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Cornwall III vs. Forte III


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On 9/9/2017 at 1:24 PM, Horn-player said:

 

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

 

Please chime in!

 

I've been deliberating on the CW III vs Forte III if I decided to buy something new versus building the Belle's I've talked about what seems like forever.  There's a dealer in Hot Springs where I can hear the CW III and Forte III side by side to compare and it's only an hour and a half drive.  Problem is, there's always something going on on the weekends to take the 1.5 hour trip to do that.  There's an allure to opening a new pair of speakers up and just using them without having to repair panels, swap caps, brace the cabinets, etc., etc.  But then there's that  other part of me that enjoys building things and tinkering although it's a lot tougher doing those things at 51 (almost) versus in my 20's, 30's, and even 40's.  I had contemplated RF7 II's as well but they seem to need to be waaayyyy out from the wall because of the rear ports.  That didn't work with KLF-30's in my living room as they sounded like a$$ in the low end and I didn't want them sitting out a foot from the wall.  So, they went away.

 

The speakers will be about 7 feet apart (inside edge to inside edge), I sit about 11 feet back on center, the left speaker is about 3 feet from a side wall and the right speaker has about 12 feet before it sees a solid surface.  You know...open living room plan with an opening to back bedrooms, etc.  Hopefully next summer, we'll be in a new house and I'll have my separate audio only room and I won't be in this predicament. :D

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4 hours ago, avguytx said:

although it's a lot tougher doing those things at 51 (almost) versus in my 20's, 30's, and even 40's.

Tell me about it, my friend...

 

Anything on the objective measurements data for F III, and/or CW III’s? Anybody?! I cannot believe this would be so hard to find, and yet I found nothing at all…

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2 hours ago, moray james said:

graphs and data can be (are) spun or simply misunderstood by those with little to no real experience. On the other hand your ears and or your gut will never lie to you. learn to trust yourself that will take you farther than anything else.

Being somewhat schizophrenic myself, I am going to both agree and disagree with you, all at the same time!  :rolleyes:

 

ON THE ONE HAND there are many different kinds of people and I respect both the analog and digital kind of people who may take different approaches to achieve the same end.  I consider myself somewhat technical when it comes to amps, probably not so much with speakers.  I am not a charts and graphs guy, but many people are and that's OK.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND I completely agree the best speaker is the one that sounds best in YOUR house, with YOUR amps, with YOUR ears.

 

I certainly agree with you charts and graphs can be easily misunderstood.  If specs (or a chart) shows a speaker goes from 20 Hz to 20 KHz a novice might think this is better than a speaker that goes from 35 Hz to 17 KHz.

 

Which speaker is better, the one that can handle 100 wpc or the one that can handle 200 wpc?  Two hundred does not sound better because bigger is better.  If someone wants to study and analyze charts and graphs, that is OK.  

 

But have you ever heard a system where the owner likes overly boomy bass, or who plays speakers until they distort and thinks that sounds good?  Ears don't always tell the tale, either.  I rest my case. 

 

Or cases.  B)

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1 hour ago, wvu80 said:

Being somewhat schizophrenic myself, I am going to both agree and disagree with you, all at the same time!  :rolleyes:

 

ON THE ONE HAND there are many different kinds of people and I respect both the analog and digital kind of people who may take different approaches to achieve the same end.  I consider myself somewhat technical when it comes to amps, probably not so much with speakers.  I am not a charts and graphs guy, but many people are and that's OK.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND I completely agree the best speaker is the one that sounds best in YOUR house, with YOUR amps, with YOUR ears.

 

I certainly agree with you charts and graphs can be easily misunderstood.  If specs (or a chart) shows a speaker goes from 20 Hz to 20 KHz a novice might think this is better than a speaker that goes from 35 Hz to 17 KHz.

 

Which speaker is better, the one that can handle 100 wpc or the one that can handle 200 wpc?  Two hundred does not sound better because bigger is better.  If someone wants to study and analyze charts and graphs, that is OK.  

 

But have you ever heard a system where the owner likes overly boomy bass, or who plays speakers until they distort and thinks that sounds good?  Ears don't always tell the tale, either.  I rest my case. 

 

Or cases.  B)

it's not your ears that lie to you if you have developed a bias that's on you and in the end what really matters most is that you are happy. What you use as a reference is also telling. Someone who never listens to live music is not likely to have a realistic sounding system. It may be a good sounding system but the odds are not in favor of that nor of it sounding real.

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On 9/9/2017 at 1:24 PM, Horn-player said:

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?

Just seen this...

 

It's a small bedroom 11' x 15', a bed is in the middle of the long wall, Cornwall lll's in the opposite corners of the long wall facing the bed. Not the best for listening unless you're in the bed, but it sounds very full and plenty of bass. Considering how much is in that small of a room the sound surprises me every time I play them, they don't get alot of playing time. If it was a newer receiver that would turn off on it's own I would play them every night going to sleep. I use a old HK 930  and a cd player.

We did have them in the living room until we got bigger speakers for 2 CH, this is when they were moved to the bedroom, but we will never get rid of them, or any of the other speakers, if I just had more rooms.......

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53 minutes ago, Horn-player said:

Thank you dtel!

 

 

Happy to learn CW III's sound nice even in a small room...

 

 

... and they are indeed "corner-friendly".

Your right, and they seem to do good in any position in a room. Some would think we kind of have a problem, we usually use larger speakers in a room than normal people do, but were not real good at being normal. 

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19 minutes ago, Horn-player said:
On 9/11/2017 at 10:03 PM, unclefred said:

Good luck with that. Sometimes I think it's all salesmen in here.

It's very unfortunate indeed if this is the case... 

I believe @Chief bonehead is one of the F III's designers, and, perhaps, he could help us here?

I only know of one salesman in here, and he really only gives opinions from what I have seen because he does get to hear each model, nice guy, he would not mislead or push anyone, probably why he is so well respected.  Metropolis lake Outfitters is his forum name. 

 

Roy is the designer of the F lll, but I doubt he could help someone choose between the Cornwall lll and the Forte lll, but he may have a personal choice ? :) Both are good, honestly if I had to choose I would want to hear them together which I have not. It's two different sounds, and people have different likes, it's that simple. I would not want that responsibility to decide what sound someone likes, I can't do that, only you can.

I love both of them, until I hear them together I couldn't decide, so I surely couldn't decide for you, I wish it was that easy. I will say one thing you could be happy with either.

 

 Personally my all time favorite of any speaker I have ever heard is also designed by Roy, the Chief of Boneheads. 

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