labios Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 First post but I have often read the forums here. I had a saved search for Cornwalls for a year or so on Bay Area Craigslist before I jumped on a pair at a very good price. Now after almost 2 years I am ready to overhaul them with all the relevant Crites upgrades and refinish the cabs. Bob Crites (who has been very patient with my parts questions over email) pointed out that my mine were not, as they are labeled, "Cornwall II" but actually a relatively rare pair of Cornwall I with vertically oriented horns from 1972 that were just called "Cornwall II" at that time. My question for the community here is about the model code on the back. OK, the C is for Cornwall, but the "DR 15" part doesn't match up with any of the explanations for these I have seen. There is also the distinct possibility that I may be a little dim in this area. I want to refinish the cabinets, but they have been stained pretty dark and I am not sure it will sand off. Or perhaps it was on there to begin with? I don't think they were Decorators because they have grills. That's where I am confused. Wondering what these were originally. Aesthetically, the goal is to model them after the recent Cornwall III Special Editions, if possible. Whether the cabinets can be sanded and stained or if they will need new veneer to get there is TBD. I have a call into the gentleman who worked on these cabinets as I have long admired his work on those. Grill cloth from DuraCrest will be the last chapter. Here are some pics. Incidentally, they were only set up like that in the garage for about 45 minutes the day I got them, I don't usually put an amp on top of a speaker nor is a TV tray a great spot for a heavy Thorens turntable . Thanks in advance and I will post pics along the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSport Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 are yours Vertical Cornwalls (IIs)???...I don't believe those are of the right vintage to be the newer Cornwall IIs... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 welcome to the forum C-DR-15 stands for Cornwall - Decorator Raw - 15" woofer. Decorator models came without grills and the Raw means unfinished plywood ( fir i believe ) someone at a later date added grill cloth and the moulding and the stain and maybe even veneer usually verticals have 2 arrows painted red on the back panel to orient which way to set them up. stand straight up or lay them down on their sides klipsch put out the 2nd version of the 11's back in late 1985 and early 1986 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron167 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 First post but I have often read the forums here. I had a saved search for Cornwalls for a year or so on Bay Area Craigslist before I jumped on a pair at a very good price. Now after almost 2 years I am ready to overhaul them with all the relevant Crites upgrades and refinish the cabs. Bob Crites (who has been very patient with my parts questions over email) pointed out that my mine were not, as they are labeled, "Cornwall II" but actually a relatively rare pair of Cornwall I with vertically oriented horns from 1972 that were just called "Cornwall II" at that time. My question for the community here is about the model code on the back. OK, the C is for Cornwall, but the "DR 15" part doesn't match up with any of the explanations for these I have seen. There is also the distinct possibility that I may be a little dim in this area. I want to refinish the cabinets, but they have been stained pretty dark and I am not sure it will sand off. Or perhaps it was on there to begin with? I don't think they were Decorators because they have grills. That's where I am confused. Wondering what these were originally. Aesthetically, the goal is to model them after the recent Cornwall III Special Editions, if possible. Whether the cabinets can be sanded and stained or if they will need new veneer to get there is TBD. I have a call into the gentleman who worked on these cabinets as I have long admired his work on those. Grill cloth from DuraCrest will be the last chapter. Here are some pics. Incidentally, they were only set up like that in the garage for about 45 minutes the day I got them, I don't usually put an amp on top of a speaker nor is a TV tray a great spot for a heavy Thorens turntable [emoji4] . Thanks in advance and I will post pics along the way! Bob Crites has it right. They are the original Cornwall II's with vertical horns. A bit confusing, but not the later II's as mentioned. I have a similar pair. Go with Mr. Crites' recommendations. And good luck with the refinish project! Please keep us updated with your progress!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 On 7/18/2018 at 7:54 AM, baron167 said: Bob Crites has it right. They are the original Cornwall II's with vertical horns. A bit confusing, but not the later II's as mentioned. I have a similar pair. Go with Mr. Crites' recommendations. And good luck with the refinish project! Please keep us updated with your progress! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk edit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDBRbuilder Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 CDR-15 means Cornwall, Decorator, Raw (sanded but no finish applied) with 15" woofer. If I remember correctly, the "decorator" models went from marine-grade fir plywood to Birch plywood in the latter half of the 1960's, and at that time (or thereabout), the designation was changed to CDBR meaning Cornwall Decorator Birch Raw. Keep in mind that things would change but it may be awhile after the changes went into effect before the speaker designation changed on labels back in those days...it was what it was! Throughout the 1960's, especially the latter half of that decade, there were numerous changes being made, and speakers originally designed to be supplementary speakers got changed the most as the "powers that were" realized the they were the "bread and butter" of the company's income due MOSTLY to their affordability...so changes leaned towards them acquiring "main speaker status" instead of just remaining as supplementary speakers....with upgrades to the performance of those models occurring often in order to improve their performance as "mains". Klipsch depended upon "word-of-mouth" advertising more-so than any other speaker company, IMHO, and improving the performance of the models originally designed as supplementary speakers just improved that "word-of-mouth" advertising...because, for instance, somebody buys Heresys because they are more affordable than K-horns, and friends come over to have a listen...common sense dictates that those friends who arrive need to have as complete a "Klipsch experience" as possible...so upgrade the speakers to give that to them...pretty simple! And the word-of-mouth grew and grew! As did the sales of the lower-priced models in the line-up..."bread and butter" is what it is all about!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron167 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 decorator cornwall on the right and vertical on the left I'm familiar. Are you familiar with the decorator vertical Cornwall II?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 the one on the left was a decorator vertical cornwall 11 and the previous owner veneered them in teak and added cane grills. the clear ( very rare ) pie slice logo's were in a bag stapled to the rear panel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron167 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 the one on the left was a decorator cornwall 11 and the previous owner veneered them in teak and added cane grills. the clear ( very rare ) pie slice logo's were in a bag stapled to the rear panelAh, nice. I didn't follow that the one on the left was redone.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-js- Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 my '72 KWR are # 2K655 & 656. I find it interesting that OP's pair, # 2K414 & 415 got CW II labels but that mine, numbered 2K655 & 56 got CW I labels. to paraphrase what Andy @HDBRbuilder said above, I guess it was what it was? at any rate, I absolutely love mine!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labios Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 8 hours ago, silversport said: are yours Vertical Cornwalls (IIs)???...I don't believe those are of the right vintage to be the newer Cornwall IIs... Bill Yes, that is what I meant when I wrote "my mine were not, as they are labeled, "Cornwall II" but actually a relatively rare pair of Cornwall I with vertically oriented horns from 1972 that were just called "Cornwall II" at that time" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labios Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 2 hours ago, Budman said: the one on the left was a decorator vertical cornwall 11 and the previous owner veneered them in teak and added cane grills. I love the cane grills! 8 hours ago, Budman said: welcome to the forum C-DR-15 stands for Cornwall - Decorator Raw - 15" woofer. Decorator models came without grills and the Raw means unfinished plywood ( fir i believe ) someone at a later date added grill cloth and the moulding and the stain and maybe even veneer usually verticals have 2 arrows painted red on the back panel to orient which way to set them up. stand straight up or lay them down on their sides klipsch put out the 2nd version of the 11's back in late 1985 and early 1986 Thank youfor that info, it is just what I have been looking for. On top of the I/II/Vertical thing, the confusing variable has been trying to figure out what was up with my grills and that makes sense I guess. Although they do use the original black cane grill material and have the pie logos. The person I bought them from got hem from his dad, the original owner. It seems odd that he could have had those grills made using the real parts way back when. They look just like all the other ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 labios, do your grills come off and does your set have the 2 red arrows on the back usually they just staple the cloth to the front and add a screen molding over the edges to hide the staples you could buy the original cloth for them directly from klipsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labios Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) 51 minutes ago, Budman said: labios, do your grills come off and does your set have the 2 red arrows on the back usually they just staple the cloth to the front and add a screen molding over the edges to hide the staples you could buy the original cloth for them directly from klipsch No, the grill frames do not come off. I was trying to figure out if that was because they had been on so long and the stain was applied so it sealed them. I didn't want to pry them off and break something and since I don't know anyone else who owns a pair like this to compare, I haven't tried. They are in my storage space for the moment, but now that I am ready for the refinishing etc I can really try to take them off. I don't remember seeing any red arrows either but I will check again when I get them out this week. Edited July 18, 2018 by labios spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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