Rjad321 Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 Have an opportunity to buy 1980 Cornwalls that appear to be in mint condition.. Played for only 2-3 years and sat idle for 20+ years. Asking price = $650 Is this a good deal? Ive owned a pair of 1984 Heresy for 20 years and have loved them. Recently added a tube amplifier and REL subwoofer to my system and have been impressed by the improved sound. Just wondering what a Cornwall would do and then maybe the Heresys become the backs for those HT nights. Mostly listening to vinyl and sacd. Thanks, Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZombieWoof Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 IMO that is a great deal , if the cabinets are in good shape the crossovers might need upgrading BUT get them & listen to them 1st that will make for a good addition with added punch as the Hersey's can be moved as rears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjad321 Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 Thanks for the note. Yes the cabinets are raw birch, were covered in vinyl all those years. The vinyl was attached at the back and under the lip in front where the grill covers, The birch looks impeccable. TThanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Lee Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) Just a brief note. I am not recommending that you do this, but it is my honest experience. I have a pair of 1980 Klipsch Cornwalls # 23821 and 23822 made. They are great. They sound great. When I got them, the cabinets looked rather scuffed up. I cleaned off paint splatters, cat hair, chewing gum, etc. Then rubbed them down with Howard Feed-N-Wax Restorative Wood Furniture Polish and Conditioner a few times and the wood came back looking nearly perfect. I noticed that the high end was a bit duller than expected, especially in the left speaker and bought the best caps that Bob Crites Audio sells for the Cornwall. BUT before installing them, I hooked the loudspeakers up to a great tube amp and played soft jazz at a moderate volume for about a week. I listened very little. This was in a back room with the door closed. Then I brought them back out and had a serios listening session. The highs were back and the Cornwalls sounded perfect to me. No dullness. Everything was clear. Soundstage was great. The bass impressive and musical. All in all just playing the caps at a moderate volume had fixed them. Now, don't give me any guff about this assertion. I am very careful and double checked the problems to isolate them. Why would I do this rather than just replacing the caps? Well, most of the time I really do not like the sound of Cornwalls as much after I replace those big cans of oil that passed for caps in 1980. The odd thing is that they seem to come back close enough to spec just by having a signal for a few days. I suppose there is some risk of damaging the mid or tweet if a cap is leaking, so if you hear distortion, then I would just replace the caps. But in this case, the sparkle was gone. That's all. Now it's back. I have had this happen several times with older Electro-Voice, Klipsch, Bozak, and other well made loudspeakers. So generally I give the caps a fews days of play before replacing, especially if they have been sitting idle for a decade or two. Enjoy and cheers! Mitch Edited February 9 by Mitchell Lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geezin' Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 ZOMBIES!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woofers and Tweeters Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 1 hour ago, geezin' said: ZOMBIES!!!! Yeah, Zombie hasn't been here for a minute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1MoreFord Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Zombies are newb magnets.👽 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.