Cornwall Quest

[J.L.]

Hello all.... I haven't been coming on The Forum too much these days as life has gotten quite busy as of late, but had to report on a quest that my buddy and I took last week.  I've been wanting and wanting to hear (and see) a pair of Cornwalls for such a long time and finally did it!!!  When we got to the place to check them out, we were treated oh so nicely by the crew at the store and the Cornwalls were new and finished with the Cherry veneer!!!  It was amazing just to stand there and stare at them as they are enormous (and beautiful!!!!)  And the cherry finish.... sheesh....  Anyways, this is where it went downhill....  The very nice man that wrestled them out from where they were located in the room and positioned them for listening, showed me how to access music from a computer source for listening and left my buddy and I alone to audition the Cornwalls.  I played many familiar and unfamiliar selections.  Turned the volume up to a position way past where I thought would be a nice level of listening, and..... no chest thudding bass that I figured would be hitting me somewhat at this only slightly above average level of volume?????  I mean, the vocals were nice and clear and the higher frequency sounds were there too, but..... I just expected a full sound at least..... I've been reading so much online of how the Cornwalls have full sound even at lower volumes and these didn't at low or slightly above average sound levels..... I tried song after song.... songs that I knew had good low end to them and it just wasn't there..... I'm guessing it was because of where the man positioned the speakers in this room, which was about 1/3 of the way out from the back of the room and we sat at the opposite end of the room for listening.  Even with this probably not pristine position of the speakers, I would have thought that the 15 inch speaker would have moved enough air to give that oh so nice low end, but.... no..... And after the audition I spoke with another fellow who worked there who had just gotten his own Cornwalls, and he said that he added a sub to his set-up ??  This baffled me completely as I thought with such a massive speaker (and high sensitivity) that's in the Cornwall, why would anyone need a sub anywhere near this speaker!!!!!!!

Well when I got home and listened to my Klipsch KG 5.5's, I could hear bass.... and this is with the EQ set almost flat....  I know my KG's can't compare to the Cornwalls, but for what I paid for them and what the Cornwalls would cost me, no doubt I'm staying with the KG's..... Oh, and it was, I think, a Luxman(?) amp that was driving the Cornwalls....

[rbrown0678]

Good you got the opportunity to hear the Cornwall, was it the fact that there was a lack of bass that  left you flat and disappointment. Enjoy the experience  and the music from your system. 

[dtel]

Something was wrong, out of phase or something wrong with the thing that was playing the music.

 

I say this besides having Cornwall lll's I have heard the originals outside playing into a field and they had good bass, version 1 2 or 3 have good bass even without optimum positioning. 

 

That's what makes me think something was wrong, my 2 channel speakers are huge and really overkill as is the sub,  so I know what really good bass sounds like and Cornwalls can hold their own, in all of my experiences. 

 

? I don't know what happened ?

[MEH Synergy]

I second that substantial bass response.   My room was overloaded with bass even after pulling them three feet from the back wall, as far as I could get them and a foot away from sidewalls.   With bass eq'd down another 3+ dB they sounded very well balanced and had excellent punch and plumbed the depths well.  I Def wouldn't consider a sub whatsoever in a smaller room and I'm a bass lover 

[ODS123]

who knows, maybe they're just not your cup of tea.  ..it happens.  Of course, it never hurts to make sure he didn't have them connected out of phase or that the tone controls were not zero'd.  ..Beyond that, and sensible positioning within the room of course, there's not much else you can do.  ..I would NOT give much credence to any claims some might make that it could be due to poor synergy b/w the speakers and the Luxman integrated.  That's nonsense IHMO.  ..That's a fine integrated amp that is designed to be linear at any reasonable volume, driving any reasonable speaker.  Again, they just might not be for you.  

 

I love my cornwalls and could not fathom EVER adding a sub.  ..In fact, that's why I didn't even consider La Scala's.  

[Shakeydeal]

Yeah, I vote for "something wrong". I had my cornwalls six feet from the wall behind them and they never failed to deliver "chest thumping" bass. I know this is a stretch, but try to find another demo.

 

Shakey

[J.L.]

Hey, thanks on your input guys!!!  Yeah, I don't know what happened, but the more I think about it, there just had to be something wrong.  I should have mentioned to the the guy that set them up for me what I was hearing and asked if something was connected improperly..... I just can't believe that these beautifully made and highly praised speakers with gigantic drivers in them, would sound so lacking in the bottom end.  I just can't imagine, ODS123, that these speakers just might not be for me.  I wish I could have had all you guys with me at that listening session, because describing sound is so hard to do.  To jump off topic for a second, it reminds me of the time I took my girlfriends father (a retired dairy farmer) to a Guitar Center.  I was looking to buy a new name brand acoustic guitar, and as I played one after another he says to me "what are you hearing that is so different from one guitar to the next??... to me they all sound alike".... and we had a good laugh and I said "well I see your point... they all sound like guitars... but what I'm hearing are many things that distinguish one from another, and not all in good ways".... Then I thought I'd try something, and took him over to where the oh so very nice Martin Guitars were and played a D-41 for him.  And almost instantly he said "now that one I can hear a difference... it really sounds much better than the others"..... and to this I just think that the Cornwall should have sounded better to me.  It should have sounded somewhat better than the KG 5.5's that I'm using now.... And unless they were hooked up out of phase, I can't imagine that anyone would have the adjustments for the tone set so that the bass was that much diminished???  I mean why have a speaker that large if all the sound you were after was one with hardly any bass at all???  If so, I would just purchase one of the very smaller Klipsch speakers then.....  Oh well, I've rambled way too long again on here.... lol....

I just wish I had the knowledge that you guys on this forum have of speakers and amps and pre-amps and such....  I'm pretty limited on this stuff and just go by what my ears tell me....

[hsosdrummer]

I'd bet serious $$$ that he accidentally had the polarity on one of the speakers backwards. (Happens to the best of us.) That's all it takes to kill the bass.

[Emile]

For music you should NOT need a sub with these ... specs at https://f072605def1c9a5ef179-a0bc3fbf1884fc0965506ae2b946e1cd.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/product-specsheets/Cornwall-III-Spec-Sheet-v03.pdf ... series 1 and 2 are pretty similar. 34Hz at the low end.  

 

Concur with the "others" ... must have been hooked up wrong ... reverse hook-up cancels waves and makes it sound like a $20 speaker ... they are awesome speakers; unless you upgrade to the "Klipsch Pro Series."

 

Cheers, Emile

[dtel]

17 hours ago, ODS123 said:

who knows, maybe they're just not your cup of tea.  ..it happens.  

Definitely, I agree, but to have poor bass, that made me think there was a problem. Many times people have complained of to much bass for some rooms, we have some in the bedroom, I would not want anymore bass for that room.

[dtel]

13 hours ago, J.L. said:

I mean why have a speaker that large if all the sound you were after was one with hardly any bass at all???  If so, I would just purchase one of the very smaller Klipsch speakers then..... 

Exactly, your right.

 

And you know what maby even set up correctly it may not be for you ?

But what you said is true, a cabinet that size ported and a 15" woofer has got to make some decent bass no matter what, that's a good size cabinet. If you like it only you will know, just don't give up just yet. Even with the worst possible room I would think you would have had what you called "full sound " easily, maby boomy muddy bass in that room but not a lack of bass.

 

We will see if you listen again, good luck.

[pzannucci]

The key is what does "almost flat" on the current speakers mean.  3-4 db is a lot of power and that's typically just a little bit of an add.  That speaking to a reference point.

 

They may have been hooked up wrong and positioned way wrong for what is accustomed to.

 

I've owned Cornwall II's and listened to different Cornwalls on a number of occasions and I could never say they were lacking bass, even in my younger years when on my own electronics I wouldn't listen flat.

 

6 hours ago, dtel said:

And you know what maby even set up correctly it may not be for you ?

But what you said is true, a cabinet that size ported and a 15" woofer has got to make some decent bass no matter what, that's a good size cabinet. If you like it only you will know, just don't give up just yet. Even with the worst possible room I would think you would have had what you called "full sound " easily, maby boomy muddy bass in that room but not a lack of bass.

 

Agreed though there are a lot of 15" speakers (pro world) that are lacking bass though Cornwall is not one of them.