Capitalcityguy

As I get to know the CW4s, it is evident at this juncture my take on these speakers is mixed. It is really recording dependent. They sound great a low volumes on pretty much all recordings. But juice the volume and some recordings, even at mid volumes, the sound is hard, shouty, thin etc... On good recordings they sound amazing, warmish and smooth even. And because of there is not hardness in the great recordings, I turn up the volume and get little carried away. It sneaks up on me that maybe I'm listening a little too loud. I think I have placement dialed in, my room is well treated so there is not much else I can do. I know everyone say a tube amp are the way to go with these speakers, but darn it I love the looks of the McIntosh in my rack so I was hoping there was a way I can make these speakers work out. One thing I have done that might make a difference is I ordered a tube DAC (Black Ice Audio FXGlass DAC) and a pair of NOS Mullard tubes from Upscale Audio. Right now I am just using the DAC that is in the McIntosh MA 8950.

I'm my third night with the CW4s. For starters, they look ***** cool in my room/system, with the grills off. I think my grills are ugly, they are brown or a caramel color. I thought these came with silver grills? Maybe the new ones do, I was going to see if I can buy a set somewhere. I bought this pair used from The Music Room, so I am going to assume this pair has had enough run in time When I first set them up, I roughly plopped them down where I had the Polk R700s. When I started playing tracks I started to immediately get depressed about my purchase. The sound was shouty, hard, clean, bright, hardly any soundstage depth, kind of thin sounding. I was looking for more extension on the guitars, it was there but there was a trade off. For example, on the Beatles Come Together, when the guitar comes in on the part where Johns sings "Come Together Right Now Over Me" it was more forward in the mix on the CW4, but on the Polk,it was thicker and warmer. Darn, I would like to have the the forwardness of the CW4 combined with the thickness and warmth of the Polk. Track after track, I was confirming the Polks are just flat our better speakers for me. Warmer, thicker, better bass and bass texture, more 3D or stage depth. The speakers disappeared on the Polks. On the CW4, most of the sound was coming directly from the boxes and the stage was flat. I thought something had to be off, there is no way these speakers are this bad, I watched all the glowing You Tube reviews and read the forums. After about 30 tracks I got up and pulled the CW4s 1.5 feet forward from where they were and then I towed them in some. Boom! There it is! Now I get it, I see what everyone is excited about on these speakers. I got that alive sound, got the staging, the extension and thickness on the guitars, some decent texture on the bass. I was excited and happy. It was getting late so I lowered the volume for late night listening. They do indeed sound very good at low volumes, but so did the Polks. This morning I damped the midrange horns and the tweeters with dynamat extreme. Boston Audiophile has video on this and said this made them sound smoother and sweater, more natural. I wanted to try it because I have tinnitus. After that I played some tracks to see if the damping did make them sound "better". I honestly can't say for sure. Maybe I didn't spend enough time with these speakers before modding it to really tell a difference. But I will say, it certainly didn't hurt anything. These speakers can change some much with placement. So, I am still experimenting. No doubt I have had some glorious moments with the CW4s so far. I love their live sound, but I am finding with decent volumes I can't hang in there long. I may try perhaps some warmer speaker cables or mess with the equalizer on my McIntosh MA8950 integrated. I'm excited about these speakers potential, still early in the process of getting to know them and their chameleon nature. Are they better than the Polk R700s? I know a lot of audiophiles turn the nose up at Polk, but the R700s to my ears are darn good. At this early stage yes in some ways the CW4s are better and some no. If I can enjoy them turned up a little longer that would really help their cause. Oh, a little side note, I kept reading and hearing the CW4s sound horrible on bad recordings. Sure, but I think they do a better job than most other speakers I have had, the only exception may be the Wharedale Linton I had.

I accidentally posted in this thread so I deleted the body of the post. No message.

I also use the Canare 4S11. They took awhile to burn in but once they did, I found them to be better in my system than the any of the other more expensive speaker cables I have tried. These include the Sword Supras, Audience AU24, JP Labs.

Cornwall IVs arrive tomorrow. I'm not sure how many hours on them so I don't know if they need more run it time or not. I will post an update in a few days.

Nothing wrong with my amp, I quite like it and enjoy how it drives the Polks. It should be fine and as I said, I love the looks. Here is an interesting video, Mac mono blocs driving the Cornwalls. Those have way more than 200 wats that mine has.

I found a deal on a used CW4. Black Ash. So I will have them in my home soon. Excited! I know I know, I should never buy without listening. But looking forward to the discovery. I know that tubes are probably the best amp option, but I love the look of the McIntosh MA8950 integrated amp in my rack, and the 200 watts is probably overkill. I suppose at some point I will just use the preamp section of the 8950 and put a tube amp in the system. Again thanks for the input everyone.

If I get Cornwalls, it will be the 4. Thanks tough, 001

seems true Shakeydeal. Maybe it was because it was cranked and my 14 year old ears could handle it is the reason I thought it sounded so good. That is one of those albums that probably sounds good in the car or on headphones but not a higher end two channel system.

Thanks for chiming in everyone. Very helpful. I have had a lot of speakers, but was kind of an idiot when it came to audio. I kept trying gear and speakers to try something I liked. I never treated my room, so I was always looking for that magic formula. At my old house with a 14x20 room I had Montor Audio GS60s (harsh sounding), Fritz, Elac FS 409s, Elac 407 Black Edition, Proac D48Rs, Tidal Pianos. Most of those speakers were probably pretty good to okay, but again I was naive about room treatment and set up. It is all good, I learned a lot along the way. In 2022 I developed tinnitus and had to find speakers that were smooth but still enjoyable. I found the Warfedale Lintons. I loved them, yes they couldn't do some things that $16 grand Tidal Piano could do, but oddly enough, I enjoyed them more. I just moved to a new house with this huge room, I knew that Lintons couldn't move enough air for this big room so I bought the Polk R700s with the budget I had left after the move. I'm getting the best sound I have ever had, but this room is treated, I have dialed in my cabling and my amp really jives with the R700s, I could seriously live with these. Because of tinnitus, I don't really listen loud and if I do it is not for long periods. The R700s are okay at low listening levels, but really come alive as you juice the volume. I am interested in the Corwalls because I keep reading they sound great at lower volumes. Plus, as mentioned looking for more extension on the guitars. The only time I have ever heard a Klipsch (other than my brothers little bookshelves and those were harsh/bright), was back in 1982. I was just 14 years old. I don't know which model it was, All these years I thought it was always the Klispchhorn, but that is to tall, the ones I heard were shorter/squatier so it may have been a Cornwall. My friends brother dropped the needle on Asia's Heat of the Moment (don't laugh) and I could not believe it, the opening guitar riff, so thick, so alive, so extended! I have always used that track to test speakers and to this day, I have never heard that track sound like it did in 1982.

For the record, the model I am interested in is the Cornwall IV.

I'm in Des Moines, Iowa. No dealer here, but there is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Omaha, Kansas City and Minneapolis. So yeah, I'll try to make it to one of the places.

I'm powering my speakers with a McIntosh MA 8950 integrated amp. https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/integrated-amplifiers/MA8950

Hi All. I have always been curious about the Klipsch Heritage sound. I am enticed by a live sound. The primary genres I like classic rock, new wave, post punk, 90s alternative and shoe gaze. I do not like dry, hard, harsh, super analytical speakers/systems. I like a some warmth with decent frequency extension (sometimes kind of hard to pull off?). My current system are Polk Audio R700s driven by a McIntosh 8950, I have a rel sub. My room is pretty big, 17 ft wide by 30 ft deep. The Polks with the sub do a good job of filling the room. I really like my set up but my curiosity is getting the best of me. Does anyone know if going from the R700 is a sideways move or would I get a jump in performance with the CW4? Maybe it is not matter of better but what type of sound I would prefer. The knock on the Polks for me is I don't feel like there is enough extension in the highs/mids, or the region where electric guitars reign. Sounds good, and it allows me to listen without fatigue but sometimes I want the guitars to be more prominent or forward without the drawback of fatigue. Anyway, any input or insights would be appreciated.