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Tube amp Friendly Speaker That Sounds like Klipsch Cornwall

Hi All, 

I am shopping for a tube friendly speaker after a long time with Magnepan 3.6's and then Thiel CS5i's.

I was able to spend a couple of hours with a broken-in pair of Klipsch Cornwall 4's. These were in a dedicated dealer space with corner bass traps and some treble absorption. They were driven by an all McIntosh setup (7200 Receiver and T500 CD player).

The Cornwalls were dynamic, and I loved the palpable sound of the 15 inch woofer. Loud rock in roll was great with them. However, I was less impressed at lower volume levels and finally decided they were not very detailed and a bit too much in my face, at least in that setup.

When I left that room, I wandered over to where some Magnepan 1.7i's were playing in a casually set up open space. I thought the Maggies were much more resolving than the Cornwalls and a lot more laid back.

Any suggestions on a tube friendly speaker with good sized woofers that is dynamic but with good weight and detail to the sound?

Thanks for listening,

Dsper
dsper

Showing 1 response by jet88

jet88
62 posts
 
There are so many excellent speakers it's hard to say what's best. Then you have rooms, amplifiers, dacs, sources... It's tough to be an audiophile, lol. Everything will be a different flavor, with some areas excelling over others and some not as much.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably try them all to find the "perfect" sound. As it is, I have very happily "settled" for Cornwall IV's and a Luxman L509X and enjoy wonderful music with a three mile smile. I love horns so some bias there, but I feel the Cornwalls are the best there is in their price range.

If you want something that sounds like Cornwalls then get them! If you want less 'in you face ' try Heresy IVs with a pair of quality subs. They are also beautiful sounding but more subtle.
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