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The Forte 2 is another consideration. It sounds very close to the CHorus but is smaller and may fit better in your space. I have a pair and love them.

I own both speakers and have not listened to them next to each other but I would say that the Cornwalls are not much of an upgrade. They also take up a lot more room.

What is a speaker switch?

Do you guys have satellite radio? Before I subscribed I read many posts describing a compressed signal and SQ that was a bit better then FM. Not true, I just subscribed to Sirius and the SQ in my car is as clean and dynamc as CD's. The thing that surprised me most is the bass extension. Once you hear satellite radio you'll never go back to FM. The best part is the elimination of annoying commercials. Most of the content is commercial free with no hiss. In a home system maybe you could tell a difference between a CD and a similar broadcast on satellite. I don't know but in my car, on a good system, the music sounds wonderful. I'm a sound snob too. I find myself not listening to a lot of music because of bad recordings. In fact, most of my CD selection is being replaced with SACD and DVD-A because of the improvement in dynamic range and bass extension. My car deck is a Kenwood Excelon with Burr Brown DACS.

I assume you're talking about the older model. If so I won this unit and can give you a big nod on how good it sounds. I also own a Denon 2200 which is a newer machine. The Pioneer has a better picture where the Denon has more saturated colors. Sound wise they both sound great. The Denon is rated higher but I think the Pioneer is its equal and forget about the Chroma bug. The people who can see it are the same people who can hear the difference when someone changes speaker cable. I paid 700.00 for mine new 2 years ago. 200.00 is a great buy. The Phillips is not in the same league.

Save your money and buy a satellite radio tuner. CD quality, no hiss and tons of content.

Here is my 2 cents: I've owned Cornwall I's, Cornwall II's, K-Horns, Heresy's, Forte's, and have listened to Chorus speakers. They all have similar sound. For me my K-horns sound the best and are the most dynamic. The most prolific upgrade was when I built my own ALK crossovers. I was then able to play with the output of the drivers to meet my personal tastes. One of the things that we don't really talk about is how damn cool and retro looking the K-horns are. They are simple and elegant looking. Yes they are enormous but because they are corner speakers they don't seem to take up much room. Even my wife likes them and appreciates what they can do. IMHO all Klipsch speakers need a sub to really get the most out of them. A sub simply adds depth and fills in the bottom end to make the music ever dynamic and beautiful sounding. In all fairness there are so many factors when comparing speakers that there is really no best sounding speakers. Your ears are your guide and will not let you down. I think the Forte may be one of the most underrated Klipsch speakers. It does so many things well and with a sub it sounds wonderful and doesn't require corners and an enormous room for setup like the Cornwall. For rear speakers in a HT setup you can't beat the Heresy. Mate a pair of Heresys with a sub and you have a great system for little moola. As far as tube amps go I think they are not worth the trouble. I've owned vintage tube amps, newer Chinese amps and several SS amps. I personally like my 5 channel Sherbourn the best of all. Plus I have 5 channels for Stereo, SACD, DVD-A and HT. Tubes are fun to play with but that gets old real fast. For those of you who are hardcore and have not experienced the newer formats you are missing out on an incredible leap in technology that will transform you thin sounding CD's to an envelop of rich and warm sound. The bass extension on these new formats (most) is incredible plus there is a high-end extension and dynamics that is not present on most CD's.

So what did the wife say about your purchase?

It sounds like your head unit s faulty. I just bought the 2.1 system and the volume control went bad after a few weeks. Call Klipsch it's under warranty. I was told that this is a back ordered item too.

OK. Khorns are the most revealing Klipsch speaker made to date in their home line. Garbage in garbage out. There are a few things you can try to remedy your problem. 1. Buy aftermarket crossovers. This will allow you to adjust the output of each speaker component. This will allow you to tailor the sound to your room. The ALK crossovers are very good. I had my own built for a lot less. 2. Buy a new player. Your old player may be too grainy for the K's. I just invested in a Denon 2200. You can also get a Pioneer Elite 47a for about 300.00. With a Universal player you can get into SACD and DVD-A. This is a huge upgrade from CD output. These new formats are dynamic, warma nd have incredible bass and detail. (most disks). 3. Buy a better amp and preamp. Your amp my be too tinny and not have the output for the bass you need. My Khorns are from the 50's and sound incredible. 4. Buy a sub and cross over everything under 100hz to the sub. If you're still married after all these upgrades you'll have a killer system. I suggest the Sherbourn line of amps of McCormak.

Hi, I recetly sold a Spark/Cayin amp and thought it sounded muffled compared to my Sherbourn SS amp. I also A/B a Scott 299 against the Sherbourn and neither me or my friend could pick out the tube amp from my SS amp. Good luck!

I'm wondering what you paid for them? Seems like a lot of work and expensive. I've seen nice Klipschorns sell for 1500.00 on Ebay. I stole mine for 450.00. The only catch is that I had to drive 5 hours to get them. You need to be patient and look for auctions that have ended with local pickup only and then make an offer. You might want to look into veneer with adhesive backing. If you've never veneered before you will be in for a rude awakening. It's easy to get bubbling with the traditional paper backed veneer and contact cement is a messy ***** to work with. Another alternative is to buy 1/8 or 1/4" veneered ply and glue it to your cabinets. You can miter the edges or use solid wood to hide the rough edges. If you have your heart set on veneer then practice on some scrap wood. HD sells oak veneer cheap so you can always practice with that.

I use a Forte II. It sounds wonderful. I use to use a Heresy but I like the sound of the Forte better. You want to try to match SPL and that is hard with the Cornwalls. I actually run my Corns - 6db compared to my center.

Buy a Sub kit from Parts Express and call it a day. You'll never get deep wrenching bass Notes out of any Klipsch speakers. My first system were Cornwalls that had OK bass but nothing to run home to tell mom about. Then I bought a Sub. It was an amazing upgrade.

Looks like he is on the toilet and lounging proudly in his long johns.

Most Billy Joel albums. Coors but that is DVD-A. The Best of John Denver is great and also Five for Fighting. The newest Norah Jones SACD is probably the best sounding that I've heard. Her vocals are magical on SACD and Klipsch speakers. You have to be careful because I bought an SACD the other day that lists it as surround sound but is only 2 channel. I personally like multi channel better. If you have 5 good speakers then there is nothing like it.

Sorta off topic by why would anyone mess with vinyl when you can buy SACD and DVD-A discs that sound as warm with much better dynamics. If you can't get the album you want then that is a different story.

Any amplifier should compliment the speakers and other gear in the system. B&K does that for Klipsch speakers.

I had an Acurus 5 channel amp and thought it sounded very neutral compared to my B&K AV5000 at the times. With Klipsch speakers the B&K is a better match, IMHO.

They are sellin on Ebay from 1k to 1500.00. By the time you buy the drivers, the wood, build corssovers, grills, etc., etc. I wonder if it's all worth it. At the end of the day you still have a clone and not an original. An original Belle is an investment and a clone well is a clone....Personally I'd rather save my pennies and own the real deal. I don't want to offend anyone but I don't care for the looks of the Belle. It looks like a big box. A mini K-Horn might be a cooler project.

Belles look great but don't go low enough for me. Forte speakers are also a nice alternative. There aren't quite as large as a Cornwall and sound as good, imho. I own both.

I played around with tube rolling and I couldn't hear much of a difference and because you can't do a direct A/B I doubt that anyone could consistently pick out the sound of a particular tube. IMHO.

I would stick with the Jolida and buy a subwoofer. I've own two pairs of Cornwalls and they are very revealing speakers. They don't produce great bass. They are said to go 38hz but I doubt it. A sub will fill the bottom on and give you what you want. I would never own a system without a subwoofer. I had for many years and when I finally bought a sub I was floored.

I'd just like to add that while I love my Klipsch setup I can still enjoy my modest truck radio. All stock and nothing special. Stop listening and start enjoying the tunes. Sometimes people focus too much on their equipment and "how it should sound," instead of just enjoying the tunes. I remember when I was 12 and could listen to music for hours with my friends. We didn't have the best setups but we could thump our feet and minds to the music at hand. I also don't buy that crapola about timbre matching. I use to have Heritage with newer Klipsch speakers and I never noticed a problem. Yes there is an output issue but with good premap that is easily fixed.

Congrats on a great purchase. There's nothing like unboxing brand new speakers. I have the original Cornwalls. I also sold a pair of Cornwall II's and own Klipschorns. IMHO the K-Horn totally rivals the Cornwall speaker. They are just amazing. I did however, make a pair of ALK crossover clones so I could adjust the output of each driver. The new corssovers were a nice upgrade. My dream is to get another pair for 5 channel listening. I still run a sub with the K-Horns too and it adds more realism to my listening experience. Let us know how you like them and how the wife reacts.