Rjk1972

That's great. Any chance you could post some pictures of what a cane grill for a pair of Cornwall 1s would look like, or a fabric sample?

Totally enough. That's a great little amp. Congratulations. What do you think of it?

Is there any official release date yet. The guys in the Magnolia section at my local Best Buy are hoping to get a pair for demo.

I'm not saying Decware and ARC are bad, just too sterile for me. Just for reference I really like the sound of my Fisher 500c. It's been my go-to for the last 3 years. She really never disappoints. If you checkout the Steve Hoffman forums and audiokarma youll find lots of info about Line Magnetic. I think their amps sound great. I'm not a big believer in cables myself. I like Belden, Mogami, and recently Duelund speaker cable. The Belden and Duelund really do work well together. Personally I've not heard anything to make me believe expensive speaker cable gives you anything more than a slightly different colorations.

I'll send it back to Matt when work slows down and I get a chance or might just fix it myself. Right now is the busiest part of the year for me at my job. It doesn't let up till April sadly.

Lots of great gear recommended. I had written a nice long post but I guess I messed up some how. Anyways. I would just add a couple of things. I like my tube gear to have great tone and what I consider to be a nice tube like sound. Personally I found all the Audio Research gear I've heard in the last 20 years to be on the analytical side of the scale. I'd put Shindo on the other side, the warm, great tone side. I found Decware to be on the analytical side not to far from Audio Research gear. Leben I'd put on the Shindo side. CJ gear is just to fuzzy for me but I haven't heard any of there stuff in the last 10 years. Line Magnetic, despite being from China, pretty nice gear. Great build quality and sound. My only problem with them is that they seem to always be having some grey market/counterfeit/dealers not knowing what tubes are currently coming in there amps problems. Leben gear I just love. It's fantastic I've heard the CS300, CS600, the rs660p, the RS30eq, and their full function preamp. Just amazing gear, but really pricey. I read your speaker thread. You'll love those Cornwalls. I think we have pretty similar tastes. I'm also anxiously awaiting Forte 3 but either way I will never be parting with my 85 Cornwalls. I wouldn't do much to mod those Cornwalls either. Just replace the caps in the crossovers with some good ones. I'm going to redo mine with Jupiter Flat Stacks this summer when work slows down.

Just can't believe it's been so long. Listening to my LP of Unplugged. They were a great band.

Sadly I'm still trying to sort mine out it's currently out of commission. Sent you a PM

I'm sure people will be comparing them to internet direct manufacturers like Tekton and Zu Audio. The problem with those two is that their speakers aren't as efficient as they state. They always test around 93db. Pretty good for dynamic drivers but they also don't really measure that well and are built more like DIY speakers. Really though, there is nothing that will compare to these Forte 3 at 3800.00. At 98db and a solid 30hz-20khz response they will own their spot in the market place. That doesn't even take into account their attractiveness and the inherent "Wife Acceptance Factor". These look to be a real winner. Can't wait to hear them. That 1000 dollar integrated looks interesting too. I'll definitely be grabbing one of The Three for the kitchen and maybe a pair of The Six for bedroom duty. This is the best line up I've seen from Klipsch since the Chorus 2 came out. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the sound of the Forte 3s live up to expectations because I have never had this hard a time picking between finishes of a speaker. That California Walnut finish with the light colored grill vs the black with anniversary grills is going to keep me up at night.

Exactly. All speakers are a compromise. I remember hearing a pair of Magico at AXPONA a couple of years ago and thinking "wow what's all the hype about". I always have found it amusing how my fellow audiophiles and the industry magazines tend to fuss about how Klipsch don't measure perfect. Then they give rave reviews to brands like Audio Note and Devore that also don't measure "like they should". Now I love those two brands of speakers. In fact I like all their models. Just seems funny how people seem to pounce on Klipsch for using old tech that doesn't hold up to modern measurements while praising other companies that do similar things and throwing them on lists like "Class A" recommended components.

Don't get me wrong. I will find a way listen to them but I really do enjoy the Klipsch Heritage and "Extended Heritage Range". I remember when they sold all of them in a shop called Here's Radio in L.A., great stuff. Back then the natural compatition there were from a few upstart speaker companies called Vandersteen, Snell, Mirage, and B&W. You tell people you really liked the Chorus 2s and people would be all over you recommending one of those other models. Well 25 years later a minty pair of those same Cornwall, Chorus or Forte are still in demand and go for decent Money and go surprisingly quickly for their size. Old models from those other brands, not so much. I hope my local Best Buy has them in their Magnolia Show Room. If they don't I'll be taking a road trip.

I feel your pain. It took awhile to find a spot to set up. Luckily I have a patio room that come the end of March will be getting a work bench to go in front of a large screened window with a fan in it doing exhaust duties. As for a build. Well I spent a few hours yesterday and today watching some pretty cool soldering videos on YouTube and in one of them the guy was demonstrating how to solder and desolder resistors and caps on the circuit boards. So now I am in possession of three decent boards with a dozen and a half components to desolder and solder. Right now I'm looking for a soldering station and the tools I'll need and a good multimeter and of course doing a lot of reading. Also just sent an email to the guy behind the Spudkit. So hopefully I'll have everything I need and be practiced enough to to start the build in March. Then if all goes well I'd like to move on to the amp in this thread. Maybe with some uprated transformers. Then do a good rebuild on a Fisher x100 I have. Should be a fun year.

Great. Those old magazines are amazing. Lol loved the smoke alarm with vacuum tubes. Just wondering. Have you ever designed a no holds barred tube amp?

Sonus Faber are awful. I have yet to hear a pair of that overpriced Italian furniture that I care for. These Forte 3 are the first new manufacture speakers that I've been excited about under 5 grand. Up till I heard about these three days ago I was looking at Audio Note, Devore or Tannoy as possible replacements down the road for my Cornwalls. Can't wait to hear these.

Is that a Leben integrated?

So after going through a few tube amps and still sorting out my most recent purchase, I have come to the conclusion that I really need to become compitant at repairing, restoring, and ultimately building my own amp. So basically I am looking for some recommendations for the equipment I need, like a soldering station, multimeter and other tools and equipment and a good amp kit to start off with. I'm looking to get into doing this for the long haul. I'd also like to be able to make my own interconnects, re cap speaker crossovers and ultimately build a first class tube amp with top notch parts and iron. So I'd like start out with some decent equipment that I wouldn't need to upgrade for awhile. Any and all suggestions and help would be appreciated. My speakers are a pair of 1985 Cornwall 1s. I would love to start out with one of Maynard's designs if it's possible to buy as a kit with a chassis. Are there any other popular kits here that would be a good learning experience? Thanks in advance.

I thought the eliptrac wouldn't fit in a Cornwall. I was actually going to consider a different midrange driver if just the horn swap didn't get me what I was looking for.

I really like the sound of the Cornwalls I'm just looking to tame a bit of that midrange harshness and get a little more detailed and life like presents out of it.

This is great. Thanks for all the opinions and information. So I have a totally novice question. There is mention of a k700 horn and a K600 horn when referring to Cornwalls. What is the difference and when did they change? So it sounds like what everyone is saying is that the Fastrac Horn has a.better polar response which means it maintains its composure and holds its dispersion pattern better than the Klipsch midrange horns that come with the Cornwall. Is this correct? Chris A, thanks the dumbed down detailed answer. I really appreciate it. So what is FC and is it being different going to amount to any noticeable changes. I understand some crossover changes to make the Fastrac Horn ideal. On the ALK page it is stated that the horns can be swapped with no changes but that the crossovers should be changed. Would you know of the ALK crossover addresses what is needed for the Fastrac Horn. About the 510/K69 combo. Is there anyone that makes a kit to make that swap for Cornwalls and a way to get a set of crossovers made for that setup? Deang, are you the gentleman behind Althea? Do the crossovers you make address the changes that need to be addressed for different mid horns? The one for sale in the Garage Sale section looked great. Thanks

Bring back Rambling Rose . Seriously though. Bring it back.

Thanks for the responses. I get the not wanting to cut them. Mine are a minty, beautiful pair of CWO with risers. I've come across some comments about them. Sort of more generalizations. People saying g things like they measure worse than the stock horn and have a horrible polar response. I'm not interested in bi or tri amping with actives. I've heard a few systems that went that route and outside really expensive Genelex and ATC speakers haven't heard anything I like. I have a sweet little Toolshed Amps customized EL84 amp arriving this week. My system as is is pretty good. A NOS Valve restored 500c retubed with all nice NOS tubes. A Rega DACr and Rega RP6 with a 2m Blue and my 1985 Cornwall 1s. I'm looking for a little more smooth/lushness and detail than I have right now and maybe a little more bass and extension up top in my speakers. My crossovers are the original 31 year old crossovers. So I trying to figure out if I should go with the ALK crossover / Fastrac modification or just get a really nicely rebuilt set of crossovers, something like the Cornwall crossovers in the Garage Sale section. So what is the "polar response" of a drive and what does it measure.

Could someone please explain to me the pros and cons of the Fastrac Horn. What is measured by Polar Response. I've actually spent sometime Googling that and can't really find anything. Why are some people so against the Fastrac mod for Cornwalls? Thanks Russ

Wow those are beautiful. What is that finish called?

I'll second Craig. He did amazing work on my 500c and that was after another tech did a half *** job on it. Very affordable too. It is one amp I will be keeping forever.

Beautiful. Matt does great work. My custom EL84 amp is burning in now. Can't wait to hear it. Are you running a phono pre with it know?