Which version? Budget for them can range by quite a bit. Have you ever heard them?
I’ve owned the first gen vertical horn versions, loved them but damn they aren’t winning beauty awards.
Still have a set of Heresy’s too, will never sell them. |
I owned a second generation pair that would have been from the early 80's I guess, and I thought that they were wonderful speakers. You don't mention a budget, but the newest version is a lot more expensive, but also according to most owners, a lot better than the older versions. If that's the case it must be pretty great. |
There’s already a substantial thread here (AUDIOGON) on the Cornwall, specifically the latest 4 version, which is an excellent speaker by the way. With the a complimentary partnering amp they represent a substantial Bang For The Buck......
Cheers....... |
If you buy a used pair, if they don't work out, you can probably flip them with fairly low financial loss; Cornwalls are always popular.
I like them when they are driven by lower-powered tube amps. The do give you the dynamics and liveliness of horn-based systems, but they require some care in reducing the tendency to sound rough or shrill (hence the right kinds of tube amplification). |
I have a pair of Klipsch Quartets that I run with a 6 watt SEP amp love the sound and Larryi is right on about a low watt tube amp
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I'll second both prior posts. I run a 1980s pair of Klipsch Belles with a 15wpc SET and rarely take the volume beyond 10 o'clock. However, I'm still working on "tubing down" a bit of shrillness on some female vocals: Tracy Chapman and Cassandra Wilson sound sublime; Lucinda Williams and Ricky Lee Jones - meh, not so much. It's a work in progress. I imagine this would only be made harsher using most SS amplification. |
Love Em !!! If you have the space you will not be disappointed . Just bought the Forte IV a few months ago , they fit my space better. If I had the room I would have bought them.
The new IV series are not bright, or shrill, or any of the things you've heard. I bought my Forte sight unseen, after listening to the Heresy IV and Cornwall IV and have zero regrets... |
As has been mentioned, the CW IV is much improved over earlier versions. If that one is on your radar, don’t hesitate.
Oz |
They (Current version) are currently Steve Guttenberg's favorite and go to speaker on YouTube. He has done a good review on them. |
There have been many versions over the years.
Not being a typical Horn Speaker listener, I was frankly quite shocked at how much the Cornwall II took my breath away in 1987 when I hooked up a demo pair to a Kyocera system in the Audio Store where I was working. These were the later “II” versions with the round plastic rear plate containing 5-way binding posts for spkr wire connections. They were sweet. The next (last?) “II” version had a larger rectangular plastic plate w/5-way binding posts which I understand actually internally hold the networks as a single assembly using similar components. Finally fading out of production . . .
When the Heritage line was reintroduced (at the strong request of Cornwall lovers everywhere) Roy Delgado was not in the game as the new designs were done by Mark Kaufman in the mid 2000’s. The Cornwall III was what Mark was able to come up using the Heresy midrange/squawker instead of the original larger Cornwall arrangement - seems the original tooling was gone and . . .
Cornwall IV is all Roy including use of the new Tractrix® midrange 👍
With the right amplifier pairing, the IV can be embarrassingly good. While efficient, they still appreciate power & control. I’ve heard from two separate first-hand accounts that the Jadis DA88S is a magical pairing.
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@zardozz, I have the Cornwall IVs now and previously owned (as recently as last year) the Forte IIIs. If size is a consideration, the Forte III or, better still, the Forte IV might be worth looking at. They are fantastic loudspeakers.
What amplification and source(s) do you plan on using with them? The Forte and Cornwall are pretty revealing of your amp/source. So much so that I kept monkeying around with trying all sorts of gear because it was so interesting to hear the differences highlighted and underscored so well. That means, at least in my opinion, that pairing these Klipsch products requires care. While I was able to get both speakers (C-wall and Forte) to sound great with SS amplification, they always sounded better to my ears with tubes. Tubes opened up the bloom and soundstage, holographically to big proportions. SS could sound clean, clear and decisive, but the charm and romanticism of tubes with the two Heritage products I tried was the ticket--for me personally.
The efficiency of the Cornwall, in particular, gives me so much headroom with my choice of tube amp. I have an all tube system (tube pre, power, phono pre, and DAC). If I can just stop trying gear for the heck of it, I could stay in this land with this gear for the rest of my days on this planet. My soundstage is huge. Timbre of instruments sounds so realistic. The holographic feature of the system is intoxicating. And, what's really cool is that as I increase volume things don't just get louder; they get proportionally bigger. I'm really "seeing" the music more than ever before and I'm super happy about it. |
I'll be using a pair of Quicksilver Silver 88 mono amps and PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube Preamplifier, both loaded with tubes. |
Cornwall IV's here.. Had them for almost two years now and still love them. The only flaw they have is they are brutally revealing with subpar recordings. They should sing beautifully with your equipment. If you can demo them, please do! |
With respect to being unforgiving.... I can live with that . Crap in Crap out....I listened to Neil Young. Cowgirl in the Sand the other night and it was pretty bad through my Forte IV but it is what it is.... fortunately that a lot of great material that makes these speaker shine. Then I played Pink Floyd Hi Rez on Quboz and it was awesome.... you cant polish a turd, some recordings are just plain bad |
Mine are arriving this week. |
You are going to love them. Enjoy |
I have two pair. Both in Black, under 5 months old. Selling one pair. For pick up in Southern California. |
