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K-61-K in a Cornwall?


geoff.

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Can a K-61-K horn and driver be used interchangeably with the K-57-K/K601 in the Cornwall, in this case an '84 Cornwall 1?

 

I see that the K-61 had varying crossover points depending on the speaker it was used in. 

 

I have both a type B-3 and CW2 crossover collecting dust. I also have a pair of both K-77 and K-79 tweeters keeping the crossovers company.     I just "fell" (I jumped - lol) into another pair of '84 Cornwall 1's in fine working condition, but rough shape, so any combination in the Cornwall 1 cabinet using the K-33-E woofer is an option. I will worry about cosmetics later...

 

The reason I am asking is I "HAD" Forte ii's.

 

I loved the midrange but missed the impact that the 15" K-33-E woofers in my '86 Cornwall 2's have. Forte ii's go lower on paper, but I couldn't "feel" it.

 

I had Quartets too, in really fine shape. An excellent sounding "small" speaker. Almost cannibalised them for the drivers (sacrilege)... but wound up selling them, knowing full well that if I was patient the horns would surface somewhere. They did, a year later and I got 'em.

 

I have looked, TRUST ME, for a pair of Chorus ii's for the last couple years with no luck. I snapped up a pair of CF-3's I would have never even known about were it not for this forum. And I just passed on a pair of KLF-30's needing at least one woofer, once again due to the information shared on this forum. 

 

Which brings me to this latest diversion.

 

Will any combination of the parts I have yield acceptable results, or will I NEED the crossover from a Chorus ii, or some other design?

 

Once again, thanks for your help. I truly appreciate all the input the members here share. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Would it be as simple as swapping out the squakers? Cut-out notwithstanding... The horns are the same length so it would be as sweet as it gets.

 

Is there a difference in the efficiency of the k-61 vs the k-57?

 

I got 11.2 ohms on the k-61's and 11.5 on the k-57's.

 

And thanks for your reply!

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if you want to there are better and larger horns out there but you would most likely also end up having to change drivers as well if going that route so that is a more expensive and complex option.

   is the k600/601 horn the same length as a Chorus ll mid horn? The mid horn in the Quartet, Forte ll, chorus ll and some other pro speakers is a nice sounding mid horn no doubt. good luck with your modification. moray james.

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  • 1 month later...

The K-61 is marginally narrower (1/4") than the K-601 it is replacing but it is also almost 2" wider. That means two straight cuts down and one across to accomadate it.

 

This time around I used the shortest drywall screws I could find simply because they are black. I dabbed the heads with some moly-slip grease to keep them from rusting.

 

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These "Chor-walls" are sitting in front of my 2-way Cornscala's.

 

For now I am using the square magnet K-77's and B-3 crossover this pair of 84 Cornwall's came with. I have a pair of K-79's, a pair K-107-Ti tweeters and a pair of Cornwall 2 crossovers I MAY play with later. 

 

But for now, THEY ROCK!

 

Classic Klipsch sound, loud and clear. 

 

Correction - even CLEARER!

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  • 2 months later...

I was so impressed with the converted Cornwall 1's that it was only a matter of time until my beloved Cornwall 2's came under the knife. I had to fight hard with my conscience on this one. There is no going back and the Cornwall 2 is a damn fine speaker as is! Re-sell value would be out the window, but sonically these can't help but shine!

 

This weekend I finally took the time to knock one out.

 

I don't have a router, or the know-how to use one, so it took an hour to Dremmel ONE flushmount cutout once the jigsaw had it's turn. Talk about therapeutic, the woodsmoke from the baltic birch plywood cabinets is better than any inscence I have ever experienced!

 

These Cornwall 2's already had K-107-ti tweeters so now it has a Tractrix horn for for the highs AND the mids!

 

The K-61's have new Crites phenolic diapraghms. The crossovers are also Bob's boards and I wired in the bandpass filters while I was at it so that down the road should I decide to go titanium on the mids it will just be a simple diaphragm swap. I can't help but think that having the mids cut out at 6 khz sharp, where it crosses to the tweeter, can only be a good thing in the meantime...

 

 

 

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Happy Father's Day indeed!

 

Got both of my sonically expanded Cornwall 2's on line today!

 

The K-61 tractrix midrange and K-107-ti tractrix tweeter image incredibly well in a short distance, in this case 6-8 feet works nicely. But the bass is travelling through me this close. Lol! 

 

With a mild "house curve" on my DBX 1231 and about 11 o'clock on my 150 WPC NAD C372, Thin Lizzy's "Jailbreak" is nothing short of a wall of sound. I could not even see the woofers moving at this volume. Tight, clear, and full of the punch only a 15" woofer (or maybe two 12's) can muster. The little EQ tweak on the low end makes the K-33 crisper. I don't think flush mounting hurts the low end either compared to the Cornwall 1's I modded first.

 

These are everything I missed about my Forte ii's and more. Clean basslines and sweet highs.

 

Listening to Steely Dan now at about half past seven on the volume dial and all of the dynamics are still there. Just softer, begging me to turn it up.

 

Everything I LOVED about Cornwall's from the get go,and more. I may like these better than my Cornscala's... which essentially these are. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 years later...

@Outrider 6, hi James, just saw your PM, and yes there are updates and perspectives gained from personal and shared experiences. 

 

It’s unfortunate that all of the shared information isn’t usually relevant until after you actually physically experience what is being discussed. We seem to need to find out for ourselves and then make the more informed choices, sigh.

 

The original project was with a pair of mint walnut Cornwall 2s which I very much regret cutting up.  They are long gone to a very happy buyer but I hogged out a pair of “B-stock” Cornwall 1s that I got for a song some time later and have no intentions of selling. 

 

What I wound up with and what I would do with a blank slate are two different things.

 

Since these modifications I have been fortunate enough to acquire a pair of Chorus 2s and KP-301s for comparison.

 

Compared to the K-48s in the other speakers (K-48-E in the Chorus and the vented K-48-KP in the 301s), the K-33 in the Cornwall leaves me wanting. K-48s are tight and clean, not as low, and they really like the juice to get hammering the way they want to. 

 

I also don’t think the Helmholtz resonator / shelved port does the Cornwall bass any favours. You can alter the shelf or block a “port” to tune it but I think 4” round ports with tubes cut to the desired length would tighten up and extend the bass better. But now you are replacing the motorboard.

 

So what I came up with as the best possible solution was a pair of Crites CW1526C woofers.

 

The difference was night and day better than the K-33 in this application.

 

Lower lows and more output up to the crossover to the midrange. A win/win situation.

 

I also found some Klipsch tractrix tweeters with the puny magnet and black poly diaphragms for cheap and retro fitted them with DE-120 drivers. So now there is a tractrix horn on the midrange AND tweeter drivers.

  

Dave A’s LMAHL lenses would shine in this (or any other) application too... 

 

One last thing was a 2x6 brace from the motorboard to the back panel and across the width of the speaker between the mid and woofer. I used a 4” holesaw every few inches on the studs to minimize the displacement. I also secured a small piece of 2x4 in the middle, vertically between the very back of the port shelf and the base of the cabinet to eliminate any vibration there.

 

The stock B-3 crossover (600 & 6000 hz) has had the caps refreshed. I did not notice a difference one way or the other, but I used cheaper Erse and Dayton varieties. I believe a lower crossover to the tweeter would sound better (5000 hz) and is in keeping with the direction ALL new Klipsch products are taking.

 

Having said all that, If I were to start all over from scratch, and according to my preferences there are things I would do differently.

 

Custom made braced cabinet with 4” ports and the biggest 2” throat mid horn I could fit in a 3-way for starters. 

 

But if I was going to all that effort, I would try to design an as yet non-existent “CF-5”, having two 15” woofers with a K-510 in the middle crossing around 800 hz. 

 

That, to me, would be the culmination of direct radiating speakers.

 

 

 

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