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Finally got a pair of cornwalls!


davestef

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The capacitors in your CWs are old. New ones will restore the sound to as new. The cost is minimal.

Other "upgrades" could include new Crites tweeters, new squawker horns, etc,. The cost benefit ratio drops off rapidly after new caps.

Use the search function to find more threads about "upgrading" Cornwalls than you'll ever read.

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  • 1 month later...

:] feels good on a rainy day

With my Cornwalls, it is in my opinion that they just thrive on vinyl. Digital can and does sound good, but there is something to be said about the CWs with right rig and a good LP...

Did Klipsch bypass the oil caps with film foil or metalised foil capacitors? (a question for the forum in general)

That crossover in the images has a plastic cap bypassed across the oil cap.

No big deal, it my be a low value bypass cap for the midhorn or tweeter or some such. If anything, it may sound better that way.

Bottom line is how the Cornwalls sound to you. Is there anything objectionable about the overall sound of the speakers to you? Do the seem screechy/sibilant, or too attenauted in the midhorn or tweeter? I would gander a bad cap with high ESR would attenuate the part of the network the cap is used with...like the midhorn or tweeter.

The Cornwall sound on the YouTube video seemed good to me...but it's a little different than being in front of them listening for little anomalies. Unless you are experiencing the things like mentioned above, the stock oil capacitors may be fine.

But there is to be improvements to be had with using modern film and foil and metalized polypropelene capacitors. Or mylar for that matter, which is quite often used with cheap low cost networks. One can get deep and measure ESR to see if the resistance is too high for the cap in question to used. LCR meters can be cheap, but the ones that measure ESR can be spendy.

If you desire better sound from the Cornwalls in spite of them sounding good to you, cap upgrades is one way to go.

Personally with my taste in bass, I don't really like oil caps used with the woofers. Too soft, rounded. A good film or metal poly cap always tightens up and makes a snappier bass to my ears. I don't mind oils on the midhorn or tweeter, but there is better sound to be had, IMO. I guess it depends on the type of oil cap used, and one's taste.

I like film and foils for the midhorn/tweeter. Metal polypropelene caps seem too harsh. Solens are good for use with a woofer circuit, like a shunt cap for a low pass circuit, but are too harsh with midhorn and tweeters to my ears. One could go whole hog and spend big bucks on Teflon V caps or something to that regard, but they aren't esoteric speakers, they are just Cornwalls and do what they do.

It's all subjective. And everyone has their own taste for how things sound. If they sound good enough to you not to warrant any sort of crossover mods, or if you don't really have the cash, (it can be done on the cheap part by part over time) then you saved a bunch money by not bothering with it.

Mike

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Hi,

I do feel like there is some weakness in my system, but to me I think it is my amp. It's a pioneer sx-34b from the early seventies. It's a tube amp and i have to toggle between phono and other input setting to get it to stop making distorted noises. For example the right channel bass will get crackly but it goes away after I mess around with the amp. And it is just a pretty loud amp in terms of hissing when nothing is playing.

I don't think there is a problem with my turntable or cartridge. It's a technics sl-d1 and a Shure m97x. It's not really audiophile but it's pretty decent.

This is the only pair of Cornwall (with old caps) that I've ever listened to so I dot really have much to compare them to, so I'm really sure how they should sound. The bass sound full but it sounds a little round and not as tight as I might like, but it still sounds great compared to what I had before.

Is it just my pair or are your guys Cornwalls really sensitive to crackling and popping when playing records that are a little beat/scratched? I guess the tweeters on the Cornwalls go higher then my old speakers because I can hear more cracking in the really high frequency range than I used to.

Anyway im sure a new set of caps would help, from what I've heard from you guys. What are they exactly? And how much do they cost? Where can I get them?

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