Sunnysideup

FWIW, I thought I’d give an update on this. I’ve finally managed to make the Cornwalls sing in my setting. Biggest improvement comes from switching (from smaller gauge) to 11AWG speaker cables. This made the woofer pump bigger bass. Next is to clean up power with a power conditioner and upgrade power cords for the amplifier. This tightened up the bass quite a bit. I’m happy with how they sound now.

Since the last post, I’ve been going through a decluttering phase. I’m back to the most simple chain consisting of the CD player, amp and speakers. Using the built in DAC of Marantz CD6004 player, there’s enjoyable music coming from the Cornwalls now. Decent bass. Soundstage isn’t as wide and less textured as with a standalone DAC, but I’m ok with the trade off. My room issues aren’t solved yet, but that’s for another day. Will continue exploring how to mitigate them. Saving for a high powered SS amp to pump those woofers too. Everyone enjoy your music and stay safe during these difficult times.

I did a few things today. 1) I reversed the polarity of my connection. The speaker sounded thin and odd so I believe connnecting + and - as indicated on amp and speaker is correct. 2) Move the sofa away - No difference in the sound. 3) Attempted the SET amp on high/mid and 60W SS amp on the woofer again. I will try my best to describe what I hear. It sounded brighter (which I like). Bass is tighter and cleaner, but doesn’t seem to extend as deep as it did before. It starts to muddy the highs if I push it more. The problem likely is with my room and I have no space allowance to shuffle the furniture positions. I will likely try a sub woofer next. Buying a preamp seems unavoidable if I go this route as I cannot find any information on connecting a sub direct to my SET amp without a sub out. Appreciate any advice if this is even possible (speaker out terminals to RCA?).

I should check with my local dealer if the 45 days trial is applicable as I’m not in America. Will keep the sub woofer option open. My living room space is really tight. Buying a sub woofer will also mean additional cost to downsize some furniture. Many times I came home from the cinema, The opening/ending song just felt like bottom end was missing. The sub may be the answer to it. Using the 4 ohm tap tightened up the bass Of my CW3. I can live with it now but it would be really nice if I can squeeze a little more sub bass. While we are at this, SVS recommends SB16 Ultra for the CW3. How’s the synergy between CW3 and SB-3000? My chair is positioned with tweeter at my ear level. The bass gets stronger the moment I stand up. Deep bass everywhere else in my house except at my listening position.

I did audition them before i bought them, but the demo pair wasn't tucked in a corner, but i got them anyway thinking "that 15 inch woofer must kick butt". I was really considering a sub woofer to solve my bass issue, but the living room is already planned out and I cannot move things around without throwing furniture away. Even if I did switch to a smaller AV rack to accomodate the sub, it may not be optimally positioned and does not match the aesthetics of my speakers. @glens @pzannucci Apologies for the confusion as my testing method was incorrect. There was no significant gain in bass kick when i attempted balancing the volume of both amps. So i turned it up a little for the woofer to be slightly louder, yet it muffles my mids and high. I will try inverting the polarity one of these days to confirm the wiring of the speaker. No further comment on the JBL's bass. It just sounded more tight and satisfying to me. Maybe you are right about the proportion of bass to high/mid. I can't explain it and that is not the topic. @JohnA I don't fully understand the sorcery behind the 4 ohm trick yet (I will read up more), but it seem to make the woofer kick better with existing equipment! Other observation would be the highs and mids came forward a little, but sound stage depth seemed reduced slightly. Decent trade off i would say. I sincerely thank everyone's feedback to help me resolve the issue. Some threads in the technical modification sections got me excited to try opening up the boxes, but happy for now. Will still experiment to up the sound quality of my set.

I tried using a separate SS amp for the woofer, but playing the full freq through the woofer muddied my mids and highs, more so when I crank it up. May need a filter for the low end only. I see the consensus here on a more powerful amp to work the woofer. I will share the ‘unfortunate’ news with my wife. This is interesting. I’m on the 8/16 ohm. Will try the 4-6 ohm option instead. Thank you.

Yes. It is slightly tighter, but so subtle you need to pay attention.

Speakers are 11 inches from the wall and toed in, spaced 2.5m apart. Ceiling is about 2.8m. No rug. If it matters, there’s a sofa in between and nothing in front of them. The JBL along the other wall, puts out more impressive bass response IMO despite a 5.25” woofer. That’s a solid concrete wall behind though, but it is too short for me to place the Cornwalls there. Baffles me how the K33E can’t outdo them. I must have done something wrong. @mustang_flht @pzannucci I will try connecting the Akitika which is a 60W class A/B to the woofer tomorrow, but I read bi-amping with passive crossover doesn’t reap any sonic benefits. Or did I misinterpreted?

I have a set of Cornwall III which is supposed to have amazing bass. On jazz tracks, there is sufficient body to the low notes, but I can’t feel the kick of the woofer when I play rock. I have tried using an equalizer (4 band) to raise the lower freq, but it sound bloated. They are currently powered by a 9W 300B SET amp. My speakers are back against a partition wall (not solid), left side is in a corner while the right is next to a bookshelf (does that qualify as a false corner?). Need your kind advice on how I can get my speakers to kick like a mule. Do I... 1) Get an amp with more than 9W. Perhaps a Benchmark AHB2 or Parasound JC5? 2) Get a subwoofer. 3) Convert the Cornwall to 2 way active and Use a DEQX to bi-amp and EQ at the same time. Thank you in advance!

I had mine assembled by Victor, but the insides did not look much more complex than the GT-102. Based on a full set of Gold Lion tubes, bass is tighter and highs had more sparkle than GT-102. Switching to a set of Psvane T-II gives you the same warm bass and treble as GT-102, but more pronounced mids. [edit] I just switched in the Psvane T-II and the mid range is significantly more satisfying than the Gold Lions. If you are also into headphones, I’m happy to report that the Elekit sounds good on headphones too. Compared to Schiit Mjolnir II with Gold Lion 6922, the Elekit give you a wider soundstage and more bass. This is the perfect amp for bass light headphones in my opinion (e.g. Grado SR225e, Beyer DT880, etc). Sound quality between the GT-102 and TU-8600R isn’t day and night, but the Elekit is more refined by a hair. Throw in the headphone output and tone control via tube rolling, this is one versatile amp. GT-102 is a great amp too. Good sounding, cool running and virtually no warm up required. Instant gratification for weary nights.

These are my Cornwall III, pictured with Elekit TU-8600R. The Akitika GT-102 is a pleasant sounding amp. Clean and detailed is the first description that comes to mind. In comparison to the Elekit, it sounds slightly warmer and has a little more bass but not as tight. I prefer the GT-102 with a slightly brighter sounding speaker. Currently they are driving a pair of JBL Studio 530s.

I don’t trust the amp powered on alone in the house. Will just have to wait it out. Meantime, the kids can listen to whatever songs they want.

I think there was a little more bass yesterday. They’ve got about 5 hours so far. Eager to hear them evolve in the coming weeks and how they will reproduce the energetic drums of DRUM TAO in my living room.

A bit of details if it matters. My living room is 13 x 10ft. Speakers are placed on against the long wall, toed in. There is a small sofa between them. The speakers are driven by a 9w SET amp. Saw another thread on bass cancelling out each other, so I’ll do some experiment over the weekend with one side connected to see if that’s the case. Any other suggestions are welcomed.

Thank you all for your kind comments! Certainly a pleasure to look at. Sound wise, I really don’t know. Piano or other string instruments sound good on them, but anything with drums (think Rock genre) don’t sound impactful. One would think the 15” woofers will shake the house, but at low or medium volume, I struggle to hear much bass. Is this the correct behavior of a new set of CW? How many hours of run in would be appropriate to hear the speakers in full glory?

Just wanted to thank all who had responded to my question earlier on color options for CW III. I’ve just received my set yesterday. Went for Natural Cherry and lambs wool linen grill cloth. Likely one of the last sets of CW III rolling out of the factory. A pic it still sitting in the foam packaging.

That mid horn looks good and should sound gorgeous... 😍 A jaw drop moment for folks about to receive their new Cornwall IIIs, like me. 😭

Frozmeister, I went with a custom stain to match my lighter wood furniture. Natural Cherry (like the Forte III) with lambswool grill. Counting down to the delivery date.

Yes. My GT-102 is assembled with the volume knob option, so there wasn’t a need for pre-amp. The speakers were in the center of the shop with no walls or corners, so I’m unsure how that affected the sound. Cornwalls with GT-102 had smoother vocals and generally more textured than the Sonos amp they were originally paired with. I struggle to find the amazing bass many raved about. It could be due to speaker placement or the amp-speaker pairing. Last weekend, I placed my order for a pair of Cornwalls. Will thoroughly test the pairing at my place and report back - 2 to 3 months later.

The build process pictures are really insightful on how these bad boys are put together. It is really a hard pick between the two! Let’s see what I end up with next in the coming weeks/months. Thank you all for the help!

Lovely!! 😍😍😍

I’m about to purchase a new pair from my local dealer, but I’m torn between walnut and cherry. Personally I would prefer a light natural wood tone (something like Cornwall II in oiled oak) to match my furniture, but a little worried walnut will come in too dark like milk chocolates. Can’t tell much from pictures on Google as tone varies due to lighting. Can owners share some pictures of their personal sets (walnut or cherry) in natural light?

@Frozmeister Glad I found your thread as I have the GT-102 as well and looking to purchase a pair of Cornwalls. My local Klipsch dealer had agreed for me to bring the amp down to audition the speakers. Really excited to hear the synergy of this pairing!