Klipsch Cornwall III - What Can I Expect?

Frankly, vintage Forte are not good sounding speakers. Wasted money in upgrades including titanium tweeters, better crossovers, etc. Lucky to sell them at what I had money wise into the speakers. Cornwall are in a different league altogether. I suspect new manufactured Cornwall would be very good too.

 

I heard these speakers today

Klipsch RF-7 Floorstanding Speaker

The demo was the Louis Armstrong Ella Fitzgerald album. The sound was amazing. Very 3D. I felt like Pops was in one speaker and Ella was in the other. Extraordinary

I then requested Van Halen

Different story

The bass was almost non existent and it was very fatiguing

If all I ever played was jazz and vocal I'd be all over those speakers. But they really struggled with rock

 

Odd, I haven't hear the Series II, only the original's. With the ones that I heard a few years back, it was the other way around.

 

That’s generally the opposite of what most people say, what kind of amp was driving?

 

Rogue Cronus Magnium 2

 

Yes, there seems to be an almost polarized divide between Forte and Cornwall people.

 

Not enough power for rf7’s. I know the sensitivity would lead you to believe that would work but they weren’t designed or voiced for tubes. HT and 200wpc are the market for those speakers.

 

But their sensitivity is 100 db. I would think a low powered amp would be the answer

 

I know, seems reasonable but I think you heard it doesn’t work for yourself. Also, those sensitivity number have been called into question many times. Orange woofer Klipsch isn’t for tubes, they are for pealing paint off the walls. It’s kind of their thing and a point of pride for the company and owners.

 

Some speaker's may have a high sensitivity rating but they need a lot of power to really do their thing.

Most large tower speaker's with large and/or multiple driver's fall into this type of speaker.

As is pointed out, the Forte and the Cornwall are two completely different types of speaker's.

The RF7's, like the Forte's have been voice for SS amps and naturally do better with them.

Unless, you are listening to music like Jazz and vocal's, then a 100-Watt tube amplifier is perfectly fine.

 

Im considering buying Cornwall iiis. I have a vintage Pioneer Spec 1 and 2 class A amp and pre amp...will this be a good fit together. Amp is 250 watts per channel into 8ohms. Thanks very much

 

I’ve not put more than 75 wpc before I thought it was a bad match. 250 seems like a poor match but I’ve had no experience with that amp. Seems like a waste of power, I’d look for some used carver amazing or something that needs that kind of power.

 

I run my '81 vintage Cornwalls with my Spec1/Spec4 combo. They sound awesome! Also...remember that Paul Klipsch himself switched from tube amps to solid state amps. I don't remember reading anywhere that he was dissatisfied with the way they drove his heritage line speakers.

 

I think Paul also wrote the manual that says not to use more than 100wpc. But like you, many people go well beyond that with results they are happy with.

 

Thanks for the replies. I don't plan on blasting the music but that dynamic headroom is nice for the speakers id think

 

Lol...normal listening on my system uses around an incredible 1-2 watts...haha!

 

Can you say a little more about how you implemented the supertweeter and crossover? Thanks!!

 

Going back many years, we only knew 1-way speakers in concerts and thought that they were pretty much "it".

Then we got into the late 70's, where disco music came in. We had some nice clubs with really amazing sound systems. We would hear the big sub bass bins and the HF tweeters above the two-way, now "mid" speakers.

At that point, I realised what two way cabinets could and could not do.

One day, I was cruising the vintage Altec's listings on eBay and I came across the pair that I now own.

It was the super-tweeters in the photo that caught my attention. This guy had restored and upgraded a pair of A7's and added the JBL 2404 "Baby Cheeks" super-tweeter's. When I saw that he did this, I knew that he was someone who had an excellent understanding of the A7's (and he does).

I bought them and had them shipped in from California.

He custom built the crossover's for the "Baby Cheeks", here is a photo shortly after their arrival and set-up.



At this point, they sat unused for two months, until the ALK crossovers arrived (below).



The Altec 511B horns with the 908 series drivers have a natural HF roll off. The custom HF crossover takes advantage of this natural roll off and starts kicking in at 6-kHz and goes up all the way to 20-kHz (and maybe beyond).

On my system profile page, below the equipment listing, I put together a tour of my former audio room, with descriptions and photos.

Check it out.

 

Hey man just a thank you for the quality of your posts. It’s super interesting to get some real world perspective on some of these vintage Altec configs especially. Keep up the good work

really nice pix also.

 

Thank You!

I just realized that I made a typo in the first sentence of my above post.

That should have read "2-way speakers", with reference to a typical commercial P.A. application.

The Altec A7's have been further converted to a 4-way speaker with the addition of a passive 15" commercial horn loaded sub woofer.

Crossovers are ever so important and the most overlooked component in most every audio system.

 

A little EQ is all you need. I hated my Klipsch until I got a little Schiit Loki. Thought I was going to have to send them back. Just shaved about 2 db off in the offending range and BAM! Sometimes they are a fuzz hot but set right they are great. I got rid of the sizzle and kept the sparkle! Mine have a hot spot around 4000 or 5000 hz. Tone controls would work also.

 

Certainly, but you know how many feel about tone controls. They'll eschew them under any circumstance, a bit ridiculous IMO.

 

So early next year I might be looking to upgrade my speakers as well, and I have a very similar setup and have been looking at very similar options. I have the PrimaLuna EVO 400 amp, but with Triton 3+ speakers. While they sound great, I know there's more to be had in the line so I was looking at upping to Triton OneR. BUT, I also keep wandering over to the Cornwall IVs and the lure of the 102db sensitivity. I have a very large, open room, and I occasionally like to rock out at high volume. Questioning if the Triton Ones will get me there, or if the Cornwalls are the way to go.

ETA: I love the bass response of the GEs, and I know I'll get a lot more of that goodness in the Triton Ones. Possible going to the Cornwalls won't give me all that delicious bass.

 

You are talking about speakers which have two completely different sound signatures. Both are good, but both are different.

I haven't heard the new Cornwall's, but I doubt if you have anything to worry about in the bass department.

Still, I have several really large speakers, and even though they have great bass, they are not subwoofer's.

So, if you want really great bass (and sub bass), just add a good sub to your system and you are good to go.

 

Been reading these comments amount Klipsch Legacy speakers sounding brittle and falling apart at levels over 80dB or so. While I acknowledge there is some variability in which some speakers sound better than others at higher volumes, it's been my experience that the way you've managed your room acoustics has more to do with preserving SQ at high volumes than the speakers do. As you add absorption and diffusion in a well thought out manner you will be find you can crank up the volume without losing the dynamics you enjoyed at lower volumes. The room (and acoustic treatments) really matter.