Cornwall small room?

[jlaff]

I heard a pair of Cornwalls last night, and couldn't believe how good they sounded. Anybody know how they might sound in a very small room? I would be listening to them about 7 feet away. Any way that would work?

Thanks for any input

[RT FAN]

Welcome to the Klipsch forums! I have Cornwall II's in the living room of my apartment and the truth be known they are overkill at a listening distance of 8-9 feet. Not that they don't sound great, which they do, but with their efficiency they can be overwhelming. I find myself getting up to lower the volume on my amp fairly frequently. Minimal output on my amp makes conversation difficult. It is also dependant on how loud you listen to your music. I am thinking of swapping them out for my Heresy II's or trying some Fortes. The Cornwalls need some room to breath, higher ceilings, further neighbors. Don't worry though, Klipsch has plenty of options for you. [] With it's smaller footprint Heresy's might just be the ticket. Let us know what you end up with.

[Chris A]

Quote

I would be listening to them about 7 feet away. Any way that would work?

Thanks for any input

I would take this question apart into separate concerns:

 

1) The Heresy and the Cornwall have very similar midranges and tweeters, the real difference being the woofers and box enclosure, so the question might be, "is the speaker too big to fit into my room?" I'd recommend placing either speaker into the corners of the room, toed in, if possible. There is a good article by Paul Klipsch where he describes why this works

 

2) The advantage of the Cornwall is that it is higher off the floor like a tower, with the midrange/tweeter near your sitting ear level. This is a good thing. The Heresy needs to be placed on the floor, not on a stand or on a shelf (trust me on this). As such, Heresy risers tilt the speakers back to compensate for their low design but you must have a clear line-of-sight to the midrange/tweeters with no furniture in the way or even close to the direct path between them and your ears. The Heresy also does better in the corners than along a wall.

 

3) Room acoustic modes: this is a real problem in small rooms. The room mode problem will be there for any direct-radiating speaker, including the Heresy and Cornwall. The problem with the Cornwall is the size of its box - it will reduce your options in room placement unless your room is basically empty and without problems of windows and doorways getting in the way. I would recommend looking at getting bass traps for the opposite corners of the room to trap mid-bass room problems, but the room modes will still be there to deal with. I would not put damping material into the room, but rather use diffusers if you have windows, etc. Where you put your listening position is critical in a small room- and typically you must stay away from the middle and along the walls to enjoy the same kind of experience that you had with the Cornwalls in a larger room. The next modes to look for are at the 1/3 dimensions of the floor plan and listening height off the floor and away from the ceiling, etc.

 

4) Ceiling height: If your ceiling is less than 8' high or it is vaulted, then you will likely have issues is selecting a listening position. Ceiling bounce is usually a big problem in houses and apartments. Floor bounce can be an issue, but small throw rugs help to diffuse the midrange a bit.

 

Bottom line: If you have the resources for Cornwalls, your interior designer (i.e., WAF) can live with them, you can use bass traps in the corners, and you can select your speaker placement and listening positions easily, I'd opt for them because some day you might not have to listen to them in a small room. The Cornwalls will not sound the same in a small room, but I would also say that virtually any speaker worth having will have the same problems, unless you are thinking about bi-radiating speakers, but these will probably lose their resale value much more quickly, and I think that you will eventually become dissatisfied with any small speaker systems in a small room over time.

 

Chris

[dtel]

We have some Cornwall's in a 10' x 16' bedroom, they are on the long wall and they sound great. Here are some pic's.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/118374.aspx

[Stockholm650]

I have a similar configured room like dtel's (about 18x10) and they sound great

[jamesV]

As others have stated, it can work in small rooms. What size room are you talking about? I have two pair in odd shaped smaller rooms, that's what I have to deal with in an older house, but to me they sound great. Again one thing is you don't have to crank them up to get the party started but you can and they will be happy also. With both rooms that I have they can only be place in one area so it's hard to tell if they would be better off in another spot, both being about 8 feet apart.

Now with that being said, I would purchase the Cornwalls again and I don't think I would ever sale them. I also have a pair of Heresy but those just don't have the same bottom end the Cornwalls do. I am sure a sub will fit just fine but with the Cornwalls you don't need one.

JMHO..

James

[gmc]

I second what James said. My Cornwalls are in an 11' x 11' spare bedroom. They are about five and a half feet apart. While at my computer, I am sitting only 3 feet away from the left speaker (and 6 feet from the right). While listening from the bed, I am 8 feet from each speaker. I know that this isn't ideal, but for now, it's the only room they will fit in. Before the Cornwalls, I used a pair of Heresys, but it wasn't even close. Not that I didn't enjoy the Heresys, but the Cornwalls are on a whole 'nother level.

[NOHDjunkie]

I have my cornwalls in a 11x14 room with them on the long wall, in the corners, toed in, pointing exactly at the listening position ( around 30 degrees)

Sound fantasctic.

[winchester21]

The end all- be all- do all- Heritage speaker where versatility is a must. Works for mains in a big room-capable of tremendous volume- works great in a small room-sounds nice at lower volumes particulary the bass-works for small or large setting as surrounds(or anything else for that matter) with all horns in a Heritage speaker HT-even works OK as fronts with Reference HT stuff. Thing is- buy this speaker- use them for mains- wanna upgrade?? perfect in any position for HT applications or a second room/system. Hard to think of anything these speakers CAN'T do.

just buy them.

My first Heritage speaker- gateway drug to the madness.