Dneu2011

My friend that owns an audio shop hads a customer who sold off her deceased husbands stereo gear, and included in the mix were boxes and boxes of DIY Kits that had been purchased, but never put together. I had some experience building Bottlehead, Tubes4hifi, jdslabs, & Elekit units in the past, so he asked if I could take it all home and help get it all built for him and he would allow me to have a few of the items. After days of digging through all the boxes, I pieced together all the kits (some of them I have already built): - 6 DiyAudio Amp Camp Kits (Finished 4 of 6) - 2 Hypex NC400 mono blocks (Finished) -Aikido All in One Preamp - 2 Decware Zkit SE84's - Elekit tu-8500 Preamp w/ Amtram upgrades (Finished) -Elekit tu-8340 EL34/KT88 tube amp w/ Lundahl Transformers & Amtram resistor upgrades - Bottlehead Eros, BeePree Special Edition, & Kaiju Special Edition (already built the Eros) -2 DiyAudio Passlabs F-4 Amp Clones -1 DiyAudio Passlabs F-6 Amp Clone My main question is, which would be the best kit to keep for myself to experience with my Cornwall III's? I currently have a Bob Latino VTA-120 and the SP-12 Preamp from Tubes4hifi that I built. I am leaning towards the Bottleheads (300b's would be fun), the Elekit tu-8340 & 8500, or one of each of the Nelson Pass clones. Thanks. Dustin

Fido. Strip the rest of the veneer and put on your own! I re-did some Heresy IIs and the veneer was tough to remove. You are half way there with those I’s!

Luckily the speakers are already in my garage and I can listen to them before deciding to buy. My friend said his client had two pairs of these and both pairs were damaged while moving. Ill fix them up first before doing any serious listening. I feel if I don’t fix them first and fall in love with them, I’ll never want to take them apart to fix them.

Just a quick update, I had some credit on Amazon and found a $30 Shellac Stick kit I was able to get for just $3 out of pocket. The reviews seemed good and they have a medium brown Walnut. I’m going to give the kit a try instead of the glue and sawdust. I think I can get a closer match with the Shellac sticks. Ill be trying it out this weekend.

I’m in Houston. Cornwall’s rarely show up and if they do, they range from $1200-$2200 for Is and IIs. I’ve yet to see any III’s pop up here.

Grills are in good shape. One just needs a cleaning. My friend owns an audio shop and he bought these speakers for $2k from someone selling also him some other gear. He had them stored in a corner for a few months and they were just taking up space. I’ve re-veneered two sets of speakers including Heresy’s, but these Cornwall’s are so big it would be expensive to use any exotic veneer. I think my best plan of action would be to add glue to the inside joints as a precaution and fix the outside damage with the wood glue/sawdust or wood filler. One speaker doesn't have any veneer damage with the exception of a scratch on one side. The other has all the damage. The below pic will require me to use clamps and wood glue to re-join the joint.

He told me he would take what he paid for them at $2000. I’ve had multiple people tell me that $2000 is way too much for Cornwall’s but I don’t think they realize only 70 of these special edition were made. If I go for them, I’ll end up selling my lovely Yamaha NS-1000ms, but they are speakers that are very picky with needing a lot of power and don’t sound as good with rock, which is 70% of the music I listen to. Below is a picture of the worst corner damage, which just needs the wood under the veneer pushed down and then filled in.

Hello, I am a new member and this is my first post. I have the chance to get some Special Edition Cornwall III’s from a friend. He paid $2000 for them, but the veneer needs some work. The original owner had movers that did an awful job and some of the corners and edges are beat up. Other than that, the speakers look awesome and he has allowed me to bring them home to work on them and have a chance to listen. A few questions I have: -at that price, are they worth it if I can fix them up to look close to original? -what are good methods to fill in the veneer gashes and cracks? I plan to use clamps to push the bowed veneer back in and then wood glue/saw dust to fill in the gaps or match with colored wood putty. I’ve also heard Shellac sticks are an option but can be expensive if I buy the kit to match. I have ave three amp options to work with - Marantz 2230, Elekit TU-8200 (upgraded), and a Bob Latino VTA-120.