mobile homeless

First of all, I would really like to thank Klipschguy, Jim, and Steve for taking the time to reply. You gave me some more solid info to go on, especially Andy, who gave some nice comparisons with some other single driver horn options. Well-done. After inhabiting the Audio Asylum (the SET Asylum is now totally a DIY Forum) for the last few years, it's nice to get a fresh perspective here. One of the great aspects of the ProAc line in general is their natural and musical performance; they really work wonders with tubes and are extremely coherent speakers. I am just looking to gain that immediacy and dynamics with well-made horns, as well as the 100dB or so efficiency, surely a great benefit, especially with single ended triodes. I have been wanting to taste SET amps via horns ever since I first got my Moondogs. If you were to compare your Cornwalls to a fine cone speaker like the ProAc, what would you say are the main differences? Would it be this immediacy and liveness to the sound? I guess one would lose the imaging from the narrow baffle speakers such as these ProAcs... Andy, I noticed you mention your M&K sub. Do you feel you need the sub to be really satisfied with the sound? I have never really been a fan of subs that much since I feel they slow the music down a bit. Have most of you performed the standard mods I read about for your Cornwalls? Again, thanks for all the replies here! kh

I am moving closer and closer towards some sort of horn solution and have been vacillating from Ed Schilling's "The Horn", a Fostex 208Sigma in a Jericho Horn, building some Voight Pipes...or the traditional Cornwalls, of course. I still sit here with my ProAc Minitowers (which are damn good although a bit problematic with more challenging material and low wattage). I am currently divided between the use of a few tube amps of different character after dumping my last solid state monoblocks a year ago. Besides the beloved EICO HF-81 and an ASUSA EL-34 UL amp, I do most of my listening with a pair of Welborne Labs 2A3 Moondogs coming in at around 3.5w with the MagneQuest DS-025 transformers. Every now and then, when the mood strikes, I stare for a bit at the Klipsch Cornwalls online; indeed, that Mitja Borko review of the Cornwall IIs is almost too much food for thought. Well, now there is a pair of Cornwall I's within driving distance... making them a bit harder to ignore. This speaker has always intriqued me. I need some loons on here with SET and Cornwall experience that also have had exposure to other dynamic speakers of fine pedigree. Ultimately, listening is the real answer, but before I set out on the 12 hours of round trip hell, I was hoping for some thoughts. Are these beasts going to have too much blare? Brightness? Harshness? I know the dynamics will be there in spades but was looking for other thoughts on the matter. Will they work in a medium sized room? And on a technical note, these Cornwalls are factory finished black over birch. Has anyone on here attempted to REMOVE the paint to reveal the wood? Musical tastes range from Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans, Erik Dolphy, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday to the multitude of Independent label offerings from my sordid years in bands and a college radio station. In other words, from great stuff to complete racket... Any and all info/insight is gladly appreciated. kh http://12.16.160.65/temp/corndogs.jpg f> This message has been edited by mobile homeless on 10-06-2001 at 09:19 AM