kink56

The Heritage Klipsch speakers do not have much depth in the soundstage, if you compare them to British monitors or electrostatics and many other high end/audiophile speakers. It is the truth....period. On the other hand, addressing the "bright" complaint. Most pop/rock records are TOO BRIGHT. And Klipsch speakers reveal that better than most other speakers do. They also reveal crappy electronics, and that make a bright/fatiguing combination. However, they do not sound too bright on well recorded source material played on appropriate well designed amps. I suspect the reason Heritage Klipsch speakers do not have that 3-D deep soundstage quality has to do with time alignment between drivers. Different designers and different listeners have differing priorities.

I can only compare Forte I, II and III against Cornwall III for you. But it may be helpful. I too think the bass on the Cornwall obscures mid detail. The resonance of the Cornwall cabinet is of no help either. They do have a BIG sound that Cornwall fans love, that seems to be more important than the great mids the Forte II and III have to those fans. No speaker does all things best. And people have their own personal trade-offs and preferences. So there seems to be strong Cornwall camps vs strong Forte (and Chorus) camps. I have tried Ti mids on my Fortes. I do NOT like them. I DO like Ti tweeter diaphragms though. I also had Forte III, and I prefer both Forte I and Forte II over them. I rank my experience with Klipsch speakers thusly ,from best to least liked by me:Forte II (w/ Ti tweeters)Forte I (w/ Ti tweeters) These have the same midrange as Heresy and Cornwall, but it works better than in either of those for some reason. Forte III (don't like the Ti mids, but may love the Forte II with a phenolic mid diaphragm?). Cornwall III (too much BASS, and too much resonance in the 100-120hz area).Heresy III (Ti mids not as much as a problem for some reason. And they blend well with my subwoofer). Heresy II (bass shelved down several dB mids and highs too prominent as a result, and does not blend well with my subwoofer).Belles (talk about cabinet resonance----sheesh!).I always have my ENTEC subwoofer in conjunction with any speakers, but I also evaluate the speakers without the subwoofer as well as with.

Yes, you can get phenolic for both the tweeter and mid. I had Forte III and I prefer my Forte I and Forte II over it. However I did put Ti tweeters in. I tried Ti midrange and I found that is what I did not like. For me the best combo is phenolic midrange and Ti tweeters.

Thanks, it saves me the trouble of trying this myself. 😏

I am curious, when playing all 4 speakers, what does that do for imaging? Do you get an accurate pinpoint soundstage, with each instrument having its own space in the field in proportion? As for the elevated speakers inboard, are they Cornwalls too? They seem to have smaller dimensions than the outboard ones.

What he said "I like SOUNDS". ME TOO! I don't care how good the performance is, if it is not recorded well, I don't care.

Forte with merkin

It sound like the wires intended for the woofer got accidently swapped for the wire intended for the mid (squawker).

Beautiful. Of the Klipsch I have owned (Cornwall, Cornwall III, Heresy II, Heresy III, Belle, Forte I, Forte II and Forte III) I like the Forte II the very best.

Link to USAudiomart: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649504927-entec-demian-martin-keith-o-johnson-lf30-subwoofer/

Link to USAudiomart: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649504072-spectral-dmc15-studio-line-level-preamplifier-preamp-demian-martin-reference/

Ha, ha I guess so!

Yeah I think this is about right for near field listening:

Having had the Forte III (I still have Forte I and prefer them over the III) and now a new owner of the Cornwall III. I vote Cornwall III. But those Jubilees are certainly worth looking into. Some day I would like to try the 2 way version of those.

Nakamichi Revox Tanberg I had a Nak Dragon and CR5A, they were quite capable units. I have never owned a pre-recorded cassette. But all my TDK and Maxell mix tapes sounded excellent.

Well it is apparent they could use some internal bracing, but I have never met a Klipsch speaker than didn't. I wonder why Klipsch just doesn't go ahead and do this automatically by now. It seems to be a very common complaint.

Yes, nice room. I have an old timey stereo cabinet, very vertical. I would like to find a nice low and wide cabinet that will accommodate my components. So many entertainment cabinets do NOT have room between the rear of the shelves and the back panel for the interconnects. Many are not deep enough for larger power amps and CD changers. And many do not have shelves wide enough to fit in a component that has rack mount ears. It is as if these cabinet makers have no idea about stereo components and they seem to be built for cable/VCRs/DVD players and NOT for 2 channel stereo component and systems having 6 or 8 separate components. And I do not want an open rack style as I want to hide all my wires behind the cabinet, or inside the cabinet. Heck I have 11 pieces in all and my power amp does not physically fit in ANY of the shelves. Also they have shelves or drawers for media storage taking up precious space for components too. I just can find anything. Maybe I will have to hire a cabinet maker to do a custom job for me.

I have been living with my new Cornwall IIIs for only two days now, but have some comments. I also have Heresy III and Forte I with Crites Ti tweeter diaphragms and his crossovers. I first placed my Cornwalls about 3 inches from the back walls with large Entec subwoofers flanking them, acting as corners. I found the upper bass to be blurred and boomy. I did not expect them to have a fatter bass than the Forte I. (a bit lower yes, but not fatter). I was disappointed. Then after a few hours of experimenting, I now have them simply moved forward and about 10 inches from the back wall. MUCH BETTER! I find the midrange and highs just about the same as the Forte I, but the bass is more defined. In fact, I tried the Cornwalls without my subwoofers (I had done this with the Forte Is too). And this is the first speaker I have ever owned where I could live without subwoofers at all. (not the case with Heresy or Belle). But I put on some CDs with the lowest bass information and my subwoofers do add that very bottom octave gut punch (20Hz to 40Hz) so I will not be relinquishing them. I find it interesting that many find that just the opposite (moving them closer to the back wall) is where they find the best results. I am happy to find that I could improve my situation after being let down by my first inclination for placement. Of course it would have been less hassle had they sounded best where I first put them, as they are not very easily moved on carpet by myself. I am happy with my purchase so far. I do need more time with them to solidify my opinion, but so far so good. I am also a bit surprised that the mids are a tad more recessed than any other Klipsch I have had. Which is not bad at all.

I still say it must have to do with clearing out inventory making room for some sort of replacement. Another special edition run maybe? You'd think it would not take so long for all the dealers that carry Heritage Klipsch to run through 280 sets of Special Edition and/or 70th Anniversary Cornwalls. Looking around it seems that the California Black Walnut has sold out of many dealers, and less so the Matte Black. Most of the dealers that carry the Special Edition still have Indian Rosewood (although at $6599.98 a pair) and those that have Matte Black are at $5999.98 a pair. I guess the California Black Walnut sold out first because of the lamb's wool grille, which is quite stunning. And they were going for $5999.98 a pair too.

But is still on their site. https://www.acousticsounddesign.com/5972-klipsch-cornwall-iii-special-edition-floorstanding-loudspeaker-east-indian-rosewood-pair?search=cornwall

Yep. Not sure why he had such a great deal. Maybe it was a matter of cash flow? But they went fast after the OP.

I am not sure what is worse, admitting to falling for the cupped hands ploy or admitting to buying Bose 901s! 😦

Oh hell yes, I encountered this all the time. And STILL do among my audiophile friends. I am sure there were some horn designs that may have started this opinion. But I have never heard this effect from a Klipsch.

Well it seems they are meant to be sold in pairs, so then that would make sense. Heck for the price they are going one could almost buy a pair and sell one off as a single. Or find someone also interested in a single beforehand and go in together, split the forwarding shipping cost. They (along with Heresy, and Belle) were originally intended for as a center channel for K-horns.