gjdob1812

Great question! Part of the fun of the Cornscalas project is that there is no set design cast in stone. Using your own resources, you can develop a personalized plan for creating your own design. To be sure, the stock Cornwall speaker is outstanding! The Cornscalas idea came about because of a desire to substitute what many consider to be an undersized mid-range horn with a more substantial horn more like the ones to be found in the LaScalas and K-Horns. For more background information on this modification the Crites Speakers web site would be a great place to start. One of the first considerations in creating your own Cornscalas is deciding if you are going to keep the design within the framework of the Cornwall cabinet, or you may prefer to think outside the box (literally). You may prefer to acquire a nice midrange horn with the idea of placing it on top of the existing Cornwall box. This way you are not restricted in the type or size of midrange horn you choose. I went this way with my current Cornscalas set up. I had visited by phone with Greg Roberts at Volti Audio. Greg had a pair of his wooden V-Trac 260's already in a partial enclosure and suitable for placement on top of my Cornwalls. Greg had developed these horns for use in his K-Horn makeover projects. He is also using them in his own speaker development projects with great success. I should also mention that Bob Crites has now perfected a system of speaker DIY kit building projects for the Cornscalas and even projects for the Heresy size speaker. You can order the wood (pre-drilled holes and all), plus all the necessary components and hardware directly from Bob. You even have your choice of several different speaker/component configurations. I just know that Bob's products are great sounding as well. I wish you good luck with your Cornscalas project. By now you've probably accumulated this much information and then some. Keep us posted. I'm know that there are other websites besides the two mentioned above. Try to visit them all. gjdob1812

For the first time we are able to listen to a body of recorded material which was produced 50 and 60 years ago and be amazed at the quality of both the recording and performances. In 1960 could we have listened to a recording made 50 years earlier and appreciated it for it's sonic worthiness? This is why I look back at that mid-twentieth century era with respect and appreciation. Most of those old recordings still hold their own. It is a wonderful thing that Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony and the executives at RCA found each other during this period. Both the orchestra and the recording engineers were at the heighth of their collective artistic and technical powers. Their body of work on the "Living Stereo" series of recordings is monumental and something that will never be done again. The guys at Sony were quite aware of the treasures they were sitting on. They were fully aware of the sonic quality of those recordings produced a half century earlier. Why not take them and reincarnate them on CDs. They can re-issue these landmark recordings and have a much better product and for a lot less money. No use to try and reinvent the wheel. I think that's why many of us are on this site. There is a significant interest in the never ending pursuit of how to capture and preserve what many refer to as the Golden Age of the Recorded Arts. I'll never forget my "Smart ***" years in the mid 70s to early 80s. I always got kind of a kick out of going in to the local record store and asking "may I please see your classical record?" Naturally, the person sitting across the counter had no clue as to why they were having to deal with such an idiotic question, and he certainly did not see the humor in it. He suspected that I already knew the answer - the store didn't have any classical records. In retrospect, the commentary on my little story has very little, if any, humor. Anyway, I know that Paul Klipsch was a great admirer of classical music, and I'll bet he had a few "Living Stereo" LPs laying around to use as testing material. I like that, from time to time, we have reason to celebrate the past. Gary D.

Hello ! As a Klipsch Forum "Newbee" I'd like to weigh in on a thread that I have found to be of particular interest to me. I do appreciate the notion of certain Organ literature as great potential for speaker test material. May I suggest that we go a step further with serious consideration toward the Organ in a symphonic setting or with other combinations of instruments. Someone has already mentioned the opening of the Richard Strauss work, "Also sprach Zarathustra" . What a powerful piece of music offering a full dynamic range within a few opening measures. In particular, the old Fritz Reiner recordings on RCA,(Living Stereo), with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, still hold their own. They were recorded in the late 50's and early 60's when Stereophonic recordings were coming of age. Then there's the last movement of the Symphonic work horse by Saint-Saens which often goes by the nick name "The Organ Symphony". What a powerful moment when that organ finally makes an appearence - it's well worth the wait. Finally, I'd like to bring to the Forums attention a series of recordings by the Dallas Wind Symphony. Someone else on this thread has already mentioned the Reference Recording label out of San Francisco. The Dallas Wind Symphony and Reference Recordings have had an ongoing project since 1990. Reference specializes in producing recordings to satisfy the sonic appetites of the most discriminating audiophiles. I should give Grammy award winning Prof. Johnson and his 24 bit HDCD recording techniques well deserved credit. He is a genius at what he does. I'll try to stop sounding like a snob long enough to explain that I have been a member of the DWS for over 20 years and have participated on each of our albums with Reference (16 or 17 so far). I am proud of the work we have done to promote outstanding Band Literature played at a very high level. I will list our last 3 CD's and strongly suggest the that there is material on each cd which will provide musical enjoyment. Some of it will test even the best 2 channel systems: Crown Imperial RR112 - Recorded in Dallas' Meyerson Symphony Center with the Lay Family Organ (A Fisk organ I believe - it's one huge mother!) The title piece from the album, Crown Imperial, is a great Coronation March by William Walton. The piece has a quiet beginning, but be patient, eight munutes into the work the Organ gets involved and it gets pretty exciting. Some nice examples of bass drum hits too. Be patient - it really gets reved up at the end. Garden of Dreams RR108 - This is the only one of our CD's which was not recorded in the Meyerson. We used the sancturary of a large Methodist church in Plano TX., just north of Dallas. This CD fearures the cutting edge wind literature of David Maslanka. This is very emotional and thought provoking music. Massive blocks of sound in places. Great for speaker testing. Mainly wind band. Lots of percussion. Lincolnshire Posy RR117 - Featuring the music of Percy Grainger, this album has some of the most tuneful and pleasing music of all of our CD's. He contributed greatly towards advanving the cause of band music worldwide. Grainger was born in Australia, but spent a lot of time traveling the English countryside where he found much folk music to incorporate into his pieces. Grainger finally settled in White Plains, New York, where he died in 1961. Thanks for letting me share some of this info. There is nothing wrong with stand alone organ music. It's just that when it can be found as a participant in a diversified ensemble of instruments, that just seems to add to the fun. -- Gary Dobbins