ODS123

A true story from several years ago: I bought a Monster powerstrip to protect my Bryston amp from power surges. I pulled the plug of the Bryston amp from the wall, plugged it into the Monster strip and listened. Though I had been highly skeptical about the benefits of power conditioning I was amazed by what I heard. ..My amp sounded better in ways I couldn't quite articulate. The sound was smoother, cleaner and just more "right". ..Just to make sure I wasn't just imagining things, I switched back and fourth a couple times. Yep, there was no mistaking it. I decided to go back one last time. I unplugged the amp. ..And before plugging it back into the wall I decided to switch on the TV to see how my man Federer was doing during the Wimbledon finals. I hit the TV power button and..... nothing. Huh?? ..I tried again.... nothing. Turns out, during the whole exercise..I wasn't switching the Bryston's power cord back and forth b/w the wall outlet and the Monster strip, I was switching the TV's. Case in point: Expectation Bias is very powerful. .It explains why Asthma patients who are given an inhaler w/ placebo medication in clinical trials experience a 30% reduction in symptoms.

Couldn't disagree more. For one thing, MDF is a better material for speakers; it's denser and less prone to warping - it's use is ubiquitous in high-end speakers. ..And I've not been able to get my Cornwall III's to "sing along" w/ either music or tones. It's hard to believe such an obvious flaw would go unnoticed by the engineering team who designed the CWIII's. To my ears (which perform well on hearing tests), the bass sounds very detailed and extended. ..None of the blurring Boom has noted. Same w/ respect to the "discontinuities" he describes. ..I hear none of this. As a more general comment, and I'm not trying to flame Boomzilla here, but it's totally predictable that when a newer version of a speaker is introduced there will be those who claim that all improvements ended w/ the particular version they own. ..It's as if the crack team of engineers who made their version lost their marbles just as they were designing the successor. Or that the brand suddenly changed their focus from improving performance to only cutting costs. I recall reading this when Vandersteen went from 3A to 3Asig, Paradigm from Studio 100 ver4 to 5, Paradigm S8 v2 to v3 (w/ Berrylium Tweeter), and so on. The bottomline: try to avoid being overly influenced by on-line reviews. Go and listen and form your own opinions.

Any flaws in a/B/X testing pale in comparison to the impact of expectation bias when one takes the approach of listening to one set of cables, taking 5-10 minutes to replace with the new set and then listening for “differences”. All the while completely aware of which cables you are hearing. If people would simply do what I suggested earlier in this thread I think many minds would be changed. To repeat, place your speakers side by side, then have someone connect brand A cable to one channel brand B to the other channel ( without telling you which is which of course ) then have that person switch between the two speakers using the balance control as you play a MONO recording. I suspect The differences will disappear Just because a perfectly designed and executed blinded test is impractical shouldn’t deter people from trying less perfect validity test

It’s so disappointing that we as audiophiles are, as a group, seemingly so disinterested in putting audibility claims to any sort of blinded validity test.

Not trying to offend, but I'm skeptical to say the least. ..My recommendation: Put your speakers side-by-side. Have a friend/family member connect one of the old cables to one channel and a new cable to the other, without telling you which is which. Then, while playing a MONO recording, have that person switch between the two speakers by using the balance control on the AVR/ Pre-amp. I bet your ability to hear a difference w/ disappear.

Wow, those are beautiful!!! Personally, I'd spend what it takes to have the blemish concealed. ..They otherwise appear to be museum quality.

A good furniture repair guy could make that disappear (or nearly) using melted colored wax, etc.. ..If the speakers are truly as beautiful as they appear to be, I'd do it for sure. ..Once again: ..How about pics of the whole speaker

Sorry to read about the ding. ..Would love to see pics of the whole speaker!

How exactly are these New Old Stock? Technically, NOS means they are still in an unopened box and their condition is a true 10 out of 10. Even if you pulled these from a sealed box, they appear awfully dirty and weathered - like they've been exposed to moisture or some sort of environmental fallout. Plus, they appear to have marks from things being stacked on them. ..No offense, but if someone told me these are NOS, I would say, "no way". I bought my Technics SL-1200 mk2 as NOS from B&H Photo. ..Yes, it had been 3 years since date of mfg., but it had NEVER been opened. ..The factory seal on the box was not broken.

Not speaking for Klipsch but perhaps their view is to simply let people judge their speakers by how they sound and NOT by inferences they draw by viewing blueprints and schematics? As for your belief that there can never be "too much bracing", I respectfully disagree. Any bracing beyond what is necessary to eliminate audible resonances simply increases manufacturing, weight and shipping shipping costs. ..If it doesn't improve the sound then why bother?? ..My Klipsch Cornwalls clearly don't have an abundance of bracing - knock on the cabinets and you'll hear they sound quite hollow. Still, they sound fabulous - incredibly smooth, no smearing, no strain at any reasonable volume AND not a hint of resonance. So what would have been gained by add'l bracing? They already weigh 100lbs ea. I understand that a lot of speaker companies (particularly consumer, not so much pro-audio) make a huge deal about eliminating cabinet resonances but how much of this is necessary and how much is marketing hype? ..My Paradigms and Vandersteens had very inert cabinets, yet my new Cornwall III's - which are far more hollow sounding by comparison (when you rap on them w/your knuckles) - sound better in every respect! I think eliminating audible resonances is easily achieved w/ out the use of excessive internal bracing through thoughtful cabinet design, and dampening material inside the cabinet.

I listened to both the F3's and CW3's extensively before buying the CW3's. ..To my ears, they were a draw (and sounded very much alike - could not pick a preference) w/ respect to smoothness and imaging. ..But in terms of dynamics and bass extension, the CW's won pretty decisively. ..Which they probably should given their greater cabinet volume and cost (>$1200). That said, if I was budget or space constrained, I would have been happy w/ the F3s. Since I was not, I could not be happier w/ my choice. Is the newer horn on the F3 supposed to represent an improvement? Are people just assuming it's better b/c it's newer? Edit: My hunch is that some Cornwall loyalists are annoyed that it now shares drivers w/ the lowly Heresy - but why would that be bad? The Heresy is awesome!

..I listened pretty extensively to the Forte III's before buying the Cornwall III's. ..To my ears, they were a draw in terms of smoothness and imaging but the CW III's had significantly greater bass extension and dynamic impact. ..Of course, one should expect this given their greater size and cost.

Very cool seeing how these are made - thanks!! ..A couple comments: First, why isn't the fellow applying stain/ clear coat wearing a respirator! Klipsch! ..For the love of your employees, make this mandatory! And secondly (and of far lesser importance), it looks like this speaker is made of plywood, rather than MDF as mentioned in their literature. Not that that matters much to me, but it's interesting.

Agreed, my new Cornwalls do appear to have some sort of a clear coat. Doesn't it seem strange that Klipsch doesn't provide detailed instructions on how to care for the finish of their Heritage speakers? Particularly when being hand-made using carefully matched veneers is one of their signature features.

A very elegant installation - I love it!! ..So clean that I must implore you to find a better solution for your antenna than tacking it to the wall That wood color on your Heresy's is manficient! ...And I love the retro look of the Yamaha integrated too. (Long live integrated amps w/ Tone Controls!)

Got it, thanks all!!

I've come across a lot of comments here about restoring older Heritage speakers but nothing about what special care, if any, new speakers require. Curiously, there is nothing from Klipsch about this in the Owners manual. My C3's are finished in Cherry and reside in a room with quite a bit of sunlight. ..I've already noticed the color deepening, which is totally fine by me. Thoughts on how to keep the finish at it's best? As an aside, I'm loving my Cornwall iii's! I couldn't be happier. ..As I keep saying, I've never been more eager to sit and listen to music as I am now.

..I see you share my appreciation for the finer details Thx!

Hahaaa. I’m doing my best to not over scrutinize. 😉

Thank you all. ..Yes, here's a pic. They sound great w/ everything. From Duke Ellington (Blues in Orbit playing now on my TT) to the Sonics to Pete Seeger. ..I've never been more eager to sit down and listen to music.

Received my replacements and they are perfect. ..No dings/dents and the drivers are all flush against the motor-board. Thank you Klipsch and thank you all at World Wide Stereo in Ardmore, PA for your follow-through! Lovin' my new speakers!!

Cornwall Pro?? Anyone every heard of these? It looks to me like these are Cornwall ii's? Is there anything about the "Pro" designation that suggests they sound better? The handles and the vinyl guitar-amp style covering suggest they are designed to be more durable and more portable. ..But I see nothing that would imply they sound better than regular Cornwalls. So that would leave collectability as the primary reason for paying the "pro" surcharge. ..But seeing as no one else has indicated any sort of recognition for these, I think even the rarity and collectability appeal may be a non-factor. They look like their made for dragging to clubs, etc.. What if the horns and drivers were chosen more for their indestructibility than fidelity? In a typical home setting you'd be pretty disappointed with that trade-off. Personally, I'd buy a pair of new Cornwall iii's before buying these. .

Was told by dealer today that Klipsch is building me a new pair. Very pleased w/ this course of resolution. ..Bravo dealer and Klipsch

Whoops. yes, AR. Probably not a lot of spkr manufacturing going on in Alaska

The dealer is working on it. They're reaching out to Klipsch to see how long until they can get another pair of Cherry Cornwalls. They're also looking into finding a local furniture repair person who can try to raise the dents. ..This was an idea that I suggested. I'd be satisfied if they improve them significantly. The salesperson told me it may take a while to sort this out. The dealer is adamant that they did not open these prior to my picking them up and I I believe them. So this means this pair left the factory w/ these dents. Combine with this that the previous pair left the factorry w/ one of the mid-range drivers not flush against the baffle and you start to see that Klipsch needs to tighten up their quality control in Hope, AK. I love the brand, and I love how these speakers sound but the fact stands that two pairs of these very expensive speakers left the factory w/ issues. Some here have argued that I'm being nitpicky. ..Thankfully, the dealer does not feel this way. They've said several times, "you paid a lot for those, you're entitled to a pair w/ out any issues."