Currently own Chorus I, found Cornwall IIs for $850 - worth the upgrade?

[roughlytraded]

I'm currently running a set of Chorus I with Crites tweeters upgrades paired with a Marantz 2230 and have been very happy with this combination. But I always keep my eyes out for deals and found a set of local mint Cornwall IIs unmodified for $850. Do you guys think it's worth it for me to upgrade? I mostly listen to soul, jazz, and rock on vinyl. Thanks for your input! 

[-js-]

a pair of mint, Cornwall IIs for $850?!?  my thinking - how can you NOT give them a try?!?  I don't track them closely, but @wvu80 does. maybe he will chime in.  but I gave more than that for my pair, VG shape, with a few updates, but I'm still a happy camper.  I've never heard the Chorus but I have heard they are a great speaker. maybe more bass than the CW (do the Chorus have a rear passive?  that may be why)  if you do the deal on the CW at that price or close to it, and later decide to pass them along, surely you would at least break even on them.

 

good luck.  keep us posted.  and pix are required (well, not exactly, but we love 'em!)

[mungkiman]

Which generation of Cornwall IIs?

 

[Md5150]

I would keep the Chorus. I've owned Chorus 1 and 2 as well as Cornwall 1 and 2, to my ears the Chorus sounded better. The woofer handles more power. You might like the Cornwalls better but won't know until you hear them both under equal conditions. I would upgrade the Chorus with Crites crossovers and install a DE120 tweeter with the adapter a forum member just started selling. Those would be hard to beat.

[geoff.]

Every now and then an opportunity like this comes up where you get the chance to see what you’re missing.

 

If you don’t think you will have any trouble getting your money back out of the purchase (and I don’t think you will...), you really owe it to yourself to give it a whirl. Nothing to lose but the time spent playing with them!

 

The bass on the Cornwall II goes significantly lower than that of the Chorus 1 and you can swap your Ti tweeters from the Chorus as they are the same in both models.

 

You might end up keeping both, lol.

 

...until you get LaScalas... who keeps saying that?!

[Emile]

Cornwall II's for $850?  BIG bargain ...get them!  The CW's have better bass ... if you (haha; prob the wife) can live with the bigger cabinets it's a "no-brainer." And you can sell the Chorus for $700-$850 or the CW's for a $1000+ if you change your mind  

Cheers, Emile

[K5SS]

This opportunity is a great example of what makes this hobby so great! Go get em’! 

[wvu80]

18 hours ago, -js- said:

a pair of mint, Cornwall IIs for $850?!?  my thinking - how can you NOT give them a try?!?  I don't track them closely, but @wvu80 does. maybe he will chime in.

I just saw your notice, sorry to be so late in responding.

 

Cornwall II average $961 with ten samples, but that average might be a little skewed to the low side due to some "deals" one of which went for $450.  The highest price I have recorded is $1200 and those were in B condition (like a report card ABCDF).  I don't show any that were in A condition.

 

BTW the Chorus I's average around $500.

 

I haven't heard either speaker but it sounds like several guys directly upstream ^^^ have.

[Md5150]

3 hours ago, Emile said:

  The CW's have better bass ... 

 

They might go lower but I certainly wouldn't say they have better bass. In my experience Chorus bass hits you in the chest harder. The woofers handle alot more power and to my ears sound clearer in the 150-500hz range, and they take up less space. The only way for him to really find out is to compair them in his room. If you can buy the CW without selling the Chorus I would, you really can't go wrong for 850 and you can have fun doing the comparison. I just wouldn't sell the Chorus to buy the CW,  you might regret it and have to hunt down another pair of Chorus. To often I have made the mistake of selling what I have to buy something else only to regret it. 

[jjptkd]

If they are the mid '80's Cornwall II I really don't think there would be all that much difference between the two as they have the same exact mid and tweeter. I'm in the camp of if you have the means to grab them and try them out for yourself I would do it that's really the only way you're going to know for sure and at that price you should be able to move them right along without losing anything but a little bit of time if they turn out to be not for you. 

 

Of course you could always keep both pairs and run a quadriphonic sound system that would be cool!

[Dave A]

19 hours ago, roughlytraded said:

I'm currently running a set of Chorus I with Crites tweeters upgrades paired with a Marantz 2230 and have been very happy with this combination. But I always keep my eyes out for deals and found a set of local mint Cornwall IIs unmodified for $850. Do you guys think it's worth it for me to upgrade? I mostly listen to soul, jazz, and rock on vinyl. Thanks for your input! 

I have a pair of Chorus I's in my shop right now with recapped crossovers a tweeter upgrade and there is no way any of the stock Cornwalls that have come through here would touch it. Now I suppose the same upgrades could be done to the Cornwall but for my taste the bass in the Chorus is more precise and sounds less like a boomy Cornwall box to me.

[jjptkd]

1 hour ago, Dave A said:

for my taste the bass in the Chorus is more precise and sounds less like a boomy Cornwall box to me.

 

Yes I agree I recently had Chorus 1's and Chorus II's in my room and thought the 1's bass (while slightly less prominent at lower volumes than the II's) was noticeably cleaner less boomy and more realistic sounding especially with drums and bass guitar.

 

It's hard to judge what another person will think of a speaker though IMO as each one will sound different based on room / placement, equipment, type of music and of course the old personal taste etc which is why I always try and encourage people to try things out for themselves.

 

Room and placement are huge factors a lot people may not even realize I have moved a handful of times over the years and have helped at least a dozen or so people set up equipment and I can tell you the same exact set up can sound amazing in one house / room and like complete crap in another. 

[moray james]

just a reminder that the Chorus is the upgrade replacement by Klipsch to the Cornwall ll. The Chorus ll has a better mid horn design. The Chorus is a smaller volume cabinet and has a high power pro woofer which responds very well to power and with a large amp will not fail to impress. If on the other hand you want to run small low power SET amps for example a Cornwall is a better option.

[314carpenter]

On 8/23/2018 at 11:44 AM, moray james said:

The Chorus is a smaller volume cabinet and has a high power pro woofer which responds very well to power and with a large amp will not fail to impress. 

I found this to be true when I doubled my amplifier power. Beforehand I never expected to notice the response to be so highly impacted in such a sensitive speaker which typically draws very few watts over long time frames, but in shorter bursts, OH YEAH! The beast comes out with large power amps.

[J M O N]

It's going to depend on your personal preferences.  Some prefer the Cornwall, others prefer the Chorus.  I've owned Cornwall I, Cornwall II, and Chorus II. I prefer the Cornwalls -- they sound more musical to me.

 

While it is true that the Chorus replaced the Cornwall. The Chorus (either versions) is no longer made, while the Cornwall was brought back and is currently in production.

[Dave A]

On 8/27/2018 at 12:03 AM, JMON said:

It's going to depend on your personal preferences.  Some prefer the Cornwall, others prefer the Chorus.  I've owned Cornwall I, Cornwall II, and Chorus II. I prefer the Cornwalls -- they sound more musical to me.

 

While it is true that the Chorus replaced the Cornwall. The Chorus (either versions) is no longer made, while the Cornwall was brought back and is currently in production.

I think part of that is the idea the Chorus was cheaper and enough consider it better and for Klipsch's bottom line I suspect they did not want to create competition for the Cornwalls. Both ended in 1990 as far as I can tell and until the Cornwall was relaunched in 2006 neither were made. Not much cost difference to produce but I bet the Cornwall looks better to number crunchers.

[moray james]

On 8/28/2018 at 1:19 AM, Dave A said:

I think part of that is the idea the Chorus was cheaper and enough consider it better and for Klipsch's bottom line I suspect they did not want to create competition for the Cornwalls. Both ended in 1990 as far as I can tell and until the Cornwall was relaunched in 2006 neither were made. Not much cost difference to produce but I bet the Cornwall looks better to number crunchers. 

The Chorus and Chorus ll driver use a more expensive and higher quality driver than the K33 used in the CW, aside from that the smaller Chorus cabinet is going to be a little less expensive than the CW to make and ship. By the time the Chorus ll came along with a fifteen inch passive the cost of the Chorus ll must have been creeping up toward the CW in terms of build cost. The Chorus was the replacement for the CW it was very popular and at the time outsold the CW. I think that bringing back the CW was to boost the Heritage aspect of the Klipsch line and was for marketing purposes and not a step forward in loudspeaker design, add to that the re surge in SET amplifier sales at the time remembering that CW work well with small tube amps having been designed for that in the first place.

[rplace]

I've owned Chorus I and had lots of ear time on CWs. I personally prefer the Chorus but believe I am in the minority

 

the only reason I got rid of the C1 was because I fond Khorns locally. I could have lived with the C1s forever. . The CWs are really, really good at making all recordings sound good, even lesser recordings sound better on CWs than some other Klipsch like KH/LS/Belle.

 

I agree with the others that if they are local, and you have the $$$ handy you should get them and decide. In the end you could keep either and only be out your time. Or like most of us do...keep both.

[J M O N]

On 8/28/2018 at 2:19 AM, Dave A said:

I think part of that is the idea the Chorus was cheaper and enough consider it better and for Klipsch's bottom line I suspect they did not want to create competition for the Cornwalls. Both ended in 1990 as far as I can tell and until the Cornwall was relaunched in 2006 neither were made. Not much cost difference to produce but I bet the Cornwall looks better to number crunchers. 

I can't say anything about the cost to manufacture, but I do recall when both models were available at the same time at my local dealer.  The Chorus was actually priced slightly higher.  I don't know when production of the Chorus I ended but the Chorus II continued well into the mid-to-late 90's.