colterphoto1

I've got my RC& (buy the BIGGEST BADDEST center speaker you can afford- you won't be sorry) on the floor under my 35" Sony. If possible, put it on some type of stand or blocks so it's a close to monitor as possible (don't worry about magnets, it's shielded), and angle it so it is aimed towards listeners ears. This keeps early reflections off the floor which is very important for clear distinct dialog. If the floor is hard, consider placing a rug in front of the center speaker to further dampen early reflections. Here's the greatest FORUM tip I've ever heard. To aim your speaker, place a Laser pointer on the top of cabinet (may have to tape it in place) and adjust so the light is aimed where your ears would be- DO NOT look into the laser obviously.

welcome to the FOrum, good advice all around, but I would seriously consider nuking the RS7 surround speakers. Most Forum members seem to be preferring a more direct and balanced sound from their surrounds since the advent of 5.1.... Consider a speaker from the RB (bookshelf) line that matches the components for whichever LR speakers you end up with. Good luck with the separates. It's really the best long-term solution, more $$$, but hey they're your ears! GO HARD OR STAY HOME!

sorry, reread the 511 post and it is ALtec drivers. question still stands, did you modify the xover and how?

yeah, Mike S. that's exactly what I use, an Audio Control 2x10 xover in the pre out/main in loop of my Yamaha receiver. Bass/treble controls just aren't enough. Has anyone experimented with changing out the 'batting' in the Cornwall enclosure or stuffing it with insulation. Probably not wise, but just asking! Those 511B's sure must make an awesome Cornwall stack! Do ya still use the tweeter and is the crossover modified for the new horn or is it just the 511 horn with Klipsh driver?

Nice tips gang but Zoran- NEVER sell your Cornwalls. I have a pair and have been reading this forum and several international reviews lately. THey are some of the finest speaker designs going in terms of low distortion, high efficiency, smooth response etc. Someone on this FOrum recently sold his Corns, was very sorry and was luckily able to purchase them back. I repeat NEVER sell the Corns! Have fun with other upgrades, though. Happy listening!

Firstly, thanks for the review. I have a fairly good assortment of LP's from those purchased new and treated with Ball Co's SoundGuard preservative, then played only for recording to cassette, to junkers with some mold and mildew and the signs of many poor playings from garage sales. Would an automated cleaner like this one be much better than my old tried and true friend the DIscWasher II? Does it leave a radial line of grit where the spinner stops or is this vacuumed/brushed away? It might be worth it just to salvage a few old favorites that have seen better days. I'd like to begin the process of recording my old faves from LP and 45 to Computer some day soon and any help in the cleaning and processing department would be most helpful.

TBrennan, Good of you to make the connection with Lewis and Clark explorer John Colter. Colter's Hell comment. We believe there may be a family link. Also see Mary Colter photographer at Grand Canyon, same era. Back to mods... How did you get the tweeter to surface mount like you did? Did it involve disassembly of magnet structure from horn? I understand that Klipsch has a 'z' bracket to obtain a similar surface mounting. I'd like to pass along the simplest method that doesn't involve too much woodworking (ie routing out the back of the motorboard) or disassembly of any components. What was the model number of the tractix horn you used in your mod and in what ways would you say it improved the sound if indeed the same drivers were used? Thanks for all the input gang, Michael

I am wondering if the dimensions, crossovers or anything else is critically different between Cornwalls, Cornwalls II's and Vertical Cornwalls. That is why I'd like to collect as much data as possible so we can answer these questions up front. In terms of adding 'better' woofers, when I had my 'house fire' pair's woofers reconed, I put EV EVM15B's in their place and they blew all the hair clean off my body. Don't know if they were more efficient or not, probably not as smooth in the lower octaves, but they just plain RIPPED! This was a temporary situation of course, because we all love stock!

I'm doing a similar leap. got an RXV850 now, but thinking of getting a 3300 or 2400 (I tend to like second-form-top-of-the-line) Here's the upgrades so far as I can tell: You'll be getting Dolby Digital 5.1 instead of ProLogic 4 channel which means 5 real discrete channels plus the dedicated sub feed instead of your LFR + one rear channel now (yes both rears are getting the same signal now) You'll also get matched amplifiers of the same power rating, whereas now yours is similar to mine which is 80-80-80-25-25, so the rear channels are getting much less power than the fronts. You'll also get newer and better surround formats for your music, phone preamp still, and the much loved REC OUT/2ND Zone switch which I find very handy. I think the better Yamahas also have the calibrated microphone which makes eq adjustments to your sweet spot instead of relying only on bass/treble or outboard eq controls. SO UPGRADE- yer old unit will suffice for the office/basement/bedroom or other zone you need a 'backup' HT system.

Hi gang, I have a KSW-12, which I was quite happy with as a mate to my Cornwalls in my old home, which had hardwood floors and plaster walls, rather live. I thought it helped out in the lower octaves nicely, even though I had to use it at full power. My Corns are hooked up to Yamaha RXV850, prologic receiver with only 80 watts per side, rarely driven very loudly My new place has very thick carpet/pad in the Family Room floor where the Sub is placed and although I have experimented with room placement, it just isnt' cutting it. I miss the 'floor shock' I used to get. I'm sure I could help the low/mid output by placing the sub on a hard board for a reflecting surface, but the very lows would still be lost. Is there any solution, or do I just need a more powerful sub?

I've gotta say when they use REAL wood, Klipsch is second to none in selection and application of wood veneers. I've got the last set of natural MAPLE RS3II's my local Ovation Audio dealer had. Didn't even have a plan for what room to put em in, just that dey were bootiful! Same with real cherry veneers. If they are reference, they should be furniture- grade, no execeptions unless you prefer black for modern/ht look. IMO

On the rewiring topic, suppose the listener is satisfied hooking up his Klipsch with good 16ga zip cord or equivalent. Then is there ANY benefit to using Monster or other hot-rod wire inside the cabinet? Likewise then, is the modern internal Monster-cable wiring a bit of marketing unless one goes the full route of bi-wiring one's cabinets? ...not knocking the practice, just wanting to get informed...

This is the kindest Forum thread I've ever heard. Jim, you are a SAINT among men. Let's all please give these two Klipsh lovers and gentlemen some room to make this happen. It's truly a love story and one of honor among music lovers. yer right, does kind of bring a tear to one's eye. Lovely gesture Jim. Hope it all works out alright for everyone. Michael

Thanks gang, we're off to a great start. I'm saving all the files and downloads you post. Will present the Forum with a more detailed index list as mods are acquired to make sure we don't leave anything out. Most of these mods could apply to Heresy as well I think. Here's a new one- how bout various mods to convert a Horizontal (upright cabinet )Cornwall to a 'vertical' (cabinet laying down) for use as HT center channel. Couple of different ways to attack this one. Michael

re Vertical La Scala. If you get an 'industrial' LaScala, that is a cabinet with split low mid/hi packs, so you could put the bass bin under your monitor/tv and the mid/hi pack over it without having to lay the entire cabinet on it's side. Again IndyKlipschFan has some of these as well. What DOESN"T the guy have ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!

Vertical Cornwalls DO exist, IndyKlipshFan has a whole front row of them (yes folks all 3). I have seen posters speak of cutting out the motor board and replacing it with a rotated section for the mid/high pack on a Cornwall. There is certainly enough room for this physically, but it does involve butchering up a valuable heirloom. If anybody finds a pair and wants only one, I'd LOVE to purchase a single to use as a center. I keep getting heat for using a RC7 with my Cornwall mains.

Oh this is a FUN one! After perusing the Columbia Records ads for months at age 13 (1971) I ordered my first 7, here are the favories, bands that I have been my favorites through my lifetime: Led Zep I Led Zep II Chicago at Carnegie Hall Blood Sweat and Tears 4 Steppenwolf 7 To this day, still collect vinyl at garage sales and have about 600 LP's which still get played occasionally. I'm a firm believer that the music you come of age to (high school) sticks with you the rest of your life!

Thanks Trey, at least now we know there is a reason for the banana jacks spacing differing from the US 3/4 standard. Now what type of 'dual' plug do you have access to that works with the Klipsch spacing. Can we obtain some of these? Thanks, Michael

SHE'S BREAKING UP CAPTAIN!!! seriously, rather have too much standby wattage then send distorted output through your Klipsch. You'll go deaf before you blow them up. Relax and have fun! Your amp will be generally putting out only about 5-10 watts anyway.

GREAT deal on the RC7- you will be very pleased with the rocking full-bodied sound of this speaker. Try out the Led Zep DVD if you're into that kind of thing

Is it me or is there a disturbing trend for receiver manufacturers and advertisers to list 'watts-per-channel' in a newer format? I remember the 70's when there were IHC, FTC, RMS lots of differing measurement standards. Finally everyone agreed to list wattage like: XX watts per channel at 8 ohms, 20-20,000Hz, 0.25%THD, both channels driven so you had watts, into a described load, across a bandwidth, within a specified distortion, amp driving all channels, a nice level playing field so the buying public could made informed decisions. It seems like since the advent of Home Theatre, when we first had Dolby Pro Logic with its reduced bandwidth rear channels that wattage began being described as follows: xx watts per channel at 1 kHz, .5%THD this seems a little misleading because there is no specified bandwidth nor distortion spec listed at the measured power output. Check your sunday papers. Advertisers have listed 600WATT ht setups for $399. We all know that this is hardly possible and it's probably about 25 real watts per channel. Thoughts?

Hey Mars! Your name reminds me of renowned guitarist from Steppenwolf, MARS BONFIRE! what a great stage name. Checkout MTECHlaptops on the internet. It's kind of a DEll company that sells internet only and builds to your spec. Found out about them at a photo conference when a guy from NASA had one. If it's good enough for NASA, it works for me ( I also own Hasselblad cameras) Mine is now 3 years old but has a 17" screen, 2 x 30gb hard drives, CD/DVD burner and get this- a 101 keyboard, so you have a number pad on the side. It's big and heavy, but has a 3 hour battery. I think it's like 1gHZ with 1meg RAM (3 yrs old- okay) and was like $1700. I'm sure speed has improved and price has dropped. Great company to do business with.

Great stories all, alas I never met the man but when I bought my Cornwalls I contacted Hope for some info, brochures and logo plates. I also asked for Mr. Klipsh's autograph which he graciously applied to the front of a current Khorn advertising brochure. A treasured keepsake to say the least. If anyone out there is in the 'button-making' business, it'd be a great tribute to Mr. K to distribute his trademark bull**** to members (for a donation, naturally) Great fun at parties!

I posted this along with the Reference comments, but would like thoughts on this little engineering item. "Speaking of little things, those 5-way binding posts are great, but why is the distance between red and black greater than that of a standard dual banana plug?? My KSC-C1, RC7, and RB3's all do not match the INDUSTRY STANDARD of 3/4 center-to-center for the jacks. Why would Klipsch deliberately ignore a simple standard like this that makes hookup sooooo easy??" All my amplifiers have the standard spacing for the dual-type bananas. Why don't my Klipsch speakers? Thoughts people?

I'm in the process of assembling as many of the Cornwall modifications as possible so that when I rebuild my old babies this winter, I can do it all at once. Please post your most detailed info here, and I will organize the various suggestions and parts listings to make available to all members. If you have any diagrams, especially with any dimensions for the various(?) cabinet sizes, that would be helpful too. Basic listing will include structural mods for double back panel, strengthening front panel, 5-way binding posts, remount tweeter and squawker, and dampen woofer frame and squawker horn. Electrical will include minor x-over mods, wiring mods, total xover upgrade. Cosmetic includes BLO application, grill repair/replace, veneer application. Any other topics appreciated. It's a labor of love people!