Klipsch Cornwall IV

I have no idea where some of these bits of "common knowledge we all know this to be true" ideas come from. So here we go. Millercarbon can add to this I am sure.

 Too big for a small room. Nonsense as I know people with MCM-1900's in their living rooms and they sound stellar at any level. I have sold perhaps 15 sets of KPT-456's and KPT-904's that went to  peoples houses where they will stay until they die and they love them.

  Too revealing whatever that means. My interpretation of this is guess what, when the goal is accurate sound reproduction, the closer you get to good reproduction the more you are going to find many of your audio files are poor in quality.

 And my favorite AG bit of nonsense is "too lifelike". Exactly what I want and seek.
  Check my personal system out. These are maybe 16' center to center in a space roughly 22' x 14' front to back. It is a space in my shop as I have no speakers in the house. Sadly my wife likes Facebook and not fine audio so the gear stays out there where I wont be interfered with when I listen. You just simply can't substitute smaller speakers that may go down as low and expect the same result. Yes lets say the small box goes down to 35hz. The bigger one that goes that low, assuming we are talking about a well designed speaker like the CW4, will make you sit up and pay attention. The depth of sound quality, call it headroom if you may, is a key part of excellent sound. I have full output down to 27hz on a big single fold horn and it is fun to watch people when they hear them for the first time.

  When Roy did his demo of last years models and the new ones he played the Heresy 4, Forte 3, La Scala latest and greatest, and Cornwall 4.
  The real deal is all I can say about the CW4 and this is from a guy who despised them for being big boomy sounding boxes until now. The Heresy 4 is perhaps a bit better than the Super Heresy build many Klipsch head tinkerers have built and is another surprising box.

 He also had the latest Jubilee there but that is in another whole league over all the Klipsch Heritage stuff. But you know if you really like big rich sound go big.
 I want to hear the rasp of fingers and string noise just like I was there with Cellos. I want to sit down next to the 32' organ pipes. I want to sit in the middle of the band as they play. This was the goal when I built my system.
 I say that to say this. There are speakers I could live with if I had to give the Super MWM's up and the CW4 is one of them.
  By the way on all this fancy stuff people seem to think they need. Roy Delgado uses a QSC 4 channel Theater amp and an older DX38 EV for DSP if needed and zip cord speaker wires in his sound room at Klipsch. I figure he knows what he is doing and that's just about all I do to. Crown XLI800 amps work just fine for me and don't break the bank.

  OP there is one comment you made that kind of surprised me. I guess I need to go hear a set before buying, or words to that effect. NEVER buy until you hear and find someone who owns a set and go to their house to listen.  Now there is a word of waning here. I knew a guy who loved Macintosh and spent a small fortune on them. KHorn corners and CW centers and it was just awful. So I ask him what is his music source as he fiddles with that stupid iPad. Sure enough it was that iPad and some streaming thing. Make sure the person you pick to visit for speaker auditions knows what they are doing. Many have way more money then sense and if you want really good sound find the guys with common sense buying and playing practices.

I was never a fan of the CW's and felt they were just a big boomey box sounding thing. The CW4 however was a stunning change with serious rework from drivers to the cabinet and crossovers and is now very good. I don't have a lot of experience with speakers outside of Klipsch because I like to buy used then fix/restore and sell on and the Klipsch market is far larger than any other. I have done so with hundreds of sets now. I only had two sets of CW's in all that time because I REALLY did not like them and felt the Chorus was far superior and looked for those instead.

  The CW4's though I can recommend without reservation. The only bad thing I can say about them is they use MDF just like all the rest does now. When I build for myself I use nothing but Baltic Birch. Sound wise they are superb and don't require lots of watts.

" I have demoed them twice at the local dealer on a McIntosh 7200. I do not get the hype and thought they were kind of meh. They seemed pretty average to me. "
  That can be a problem. The Klipsch dealer in Huntsville, AL is clueless about setup and he manages to make those great sounding CW4's kind of MEH. Wall full of Macintosh stuff and sales jargon spews forth and those in the know about how the CW4's CAN sound leave and never go back.

" Oz gives excellent advice to at least give a listen :-) "  I second that with the caveat that finding a competent dealer is a must. Even better is to find a private owner and go hear what they sound like in person in a real home environment. Show rooms are often so full of trickery and manipulative sales shmucks most of the time. I don't know where you are but Metropolis Outfitters in Paducah KY is a very highly regarded dealer well respected by Klipsch fanatics. People drive for many hundreds of miles to deal with him.

" All Klipsch Heritage speakers are designed in the USA  by Roy Delgado and manufactured in Hope AR. "
  Having been in the factory and Roy's sound lab in person a year ago October I can verify your comment.

" @mahlman who in Huntsville is a dealer and has the CW IV on display? I thought all high end dealers were gone in Alabama. Mid-high end stores in Bham are long gone. I think Best Buy tried to put a Magnolia in their Hoover store and it's closed now I believe. They never had the good stuff anyway.   "
  I will have to call my Huntsville speaker buddy and find out. I have never been there but he and his friend were and both were irritated by their experience.

 

" If you are looking for the true klipsch sound you have to buy one made prior to 1981 otherwise you are buying an asian drivered klipsch not an american drivered klipsch and there is a major difference. "
  Well well well, an authoritative source for components I see. Last time I checked the Eminence woofers used in the CW4 were made in Kentucky. The Celestion tweets driver in England. Don't know about the mid driver.
  Yes the cheaper lines are Chi-com but not the heritage or pro lines.

For those of you asking about the Fru Fru high end joint in Huntsville. AVIQ is the name and they list Klipsch Heritage in their product list along with many others.

" I share your affinity for Klipsch speakers, but it's a bit contradictory to hear you say that cheap amps and zipcord are fine, but that streaming through an ipad isn't. "
  I have a very good reason for my sentiment. I have bought fixed and sold hundreds of sets of Klipsch speakers over the last seven years or so. I insist buyers come here in person and listen to what they are interested in. I also advise them to bring a flash drive with their favorite music so they have a real reference point to go by. At times I can see disappointment on their face and the problem has centered around music file quality. Every iPad that has shown up here with their stored music has been bad. Most flash drive files are also not the best either.
  So I let them flounder for a bit and then I play the same songs, most of the time I have them in my library, on the same speakers and the only difference is the source file. The PC that is used as storage for my files goes to an amp and then to speakers if simple 2 channel or to my Xilica then the amps and then speakers for more complicated sets requiring DSP to sound really good. I plug their file into my PC and so the sound delivery is the same , except for the music file.
  I admonish the iPad users who are the only ones who call after getting their new speakers home and say they don't sound as good as they did at my place. OK, I say, are you using that iPad again just like I told you not too? You know what the answer is. They end up being happy when they break that bad habit. It may not be the inherent capability of the iPad in question perhaps but the files these guys come up with through them sound bad.

  Regarding cheap amps. Darned right, if I can buy 200 watts per channel of good clean high quality sound why in the world would I spend ten times as much for a name tag that is no better? I think wasting my money is silly. It's a funny world when live venues concert halls and recording studios use professional amps, Like Crowns just like I do, to produce sound for people. I want that sound so I use that type of equipment. I have yet to see racks of fancy homeowner gear at any of these places. How is it that only expensive amps can accurately reproduce what was  authored on cheapo pro gear hmmm? 

  My goal in audio is to get the best possible sound in an economical fashion and you are invited to stop in and see if my efforts are worthwhile over those who spend tons of money for far less. Southern Middle Tennessee is the locale.

I happen to agree with the guy who designed these CW4's as to what is important. He does not use that fancy stuff to develop gear for a major speaker maker known as Klipsch.  We will have to agree to disagree on the validity of dropping gobs of cash on amps and cords.