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New member, first time post, and a Cornwall build


Onebean

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First off, hello and thank you for access to this forum. I look forward to reading and learning about Klipsch products, and all the related topics. I'm a big fan of tube gear and high efficiency speakers, and I'm pretty pumped about having a pair of Cornwalls (my first pair of Klipsch speakers). 

 

I built my first SET tube amps nearly 20 years ago from Bottlehead Paramour kits. Over the years I added all the Bottlehead upgrades, along with cobalt output transformers, and Auricap capacitors. I ran these for years on a DIY set of Pi4 speakers. For many years my system consisted of Bottlehead  Foreplay, Seduction, and Paramours. This system introduced me to real hifi, and I quickly figured out what the love for analog sources was all about. I always believed the limited bass responce from the Pi4's was related to the SET amps not having the ability to reproduce bass with authority. The internet seemed to support my theory, so I added subs and a solid state amp to drive them. 

 

As my family grew, I lost the space this system was set up in, as it became a home theater space to watch movies and TV. I sold the Pi4's, and packed away the rest of my tube gear. About 4 years ago, I got swept up in vintage solid state gear, and acquired a few nice pieces to mess with. Eventually this lead me down the path of vintage tube gear, and my system was getting better and better. I decided to give my Paramours another listen, this time with my 90db efficient ADS L880's. I nearly fell out of my chair. Deep tight bass, beautiful mids, and clean highs. I listened to this system for months, and really enjoyed it. Then I ended up with a few vintage EL84 tube amps, and really liked those too. Surprisingly, the 3.5 watt 2A3 SET amp didn't give up anything to speak of, in terms of volume, in my small room. 

 

Since I built my Paramours, I dreamed of owning a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls. This week, my dream came partially true, when I purchased a set of Cornwall 1 components, stripped from damaged cabinets. Now I'm preparing to build a set of cabinets for these components. I'll speak in more detail about the build in another thread, because I do have some questions, and I'm looking for some guidance.  

 

Onebean      

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@Onebean

 

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new project.  Cornwalls as your first Klipsch set is the way to go!  The difference in quality and (ahem) volume levels will astonish you.

 

ttiwwop.gif  Come on, we want to see the current setup, and pics of the parts!

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Welcome, sounds like you have a great plan.

 

One thing if the parts were from an older Cornwall you might want to replace the old caps, just back to the original specs would be fine. 

Have fun

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3 hours ago, Onebean said:

I dreamed of owning a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls

Welcome to the forum.  Congrats on the Cornwalls - hope the build will be fairly easy for you :) CW1's were my first Klipsch speakers ... haha, over 30 years ago :D  You'll find out that you will try other Klipsch speakers also :) 

Cheers, Emile

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1 hour ago, dtel said:

Welcome, sounds like you have a great plan.

 

One thing if the parts were from an older Cornwall you might want to replace the old caps, just back to the original specs would be fine. 

Have fun

dtel, thanks for the tip. I was looking at the Crites cross over kit last night. Seems like I read about a lot of folks updating crossovers with Crites kits. 

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2 hours ago, Oicu812 said:

@Onebean

 

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on your new project.  Cornwalls as your first Klipsch set is the way to go!  The difference in quality and (ahem) volume levels will astonish you.

 

ttiwwop.gif  Come on, we want to see the current setup, and pics of the parts!

Pictures to come. The components are still in transit to me. I do have 2 sheets of plywood in the back of my truck, but they aren't much fun to look at. I'm also waiting to take delivery of a track saw I ordered last week. I hope that simplifies the cabinet construction. Once the components arrive, I'll start a build thread.  

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2 minutes ago, Onebean said:

Pictures to come. The components are still in transit to me. I do have 2 sheets of plywood in the back of my truck, but they aren't much fun to look at. I'm also waiting to take delivery of a track saw I ordered last week. I hope that simplifies the cabinet construction. Once the components arrive, I'll start a build thread.  

 

Very nice, and I believe a track saw will help you tremendously. 

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3 minutes ago, Onebean said:

Pictures to come. The components are still in transit to me. I do have 2 sheets of plywood in the back of my truck, but they aren't much fun to look at. I'm also waiting to take delivery of a track saw I ordered last week. I hope that simplifies the cabinet construction. Once the components arrive, I'll start a build thread.  

Welcome to the forum and hope the build goes great.  What plywood did you choose to build with?

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It's called Tigerply. It's got 11 plys with red oak veneer on one side, and maple veneer on the other side, so 13 plys total. The plys look nice and tight, like baltic birch cabinet plywood. Fingers crossed that I don't saw into it and find a bunch of voids. I pulled it out of the scratch and dent pile at Menards today, for $20 a sheet. I can cut off the bad edges easy, and maple veneer looks good. One sheet has a bad spot on the oak veneer side, but I'll just put it to the inside.   

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1 hour ago, Onebean said:

I was looking at the Crites cross over kit last night.

I would get the one that just brings the crossover back to normal, no other changes, that's just my idea I like a speaker how it was designed.

 

36 minutes ago, Onebean said:

It's called Tigerply. It's got 11 plys with red oak veneer on one side, and maple veneer on the other side, so 13 plys total. The plys look nice and tight, like baltic birch cabinet plywood. Fingers crossed that I don't saw into it and find a bunch of voids. I pulled it out of the scratch and dent pile at Menards today, for $20 a sheet. I can cut off the bad edges easy, and maple veneer looks good. One sheet has a bad spot on the oak veneer side, but I'll just put it to the inside.   

You got lucky, I built my bass bins and started with Lowes Red Oak plywood, 8 ply for $50 a sheet. I built 4 bass bins but after the first one I switched to home depot because the same plywood at the same price was 13 ply, maby more.

 

This was both you can see the difference, you got a steal. That will make a nice solid cabinet. :emotion-21: Both are 3/4" RedOak on both sides.

mwm (22).JPG

mwm 2.jpg

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@Onebean

 

Welcome!  I'm the newb in the bunch...

I bought an entry level pair of bookshelf speakers. A little over a year ago.  Liked them, and got on here to see what/where was up... everything. Was looking for CWs when these LaScalas jumped up.... Satisfied... Oh yeah... except now I need to outfit all of my listening areas with Klipsch.

beware

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14 minutes ago, Onebean said:

I couldn't find a cart fast enough when I saw them. I think regular price was near $65 a sheet. They were in the scratch and dent pile for a reason, but they should work great for me. 

I don't blame you, great price. I never had a choice I needed whole sheets, 12 total, got a few at a time.

10 minutes ago, Onebean said:

 

I had a bout with cancer about 12 years ago, and I only have one kidney now. 

Glad your past that now, good for you.

8 minutes ago, WillyBob said:

Welcome!  I'm the newb in the bunch...

Not so much anymore, your past that and besides your odd enough to fit in right off. :emotion-21:

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