BiggerIsBetter

Ah man, there can't be a new best thing yet. I have not even gotten the parts together for my ultimate tripath amp yet.... Not so fast, here's some critical feedback on the sound quality http://www.classd.org/oem_products/products/b_o.htm

I don't have details on how to get to the drivers or crossover for that model. But prode away you are on the right track and can't hurt much if you are careful and have them disconnected. Just follow the connections and look for connection problems.

"BB, are you 2 ch or HT listener? My theory is that with louder, the higher order filter is better, with softer musics, the 6db slope might very well be preferred. " That may be generally true for power handling, I am commenting specifically on the "brightness" of the tweeter related to "modern' caps and the B vs. B-2. I performed basic measurements before and after the changes I made. The measurements supported what I heard. My baseline, stock B-2 with Aerovox caps, sounded very good and right on the edge of bight, but not. The measurements support this with near flat (though slightly elevated) responce through the crossover region (5-8K). After the new metalized <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />dayton caps, bypassed with film daytons, it was bright out of the gate. Measurements showed a 2-3DB increase in the 5-8K area. I don't always trust HF measurements with my set up, but I could hear the test tones "jumping out" at those frequencies. After 2 weeks of break in, same measurements. As an envolutionary move to a B for my cornscalas in the works, I KO'ed the inductor in the tweeter section. Sounded great, same balance as before the new caps with better detail and air. Measurements also showed the 2-3 DB hump was gone. Again, these are not absolute terms as I cannot assess the condition of the original components that I replaced/removed. But, in a home theater application I would think that bright is the last thing you would need. If you want a steeper slope filter and go with a B-2 with new caps, don't expect instant magic and be prepared to futz with it. If you really want steep and are willing to futz with it, I would try one of the other designs. Bottom line, stay stock (or a rebuild the approximates the originals) or get crazy and be prepared for a bit of a road in order to reach a better place. I have choosen my road, I have a soldering iron, a good assortment of caps and I'm not afriad to use them []

Now that you have it all figured out, I would like to state the with "modern" caps, I prefer the sound of the B, to the B-2. I have '81 corns that came with the 51 mid drivers and a B-2. This is just one person's opinion in 1 situation. I have been doing a lot of changes so I have not taken the time to over analyze every change. The original inductors I took out of the tweeter section of the B-2 did seem to be way out of spec. But I was just too happy with the change from the B-2 to the B to double check the measurements. Cornscalas are only a few days away....

I have '81 Corns with the Aerovox similar to what Bob pictured. I have not completed building my ESR meter yet but I would: 1) Not assume they are all worn out. Similar caps form that company have around 9000 hour life at rated voltage, which should be 10 times that in a speaker application. I'm sure many are leaking, but I bet mine test close enough to new to be representative of what that cap did sound like back in the day. 2) Not assume that any new "modern" cap will automatically sound "better." I did and switched to Dayton metalized. At first I did not like the change, sure some more detail, but at the expense of thin and bright. After listening (or breaking in of you buy that) and some crossover changes I have convinced myself that they are slightly better overall. But I would hate to do a back to back, blind, test as I just might pick those "crappy old" aerovox caps. I have some Jantzen's on order to make the changes necessary for the cornscalas in the works and do plan to try some Mundorf's once I have the exact values worked out. Seems every has the Thetas and I at least want to be a bit original.... If I had to do it all again, the first mod I would make would be the nail the back covers on. Why, to reduce cabinet resonance? No, the keep me from screwing around with a good thing.

OK, now that we have this figured out for the type A. What about the type B? I also heard that tube amp sound pretty good, what do you think?[]

I have never had this happen so I don't know for sure. But if it were me I would try: 1) Cold. Freeze the section, be sure to do it in her freezer and make a mess, and then try to scrape it off. 2) Heat. Some heat source. This will not likely end well. 3) Solvent. Don't know of any in particular, this will also not likely end well. 4) Fire. The grill cloth should act as a wick and will leave no doubt that you need new grill cloth. []

Given the sensitivity of the kipsch speaker, there are some real posibilities to use a passive preamp. I do, with grreat results. If that is a driection you want to go, you need a player (or DAC if seprates) that has a good quality output and enough voltage to drive you amp to near peak. For example, my amps require 2.3 volt to achieve peak output. I selected a DAC that has a good tube output stage and puts out 5 volts....no need for a preamp. just one consideration....

I don't think 165 "good"' watts will blow these speakers. But an overdriven an (distortion/clipping) might, especially on a cheap amp. The position of the power knop is not an absolute measurement, you need to listen to sources of strain (by either the speakers or amp). If that receiver has tone controls you also need to be very carfully, cranking up the bass can drive the amp to clip/distort at an even lower level. Though I am not clear on which receiver you have, the Cornwalls may deserve some better power.

The 1st pair is already on ebay...

Any speaker wire will introduce some type of loss. As a result, I stopped using it all together. As a result my system is dead 'quiet.' []

Say what, most all "high end" speaker cables (i.e. north of monster cable) are some configuration of solid core conductors. Has anyone read up on the theory of the AQ DBS system before dismissing it. I agree there is a lot of BS out there, but that does not mean that there are not valid concepts out there.

I am using the Bedrocks with my cornwalls and am happy with them. I have only tried a few different brands so can't offer comparisions. I am assuming that you are looking into the deal that audio advisor has on them. At that price, I don't think you can go wrong.

I called da-lite and the very helpful reps gave me some suggestions, THAT WORKED!!! The first option is simple green. Spray on full strength and gently wipe off in a vertical movement (no circles) with a clean non-abrasive cloth. Use as many clean cloths as necessary. Repeat, if necessary (I needed to). Though he stated it as optional, I then used a cloth with warm water in the same manner and dried gently with another clean cloth. I had to go over the entire screen 3 times with water in order to remove all of the simple green residue. The results, were fantastic. I really thought the screen was a through away and now it looks almost as good as new. Again, the soap and water that I tried first did very little. The next option, if this does not work would be denatured alcohol (I was surprised to hear that). I did not need to go past the simple green option so I can't comment on this. I mentioned orange cleaner, which he was strongly against using...dries it out. He mentioned that the likely cause was more humidity than oil. If you a screen that is sticky to the touch you may also have a problem brewing.

I just completed a move and my dalite screen is in BAD shape. At the old place, the wife did a lot of indoor deep frying around 15 feet from the screen. I never thought anything of it. When I took the screen down it was very sticky. I thought this was odd but we were in an extreme hurry so I folded it gently and put it with my personal stuff to move. After being folded for a few day I tried to put it back on the frame. It was difficult to get apart and was clearly "sticking together." I think the oil accumulation was the main factor. After getting it on the frame, there was large areas that look like water spots. I tried to clean gently with a sponge and dish soap and water. It seemed to remove some of the oil. Then, I hooked up my projector and it looks terrible. Several large areas of water spot looking areas. It is still sticky to the touch. Then, I tried to clean a small area again using a wet paper towel and warmer water and a bit more pressure. When it dried the screen had lost some of shine and was less (but still) sticky. I'm not sure if I went too far with the pressure or not enough and did not get all the oil off. All that I have read says soap and water only. The screen is a da-mat (I think) and is around 5 years old. Any thoughts on how I might save this screen? Thanks!

I would go with the smaller one. No wait, check out my ID, go with the bigger one.

That does seem like the high end, even for a mint pair. Your first mistake was to bid with more than 10 seconds. My premise is that everything on ebay is worth the same "$1 more than what you just bid." People are greedy and given the time to think will justify bidding higher. Unfortunatley, bidding at the last second (sniping) takes that opportunity away and in my opinion is the only waay to go.....just don't do it against me because I hate when people do that

I'm not sure that I agree that you need more watts, but i do think you need BETTER watts. Unless you want to go with separates (which you should) the next best first step would be to use your pre-outs and get a decent amp.

From the serial number they should be 1979 or 1980, cornwall Is. They should have the type B crosssover, less components....possibly/arguably "better' sounding than the B-2,B-3.....but may be more suseptible to damage from high level abuse. The dust cap is no big deal, a few bucks, as long as it is intact and not letting in dust. Look to be in pretty good condition. For the opening big price, I would snap them up....even for up to $550-600 would be a fair price. Certainly look at them first, if possible. They are GREAT speakers! Since I have the cornwall 1.5s, I prefer them to the 1 or 2s....which I have not heard

I have an Audible Illusions L-1 that is in very good condition. I am the second owner and have had it since around '97. Given the excellent output stage of my Sonic Frontiers DAC, I went the passive preamp route. I will likely be putting on audiogon soon for around $700. Jim

Thanks for all the info and input. I was hoping to try out some newer caps on the cheap, but as luck would have it my "junk bin" has just about every value cap, except 2, 3, or 20. I am still reluctant to mess with them as long as the stock caps are within spec. Can I measure the resistance with a standard digital voltmeter to get an idea of where they are in their lifecycle? If so, do I need to unsolder (I would guess not) and what values would I be looking for?

I just got a FM-3 last week. It was advertised as "excellent", but it sounds like average FM. I suspect the shipping wrecked any alignment that might have been there. I have the sonic upgrade kits on the way. When it arrive I will check out all the tubes, install the upgrades, and go over everything in general. Hope it sounds better after that, I was very underwhelmed but will reserve judgement until I can verify it is in proper working order.....

I am the very proud new owner of a pair of Cornwalls. Prior to purchasing, I researched a lot of the information on this site. Thanks to all for contributing to such a wealth of information. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Seems there is a lot of interesting configurations and I would like to contribute the details on my pair as another data point. They are 1982 (I think), ser numbers 29 W 787 & 29 W 788. Drivers are as follows: K-33-E (of course) K-51-V (that is not a typo, 51 not 55 confirmed via direct inspection) K-77-M (of course) Crossovers are original type B-2. Speaker are in very good condition (here some pics form the ebay action (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5818202853&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1) I have them a few inches from the side walls at around 13 apart and 2 (0ne side) and 6 from the back walls. Listening position is around 18. Measured response (uncorrected via a RS meter, slow response C weighted) in room (80 degrees, 40% humidity and there was a black cat outside) at the listening position is as follows: 20 Not measurable 25 58 31.5 57 40 61 50 62 63 73 80 80 100 76 125 81 160 -79 200 80 250 79 315 76 400 77 500 77 630 76 800 78 1K 78 1.25 78 1.6 77 2 77 2.5 79 3.15 78 4 78 5 82 6.3 83 8 82 10 77 12.5 76 16 70 20 not measurable Prior speakers owned for extensive periods of time include, Ohm Walsh FRS-15, Bohlender Greabener RD-75 home implemented with electronic crossover/notch filer and NHT 1259 drivers (2 per side), Platinum Audio (Solo, Trio, and Quatros), Acustate 3s, and magnepan MMGs. Many other speaker owned for short periods of time or auditioned. The Cornwalls are far and away my favorites and sound like they measured, though I did not miss the bass given the music I listen to. For real world in room measurements, I have never had a more flat response from any speaker. I have found them to be linear, uncoulored, detailed, and overall real sweethearts. I dont have any issues with typical horn steroptypes. I expect that has a lot to do with the equipment and set up. For digital, I have a Pioneer elite reference PDS-95 transport into a Sonic frontiers SFD1 mkII DAC balanced out to a Carver Lightstar passive pre (passive mode as I am using balanced) to Audio Research VT-150 tube mono blocks (135WPC). Analog setup is a meager project 2.1 with grado gold cartridge, though it still sounds better than the digital setup with the right records. My little brother is a rabid audiophile (I created the monster) and works in a high end audio store in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Chicago. I can only imagine his horror when I call him and boldly proclaimed that the cornwalls where the truth and the high end audio industry has been lying to us all these years, so I had a little tequila before I called. Maybe the mysterious K-51-V drivers partially account for this magical sound. The only information I was able to find on these drivers is Isn't that a ferrite magnet version if the K-55-V, made by Atlas-Soundolier? If so, it is pretty rare, only used for a year or 2 around 1982. Any more insight/info? At this point I am terribly torn between modifying (I am a tweakaholic) and leaving them alone. I am concerned about even swapping out the caps (theta being my original thought) with fear of changing the sonic characteristics which I deem to be perfect (or as perfect as I have ever heard). For now, I am thinking about adding some binding posts and calling it a day