16 X 13 ROOM....CHORUS 1s or CORNWALL IIs

[DANOCASTER]

OK FOLKS..I'M A SOON TO BE CONVERT..I'VE SOLD HI-END FOR YEARS (B&W, AUDIO RESEARCH, LEVINSON, KRELL, CJ) BUT NOW HAVE THE BUG FOR A "ROCK N ROLL" SYSTEM FROM THE PAST. I JUST FOUND A MINTY FRESH MARANTZ 2270, GOT A REALLY NICE REGA PLANAR 3 TURNTABLE, AND NOW NEED THAT KLIPSCH KICK !! MY ROOM IS 16 BY 13' AND THE SPEAKERS WILL PROBABLY END UP ABOUT 12 TO 14 FEET APART. MY EARS HAVE BEEN KINDA "TUNED" FOR NEWER SOFTER TWEETERS BUT I'VE BEEN A SIGNED PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS AND WANT A SPK THAT CREATES THE ONSTAGE THRILL..THE CORNWALL I HAVE HEARD ONLY GOOD THINGS , BUT ARENT THEY JUST TOO BIG FOR MY ROOM?? WILL THE CHORUS DELIVER NO PROBLEM? I WANT DRUMS AND GUITARS TO "FEEL" GOOD BUT I WOULD LIKE AS LITLE HARSHNESS AS POSSIBLE..PLEASE HELP OH WISE COUNSELORS !!! THANKS

[JCturboT]

Dano,

I myself have the Cornwall 1s 1984 vintage and my room is basically the same size as yours (13x17).I have heard you need a large room to run the horns and while this maybe true they sound excellent to my ears.My livingroom opens up to the kitchen and if I stand in my kitchen (23 feet back) the sound is a little bit better but you have to be in just the right area to find the "sweet spot"-its pretty narrow.

Moving on to which is better-while its been a while since I've heard the Chorus I'd say either one would be more than ok for your Rock speaker as the Chorus was just the replacement for the boxy Cornwall.I myself like the older look better.

The Marantz 2270 would be more than enough to power either speaker as if I remember correctly it has 70 watts per channel.I also like the look of the classic 70s receivers and that Marantz with its gyro tuning knob is definately a looker.

Onto the harshness problem-I say try out the Marantz and if it has the sound your after-end of story.If not talk to the tube nuts on this site-mobile,mdeneen,colin,etc. they'll set you straight if you want to go tubes these guys are your answer.

Hope this helped,

Jeff

This message has been edited by JCturboT on 02-17-2002 at 09:04 PM

[jdm56]

The first room I installed k-horns in was only 13x16. They sounded great! Actually the acoustic space was a lot larger than that, as the room was open ended on one short side to the rest of the house. Plus the ceiling was 10ft. So, it sounded bigger than 13x16.

Rock'n'Roll Speaker? Hey, klipsch ain't Cerwin-Vega ya know! They will also excel with jazz, chamber music, bluegrass, whatever. I'd recommend cornwalls over the chorus, but both sound great.

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JDMcCall

[mobile homeless]

I have my cornwall I in a very small room relative wise as it's only about 12' x 13' except the longer side opens up into the kitchen-hall so it sounds a bit bigger. With careful setup, positioning, equipment stands, and cable routing, I am getting very good sound (in addition to very good electronics, something I find imperative with the vintage Klipsch). The speakers are on the longer wall in the cornwers (out about 7 inches from either corner) and aimed to intersect at ears. Speakers are on factory risers. I had cones underneath but actually didnt prefer the sound.

At first, I thought the sound was going to be problematic with such near field listening (for a horn of this size, that is). I was very worried about driver integration with horns in such a small room. I normally do not place my speakers in corners preferring to bring them out well away from the bounderies but the CW prohibited this. In addition, the horns made the corner placement not near as problematic. But I will break from most in this forum and say they sound the best out from the corners as the imaging and visuals come together. Still, I am getting great center fill, a soundstage that spreads outside the speakers and is still very 3 dimensional with realistic imaging from slightly infront of the speaker plane to back about four to five feet. With my ProAc Minitowers out into the room, I could get a soundstage that extended up to 10-15 feet behind the speakers if the recording dictated as much (with 2A3 Monoblocks). While the Cornwalls do not have this type of performance, they break free of traditional speaker weaknesses in other areas, such as clarity, dynamics, quickness, and an alive quality unmatched by any regular dynamic speaker I have heard, even costing up to three times its price.

kh

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Phono Linn LP-12 Vahalla / Linn Basic Plus / Sumiko Blue Point

CD Player Rega Planet

Preamp Cary Audio SLP-70 w/Phono Modified

Amplifier Welborne Labs 2A3 Moondog Monoblocks

Cable DIYCable Superlative / Twisted Cross Connect

Speaker 1977 Klipsch Cornwall I w/Alnico & Type B Crossover

system one online / alternate components / Asylum Listing f>s>

[DANOCASTER]

THANKS !! AND I STILL WELCOME OTHER OPINIONS ALSO.

JDMcCALL-- HEY MAN, DIDNT MEAN TO OFFEND W/ THE "ROCK SPEAKER" STATEMENT. I'VE SPENT SO MUCH TIME W/ B&W 801s AND THIEL CS5s THAT COULDNT PLAY W/ THE SHEER EXCITEMENT I WANTED- NOR AT THE VOLUME (EVEN W/ $15,000 WORTH OF AMP BEHIND THEM )- THAT THE SHEER IDEA OF OWNING A SPEAKER THAT COULD SOUND GOOD AND ALSO PLAY AT STAGE LEVELS JUST EXCITES ME MORE THAN I SHOULD PRINT !! I'VE SOLD "AGAINST" THESE SPEAKERS FOR YEARS- AS NONE OF THE BOUTIQUE TYPE PLACES I'VE WORKED HAVE SOLD KLIPSCH. NOW I'M BUYING THEM MYSELF !!! CALL ME A TRAITOR BUT I BET I'LL BE HAPPY.

[Audible Nectar]

Danocaster, I feel your plight - I've walked in your shoes (although I was never a high end dealer).

I listen to mostly rock and roll, and ever since I first heard the Klipsch line 13 years ago, I was never happy with my system. I finally got the Cornwall IIs from this very board four months ago, and am truly pleased with them.

If you are used to the high end softer sounding gear, the Klipsch may be a bit of a temporary shock...those horns really "stick it in yer ears"! Good amplifiers will cut down on the shrillness, many in this forum use tube amps with these speakers with excellent results. A well matched amp/Klipsch combo proves that Klipsch are not just for rock and roll.

Either speaker can be made to sound OK in the room - the Chorus and Cornwalls are similar in sound, the Chorus has the smaller footprint. I'm in a 14x17 room, and my Cornwall II's work fine. The room's acoustic response will be a factor, but can be altered if need be.

Either choice would be a good one...

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First we Rock, then we Roll!

[maxg]

Firstly welcome on board Danocaster. Please make sure you have your ear protection firmly in place before you procede. B&W's you say - uh oh. you are in for something of a shock.

There are 2 main issues for you to face. the First is the in your face sound. If I were to characterise the B&W sound it would be a speaker that leads with the bass with the treble following sometime after. Klipsch are the reverse and you re going to notice this first.

The second issue is speaker sensitivity. Klipsch are seriously sensitive speakers (I recently took a pair of RF3's over 120 Db/m with an inexpensive pair of tube push pull monoblocks at 50 wpc). Trying that with your old B&W's would give me - what - 103 maybe - and no guarenttee I would move the woofer properly.

AS for your room size any of the Heritage range from the Heresy and up will fill it with sound. MY room is slightly larger than yours and I use the Heresy's. A friend of mine with KHorns has a room somewhat smaller. It is all a matter of how much you want to spend and how loud you want to go - you will always find a sweet spot somewhere!

Personally I would go for the Fortes or the Chorus in your room - but there are many here who would push you further. As I said - personal preference.

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2 * Heresy 2 (mains)

2 * Homemade horn speakers (rears)

1 * REL Strata 3 sub

Accuphase E211 amp.

Tube monoblocks with separate pre-amp (solid state).

Marantz CD6000 player

Sony NS900 SACD/DVD player

Stax Headphones

Humax 5400 digital satellite receiver

Sharp Video

32" Sony flat screen 16:9 TV

Mogami interconnects

Silver Synergistic speaker cable

[Klipschguy]

Dano,

I've had extensive listening experience with both the Chorus I and the Cornwall I. My personal preference is for the Cornwalls - the midrange is more dynamic and sounds more like live music to my ears. Bass is tighter with the Chorus, but can't match the deep bass and sheer volume of air moved by the Cornwalls. As always, you will have to let your own ears be the judge. Each speaker has it's own loyal following and my expressed opinion is just that - my opinion! I bought my Cornwalls SPECIFICALLY because they have the sound I was looking for. It's been ten years now and I still smile EVERY time I listen to them. Also, although rooms are very important to the overall sound of a system, Cornwalls are not particularly picky about room size - like many other speakers are.

Hope this helps (again, just my humble opinion),

Andy

[BigBusa]

Click the picture link in the right corner of this message to see the cornwalls stuffed in my tiny room.

I'm sure you'll be fine with a room of that size and a couple cornwalls. Here's mine and I'm powering them with a vintage pioneer sx1280 (185wpc!)

It kicks!

This message has been edited by BigBusa on 02-18-2002 at 07:34 PM

[justin_tx_16]

Looks nice BigBusa, but it looks like it is time for a bigger tv hard to tell where the center speaker starts and the tv begins

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-justin

I am an amateur, if it is professional;

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ProMedia 5.1 Placement Help s>

[Charles Turner]

I listen primarily to rock n' roll and I would vote for the Cornwall Is. I've had a pair for about 20 years now and I originally chose them because they were the only speaker (to me) that sounded like live music. For rock I still like them better than the Klipshorns. I recently moved them from a much larger room to a 12 x 13 room because I like the sound better in a small room. You can "feel" the music at a low volume without the need to turn the volume to very high.