philly0116 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 In the garage sale forum I have my re-done 1964 Cornwalls listed for sale or trade with the aspirations of getting a pair of RF-83's. In doing so....what am I giving up? My Cornwalls are very clean. All new Crites parts. They sound great but when I hear the 83's I feel like they sound better! According to the spec sheets the RF-83's go lower on bass and they are more efficient and have a better horn. Can anyone offer some insight on this? Are the RF-83's a step up from Cornwalls or a step down?!?! Thanks in advance for the input! Sincerely, Confused. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeker Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 I have not heard the 83's so i cant make a direct comparison. I have heard 82's and have rf7's and heard plus owned several cornwalls. With the crites upgrades and considering your cw's are in good shape i would say its preference between the 83&cw. With all my speakers i run them through tube and solid state, big&small amps to test to see what i would prefer. The hassle alone of trading and or selling might hurt as much as anything to me. I would not trade cornwalls for rf83's myself unless i truly fealt the 83's are better and you stated you liked them so i would not hesitate. Sounds like your possibly a reference person. Checking everything out is what the klipsch sport is about as i feel so move on although i suggest using every amp you can now because 1964 cw's can be tough to find(then have to refinish them)and its good to have experience. I only stated my thought process on your topic. good luck! Interesting switch of speakers although common. they are both very comparable. With your crites upgrades i would say they are both an equal 100 sensitivety. Amp would prove a major factor. neither are better than the other to most...its all in your ears is what matters 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly0116 Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 I have not heard the 83's so i cant make a direct comparison. I have heard 82's and have rf7's and heard plus owned several cornwalls. With the crites upgrades and considering your cw's are in good shape i would say its preference between the 83&cw. With all my speakers i run them through tube and solid state, big&small amps to test to see what i would prefer. The hassle alone of trading and or selling might hurt as much as anything to me. I would not trade cornwalls for rf83's myself unless i truly fealt the 83's are better and you stated you liked them so i would not hesitate. Sounds like your possibly a reference person. Checking everything out is what the klipsch sport is about as i feel so move on although i suggest using every amp you can now because 1964 cw's can be tough to find(then have to refinish them)and its good to have experience. I only stated my thought process on your topic. good luck! Interesting switch of speakers although common. they are both very comparable. With your crites upgrades i would say they are both an equal 100 sensitivety. Amp would prove a major factor. neither are better than the other to most...its all in your ears is what matters I guess what really shocked me was how much lower the bass was rated, (9Hz lower), on the RF-83's vs the Cornwall. Granted, Crites claims his woofers reach lower than factory Klipsch woofers, how much lower I don't know.. For what its worth, the Crites tweeters boast a 104db @ 1w/m rating. Im not sure how that translates to sensitivity of the overall speaker. The RF-83 boasts' a spectrum of 29Hz-21kHz while handling up to 250wpc continuous and the Cornwall covers from 38Hz-20kHz with a 105wpc rating. In my simple mind it just seems odd that a 2 way speaker covers a broader spectrum of sound than a 3 way speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeker Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Very interesting. You have your homework done for sure. I can compare some very big ar's i owned a while back with 3 7" woofers although were 3 way. Anyhow the bass was astonishing for smaller woofer even compared to my 2 powewred paradigm powered 12's i had at the time. Altogether though even considering the bass was amazing it could never compare to any full range klipsch speaker with 15's. The power of a klipsch 15" low frequency driver is unsurpassed in my experience by any woofer i have heard when properly crossed over and drove. I have a pair of rf7II's in my fiances living room and they sound great although when i put my chorus 2's up against them the 7's cannot do what the chorus2's do. The 15 is the trump card to me. As for 2 or 3 way i have fell in love with some 2 ways and listened to them for weeks without end in stereo, day and night. It is on paper as you have stated although i still have to resort all is in the ears of the beholder. I am more confident with a 3 way klipsch speaker right now which is cw based and i will not change for a very long time. You can put more than 105 watts on a cornwall. a cw seems to shock you when raised to a high level of watts and then becomes smooth in a second or 2. I like to push my speakers at least once to see how they react with a db meter. Depending on the size of room reaching levels of 120 or more can be lovely. I get nervous when doing this to myself although with the proper equipment i would take your cw's to get it done before the 83's. I have not read the specs of the 83's too much although i gotta stop here because im getting too interested in the 83's now myself dang it lol seriously i have to get them off my mind. My fiance will kill me. Not about the money we just have so much equipment at the moment and none for sale. It already led to 1 divorce and now i really love this one i have. Its all your preference. You can read specs all day. Equipment is key. Get a good eq. I have tried as many eq's and electronic crossovers as amps and tubes in the amps. The preamp it key as well as the cables. what works for 1 speaker does not as do as much for the other and vice-versa. I know i could live with your cw's and im not so sure about the 83's. Just from my experience. But then again its you and it sounds like your a reference man or gonna try it out .. . .. .. . If your cw's were black i would be interested lol 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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