Cornwall IV vs. Volti Rival, Razz; Razz v. 1, 2, 3 -- what changed?


Looking for efficient speakers. I had the opportunity to listen to a Cornwall IV yesterday. It was run on nice tubes (Primaluna 400 EL34s) with a bluesound node streamer/dac.

QUESTION: I'm curious if anyone has compared CW IV with Volti Rival of Razz. Thoughts?

QUESTION 2: Anyone know what changed in the Volti Razz when it moved from v. 2 to v. 3?

Thanks

hilde45

Showing 3 responses by badgerdms

Can't directly compare to the Cornwalls, but I did own the Forte III's that I actually traded to Greg as part of a deal to buy a pair of Razz speakers.  I did a quick review for Greg (and my local audio group) on the differences between the Forte III's and the initial Razz speakers.  This is on Greg's Volti page, but here's what I said--

I recently purchased a pair of Razz speakers from Greg–here’s my initial take. They replaced a pair of Klipsch Forte IIIs . . .

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The bass response on the Razz is much better. For some reason, you look at the woofer on the Forte III’s and the giant passive radiator on the back and you expect a lot of bass, but it really doesn’t happen. Maybe pushed about 10” off the wall, but leads to other issues. I never minded the bass on the Klipsch but the Razz are clearly more prominent in the bass response. What really stands out is the integration between the upper bass and lower midrange. I’m hearing details in this area that I NEVER heard out of the Klipsch.

The imaging is also much better on the Razz. They throw a nice wide sound stage in which all the images are clearly firmly locked in place. That just isn’t something the Klipsch did all that well.

For me, the biggest improvement is how real the instruments sound coming out of the Razz. The horns sound like they are in the room with you. Acoustic guitars are right on. Combined with better detail coming out of the Razz, this is where the two speakers are the most different. The number of times I heard a detail or a separation of voices on the Razz that I have never noticed on the Forte III’s was astounding.  And there is no upper midrange glare of any kind on the Razz. The volume goes up and it’s just as listenable as at lower levels.

 The Razz are simply better speakers.

 

This was the Razz V1.  The V2 changed the tweeters that Greg used, if there is a V3 I'm going to guess it involves a small tweak to the crossover, which I would not sweat at all.  I ended up trading the Razz back to Greg for a pair of Rival SEs, which I love.  Finally, if you like Volti, I can't see you liking Fyne.  I have a local dealer who carries them and I HATE them.  Boring and uninvolving, the complete opposite of Volti--FWIW.  If you are curious, here are the Rivals that I bought (in the middle of COVID).

https://voltiaudio.com/RivalSErosewood.shtml

What Greg first did was fix some friends' older Khorns by designing a replacement horn for them.  His horns were such a dramatic improvement over the original that he realized he could build a better speaker.  From his background in building furniture, his choice of real wood and superb veneers are far superior to anything Klipsh has to offer.  His horns are next level--just speak through one of his and one designed by Klipsch (one sounds like a natural voice, one does not), and the bass (both amount and integration with the midrange horn) are much improved.

Everything that Volti does in its design improves upon Klipsch,  if that's copying in your book, stick with the Cornwalls and be happy.

@hilde45 I can't tell you where the Klipsch cabinets are made, outside of telling you that my pair of Forte IIIs looked great and seemed well constructed.  

I can tell you that I have seen how Volti does things, having been to Greg's Baxter facility twice.  Whether he's building them by hand or using CNC machines the birch plywood he uses is as solid as it comes.  You can see what his speakers actually look like unadorned by looking at the pictures of his "Decorator" Razz speakers (some listed under speakers for sale).   But to me, that's not the way to go because his work with veneers is artisan quality.  The number of folks who come into my house and just gawk at the Rosewood Rivals is crazy (although my wife wishes they were smaller).  

And just to get this out of the way--I like the Forte IIIs.  Greg also likes the Forte IIIs.  They are a ton of fun.  But if you want to love your speakers and have something that you can live with forever, any of the Volit models are the way to go.