They call Cornwalls fun. What's better than that?

yeah, if you had a pair of Cornwalls, what would be the most sumptuous, indulgent tube amp to power them?

 

Almost any well made 30-40 Watt class A/B tube amp, driven by KT77's, KT88's or vintage NOS EL34 power tubes.

Single ended, powered by 845 tubes the Line Magnetic 518iA, or their newer model, would give you 22-Watts of SET bliss.

 

I think any of the amps I own would work with the Cornwalls even if these are quite low-powered amps. I have a parallel SET 2a3 amp (Audio Note Kageki), a pushpull 45 amp (Deja Vu Audio) and a pushpull 349 amp (my favorite) built by Aldo D'Urso. The Kageki, which I believe is rated at 6.5 watts per channel, is nominally the most powerful. For more practical choices, I would expect something like a Synthesis A40 or A100 would be a nice choice. If you can find a good vintage pushpull 6L6 amp, that would also be a nice combination.

 

So did you buy the L82s ? I must admit when they demoed the new Heresy at Bristol show they sounded rather subdued but grills on and not toed in. I get the impression that grills off is needed to get the exciting sound that they are supposed to give.

 

Yes I did, the grills just suck the life out of the sound, and yes they need a good 12-15 of toe in.

It's a real pity dealers are not treating these speakers with respect and setting them up properly. I will be honest I never in a million years thought I would buy JBl speakers, let alone they would actually replace my Harbeth 30.2 XD's, but they did!

 

It's a pity those grills screw the sound because they look great on the L82 and L100. Another thing is them using plastic studs to attach instead of magnets. That put me of Lintons in favour of the Evos which I think sound better anyway.

 

I will say the plastic is of high quality, and substantial, I do not see any issues with them going forward.

 

I saw them in the flesh for the first time at a local dealer and the first thing I thought was they looked smaller than I expected. I did buy the Heresy IVs though ( picking them up tomorrow) . I had to have em

 

Yeah...

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I have not drunk the Klipsch cool aid, but it has not been of lack of trying.

My cousin bought a pair if Heresy IV a few months back, but before he could set them up, he was called out of town on business. He let me borrow them while he was out of town (probably wanted to have me break them in for him).

For sure, I was enthralled with them for the first couple of weeks, for all the reasons most fans claim. But the more I listened, with broader choices of music, the more their obvious (to me) negative aspects became too obvious, and I had to box them up.

And yes, I have also heard the Cornwalls several times for extended periods, and sure they are better at doing the 'Klipsch' thing than the Heresys, but they are still doing the 'Klipsch' thing.

"Exciting" and "engaging" to me, is incredible detail, huge sundstage with pinpoint imaging within that soundstage, accurate timbre, coherent from top to bottom. None of which I hear with the Klipsch, to the extent of so many other speakers in the same price range.

Maybe I am the wrong costumer for them. I could see a listener of mainstream and vintage rock, R&B, country, blues, folk, loving them.

When I played some Dream Theater through the Heresy I had in my system, I was pretty happy. But when I put on some Bartok string quartets, or Elliott Carter's piano concerto, or various ECM acoustic jazz recordings, they were pretty unconvincing. No, they did not "just make me want to listen to music", unless the music was just very narrow range of rock.

 

What are your thoughts on bumping the treble controls to adjust for the grills being on?

 

I disagree. One of the much written about advantages to horns is their ultra low distortion and the life and vibrancy that they bring to music at low volumes compared to non horn loaded speakers. I have both types of systems and much prefer my Klipsch speakers for my quiet evening listening.

 

I tried that, I used a MiniDSP mic and REW to replicate the treble with the grills on and off, that worked but the grills still muffle the mid bass a little.

For casual listening having the grills on presents no issues, but if your settling down with a 18yr old scotch for a critical listening session you want to remove them. I actually prefer the looks with the grills off, Mrs DavidR does not however!

 

When I had Cornwalls I used a 45SET with 2 WPC. Sounded wonderful but not enough power for rock at higher volume. With regards to low volume listening, I thought they sounded wonderful and don't know why anyone would say they would be a bad choice.

 

Agreed, one of the greatest strength's of the horn design is the dynamics at low volumes that so many other speakers lack.

 

They sound amazing at low levels and fill the house nicely.

 

Doug, you are going to really love your new Heresy's.

Welcome to the universe of horn speakers!

Looking forward to hearing your first impressions and all of your impressions. These would be completely unbiased, as this is a new listening experience for you.

Wait until you get a chance to listen to vocals and jazz at low volumes with your sub engaged...

Edit: I was just typing this when you last posted.

 

Thanks , got them home a couple of hours ago and I’m super happy.
Also volume knob at nine o clock is loud. Lots of horsepower. Also the bass is better than I thought but I will add a sub later.

 

That all you need right there. Fun.

play around with the “loudness” circuit. I’m generally a hater of such things but on my Sansui it makes everything sound more vivid. It may get that bass going. Or....the horns will shout you right out of the room. Perhaps both.

 

My brother has vintage pioneer speakers that have horns and I would walk around ( music always going on his house) thinking “ damn these things fill the house .. and it sounds good as heck” I think I found what I was looking for here. Anyway I have a bunch of speakers so it’s a harem

 

Jazz is freaking awesome on these things. Supertramp on now as I weed through the usual suspects . Nice nice

 

When that bassline comes in at around 4:45 in “School” that should let you know what kind of bass a speaker is able to output.

 

I have a pair or Harbeth SHL 5+ and Cornwall's. Two different ends of the spectrum, drive the first with SS and the other with tubes, but I never tire to listening to either. If I had to move either it would be the Harbeth's, not that I think they are inferior, but they are the current resident/deposit in a never ending uphill battle with this addiction. The Cornwalls are simply the girlfriend I never quite got over even years down the road.

Speaking of Supertramp, I first heard Cornwall's many moons ago playing Crime of the Century. I blame that for starting this whole mess.

 

I have subs for that

 

Now, we have got to get you set up with a nice tube amp...

 

Curious.

So who did you dress up as on Halloween?



Jeff