Bonzo Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I recently acquired a pair of Cornwall III's and love the sound. I was wondering if anyone has done any crossover or other upgrades to this speaker? If so, was it worth the effort? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueHusky79 Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 My knowledge is that the III series is the most current version from Klipsch. Which means you have the newest and most current version available. I own Forte II; KLF-7 Center and Heresy III. When I upgraded my Forte II crossovers, plus upgrade to Titanium tweeters (Best of my memory, was two years ago.) After the upgrade they were more in sync with my new Heresy III. Basically, the upgrade to the Forte II were unbelievable, sounded great prior, but after even clearer than I thought was possible. Yes I owned them new, bought in 1991. After my first Heresy I were stolen. My wife always missed the Heresy so for our 29th anniversary, I surprised her. Plus I happened to begin building my 5.1 channel system for TV & Movies. Forte ' s are also my 2 channel for music. Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I was thinking I'd wait another 20+ years before worrying about the III crossovers. What upgrade did you do to the Forte crossovers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 My Forte 1s are still on the stock crossovers but I did replace the tweeters with the Titanium tweeters from Bob. I did this on the Fort'es, Cornwall 2s, and my son's KG 5.5s. On all speakers, they were excellent additions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prerich Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 No hotrod-mods for the Cornwall III....yet. Best course of action is to let it be, sit back, and enjoy! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 I kinda' figured they cured most of the perceived ills of the earlier designs which I have had. To me they sound as good if not better and I find the C III's more forgiving with modern SS gear. I just bought a new Yamaha A-S701 integrated amp and they are a great combination. I guess Bob will not be getting any business from me for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I kinda' figured they cured most of the perceived ills of the earlier designs which I have had. To me they sound as good if not better and I find the C III's more forgiving with modern SS gear. I just bought a new Yamaha A-S701 integrated amp and they are a great combination. I guess Bob will not be getting any business from me for awhile. You don't upgrade if you love the sound as you said. You upgrade when after a while you start picking apart the sound and decide there are some warts. That is when you attack only the warts if you are smart. The wholesale upgrades that change a ton of parts that we see only produce a new set of warts. Best to keep your cash in your pocket until you really know there is something particular you want to resolve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) Well, it's my money and my speakers and if I want to "upgrade" them, I will. My question was, "I was wondering if anyone has done any crossover or other upgrades to this speaker?" I will break it down a little better. Are there any Cornwall III owners that have made any modifications to the original design and, if so, what were the results? I do love the sound but, if I can make them sound even a bit better without a ton of investment, I would consider it. I have read some have had success with additional internal bracing. They may also benefit from more sound dampening material? Just looking for input from fellow C III owners. Edited July 17, 2015 by Bonzo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinsweber Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) I believe the most widely considered choke point of the CWIII is the mid horn. I perfer to build cornscalas on my own but if I had a CWIII I would consider the fiatal elipitical or my preference the elipctrac400. After that some version of ALK crossovers. I have come to rely on being able to voice/attenuate as I see fit. Edited July 17, 2015 by justinsweber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) "The wholesale upgrades that change a ton of parts that we see only produce a new set of warts." That's the first thing you've ever written that I disagree with. The CIII network incorporates steeper slopes, so they are more forgiving at higher volume levels. However, the high pass section is filled with polyester capacitors, and I'm sorry, but they rob a loudspeaker of much of its potential resolving power and smoothness. The CIII also uses the K-700 from the original Heresy because they lost the mold to the K-600. So, yeah, Justin is right, the horn is not as big as it could be. However, that little horn sounds pretty good. It would be easier to build a set of CornScalas than to incorporate all of the modifications requires to make these into true jaw droppers. Edited July 17, 2015 by Crankysoldermeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 My knowledge is that the III series is the most current version from Klipsch. Which means you have the newest and most current version available. I own Forte II; KLF-7 Center and Heresy III. When I upgraded my Forte II crossovers, plus upgrade to Titanium tweeters (Best of my memory, was two years ago.) After the upgrade they were more in sync with my new Heresy III. Basically, the upgrade to the Forte II were unbelievable, sounded great prior, but after even clearer than I thought was possible. Yes I owned them new, bought in 1991. After my first Heresy I were stolen. My wife always missed the Heresy so for our 29th anniversary, I surprised her. Plus I happened to begin building my 5.1 channel system for TV & Movies. Forte ' s are also my 2 channel for music. Post #1 and sharing expertise already! It looks like it took some Heresy talk to draw you out. Welcome to the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueHusky79 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Thank you. However, I am a former member who got lost after the Forum was updated. I attempted to sign back in and for whatever reason, was unable to. I believe my name was Bluehusky57 back then. I stumbled across this Forum on my tablet, not realizing this was the "Newer Version". My memory isn't what it was, I do recall a few names from before; Noah Hudson Valley, being very helpful. Of course, the very knowledgeable and friendly Dtel family. Plus, Moray James who became my mentor as well as good friend (that I owe a call to). Fortunately, I was referred to Bob Cities (best guess on spelling), he and his son were very helpful when I upgraded my Forte II 's. And I intend no disrespect, to many of former members that I converse with or did transactions with, that I don't recall their names at this moment. Honestly, it is good to be back. All the best, Jeff Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Thanks for the discussion guys, I appreciate it. To me, the mid-range is fine and well balanced with the high and low frequencies. I always thought there was a bit of a hole in the lower mid-range and upper bass frequencies of the original Cornwalls when compared say to a Forte' or Chorus II. I have no scientific information to back that up just experience with those speakers. It seems to me the C III does not have that hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Good to have you back Jeff!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueHusky79 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Thanks, great to be back with fellow Klipsch, lovers of sound! Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pzannucci Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Well, it's my money and my speakers and if I want to "upgrade" them, I will. My question was, "I was wondering if anyone has done any crossover or other upgrades to this speaker?" I will break it down a little better. Are there any Cornwall III owners that have made any modifications to the original design and, if so, what were the results? I do love the sound but, if I can make them sound even a bit better without a ton of investment, I would consider it. I have read some have had success with additional internal bracing. They may also benefit from more sound dampening material? Just looking for input from fellow C III owners. Problem is if you don't know what is wrong, how do you fix it? You would be throwing good money after bad until you understand what you don't like about the speaker. Not a good idea especially when many mods are not reversible. Speakers are very individual and you should sit tight until you have a target. Everyone can say they get this and get that but unfortunately, you may not hear the same thing. For instance, bracing. The Cornwall has large panels that are not, even in the Cornwall III, optimally braced. Some folks would say the bass is tubby or there is a lot of resonance in the base notes. Others would stand by that sound as a hallmark and what they enjoy. Bracing and dampening are the key areas unless you know a lot about crossovers. If you have money to burn that's good. Just offering some advice since I have been doing this a long time (owned a significant number of different Klipsch speakers) and also do a number of my own designs. Every change is going to provide some trade-off that only you can decide is acceptable. Everyone hears different things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 if you feel that switching from a larger K601 to a smaller k701 and shifting up the crossover point to do that is an upgrade then I have a bridge and some waterfront property for sale. Those are backward moves not forward. That was what prompted the Cornscala in the first place. A set of CWll with all ti diaphragms and a host of other mods would be a good direction to move in. Bob's Cornscala type D would be an upgrade with a better horn and a better driver. Putting aside your driver/horn choice there is a lot of work that can be done to improve what ever parts you choose to use, mechanical and acoustical damping of drivers and horns will bring much improvement as will good brace work. Dynamat and F11 acoustical felt are the tools of choice there. Just my two cents. Best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I recently acquired a pair of Cornwall III's and love the sound. I was wondering if anyone has done any crossover or other upgrades to this speaker? If so, was it worth the effort? Thanks -the CW3 would definitely benefit from better capacitors - that change alone is the only mod you should do with that crossover - - instead of making a revamped k601 with the lower rounded lip , klipsch re-used the K701 and the crossover of the H3 - -in the end , the 15 inch woofer and the bigger box are the only difference between both speakers that I see - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I recently acquired a pair of Cornwall III's and love the sound. I was wondering if anyone has done any crossover or other upgrades to this speaker? If so, was it worth the effort? Thanks are these the same ones you are selling- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonzo Posted July 18, 2015 Author Share Posted July 18, 2015 I recently acquired a pair of Cornwall III's and love the sound. I was wondering if anyone has done any crossover or other upgrades to this speaker? If so, was it worth the effort? Thanks are these the same ones you are selling- Unfortunately, yes but, I have something else that just became available and need a little cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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