Recommendations for Cornwall 1's in HT

[hornlover60]

I am a neophyte with HT set ups. I am going to rely on the expertise of the Klipsch community. What center channel and book shelf speakers would be a good match with Cornwall 1's as the main right and left channels. The Cornwalls are receiving a set of new capacitors. Any suggestions on AVR's? Should the AVR have provisions for 5 or 7 channels? Any suggestions on subs? My budget is approximately $2,000.00.

Thanks in advance for your help,

old school klipsch

[Arky]

Welcome to the forum.

First thought, another cornwall is your best center choice. If you can't fit it, then a heresy & heresies for your rears. To me 5 channels should suffice, depending on room layout. AVR's are fine but I would go separates.

[j-morg]

Agreed. If two Cornwalls are good, three are better. But why stop there, five Cornwalls would be a kickass HT system.

[Dr. Jim Mixon]

Welcome to the HT forum first of all. I figure to get all Heritage gear (Cornwalls or Heresyies) and a receiver and stay within 2 grand, you're gonna have to go used on the speakers I figure. 3 CW's (l and r mains and center) and 2 Heresyies would be cool to anybodies ears. 2 CW's (l and r mains) and a Heresy center and 2 Heresyies as side surrounds for a 5.1 would be cool too. 5 CW's would be best, but the madness has to stop somewhere or you'll be like the rest of us! As for your receiver, there's tons of 'em out there. IMO I'd trust a used speaker for sure over a used amp, but, like I say, it's just MHO. Good luck and happy listenin'.

[Chris A]

What center channel and book shelf speakers would be a good match with Cornwall 1's as the main right and left channels.

I'd recommend: Cornwall, Heresy, Academy (discontinued, but you can still find them out there), Belle, La Scala or two Khorns (i.e., make the Cornwalls your surrounds or your center). I wouldn't recommend speakers from the Reference lineup.

A pair of Heresy's will run about $350-$450. Cornwalls can run anywhere from ~$450 (rarely) to about $1000. Median cost is about $600-$900/pair in my area. La Scalas and Khorns run higher, Belles tend to be very rare, ostensibly since the "pretty speaker" crowd tends to snap them up quickly. They don't sound better than La Scalas. (In fact, Klipsch justified discontinuing them for the reason that they don't sound as good as La Scalas.)

Any suggestions on AVR's?

A lot of folks looking for low-cost deals are looking at Emotiva AVRs, but I'd recommend something like a Onkyo PR-SC886 (Outlaw Audio carries them, and there are others that carry them for less money). This AVR is really good and will stick around for some time. I found one in returned-stock for about $1100 online. The very same model is sold for $2000 with Onkyo's professional brand name attached - no difference internally, however.

EDIT: If you are interested in eventually going to higher resolution than 1080P (e.g., 4K x 2K), then an AVR that supports HDMI 1.4 is required. Here is one short discussion of the newest AVRs that support HDMI 1.4.

Should the AVR have provisions for 5 or 7 channels?

Depends on the size of your HT and how many chairs in rows you have in it. For large HTs, 7.1 will help out. Most movies are 5.1 (even Blu-Rays), so the back two channels usually synthesized - and I don't like synthesized surround sound (although the Onkyo synthesizes very well, indeed).

Chris

[odysseyrevolver]

See my signature for a solution that meets your budget requirements. The Academy is the weakest link, but it rarely calls attention to itself. I'd likely swap it for a third CW if space allowed.

[Ave Bona Cornwall]

I would second, third, forth... the notion that another Cornwall would be best at center, but Academy would be a smaller choice if space is an issue. La scala would be good as well in the center since many think that the middle and upper range on Scalas beats Cornwalls (cornwalls have better bass, which you don't necessarily need from your center), but Scalas are more $. AVRs are a nice "one box" solution; I prefer Marantz over Onkyo for music reproduction, but Denon may be a good option as well ($ range should be $500 up, depending on how much power you want). Many here may recomend tube pre-amps and amps, but those get pricey.