ddafoe Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 I just recently purchased a used pair of Cornwall IIIs and over the last week or so have tried them with both a solid state amp and a tube setup. For tubes I tried them with a PrimaLuna One integrated amp and for solid state I have a ModWright amplifier and Belles (does have two tubes) preamp. The much cheaper PrimaLuna is dead quiet and sounds great with the big CWIIIs. I was dissapointed that the ModWright amp was noisy through the CWIIIs. There is a very audible hum through each speaker, even with no cables plugged into the amplifier. It does have a ground switch and playing with it made the hum worse. Sound wise the solid state amp with the tube preamp sounded good, a little leaner than the PrimaLuna amplifier but certainly not edgy or harsh. The Belles preamp adds a nice warm sound and the ModWright is known to have a 'tube like' sound. The solid state amp had better bass and more speed, but I still liked the midrange better with the PrimaLuna. Considering the PrimaLuna costs ~1/3 the cost of the ModWright+Belles combo I am very happy with it. I don't think I can use the Klipsch with the ModWright as the hum is too distracting plus shutting off the amplifier is sometimes pretty loud too through the speakers. Just curious, what solid state amplifiers are others using with the big Heritage models that they are very happy with? From the tube side, any suggestions for integrated amps that still have that EL34 magic midrange but offer a little tighter bottom end? I was thinking that maybe the PrimaLuna Dialogue models or a Rogue Audio Chronus might have more bass control. I'm in no hurry to upgrade though for now. My other pair of speakers are Revel F52s which are pretty different from the Cornwalls, and both have their strengths and weaknesses, but overall I'm very impressed with the performance of the CWIIIs when you factor in their price and ability to sound good with relatively cheap amplification. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 From the tube side, any suggestions for integrated amps that still have that EL34 magic midrange but offer a little tighter bottom end? I was thinking that maybe the PrimaLuna Dialogue models or a Rogue Audio Chronus might have more bass control. I'm in no hurry to upgrade though for now. The tightness of the bottom end has much to do with the amp's output impedance, which affects the control it has over the woofer, and the circuit characteristics. And what one person considers tight another might consider mushy. I believe the Prima Luna has both 4 and 8 ohm speaker taps. Have you tried the speakers with both of them? Often, that can make a noticeable difference. The CWs drop down to around 3.5 or 3.6 ohms in the bass region iirc, so trying the 4 ohm tap is certainly reasonable. Unfortunately, the best way to find out what may be more satisfying is to try other amps in your system. Maybe there are some forum members in your area who would be willing to bring over their amps for you to get a listen. Regards-- Maynard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I use and ICE based amp with my CW's and I am happy with it. Extremely black floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panacea Engineering Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I've been using S.A.E. 02 series of amps for over 30 years. Have not found a better SS amp for Klipsch speakers and I have tried a few. These amps were built with very high quality and I have never had a minutes trouble with any of them. They can be had on eBay for very reasonable prices and it might be worth a try. There are quite a few places where they can be serviced, IF it is ever needed.......YMMV W. C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddafoe Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 Yes, my PrimaLuna does have 4 and 8 ohm taps. I've been using the 8s as I was thinking the CWIIIs impedance was 8 ohms. I never thought to try the 4 ohm taps. I'll try it out this week and see if I notice any difference. I may have incorrectly assumed the high efficiency of the speakers implied the bass driver was an easy load. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddafoe Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 I've heard from someone that the Wyred 4 Sound amps are a nice match with the Cornwalls. I do really like the Tube midrange though. Maybe a W4S amp with a tubed DAC/Preamp (e.g. a Peachtree model) would be a nice combo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curious_George Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 I am using a 2A3 SE amp (3.5 Watts per channel) I built from scratch with Heresy's (Circa 1979) and a solid state pre-amp using only the "loudness" function to give me a little bump in the Bass region. I am extremely happy with the way it sounds. The amp is very quiet even though I am using AC on the 2A3 output tubes. If you place your ear right up to the woofer, you can just barely hear 60Hz hum. The mid and tweeter are also very quiet and you can only hear residual noise if your ear is placed right up to those drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tblake10 Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 The vintage Mcintosh SS amps have worked well for me with chorus II's and khorns. The mc2100, mc250, and mc2105 have a tubelike 100k ohm input impedence so they work well with tube preamps like my JM bbx that are made to match with tube amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.