garthbernstein

so true! I have too many speakers, Belles, heresy's, etc

Oops! I was reading the wrong specs from my other Klipschs'! Thanks for catching that, the actual serial numbers: 8P954, 8P955, signifying a 1976 year built, updating the post now, thank you!

@WestcoastdrumsThat would be a good idea, thanks for the post, revised now, $2,000 in Portland, Oregon.

A beautiful pair of 1976 Klipch Cornwall speakers, Decorator edition, I purchased these four years ago from a guy who had them in storage for 30 years, they work 100% and sound great. I replaced both the tweeters and woofers with Crites replacements, and also replaced the original crossover for a B2 Crites crossover. I also upgraded the speaker posts, and upgraded the interior wiring with the famous Jena Labs wires. As the late Bob Crites said about these speakers: "they are the most souped up Cornwalls out there!" I'm sure some purists would not advocate the replacement parts, but in my opinion the Crites speakers and crossover are a tremendous upgrade while keeping the integrity of the Klipsch sound. These are consecutive serial numbers, 2S 237 and 2S 238, indicating a 1978 vintage. There are some superficial scratches on the top of one speaker, and overall these are in decent condition for their age, not perfect, but they look nice. Speaker risers included, happy new year!

I suspect my Belles have been modified, I have a fuse type speaker/barrier strip (see photo). What do the originals look like? Does anyone have any photos of their Belle speaker posts/strip?

The sound really opened up, dramatically "richer" and flat out better. My understanding is the vintage binding posts were extremely cheap, and the new posts made it all better

good point, my language was incorrect, it should read: "Has anyone changed the barrier strip on the Belles?"

I replaced my Cornwall binding posts, and it made a huge difference. Has anyone ever done this on the Belles?

Thanks for the responses, here is more information: I have essentially a square living room (12' x 12') where my wife and I watch TV. The TV is higher up on the wall, the speakers are in the corners of the room (can't get them out into the room b/c it's a typical living room setup, not audiophile setup), and we sit in lounge chairs near the middle of the room 6' or so away from the speakers. The speakers sound best sitting in the typical sweetspot (no surprise), and they sound "OK" sitting in the lounge chairs (basically because each of us are slightly in front of one speaker). This is clearly a "back to basics" question, but what I'm hoping for is a more surroundsound type of effect, vs. the current effect of each of us primarily hearing one speaker (and just a little of the other speaker). When I'm sitting in the dining room (adjacent to the open ended subject/listening room), I'm not getting great sound. I know that may not be possible due to the room setup and directionality (is that a word?) of the Cornwalls, but just in case I was missing something, I was hoping to have the opposite of a "sweet spot" effect. Looks like one option is to mod the speakers to add the smaller speaker on top, that's a cool idea. I'd have to really study it to understand it, because my audiophile language and capabilities are low. So, it's a basic question, probably a stupid one, but I figured I'd ask! Thanks for your help

Chris, unfortunately, I have no idea what any of your post (or previous thread) means...I'm a 5th grader audiophile!

Upgraded interior wiring plus new speaker wire posts

For my 2 channel home theatre, I have a bad room layout (furniture, small area rectangular), with souped up Cornwalls and a Triode TRVSE35 tube amp. Is there any way to get a more "ambient" sound vs. directional from my listening area with the Cornwalls? Does the amp make a difference here at all?

I'm considering selling mine in Portland, Oregon, and I have updated my tweeters and woofers with Crites speakers. What do you think the market is saying about price for Heritage Cornwalls in good condition?

@billybob I just got carpet remnants (that fit perfectly) for the Belles, trying that first this morning...

I have a 100 year old house with a thin "rat slab" basement floor that my Belles stand on, should I use any kind of spikes or isolators?