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Cornwall III vs. Forte III


GreenGoose

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23 hours ago, IB Slammin said:

 

Both were placed 8-10' from the wall. No corner or wall gain. 

 

 

Fortes don't need to be that far out.  I have them like 8" from the wall and the bass is killer even in a 9,000 cubic foot room.  Literally sounds like I have a pretty nice sub or two even with a tiny little 50 watt Marantz slim line receiver.  If bass is anemic with Forte III's, I have a hard time saying it's the fault of the speakers from what I've seen.  

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1 hour ago, MetropolisLakeOutfitters said:

 

Fortes don't need to be that far out.  I have them like 8" from the wall and the bass is killer even in a 9,000 cubic foot room.  Literally sounds like I have a pretty nice sub or two even with a tiny little 50 watt Marantz slim line receiver.  If bass is anemic with Forte III's, I have a hard time saying it's the fault of the speakers from what I've seen.  

 

I don't know what to say. Only what I listened to.

Heard them in the Klipsch listening room in Hope. I should think that they would give them a fair shot in a demo.  ???

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Based on the size of the room I'd go CW's. I own CWII's and Forte I's personally I think the the CWII's have a bit more clarity and better imaging over the forte's. They are in separate rooms.... with the models I own I'd say your more aware of the fortes bass but I'd also say that its bit more bloated than the CW's bass. Bare in mind that I replaced the stock woofers in my CW's with eminence kappa 15s which I noticed a improvement immediately. 

 

Both are fantastic speakers but again based on your room size I'd say Cornwalls are the way to go. 

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3 hours ago, IB Slammin said:

 

I don't know what to say. Only what I listened to.

Heard them in the Klipsch listening room in Hope. I should think that they would give them a fair shot in a demo.  ???

 

I'm listening to Paul Simon on vinyl and these Forte's are thumping.  Bass guitar is very defined and those african drums are really nice.  

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I would think part of the difference would be the large front port on the Cornwall lll, ll and l. It may make it sound bigger in a large room because of that ?

 

We have Cornwall lll's in a small room now, but they were in a room 24' x 34' along with forte ll's, the Cornwalls just sounded bigger to us. Both were fine just one was better, now this was NOT the F lll model, never compared them with the Clll. I really like the sound of the Forte lll, just never heard them together.  

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On 7/18/2017 at 4:12 PM, IB Slammin said:

 

Another try.....

Both were placed 8-10' from the wall. No corner or wall gain. 

The Forte sounded more subdued. Top to bottom.  A little "polite" for my taste. Like a speaker that I would use in my office or bedroom.

The CW was robust. Much larger sound. Tight and fast LF. Top to bottom "in your face".

Can't comment on Imaging for ether.  CW having a larger soundstage.  Detail was nice in both speakers.

tc

IB pulling a Forte, any version, 8-10 feet from the wall is taking the passive on the back out and it would not sound very good.   By listening to them this way is like pulling Klipschorns 8-10 feet from the corners.  The Forte is designed to placed close to a wall. 

If you meant to put 8-10"  then I understand you prefer the Cornwall 3 over Forte 3.  

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Going by the rule of thumb used in the old Frazier speakers that were rear ported (same as rear passives), 1-3 feet from wall.  Speakers with rear porting are typically designed to be used closer to the wall and need the room load move than front ported.  This has a major impact on the size and bass output perceived. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/26/2017 at 3:11 PM, GreenGoose said:

Thanks for everyone's input.  I ordered the Cornwall III's.  They shipped today.  I picked the Cornwall's mainly due to the comments on the large size of room they are going in.

 

Which finish did you order?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Klipsch had emailed me back the Rep contact for the Arkansas area and there's actually a dealer in Hot Springs, AR that displays all of the Heritage line...except Klipschorns, which is fine.  So an easy 1.5 hour road trip will be in order soon to hear the Forte 3's and Cornwall 3's in direct comparison.  Heck, might even listen to the La Scala 2's for the heck of it.  Looking forward to getting to hear both side by side before deciding.

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On 8/9/2017 at 6:12 PM, GreenGoose said:

I chose the cherry finish because it matched my game room the best.  Here are pics.  It's a game room still in progress!!! I have a lot more to do.

Gameroom.jpg

Cornwall.JPG

Nice room. I like the metal wainscoting, Enjoy those speakers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Dear Audiophiles!

 

My listening arrangement:

  • 7' - 8' between speakers
  • up to 2' from the back and side walls
  • 7' - 9' from the speakers to the listening position
  • 14' x 14' x 8'(H) listening room with a wide opening (behind the listening position) into 10' x 10' x 8'(H) room
  • anything from organ, big orchestral works with large dynamic swings to operas, rock and jazz (pretty eclectic taste, I would say...)
  • PASS Labs XA30.5

What model, F III or CW III, would you recommend for the above setting, please?

 

Has anyone auditioned the F IIIs and/or CW IIIs at fairly low listening levels (say 65-75 db) in a mid-field situation such as the above?

 

dtel, you noted "We have Cornwall lll's in a small room now..." Would you kindly describe your listening arrangement and give your impressions on the SOUND?

 

avguytx, have you had a chance to hear the Forte 3's and Cornwall 3's in direct comparison, please?

 

Please chime in!

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I have had both. The CW will do better in a larger room. Will have a fuller sound and wider stage of sound and very nice fast and tight bass. And with a larger room they will never sound like to are being over worked. The CW loves a large room to open up and show what it's capable of doing. And with the music that your looking to play in them, that's right up their alley . And they can handle more power before they start to show and strain or weakness of handling the power

CW is your best way to spend your money

I would even look for some used CW1 or CW2's and you mate even have money left over to buy two sets, Either way it's what your ears like that will be the deciding factor maybe you can try to find someone local to you that has as set so you go over and listen to them

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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Thank you very kindly carlthess40!

 

There’s a reason why there are a thousand different speakers you can buy.  Different design goals, different tastes, people all hear differently, and sometimes the reason to buy a certain speaker has nothing to do with the sound.  So you heard one horn speaker system and you are in heaven, and another one that didn’t impress. 
 
One of the things I really like about horn-loaded speakers is that they play music so effortlessly.  So little power is needed, and so much music flows from them with such ease.  I suppose this is one of the reasons they can reproduce the dynamics of real instruments so well, because they simply aren’t working hard, even at “live” output levels.  I think of it this way – if a speaker is working at 80% of it’s capacity to produce music at a “live” output level, there’s very little room left there to handle peaks higher than that level.  If a speaker is working at 20% of it’s capacity to play at the same output level, there’s still a lot of headroom there. 
 
It’s more than that though.  Describing the dynamic range of a loudspeaker is hard to do, but experiencing it by listening is a lot easier.  What you hear from Klipsh speakers is a big wide-open and live sound that invites you into the music.  I would describe the sound, especially the midrange, as something you can “walk into, shake hands with the performer, and then back out of”.  In my mind, it’s a good way to put that sensation into words.  The micro-dynamics and the dynamic range of the speaker are especially important for me.  The speaker also should sing with one voice.  The integration of all drive components needs to be seamless, even sitting up close like in my modest listening room.  The speaker should also exhibit great tone.  Instruments need to sound exactly as they should.  Instruments should be easily separated from one another, and the character of each should be very distinct.  Put all this together and it’s very easy to say that the speaker sounds more like real instruments, real bands, real music. 

 

On the other hand, in addition to the above anecdotal evidence, where can we find some objective data on the speakers under discussion: impedance/phase vs. frequency,  frequency response, etc. plots?  

 

In addition to flat frequency response, the design should also be phase coherent in the crossover regions, resulting, in my understanding, in a speaker that images exceptionally well.

 

I was searching for such objective data, and miserably failed to find any…

 

Please chime in!  
 

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On 7/19/2017 at 0:06 AM, Woofers and Tweeters said:

Chorus II VS Chornwall3, anyone? 

My Cornwall II's have been the only Klipsch speaker I have parted with. I liked them... I thought they had a very good sound but Chorus line killed them.... Just blew them away. Both Chorus I's and II's. The Cornwalls can not handle the power like the Chorus can. The bass the Chorus can put out is just chest pounding, Cornwalls bass response is not there imho.

I know I'm not talking about the Cornwall III's...... just mho about the II's.

 

MKP :-)

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2 hours ago, MORE KLIPSCH PLEASE said:

My Cornwall II's have been the only Klipsch speaker I have parted with. I liked them... I thought they had a very good sound but Chorus line killed them.... Just blew them away. Both Chorus I's and II's. The Cornwalls can not handle the power like the Chorus can. The bass the Chorus can put out is just chest pounding, Cornwalls bass response is not there imho.

I know I'm not talking about the Cornwall III's...... just mho about the II's.

 

MKP :-)

Could it have been that the Cornwall were older, more tireder? 

 

I can only imagine the improvements the Cornwall III have.

 

I got rid of my first Chorus II because I couldn't get used to the larger horn, it was too much in your face sound for me. I thought later that it might have been the amp or the lack of room conditioning. I have since bought and enjoyed another pair of Chorus II. They are in a different room and use a different power source. I have to say that after dialing them in, I really like them. Those coupled with the KP362 sounded really great together and were intensely loud with the thought it can't get better, then I brought up the volume of the MCM1900... The Chorus II and 362 sounded tiny. ;)

 

I will get some more Cornwall for center duty between the Belle or the LaScala..or both.

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