heads up for Cornscala admirers

[Daddy Dee]

http://cgi.ebay.com/KLIPSCH-BEATERS-LANCER-STUDIO-MONITORS-WOW_W0QQitemZ280322969253QQihZ018QQcategoryZ3276QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

usual disclaimer: no affiliation with seller, etc.

Noticed these on Ebay. These are essentially tower type Cornscalas with a 500hz mid horn. They look to be in very good condition and are priced nicely, IMO.

I had a pair of these, in a smaller version (w 12" woofer) from 1978 to 1992 and have regretted ever letting them go. They are absolutely killer to my ears.

They are located in Cabot, AR for local pickup only.

If a forum member should score these and need assistance for pickup and temporary storage I could be of assistance.

p.s. Gregg Doddrill was the guy in Dallas who built these. He had some really good craftsmen doing the veneer work. The pics don't do justice to this, but his oiled walnut cabs were indeed lovely.

[JL Sargent]

Those do look pretty darn good and I bet they do sound good too. The vertical midhorn is kinda goofy but I could get over that with good vibrations.

[Daddy Dee]

Yes. The vertical midhorn is different. The vertical T-35 orientation is actually specified by the manufacturer.

Inspired by the vertical Cornwalls, I imagine.

The sound is actually very close to CW, which is essentially what they are in a tower cab. My guess is that in casual listening alot of folks could not tell the difference in sound between CW's and the SM's. Some careful listeners prefer the sound to CW's. These do cross at 500hz from woofer to mid, which should give the SM's a slight edge over CW's to my thinking. The mid horn itself would be a rare find, IMO. The woofers are Eminence, close to K-33, but I imagine they are 8 ohm instead of the K-33 4 ohm rating. The cabs are ported out the back, top and bottom, with that shelf type port used in CW. In the SM, though the ports are smaller, since the volume is divided top and bottom. I did look inside them on a few occasions, but didn't have any real comprehension of the crossover. The drivers all are front mounted and the back is not removable. There are no binding posts on the cab. There is a banana plug glued just inside the bottom port, but flush with the rear edge of the cab. It's an easy connect with banan plugs.

I listened to my Squires for years and often wish I still had them. After hearing mine, a buddy in Mississippi signed on with Gregg Doddrill to one of his sell out of the home distributors. Whenever I visited Joe, we'd crank up his SM's. They really are good sounding.

I've seen this same model speaker on Ebay a couple of times in the last five or six years, so they are somewhat rare to find, and both times before with California sellers. Usually people don't know what they've got and list them as some sort of Klipsch prototype, an understandable misunderstanding, I suppose for someone not really familiar with Klipsch. I can see why folks would think that, the construction and veneer is so nicely done, they don't in any way appear to be the result of a diy project. The grills are pretty cool. They are black fabrick stretched over a simple wood frame with champhered edges. They are easily removed and reattached and are a real complement to the cosmetics, IMO.

They are heavy speakers. That's the result of a large cab made out of MDF. For scale, at 20" across the front, think very tall dorm room refrigerator. One person could handle moving them if, generously padded with blankets and strapped to an appliance dolly. If loading in a pickup truck a second hand would be needed.

Of course, with any vintage speakers it wouldn't hurt to refresh the crossover with fresh caps.

Let me know if you should have any other questions. If you do decide to get them, I'll be interested to hear of your take on the sound. I've been trying to imagine explaining (to my wife) if they should suddenly appear in the living room. We have parted with a pair of Khorns and LaScalas since moving into a much smaller house. Heresy represents the max allowed WAF speaker at my house for now. Otherwise, I'd be even more tempted than I am over these.

Oh, one more story, supposedly Willie Nelson had a pair of these. At least, that was told by Gregg Doddrill to the distributors. Probably true, but it could be an apocryphal story.