I'm a newbie Heritage owner. thanks to everyone's steers!  I'm curious about the differences between the Cornwall models.  Can anyone comment on how the three Cornwall models sound different from each other?

Thanks for any thoughts...Heideana

 

I don't know about C1, C2, or C3, but I do know you got nice speakers, new, and no one else has used them, or abused them..........................

The Cornwall I versus II discussion has been the subject of several threads, the Search functions hould find it. I have CW IIs and I like them better than the Is. I'm not sure if anyone has made a side-by-side comparison of the II and III yet.

boom3:

The Cornwall I versus II discussion has been the subject of several threads, the Search functions hould find it. I have CW IIs and I like them better than the Is. I'm not sure if anyone has made a side-by-side comparison of the II and III yet.

There was talk of doing that in Hope but not sure if it happened.

Thanks all...sounds like I'll have to wait for a CW II vs. III report.  In the meantime, I think

Thanks also Oldbuckster for the compliment.  I'm really happy with the CW III's and feel like my search for the ultimate speaker is over (at least for now)...curiously, the CW III's seem to disappear into the background and I don't even really think of them as being there, unlike the RF-7's which felt (and looked) a bit more in my face or my memory of early 70's La Scala's.  The sound is really refined and warm...must be the bottom end.

 

 

 

Heideana:

Thanks all...sounds like I'll have to wait for a CW II vs. III report.  In the meantime, I think

Thanks also Oldbuckster for the compliment.  I'm really happy with the CW III's and feel like my search for the ultimate speaker is over (at least for now)...curiously, the CW III's seem to disappear into the background and I don't even really think of them as being there, unlike the RF-7's which felt (and looked) a bit more in my face or my memory of early 70's La Scala's.  The sound is really refined and warm...must be the bottom end.

 

 

 

Are you glad you bought new instead of used?

Thanks for your purchase and review of the new CWIII.

I wish more comparison listening could have been done at this year's gathering. I've not read hardly any reports of Klipsch speaker comparisons. Shame.

Or maybe I just missed the threads, if anyone could point me in the right direction....

Michael

Congrats on your CWIII's.

I have heard them on a couple of occasions in Hope and they do sound fabulous. Larry Clare is among the few persons who, I think, has done some comparative listening between the  CWIII and some of the earlier models.

My take on what I heard him say about it would not cause any concern, whatsoever, that you might be missing out on something from the earlier iterations. I believe he was quite favorably impressed and noted that the CWIII production model sounds considerably better than the prototype we'd heard last year in Hope.

Hopefully Larry will see this thread and chime in.

One more thought, what you mentioned about the CWIII's disappearing.... that is about as wonderful a compliment as can be made about a speaker, IMO. Heritage speakers will do that and that's why they are my all time favorites.

It is really kewl how they disappear into the background....

Oldbuckster, other then wondering if their third iteration is really an improvement or not, I'm really happy that I bought new instead of old.  Fresh components that I can burn in myself with, hopefully, a refinement in design is a joy to listen to...

Heideana,

Dtel and I purchased a pair of Forte II's from a gentlemen in Florida about six months ago.  When we arrived to pick the Forte's up we asked if he would audition the Forte II's for us, even though we already had a pair at home.  Then we asked if he would audition his Cornwall II's for us.  He agreed to our request.

In all fairness to this evaluation I must tell you that he had the Cornwall's on the floor under a built in "entertainment center".  The Cornwalls were enclosed by cabinet doors, which were covered with cloth!  He also played the Corwalls at a very low level.  That being said, the highs, mids and lows all sounded "muffled", what a surprise!  However, after getting on my knees and giving the speakers a good listen, the bass sounded "hollow" and the mids and highs seemed to "run together".  Of course, the placement of the speakers did have a huge impact on the sound.  This is just my opinion.

That being said, we were not impressed. 

Jump forward to the Pilgramage in Hope.  Dtel and I have been extremely satisfied with our Forte collection.  However, we also had been "shopping" for a pair of Klipschorns, even though we had never heard a pair!  (Before I go any further, we would still like to own a pair of Klipschorns). We had the priviledge of auditioning the new Heresy, a pair of Klipschorns, and a new pair of Cornwall III's, one right after the other.  

We did not listen to the same recording on each pair of speakers, which IMO could have some influence on this review.  The Heresy's were the biggest surprise.  The sound from a "relatively" small pair of speakers was beautiful.  The sound doesn't fill a room like the larger Heritage speakers, but the Heresy's are a "work of art" for your ears.  We will purchase a pair of Heresy's for dtel's workshop in the future. 

The Klipschorns were of course, clear and concise.  I was not as impressed with the Khorns as I thought I would be.  Again, I think the recording played a huge impact on this opinion.  My anticipation of the "blessed" listening event could have influenced my opinions on the Khorns as well. 

The Cornwall III's had a tight bass, and the highs and mids were undeniably clear and distinct. Dtel and I did not have a chance to discuss our observations prior to the Saturday night together at the farm house. 

As you may have heard dtel won a pair of Cornwall III's on Saturday night.  During our recovery from the shock of winning such a wonderful prize we have discussed our audition of the Cornwall III's and Khorns many times.  The end result of that audition is always the same.  Yes, we do want to own a pair of Klipschorns.   However, in our opinion the Cornwall III's outperformed the Khorns in the audition.

Now, before any of you jump up and down and start thinking I am being a total idiot...We are not sure that we actually had a "fair" audition of the Khorns and we were genuinely impressed the clarity of the Khorns. 

Conclusion, if we were in the market for a quality pair of new speakers for our overall listening enjoyment (jazz, rock, oldies, etc) we would have to purchase the Cornwall III's.  

Something else I would like to mention, we also heard the new LaScalas and they were truly awesome.  The one thing these speakers had in common was the ability to "disappear". 

All of the above mentioned speakers are large by today's standards.  However, they did not appear to intrude on the space we were occupying.  All of the speakers were beautifully designed.  They looked more like fine furniture than speakers.

The Khorns melted away into the corners, the LaScalas looked more like end tables than speakers and the Cornwalls at only 15 inches deep did not stand out in the room.  The Heresy's actually looked like they had been designed for small rooms.  I was impressed just as much by the "disappearing act" as I was by the way the clear sound filled the room.

I think your money was well spent and you will enjoy your Cornwall III's for years to come. 

 

I find your results interesting...I too preferred the Cornwall III's in that listening room. The KHorns were definetly not sounding their best in that room, but it wasn't far from it in my unpopular opinion.

The lacala was a huge improvement and I think when mated with a capable subwoofer system would be my favorite sounding of the bunch.

And then the new heresy is fricken amazing...don't even need to do a side by side with I's and II's to know just how much they've improved. It was essentially a cross between a lascala and a cornwall - just smaller. It would definetly make a great timbre matched surround speaker.

DrWho you just gave me an idea, didn't they say the New Heresy has the same horns,mid and high as the  Cornwall lll.

If so Cornwall lll and Heresy is a perfect match .

I was thinking about HT, but i don't have room for a cornwall lll as a center channel.

Plus it would be better to stay all Forte ll, cheaper and a perfect match. And just use the Cornwall lll's for 2 channel.

I did really like the sound of those Heresy's though, it was hard to believe that large sound came out of such a small box.  

Sounds like someone has 'the bug'...and in your case I don't think hiding the wallet with your wife is going to help

Are the new C3/H3's magnetically shielded?

I wonder if they purposely set the CW III's up in a better room than the Khorns to try and boost sales for the CWs. We all know the CWs never had as good a track record as the rest when it comes to overall sales.

chops:

I wonder if they purposely set the CW III's up in a better room than the Khorns to try and boost sales for the CWs. We all know the CWs never had as good a track record as the rest when it comes to overall sales.

...........


Huh ......?????

your kiddin, right ...????