the novel if you can believe that!

 

I guess some youtubers are not very good at editing. Sometimes it takes several minutes before they get on with it. And the "how to" videos are the worst, they show you all the trial and error, show you their cat or dog, and all I need to know is what damned bolt I have to loosen to get the power steering pump off.

 

I used to think that then one day measured to see what I was listen at out of curiosity. On weekends I listened in the mid 80s range sometimes a touch higher with lots of peaks over 90db. That’s when I realized Cornwall’s utterly fall apart at high volumes. However when there kept to reasonable levels they sound great.

 

Yeah but who wants reasonable?

 

I am no fan of Wooster vintage. He bought those A7's from the Clay center in Charleston, they were listed for $800 on Craig list, I nearly bought them to replace my cornwalls and followed his posts on FB when he went down to pick them up. and he is probably asking $7,000 and did nothing more than wipe them down with a wet rag. there wasn't enough time from when he picked them up and had them listed for sale to do any restoration. It's more a museum of equipment than a store. Because his prices are crazy he doesn't have a price on anything and gets annoyed about the fourth time you has him what something costs. Last time I was there he wanted $1,400 for a Kenwood turntable that sells for $300 on ebay.

I have Cornwalls and love them but you absolutely need a big space, I sit 18 ft away from mine. How they sound is very dependent on the amp. I've run about six different amps with them and is amazing how different they can sound. I though I found the best combination with a Fisher KX-200. That was substantially better than the Fisher 400 it replaced, going from 27 to 35 wpc was a very big improvement with everything but most noticeably the bass. I needed a repair on the 200 and while it was out I bought a McIntosh 4100, it is much much better than the Fisher. At 75 WPC it really opens everything up from top to bottom with the bass being bloated and the highs shrill which is generally what happens when I had a SS amp with the Cornwalls.

While I am a fan, I'm still very objective. I don't have 3's but I can tell you that compared to other speakers I have, the bass detail on the Cornwalls isn't great and they really are not the last word on detail in general. I have my suspicions that people who prefer them at lower levels are sitting too close. I do think they work very well at lower to moderate levels of volume but I keep mine pushing 90 to 100db often and they sound great. With the Fisher 400 they would start to sound diminished at about 80db.

A bit like driving a 65 Mustang. Far from being best performing but more fun to drive than just about anything you could buy.

 

Guy, avoid Brian at "Wooster Vintage Audio", as his prices are goofy! He used to also sell coffins for a living and trust me when I tell you that his business lives by the words "Estate and Audiophile". What I mean by that is, anytime he sees a nearby Estate Sale that has lots of high end equipment, with family of the passed not knowing what they have on their hands and just want it gone, he is the first to always be at the door, hoping that they are stupid so he can low ball them and buy in bulk, turn around, dust it off and sell it for high dollars. Those Altec Voice Of The Theater speakers that you heard are probably the same ones I recently heard at my friend Keith's house? Great speakers if you have the space, but certainly a wife deal killing set of speakers, if ever there was one. I recently saw that Wooster Vintage Audio had just picked up a bunch of McIntosh stuff at an Estate Sale, including a McIntosh MC240, (which I have been interested in), so I called Brian up and asked him what he wanted for it? Before ever plugging it in, he said $4 grand, but that he was about to have his tech (unknowing to Brian that I know his tech Tom (A GREAT GUY, by the way!) and he said that after he checked it out that the price was going to go up significantly, which is exactly why I can't stand that guy as a sales person.

Guy, do yourself a favor and drive over to Xtend Technologies in Broadview Heights, Ohio (ask for Clint) and listen to their new Klipsch Forte III's set-up. They really sound great to my ears and I already own Klipsch Chorus 1's and Cornwalls 1's, both from the early to mid '80's.

I'm on my own current journey, looking for new speakers, but since I'm already pretty covered in the Klipsch department, I'm trying to hunt for a "different" kind of speaker, but in the end, I may just end up selling both of my pairs of Klipsch and go for those new Forte III's , as they impressed me THAT much!

 

My Cornwall’s are set up in a 13 by 16 room and I sit about 9 to 10 feet away for serious listening and feel they work well. One of the things I love about them is that they sound impressive from anywhere in the room. Cornwall’s can really fill a room with music.

 

A couple of reasons for that is that people mostly go out and buy those cheap Klipsch speakers that they sell in the big box stores. And then they run them with garbage SS AV Receiver's.

Most of those who buy real Klipsch legacy products, or their modern day version's, have more of the love factor in mind.

 

More than likely I'm going to stick with my Triton One speakers and I plan on pairing them with a Line Magnetic amp.

 

Yes, WAF = ZERO!

But, as fond as I am with A7 VOTT's, you just can not take a stock pair and use them for high end stereo.

Yet, everybody does this and then they make critical comment's about A7's not being suitable for high end home stereo use. I even see comments to this nature all the time on the Lansing Heritage web site.

These speaker's can do wonderful and amazing things, but not in stock form. My A7's have been carefully restored, modified and very much upgraded to a 4-Way system, with custom crossover's and are being run with a high quality, all tube audio chain (past the DAC if digital source).

What you are talking about is typical of a lot of people who deal in old audio equipment, no matter what kind of gear it happens to be.

They buy from estates sales for practically nothing, wipe the dust off and go around pretending they have something that is both rare and valuable.

 

I have owned two Line Magnetic amplifiers and I can say enough good things about my experiences with the LM products that I have had the pleasure to own, quality wise and sound wise.

 

I’ve got a MC240 with a pair of Cornwall 1’s. Speaker placement and room treatment are very important. Also, the room itself is a player in getting the best sound out of them. You have to play with them for awhile in the placement and upgrading is needed. I’ve got Crites upgrades and did the plumbers putty around the horns to help tame the shrill. They can sound great, not the best, but definitely great once you get them setup.

 

In a thread like this where you name a specific piece of equipment, it often draws fan and owners to participate. That being said, there are very few people that have owned Cornwalls that have a negative review. The
Klipsch brand will certainly get many negative reviews for various reasons but it's uncommon to get an "I hate them" from anyone that made the commitment. That's really what made me seek them out.

 

may turn out to be a sideways move. sandy gross the founder of goldenear has paired primaluna amplifiers with the GE speakers the past few years at the AXPONA audio show. this year he brought the triton 1r to demo. apparently he feels a good match between PL and GE.
dont you already have primaluna amplification?

 

Not sure where you got the high volume not sounding great. Mine sound fabulous at high and scary high volumes. The louder the more 3D it becomes. You can feel a vocalist’s breath. Loud is a serious indulgence with Cornwalls. I also have amps that can take them there.

 

FWIW a local Klipsch dealer told me he won't carry the new Cornwall because it's not true to the original design. He said it's just a bigger Hersey.

Don't shoot the messenger

 

Yes I do. I've also read that Sandy's reference amp when testing GE speakers is the LM 219