New Klipsch Conwalls (IV)

I have been eyeing these as well. I have picked up a set of new heresy 3’s a couple weeks ago to get a feel for the new heritage lines sound.

I also have a set of loaner Cornwall 2’s (1988 vintage) in my house to compare. I have to say the older Cornwall’s are a disappointment just not IMO really HI Fi, mid-fi at best not to mention for the size of the speaker the base is not as deep as I expected. really the older ones midrange and high frequencies are lacking IMO.

Now to the Heresy 3’s these little buggers surprised me at what they do. much better midrange and high frequencies then the older models. defiantly have the live event in your room sound with surprising detail and sound stage for a horn system. for a well under $2k speaker i was quite surprisingly happy with them. Also I was surprised at how much bass comes out of them and how forceful it is, even if only 50hz. really they don’t feel much less then the much larger Cornwall 2’s in my room that is quite a large space to fill (18’ ceilings). I really like how the Heresy projects a sound stage over your head putting you in the middle of the mix. The Cornwall 3’s use the same mid and high frequency drivers as the heresy 3 by the way.

They are really fun speakers only thing that stands out that may be a short coming is there is a slight disconnect between the bass driver and horns above them, id expect this to be worked out in the 4’s with the newer mid range horn driver. Also i’d seriously also consider the forte 3-4’s as well I had a brief listen at the dealer I bought the heresy 3’s from and they seemed to be a sweet spot in the line. The Cornwall is a really large speakers and if the base isn’t that much more in the newer models then I don’t see the reason to get them over the Forte’s for example.

They are all using similar mid and high frequency drivers so makes me wonder why they charge so much more for the Cornwall’s, that larger base driver and larger cabinet can’t cost that much more to justify the huge cost increase IMO. But they do have a certain toe taping sound that’s quite fun maybe not the ultimate in detail and refinement but they are fun as hell.

Oh yes I have a tube based system, its listed in my system . 


Glen

the deal I got on the Heresy 3's ( and I know there is a 4 soon to be out) was close to dealer cost so I'm not worried about getting my money out of them. I payed $1600 Canadian ($1200 US)for a new in the box speaker that lists here in Canada for $2150 so I'm not upset at all even if I sell at a small loss I'm happy knowing what I'm getting into with the newer Klipsch line. Forte 4's I think are in my future for a second speaker set up, next year probably. Open baffles too are on my radar.

not to toss my local high end dealer under the bus here but I sort of fell into them. I dropped into my dealer to talk about if he could get the heritage line as he was not a dealer for them at the time. turned out his distributor had mistakenly delivered a new set of heresy 3's to him that morning by mistake so he sold them to me chuckling the whole time. 

turns out the distributor wasn't happy but when asked if they wanted the money they shut up. so I got to sample the new Heresy 3 for not much out take. I'm not disappointed for the money they rock. no not perfect but who cares when your ear deep into Jimmy Pages solo. they actually do Jazz very well to fyi. can't say much for classical as I'm not a listener as of yet. probably a bonus I'm driving them with a $30k system haha hell the speaker wires were almost double the money lol 


I only bought these Heresy's to evaluate the horn systems from Klipsch and if I wanted to take the plunge on the La Scala-Cornwall, both I think are too big why I'm thinking the Forte 4 maybe a La Scala we will see. I really like the new La Scala friend has a set, that's who lent me the older Cornwall's, they are just so much money for what you get IMO. 

Glen

 

kalali

I owned a set of SAM monitors as well for a while great speaker too for what they do. best sound staging I have ever heard in my system. 
I'm still thinking of the SAM high output's floor standers as a contender. just would like more bass but hard to do everything in a single driver. 

Voxative are high on my list to listen to for single driver systems. maybe the Pure Audio project's open baffle system with a Voxative main driver would be interesting to listen to.