Stu Pidass

I don't know much about the Academy but presume it would be a good match for Cornwalls. I currently use an old Heresy as a centre for my Cornwalls and it matches very fine indeed. You might want to consider doing the same. Regards, Stu

I personally use a Heresy as my centre for Cornwall mains (also Heresy surrounds). They are all of the same vintage and the result is a beautiful seamless match. The C7 by all reports is a great center channel and will probably look cooler. It will, however, cost more and the match will not be quite as good as a Heresy. Either way I think you'll be quite satisfied.

Efficiency should not be an issue as most (if not all) receivers allow you to adjust the volume of individual speakers. You should be more concerned with the centre channel matching the timbre/tone of the sattelites. That's by far a bigger issue.

I'm with Paul W. Klipsch on this one. Good thick lamp chord is all you need. Oxygen free? PLEASE....give me a break! Isn't the element of copper (cu) oxygen free by it's nature. I don't see an "O" in it's elemental symbol. Thick Monster cable look ultra cool and have a certain appeal. Will they improve my system in a noticeable way. Not on your life. Your money is better spent on ther things. If money's no object...go crazy and impress your friends. They might give some sort of placebo effect. Who knows. OK you thick cable fans who spent a months salary on cables and interconnects. Flame away!!!

I'm in Mobile's court. There just has to be something wrong. I'm running stock '81 Cornwalls and absolutely love them. Although they use the same drivers as the KHorns, I don't think even the best sounding Corns will ever keep up to properly setup KHorns. That's like expecting a Heresy to sound like a Cornwall (well not quite). I think your definitely spoiled, however, there's gotta be something wrong with those Cornwalls. Wish I had some suggestions on what it might be. Could be as simple as corroded/oxidized connections. Maybe someone else will have a suggestion for you. Good luck.

Yup. They're from 1983.

Did I say $500. Hell, your giving them away at $1,000 if they're in decent shape.

Your giving them away at $500. This what Heresy's go for on Ebay and, although a fine speaker, Heresys aren't in the same league. Not even close!!!

Tonal/timbre match is arguably the most important thing when adding speakers. For that you won't beat a couple of Ebay Heresys of the same vintage. They can be had for less than $500 a pair and there are some cream puffs out there for sure. Get the same vintage to insure the drivers are all identical and be blown away while saving some dough. Add a good Sub (oh yeh, an apartment) Maybe forget the sub or move. If size is REALLY a concern you might still go with what your looking at (they are fine speakers). It will cost more and not sound as good but they will be smaller. For me it's a no brainer .....go for the Heresys. I'm currently running '81 Cornwalls with 3 Heresy's. I picked a pair of '78 models up on ebay and found the '73 centre channel on this bulletin board. It's got the old "PWK" logo and is simply a beautiful old girl.

Lone Palm: Interesting posts here. I've been collecting Blue Rodeo material for over a decade now and fully agree with your cut on them. They have a unique kind of style. It's not country, not rock and not pop but it has elements of all three. Silky smooth vocals and just a GREAT overall sound. Steely Dan has always paid attention to record engineering and it shows even on their early records. Every collection deserves "Gaucho" and "Aja". Classics that sound fantastic and I never tire of. I hope they cut a few more before they retire. If you like jazz, try some Holly Cole and some Diana Krall (another Canadian Grammy award winner) . Especially Diana, WOW what a voice.

If all he wants to do is aim his speakers then the Bose are great. However, if he wants highs, lows and dynamic range they fall flat on their cute little grills. I don't think many will argue when I say Bose SUCKS donkey. Great at marketing though. They're the biggest selling speaker in the U.S.. Then again, the Ford Pinto outsold the Jaguar. I'm very partial to the heritage Klipsch line and these can be had used on Ebay quite reasonably. Put together a used Cornwall/Heresy setup if you have the space and be "blown away". Klipsch will give him sensitivity and dynamic realism. He can then use a lower powered and less expensive receiver and pour the money he saves into a better TV or good subwoofer. I personally like the Hitachi Ultravision 53" models but there are many other good contenders. The Marantz SR8000 sounds great for music and movies. Highly recomended for those of you who use your HT rig for music. Some receivers sound dynamic for movies but harsh for music, not the Marantz. Very smooth and musical while still dynamic and big sounding for those big action films. So many choices!! Have fun.

Just gotta pie in here. Not sure if you plan strictly 2 channel use or if home theatre might also interest you. The Marantz SR8000 deserves your research even if you don't want home theatre. It's two channel direct mode is nothing short of awsome. Beautiful match for Cornwalls with a smooth almost tube-like sound. Can be had for less than $1,000 USD . Great remote also. I'm currently using it to drive my Cornwall/Heresy HT and enjoy it's two channel capabilities even more than the HT.

I currently have my PW2200 wired both ways. I use a simple sub out from my amp for home theatre with all speakers set to small and sub "Yes". When I want to listen to music, I plug in the speaker wires (banana plugs) which are wired directly to the same binding posts as my Cornwalls. A quick adjustment of the crossover and sub volume (premarked) and Vuala. I never even tried the outs from the sub to my Cornwalls because Paradigm's out crossover is set at 120 hz and it's not adjustable. Perhaps good for sattelite speakers but certainly way too high for Cornwalls. Experiment and see what sounds best for your particular setup and don't overlook the importance of speaker placement. Move that sub around and also move your mains. Try corners (if possible) then in towards the center of the room. Then against the back wall and out in the middle of the room (3 to 6 feet). It takes time but it's the only way to get it tweeked to your accoustic environment.

OK Boa let me confirm I understand your last recommendation (the one you said worked best for you). 1 - Hook up the sub simply using the sub out from the SR8000 to the sub with an RCA connector. 2 - Then simply use speaker wires to connect my Cornwalls to the main outs of the SR8000. 3 - Set all speakers to small with Sub "Yes". I think I'll try that with a few modifications as follow: A - Set all speakers to small except the centre channel. This is a Heresy with decent low end. Since most of the sound comes from the center channel and much of that has low end, I think it only makes sense to set the center to Large. (Could be wrong though) B - Run a seperate set of speaker cables to the sub from the amp mains. I'll unplug them to watch movies and plug them in for direct two channel stereo with the sub. Thoughts anyone? Regards, Stu

Thanks all for your input. Sounds like there's really no one correct way and nothing short of alot of experimentation will reveal what works best. The PW2200 does provide a Line-Level High-Pass filter (80hz). This, from what I understand, should be fed back to the SR8000 via an RCA cable. I have NO idea how this works or what it's designed to accomplish. Can anyone enlighten me? The problem here is the SR8000 does not seem to have the "In" jack(s) to accomodate it. Does anyone know if the SR8000 can accomodate this option & if so, how? I suspect I'll end up simply hooking the sub & Cornwalls to my main outs, set the mains to "Large" & sub to "NO". That way both the Cornwall & the sub will receive the LFE signnal and I'll be able to use the sub in 2 channel (which is really my passion). Hopefully I won't need to adjust the sub volume everytime I switch from HT to 2 channel. There just doesn't seem to be a better solution to accomodate LFE & 2 Channel at the same time. Thanks again everyone. Regards, Stu

Forgot to mention in my last reply. The manual simply states the High Pass Filter will reduce the output to the mains by 6db. No mention of the crossover setting. By all accounts this is one very fine sub but the documentation SUCKS BLUE WHALE!!!!

Thanks for the info Kleggatt. I'm curious where you got the information regarding the High Pass being set at 120 hz. It sure wasn't from that useless manual. Are you also running the PW2200? If so what mains are you using? (just curious) Regards, Stu

Thanks Boa. Your correct about the High Pass filter on the sub. It seems to me 2 channel audio will be negatively effected if the corns are wired through the sub and not the amp (or will it?). I enjoy HT very much but 2 channel is my passion so I want to insure it's functioning at its highest potential. The sub has an adjustable crossover dial from 50hz to 150 hz. I assume that's what you mean by a "selector switch". I'll have to experiment with that thing. I just don't know where to start. If I change the wiring so the sub is hooked to the amp mains and then wire the corns directly to the high pass out of the sub and set the sub to "No" and fronts to large, the LFE will still be fed to the sub because they're connected to the amp mains. I presume the built in sub amp will then drive the Cornwalls. The Marantz SR8000 is so beautifully musical that I'm hesitant to use the sub's amp to drive my Cornwalls. I just can't imagine it coming close to the Marantz and two channnel is a major concern. If that's the case, I really can't see even trying that setup. I'll just have to keep experimenting with the Large/small settings and the sub Yes/No in combination with placement, sub volume and crossover adjustemnts. You've been a great help Boa and I at least now have a better understanding of the issues. Any further words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated. Regards, Stu

Thanks for the reply Boa but I'm still confused. Here is my understanding: 1 - Run my speaker cables from the Main Outs on the SR8000 to the sub. 2 - Then Run speaker cables directly from the Sub to my Cornwalls? (Here's where I'm cofused). I now have seperate cables running from the SR8000 mains to the Cornwalls. 3 - Set the fronts to large and all others to small. 4 - Set the sub to "No". 5 - Remove the subout RCA cable as it no longer is used with teh sub at "No". I currently have speaker cable from the amp mains to the sub and another set of cables from those same amp mains directly to my Cornwalls. Now if I set the sub to "No" and the mains to large, the LFE signals will be sent to the mains and the sub. Correct? This also will do away with the need for the LFE cable. Why would I want to split the LFE duty? Wouldn't it be better to have the sub look after that exclusively? I'm running Heresy surrounds and center channel which, of course, do extent decently low. Why would I want to set them all to small?

I'm new to the powered sub thing (&ignorant). Paradigms manual is totally useless. Despite reviewing previous posts on the subject I still am not sure how best to hook up this sub. I want to use it in my HT and also in 2 channel audio. Currently I have speaker wire from the main outs of the amp to the main ins on the sub. This seems to be the only way to get it working in 2 channel audio. A seperate set of speaker wires also run to my Cornwall mains. I also have the subout (lfe) connected to the sud using a y-splitter. Am I missing anyting? Also should I set my mains to large or small. I read varying opinions on this. My own experience in 2 channel audio finds the large setting much preferrable. What about the crossover? Any thoughts form experienced users?

As a long time Cornwall owner (20 years), I must agree these babies ARE the real deal. With proper amplification, they are something special. Dynamic realism is a term I'd use to describe their sound. Pick up a pair of used ones if you have the room for them. You won't be sorry.

I'm with Jim on this one. The Heresy makes an excellant centre channel match for Cornwall mains. Using a Cornwall as a centre for Heresys just doesn't sound right. The centre should be only "fill" for the mains and a Cornwall will simply blow those Heresys away. If your trying to downsize, I think you'll find it nearly impossible to replace the sound that comes only with a large enclosure. PWK used big assed enclosures for a reason and that reason is just a valid today as it was in the 1940's. Don't downsize your speakers, upsize your house.

Mike: The HWO stands for: H = Heresy W = Walnut O = Oil The "W" in the serial number represents the year 1981. I recently bought 3 of these to complete my HT setup using Cornwall mains. Although not in the same league as the Cornwall, they are in fact, fine speakers in their own right. I'm sure you'll get many years of enjoyment.

I won't comment on your new centres being able to keep up with the Cornwalls as these are foreign to me. I will say, however, that you might be better off with a single center channel directly in front of the screen. If it's too tall, simply lay it on its side. Alternately place it on top of the TV (if it's not too big). Again I know relativley nothing about the RF3 or the RC3 speakers. I do think it's important to have a single centre channel so the voices come from the "screen" instead of on either side. Just my opinion though and you might like it just the way it is.

The Horn loaded mid and treble of Klipsch speakers have a linear sound. That is they fire directly into the listening area minimizing reflection from wall surfaces. This is by design and is an entirely different approach than most speakers which radiate sound in more (all) directions, resulting in more reflected sounds (Bose does this as do many others). The linear characteristics (not sure if that's the correct term)of the Heresy should allow close placement to walls without any problems. It will have some effect on the soundstage but because there will be some reflection of sound but it should not be too adverse.