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

Lots of great responses in this thread and interesting comparison feedback. Nice!

What I dont see however is a budget limit. One gets discussed and another speaker beats the last one mentioned, and we ramp up from $6-7k speakers right up to $20k speakers. Bring on the $25-30k horns before we know it.

You see this same upward spiral develop on $800 Magnepan threads that evolve into Sanders and then triple the price Soundlabs, and it keeps going to the moon, then Mars and Jupiter into the galaxy, LOL.

Keeps going up-and-up!:

I’m not a horn guru or anything but helped a buddy on a design to build three pairs of Altec Onken model replica speakers for him and two of his friends. It started out as a reasonable budget speaker pair design. Well that went out the window quickly too. Then he went back and resigned and completely rebuilt the crossovers a few times, all original drivers to start. Nope, then up another level there too - then on to Great Plains reconditioned drivers. This project reminds me of finding the best speaker we can with a budget set limit. Without a budget limit set, these purchases and projects can feed into themselves and get completely out of control, good grief. Then looking back spending 3-5x of what we started with in the beginning. Oh well, nobody ever said audio-foolery fun was cheap to do, lol.

Price Ranges:

It might be fun to read a thread with horns let’s say "best overall value" in the $4-5k range. Then $5-7k, best for $10k, best for $15k range, best for $20k range. Heck, bring on the $30k horns an up. Start shopping for a new Mustang and end up with a new Porsche Carrera payment. Good grief, and so it goes.

@hilde45 if some of these top out for ya, might as well throw some of the Great Plains Audio builds into the mix too if interested in something custom designed and built too in between some of these. Would likely need to find a regional-local person to listen to them if anyone in your state has built them. I’ve heard them a few times, can be nice too! Just another option as this spirals upward and outward!

@hilde45 "Because I am willing to spend, say $16k as the upper end of used, that means that it’s relevant, to me, to allow discussion to range widely, if that means speakers with MSRP much higher than the MSRP of the Cornwalls or Rivals but with the possibility of a used one for sale."

This is helpful to close in scope a bit more with funding potential. IIRC the older thread a while back topped out at $10k. Now we’ve bumped up from Cornwall range to $16k upper end - of used. That definitely opens a few more doors I’d think. Will be fun to read what members continue to suggest. Enjoying reading this particular thread as more speaker geeks come out from the woods and chime in more. :)

Hi @silverfoxvtx1800 not looking and just helping a few friends on their journey. I'm using speakers I designed and built for myself about five years ago.Last and final set. I've had enough fun past four decades on these projects. Following along with friends and members is still interesting. Enjoy checking out new designs that manufacturers, DIY'ers, and various designers still come up with. I may sell off my whole system and downsize in a few years though.  Who knows what then. ;)  

@silverfoxvtx1800 I choose not to list and advertise my system for my own reasons, a theft years ago in a prior home. Cameras and dogs now, and no workers in the house any more. I keep it all heavy too. Worked at the same factory as Nelson and his wife btw, many decades ago. Amps are QS tube Mono 120s with upgrades and older Pass Forte’ Class-A solid state with updates and upgrades. Custom and upgrades are my thing, whenever possible. Enjoy yours.

@plinko I think the newest Klipsch speakers (Forte, Cornwall, Klipschorn) are far better than their past versions.

Good to know. If you don’t mind the ask - have you actually compared the different versions first hand? A buddy of mine has owned the 2s, 3s, 4s in the Hersey indicating he likes the more recent 4s are notably better than his prior versions after a more complete redesign. Keeping an eye out for a few friends looking again.

While I’ve read similar posts on the Forte and Cornwalls in the latest versions, I keep an eye out for posts by members who’ve owned and compared version over long periods of time and with different amplifiers types to get a better sense of things.

Also keeping an eye out for posts where lower powered (tube or ss) amplifiers [under 10wpc or in the 10w to 20w range] are used on the later 4 version speakers with notable success. Apparently sound great when matched up with good amps.

@silverfoxvtx1800 what is it about the Volti Audio speakers that you enjoy more [when compared with the same amplifier], Is it the bass, midrange, top-end, or maybe how its being presented differently in a more desirable way? Or, perhaps how the music sounds more natural, etc. Yes, I'm stretching and digging a little here, ... are there any descriptive words and explanations top of mind for you to describe what makes it "way better" for you and your ears? 

@silverfoxvtx1800 thanks for the history and all that you’ve worked through prior. I’m not looking for speakers for myself, yet helping a few friends looking at ideas from time to time. I have followed Gary/BorderPatrol and Greg/Volti some from the shows and reports. Also interested in optimization and improvements made through the various iterations of different designs through the generations. Appears you are really enjoying the new speakers and amplifiers, happy listening! Keep us posted as you listen more over time. Much appreciated.

Looks like all of @silverfoxvtx1800 posts are gone, removed from this thread, and a few others too perhaps.  What's going on with forum posts lately. Is that self-removed or forum moderators, and if so maybe less effort is the way going forward if things just disappear for whatever reasons.  

@norust "he wanted me to reach out to him on his email- evidently not allowed.  This was the last I heard of him..... "

That's probably it. Same here, received a message asking to engage and share more. Maybe too enthusiastic for this forum -or- favorable mention about a particular vendors product. Hard to say how/why posts get removed sometimes.