Cornwall vs KLF 20

[Klipschtastic]

In the quest to settle into my long term living room speakers, I am curently tweeking my KLF 20's with Crites midranges. They already have Crites tweeters. I am however, still keeping open the option of jumping ship and the Cornwalls have always appealed to me asthetically though I've never heard any. My KLF's leave much to be desired of the finish since the previous owner painted them black to better integrate into a home theater setup. To be a long term living room piece I am eventually going to need to refinish them, which would probably be more trouble than its worth or buy another pair and sell these. The Cornwall seems like it would be well suited for living room since it is less picky about placement and can be place against a wall. How do these two speakers compare, especially for rock music such as AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Black Keys, etc? The main compliant I have with the KLF's is the sometimes harsh nature of the mids, especially at high volume. The detail, clarity, imaging and bass response with no sub is what appeals to me about them.

Thanks

Jon

[Schu]

Klf's are better suited for heavy rock duty imho... it doesn't mean the CW will not rock though, it's just that the cornwall will do jazz acoustic and other more sophisticated music EXTREMELY well.

Trying to compare a properly set up CW with a klf 20 is like comparing a chevy with a cadillac.... BOTH are good cars, you pick your own poison.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Schu

[Budman]

never owned any of the klf line but the 30's in mahogany sure are prrrrty. everything negative i have read on here about them is the construction of the cabinets.

i'm a cornwall guy having owned close to 12 sets plus not a fan of black speakers. get the cornwalls you won't regret it

Edited February 3, 2014 by Budman

[Schu]

get the cornwalls you won't regret it

QFT.

[Mighty Favog]

I own both pairs. The KLF's will get plenty loud when you want the music to "hurt". My Mahogany 20's have Bob's tweeter diaphragms, crossovers and have been internally rewired with 12ga.

But if you want some real bass thump, smoothed out mids (but still loud when needed) and greatly widened sound stage GET THE CW'S!

The CW's just give you that confidence that you can play them at any level (even rediculously loud) and not worry about damaging them.

Take it from someone that grew up hearing JBL L300'S at concert levels plenty....

[pzannucci]

It will all depend on your room, positioning, and aesthetics.

The KLF-20's will pretty much keep up with the Cornwalls if you want loud but you will need good amplification. As far as the presentation, the Cornwall may sound fuller, a little tubbier than the KLF-20s, which will sound tighter. The mid/treble on the KLF may sound more in your face, depending on the room and your position though the exponential vs tractrix horn will be a key to the sound. Nothing drastically different in the mids.

You could always tame down the mid/treble on the KLF and have a tighter bottom end with better extension in the end for a lot cheaper though Cornwalls are good if you definitely want to spend the money.

FWIW, I am mostly pointing to the sound of Cornwall IIs. 1's are somewhat different depending on the vintage.

[Klipschtastic]

It will all depend on your room, positioning, and aesthetics.

The KLF-20's will pretty much keep up with the Cornwalls if you want loud but you will need good amplification. As far as the presentation, the Cornwall may sound fuller, a little tubbier than the KLF-20s, which will sound tighter. The mid/treble on the KLF may sound more in your face, depending on the room and your position though the exponential vs tractrix horn will be a key to the sound. Nothing drastically different in the mids.

You could always tame down the mid/treble on the KLF and have a tighter bottom end with better extension in the end for a lot cheaper though Cornwalls are good if you definitely want to spend the money.

FWIW, I am mostly pointing to the sound of Cornwall IIs. 1's are somewhat different depending on the vintage.

It looks as though the Cornwalls are going for about $800-1200 and the KLF's for $400-700. The KLF are a bit too in your face for me on some recordings especially at spl's above 80db. If the Cornwalls are in fact a bit less in your face I'm interested. Plus I really like the looks (I know sounds is the bottom line) and i can place them further back into the corners of the living room and even use them as nice furniture peices.

Thanks for all the great replies. Good thing about these speakers is yu can always resell them easily.

[pzannucci]

It will all depend on your room, positioning, and aesthetics.

The KLF-20's will pretty much keep up with the Cornwalls if you want loud but you will need good amplification. As far as the presentation, the Cornwall may sound fuller, a little tubbier than the KLF-20s, which will sound tighter. The mid/treble on the KLF may sound more in your face, depending on the room and your position though the exponential vs tractrix horn will be a key to the sound. Nothing drastically different in the mids.

You could always tame down the mid/treble on the KLF and have a tighter bottom end with better extension in the end for a lot cheaper though Cornwalls are good if you definitely want to spend the money.

FWIW, I am mostly pointing to the sound of Cornwall IIs. 1's are somewhat different depending on the vintage.

It looks as though the Cornwalls are going for about $800-1200 and the KLF's for $400-700. The KLF are a bit too in your face for me on some recordings especially at spl's above 80db. If the Cornwalls are in fact a bit less in your face I'm interested. Plus I really like the looks (I know sounds is the bottom line) and i can place them further back into the corners of the living room and even use them as nice furniture peices.

Thanks for all the great replies. Good thing about these speakers is yu can always resell them easily.

Understood, especially if you like the Cornwall look and your KLFs are a little ragged. For grins you might go buy a set of reasonably good L-PADS for the KLF and hook them between the two sets of binding posts to drop down the mid/treble a tad. Might help you hold off until you get a real good deal on some Cornwalls.