Audible Nectar

The smashing of the "FRAGILE" side of the package IS an interesting "touch".

.......and people thought I was crazy for driving to Texas to pick up a preamp. This picture normalizes that practice.

I use an old series Cornwall II (laid on it's side/"lowboy" style) as a TV stand for my Sony flatscreen. Only diff is on many newer models the base of the TVs aren't rectangular flat pieces that can spread across the speaker cab - they are "four legged", which might make the placement a bit tricky. The LaScala will handle the weight being used as a TV stand just fine. I would strongly suggest a layer/towel/padding that will not mark the speaker top however, as you consider/experiment with how the flatscreen will actually sit astride the LaScala in terms of the "leggings" of that TV base, if that makes any sense. I find that the screen hovering just above the lowboy Cornwall II its about as realistic as you can do in terms of positioning without having a screen you can play the speaker through (like a Stewart screen with a projector, etc).

There is the idea of "enabling" but from the "other side" the idea of fully informing the poster as to their options. It comes down to this: Movie houses don't use "smaller than mains" speakers behind those screens, and neither do we.

Now to answer the OP's question, one needs to listen to an all-heritage HT to see if it's something they consider "worth it". Hearing IS believing (as Dave Mallette used to say, "if it sounds good, it IS good") and as such is worth the trouble to take/seek out ANY opportunity to hear what that series of speaker is capable of. It's a general rule that if you like one era of these larger beasts you will probably like most any of the eras of properly prepared Heritage that's out there. Ref series has a "presentation" so to speak, as does Heritage, so it pays to hear if possible to tweak your "inner compass" to go in the direction you want to go. Heritage most resemble that which is/has been behind the screens and in the walls of the major movie houses over the years, it's a matter of room and scale as to whether you can make that work.

Add me to the list who disagree. What IS important when using vintage Heritage in HT is to use the SAME drivers, crossovers, ERA as possible. Don't go trying for an all-LaScala theater where you mix AA and AL/whatever types, mixing K55-V's with K55-Ms and such.......get them all the same, make all of the drivers all the same, refresh the crossovers/test/refresh drivers if necessary, and you'll get the timbre matching AND the dynamics/inner detail/impact you expect from ALL Heritage Klipsch speakers. There's OODLES of info on how to refresh these speakers in here, and don't let ANYONE tell you they aren't worth the trouble/viable.

As the owner of an HT that uses five Cornwalls, I agree 100%. But in a pinch/economy/many reasonable scenarios the Fortes running back is just fine. I did Chorus Is on my rears for a time, then played Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" and similar multichannel audio tracks and went all Cornwall with all identical drivers without much real thought. I suspect that same era Heresys would have been a better choice if seeking smaller surround speakers, much like the Fortes are good matches in this scenario. Most will find the "same series" like with the Forte IV/LaScala AL5 will be wonderfulness in it's own right, but there is something to be said for a room that would allow for five/six/seven of all the same speakers in the "base ring" of an HT. It's really something to experience, but there's certainly times where the practicality of that doesn't fit. Of course, it's our job to test that 🙂

Go get Steely Dan's "Two Against Nature" and run that through the system when it does.

As long as Teles last, and as easily obtainable as they are used on audio forums, used is the way to go on those. I'm very much a believer in NOS but I've had really good luck with used Telefunken 12AX7 because most gears they came from were never used enough to wear them out. Toughest, longest lasting vacuum tube for audio I have ever run across.

I keep picturing the ".38 caliber vasectomy" scene from Dirty Harry's "Sudden Impact". "Nobody, but nobody puts ketchup on a hot dog."

Talk to ClaudeJ1 on this forum (look for his posts in the Technical/modifications section of this forum) as he has forgotten more about the specifics of these woofers than I will ever know. He is a fund of information and can/has broken down a number of these woofers here in the past. I replaced an old set of K33 with Eminence Kappa 15C in a set of '76 Belle Klipsch with excellent results based on his recommendations and breakdowns, although there's certainly nothing wrong with using a K33 of course. The improvement in the midrange of the lower bin of the Belle was the primary benefit of that choice, the "loss" of the lower bass response isn't as much an issue as those LaScala and Belle cabs roll off on the low end below 60 hz anyway. But I would look through Claude's posts on these topics, and see if he can clarify anything for you. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

"The Sky Is Falling." Seems to be a theme around here, between reading these "inflation" threads along with the encyclopedia of politically loaded signatures on this forum you'd think the sun was going supernova. New Heritage too expensive? Buy used. I did - best purchases in my audio life of 50 years. The Cornwalls I'll be busting out with this fall will be guaranteed to satisfy after a few mild improvements and tweaks, all garnered from this forum and others as to how best to make use of them. Heritage has increased in price every decade they have existed , save for maybe the used market in the early oughts. And the sun came up this morning. And no matter what you choose, they're all pretty much worth it 🙂

I'm thinking I need one of those K2 amps for my HT subs - 3000 damping factor is really grippin' those woofers...... The rounded bass of tubes is quite OK though. Just like the Mac amps with autioformers they have low damping factor too, but yet have a rounded, musical, and authoritative bass in. their own right. I like higher damping for HT and lower for 2 channel.......I think (and yeah, I know, that's a bad idea too).

The Pac NW has some of the best audio deals you will ever see. Yet another example.

I have two sets of ICs I got from a local guy who builds this sort of stuff (he's a tube tech too) and his were solid copper core runs, no strands, and no shielding. They are a different animal, but tricky to work with for obvious reasons, but really good sounding generally. I'm rewiring a theater, too, and wondering what if anything here needs some updating.......I'm sure it does and would put anyone slinging lofty claims to the test, to be sure....one thing I do know is I gotta read up on HDMI cables again cuz I haven't bought one in YEARS.....

If high end cable manufacturers were legit and real they would provide a 30 day return policy, no questions asked. Now I've been out of the cable shopping thing for a while, but are there any of these high end manufacturers who do this (besides the local big-box basic places, which don't sell high end, nut anyway.....)?

Oh, wow, we really lost a good guy, he was definitely one of my favorite forum people. To all who knew him, condolences.

One thing not getting mentioned WRT supply issues is the situation in TX with the "freeze-out". Some 60% of goods sold in the US that use injection molded/similar plastics come from products that come out of TX refineries/processes and the repairs on that equipment infrastructure has delayed all manner of equipments. This has been of particular mention in the lawn care business - companies like Toro and similar have mentioned this specifically. They got behind at the worst possible time, over the winter when those goods are being built and sent to end buyers. The demand for lawn mowers goes on, but the places who produce the raw materials is crippled. It has everything to do with a lack of supply of normal ingredients that are not normally an issue to get. People are looking WAYYYYYYY too deep into this.

Whatever you do, do the same to BOTH woofers (be it recone or replace).

Preamp (MX151) is here. Went to TX to get it, pristine example. Totally worth keeping it out of the hands of the shippers, it's perfect and it stays that way from acting as the courier as much as possible 🙂 This post really has me reading - and rereading - again. So I took the trouble to hook up one of my existing MC250s to the main pair of Cornwalls to do some sonic tests, not just generally but also testing some woofers I am evaluating. I have to say that I could live with that sound by and large, save for some midrange mild "clutter/finish" that I suspect is the old caps still in the unit. I am curious, if you know, and if you evaluated it, how much change the rebuild that John did for you bring, in terms of cleaning up some of the details? My cap rolling experiences on tube amps (and even Mac in particular) as well as rebuilds seem to bear out that a rebuild would clear that up quite a bit. If so, I could certainly deal with the added complexity of the level matching, etc - IF the rebuilds bring sonic benefits (I'm sure they do to some extent). But I wonder, if you did comparisons sonically between the original and rebuilt versions if you have any commentary on the sonics before and after. What would you say regarding the sonics of your rebuilds in terms of the added benefits, or are they essentially similar/the same just better electrically (which isn't so bad either). I am particularly pleased with how the MC250 - even in original but operable original state, handles the speakers at low volume, the bass/heft/body of the presentation not falling apart as the volume gets reduced. I suspect these would play very well together with rebuild. It certainly makes a case for it - "Don't forget about us." I took a "run" at two MC2100 and got the bid door slammed in the proverbial face, the cost seeming to make it a good way to go - until it wasn't 😞 I also had a trio of MC205 slip through the fingers, cluttered in logistics by the preamp acquisition (too much to chase in one five day period) albeit two weren't really close to "closing" if that makes any sense. One was and was six hours late closing on an NOS 205. Ouch. The MC205/255 etc is an easier choice, no wait for rebuild, but still "unknown" vs the "known knowns" of the autoformered 250/2100/2105. The comments above are encouraging, and added with it.......an easier "flip" if I went that route and decided the autoformered was the better way. But I'm still open, but I keep running out of leads as I've chased a few and come up empty handed. But that's OK, anything worth having is worth the work, and the ball got moved a bunch closer to the goal line with the progress made this week. Speaker gaskets, etc etc in the house, a couple other items on order but it's all moving along. Oh, and the condition the Parts Express box was in when I got home from picking up that preamp was all of the justification I needed for picking up that preamp in person in the first place. My wife shows me the box and says "yeah, that's why you pick up the more expensive stuff." It's a good thing the contents weren't "destroyable". But it was more than a reminder, and a quick answer as to why I would do something as crazy as driving a thou to pick up a perfect glass faced Mac.

The "effective" quote: "The bass hits you hard and removes any pictures from the walls, Even bowed my garage doors off the tracks." Judging from the looks of the pictures, that looks about right.

It's not nuts - it's proper. The LaScala AL5 between a pair as mains on your front soundstage IS the right way to do this, and you will enjoy the benefits of doing this the right way for as long as you own that kit. I had a pair of '68 vertical Cornwalls shipped here some years ago (these are the type you can lay on their side and have the horns then in proper orientation for a center channel) between two other Cornwalls, and it's the best speaker move I ever made for HT. Lurkers observe: THE proper center channel speaker for your HT front soundstage is the IDENTICAL third main, equivalent to your most capable speakers (your mains), because in an HT the center is THE MAIN, where everything else anchors itself to, and timbre-wise IS the speaker that will "carry the day". The game is to have the most capable center channel possible that will also allow for matching "everything else". Three LaScala across your front soundstage? In that room? That's pretty much upgrade-proof WRT the three mains. I'm not familiar with the Rhythmic sub kits, but they better be robust as keeping up with the LaScala has people buying into some really extraordinary sub setups. Danleys and SVS and JBL Pro, Oh my! But I gotta say, congrats on getting that center channel chosen properly, because in a good HT that is HUGE to get this right and is a most significant upgrade and change to your system. I also gotta say that it's a pleasure to watch people building HTs out of new Heritage. Back some 15-20 years ago, we were bypassing Ref series speakers and buying up used and refurbing those speakers to make our own "Heritage HT". People thought we were nuts, probably even the people at Klipsch, buying five/seven Cornwalls and ringing those bad boys around the room, all the while people looking at us going "isn't that what the Refs are for"? Well maybe so, but when you grew up on the sound of Heritage Klipsch and weren't gonna take "NO" for an answer, we were building stuff like my "Cornwall Theater", all Cornwalls for everything but subs and nine fifteen inch woofers pressurizing the room in a way that assures any unsuspecting guest that "This isn't normal, and that's an incredible thing." Nice work.

SSIA. Curious if anyone here is running any Hegel amplification, and if so, why and what other amps have you used/can compare it to? I see them around on a some high end sites here and there, seem to be a newer brand, internals look robust, curious what ya all might know.....

I think it's proper and accurate to say that there are a lot of aspects of brand new, latest engineered Cornwall IV's that are very much desirable. But the statement/idea that refreshed Cornwall I or II aren't "In the same area code" is WAYYYYYYYYYYY over the top, and is an engagement of sales puffery that belies evidence. If you want the latest, new offering from Klipsch in Cornwall, there's the Cornwall IV. If you want to save some money, this forum is loaded with people and records of how we improve these or simply refresh these speakers for long term ownership and use. One can do that very effectively (it is a longer road, and to some, time is money), and for a much reduced cost, if one is willing to travel the road to do it. I've been traveling that road for two decades, from back when Klipsch didn't even build Cornwalls (they were on that well known hiatus in production) and can say that there's certainly more than one way to get from point A to point B. It's still the same area code, in fact, same church even - just down the same pew a few seats. You just might travel a different road to get there.

I was always a fan of their turntables. Still wish they were more of a thing (i.e. still in production/wider use). The resurgence of vinyl could use some B&O......