Awesomesauce Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 So I just got my hands on two 1980s Cornwall IIs. I absolutely love them! unfortunately I am completely new to running speakers. Right now I am scared to run the amp I have for an extended period of time. these speakers are two precious to take a chance on. The amp I am using is a 110 watt which I am sure is sub par. I need to know the minimum amount of watts to power one cornwall II... and I would also like to know the recommended amount of wattage. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 What is the amp? I don't think 110 is too much for a C/W -- I have 100 watts on each K-horn. I wouldn't put huge wattage on them, in part to avoid noise issues, which I assume aren't as big a problem on Corns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomesauce Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 haha I dont know the amp it's really crappy though. Its an old SONY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaudeJ1 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 100 Watts/ch. has been the industry standard power for decades. I really wish everyone would use DB Watts to rate amps, but like the USA going full metric, it will proabably not happen in my lifetime............stupid, I know. So 100 Watts is 20 db watts into a 98 db sensitive speaker at 1 meter. With two it becomes 23 db Watts. So 23 + 98 give you 121 db peaks, minus about 10 db is you sit 10 feet away. So 111 db peaks should be easily attainable (too damn loud according to PWK). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) 110 watts is probably enough, if the amp's wattage rating is honest. In the 1970s, some amplifier companies published "Music Power" ratings in watts which were very inflated compared to the accepted RMS power used by very good companies, like McIntosh. Just a few watts will produce loud sound from a Cornwall II. Acording to Don Keele, who was the Chief Engineer at Klipsch under Paul W. Klipsch, a Cornawall can produce 110 dB average level (a lot!) with just 57 watts input, in a 3,000 cu ft room of average acoustics (Dope from Hope, Vol 16, No 1, January 1977). If the room is very dead (overstuffed furniture, thick curtains, wall to wall carpet, etc.), and you like your music loud, you might want more power. I wouldn't worry about the amp being too powerful. Keep steady signals (test tones, white and pink noise) at a low level, and you should be O.K. Edited February 18, 2014 by Garyrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 haha I dont know the amp it's really crappy though. Its an old SONY Then it might be sonic quality more than power. One forum member drives his Corns with a 40+ year old Scott integrated amp, and it sounds GREAT. Of course, we're talkin' tubes here, and that's one way I'd want to go -- you could track down a Scott 299 type amp or a Fisher tube integrated, and have Craig NOSValves refurbish it. Wattage won't be very high. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomesauce Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Alright I think I can at least run one cornwall. The amp I have is a sony STR AV480 110 watt AM/FM receiver. a link to one is here http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/239188-fs-sony-str-av480-home-reciever/ all I know is that it sucks and it was cheap. Can it power 1 cornwall without damaging anything? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinsweber Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Welcome to the forum and congrats on your speakers.. .they are iconic and simply bad ***. You can run both your speakers happily. What has been suggested is that you’ll have your speakers crazy loud by using your amp and won’t hurt anything. These the Cornwall is both durable and completely rebuildable if ever you needed to… think Abrahams tank. . By eventually upgrading the amp, it may not get louder but will sound better while doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 So I just got my hands on two 1980s Cornwall IIs. I absolutely love them! unfortunately I am completely new to running speakers. Right now I am scared to run the amp I have for an extended period of time. these speakers are two precious to take a chance on. The amp I am using is a 110 watt which I am sure is sub par. I need to know the minimum amount of watts to power one cornwall II... and I would also like to know the recommended amount of wattage. Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks! The speakers are not made of Sugar... let them rip! Clean power is WAY BETTER than big power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 It's the first clean watt that counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesomesauce Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Sweet!!! all of you thanks so much!! I cant wait to use them now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 DUDE... your posting here instead of listening to them? get on the ball man. crank them up 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) Welcome to the forums! Here is some interesting data I put together for you and your Cornwall: 1 watt - 98.5db 2 watts - 101.5db 4 watts - 104.5db 8 watts - 107.5db 16 watts - 110.5db 32 watts - 113.5db 64 watts - 116.5db 100 watts - 118.5db As you can see, once you go above about 64 watts, the gains are diminished. Perception of TWICE AS LOUD happens at about +10db. To make a speaker seem twice as loud, you have to multiply the wattage by a factor of 10. To make this speaker sound twice as loud as 1 watt, it takes 10 watts. Twice as loud as 10 watts would be 100 watts. note: to make a speaker seem twice as loud as a 100 watt, it would be 1000 watts! Hope this helps. Edited February 18, 2014 by mustang guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 To the OP, just because the amp is old does not make it a bad amp or cheap. I have a Sony avr which has never had one problem and works great. As stated already, you should have plenty of power to drive a pair of speakers. That is part of the beauty of Kliipsch speakers, that get loud on only a few watts. For most average listening you will only use a watt or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckAb3 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 With Cornwalls, you don't need to be so concerned with amp power as amp (signal) quality. I've run mine with as little as 35wpc and as much as 150 wpc. The quality issue is pretty subjective. Some prefer tubes and some prefer ss. Some like a good integrated and others prefer separates. If you can, experiment a little and see what you like best. Welcome and good luck! Let us know where you come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerwoodKhorns Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Can it power 1 cornwall without damaging anything? This made my morning. As said, play the speakers. If you crank it up and you hear distortion, harshness, etc, turn it down. That is all. The cornwalls should be able to get pretty loud on 50 watts. What did you pay for the Sony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 (edited) Alright I think I can at least run one cornwall. The amp I have is a sony STR AV480 110 watt AM/FM receiver. a link to one is here http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/239188-fs-sony-str-av480-home-reciever/ all I know is that it sucks and it was cheap. Can it power 1 cornwall without damaging anything? Why just one? Run them both, one on each channel of your receiver. I'm not sure why you are concerned about damage. Certainly, don't run two on one channel (e.g. wired in parallel) ... with some receivers that could result in damage. But one Cornwall per channel should be fine. I assume you know that bigness doesn't mean power hungry, and that the Cornwalls are more efficient than most speakers, including whatever you probably had before, and will put out louder sound per watt than most smaller speakers ... Try them in different positions in the room. Paul Klipsch named them "Cornwall" as a humorous reference to their suitability for corner placement or along a wall placement (unlike Klipschorns). Just to make sure you have done so, try them pushed all the way into room corners, aimed directly at the listening position -- you should be able to look down the throats of the tweeters. The best listening position should be at the apex of a equilateral triangle, with the other two points going through the middle of each speaker). Corner placement should give you more pronounced bass and, according to Paul Klipsch, will be like multiplying your amplifier power by 4 (compared to the speakers sitting out in the room, away from the walls, as is the modern habit). To improve imaging, some people who use corner placement put some acoustically absorbing material on the walls on the right and left side of the speakers (starting at where a line extending across the fronts of the speakers would hit the side walls). This will affect the high and some of the mid frequency sound, probably improving imaging, but should not affect the bass. Edited February 19, 2014 by Garyrc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 220 or 221, what ever it takes really 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 Can it power 1 cornwall without damaging anything? This made my morning. As said, play the speakers. If you crank it up and you hear distortion, harshness, etc, turn it down. That is all. The cornwalls should be able to get pretty loud on 50 watts. What did you pay for the Sony? this is so true... distortion is much more damaging to a speaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted February 21, 2014 Share Posted February 21, 2014 I don't think watts should even be a major consideration. What I have found is that an amp either has synergy and is a "match" for your speakers.......or it isn't. I have run into more amps that simply sound like crap with Klipsch speakers, than ones that sound good or REALLY good with them. You need to find the amps that sound RIGHT to you and are a match for your speakers. Don't worry about watts. I think you will find the higher in watts you go, the less compatible the amps will get by the numbers. Most lower wattage amps will sound better with cornwalls. Try a few different ones and see if you agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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