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Klipsch Cornwall’s from 1977 questions


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Hey all, had a couple questions. So the speakers sound great and the crossovers look good, so... should I leave them alone to keep them original or should I do some Crites upgrades to them? 

Also... I use my Luxman R115 plenty of power to push them, would it benefit the sound at all to add a power amp for more clean power? Would I get a better sound? Thanks for any help Tom 

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15 minutes ago, Tony Whitlow said:


Tom, if your Cornwalls sound great don’t fix what ain’t broke. Just enjoy. My LaScalas are 46 years old and my Heresys are 41 years old. Still sound great and never been touched.


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Thanks! People are divided on upgrading or leaving alone, prob keep them original as long as I can until I need to repair something. 

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I view recapping the crossovers as similar to new spark plugs in a classic car. The car is still original, just now runs as originally designed and intended.  

The caps go out of spec after that long. The new ones should last about as long. As for me, I would prefer to start hearing the improved sound as soon as possible. By the time the new caps need replacing, I will be over 100 and staring at the microwave saying it sounds as good as the day I got them.

BUT, if it sounds good....

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3 hours ago, MookieStl said:

I view recapping the crossovers as similar to new spark plugs in a classic car. The car is still original, just now runs as originally designed and intended

 

I concur.  To include even points, condenser, distributor cap, and maybe wires.  Nobody would expect any of those items to still be factory original on a car that was actually used.

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I have no idea who MS code belonged to...maybe that was one of the sanders in the sanding room.  There should be a pair of initials either above or below those two initials, but sometimes they got aggressive in the sanding room and they will be very faint....or filled-in with wood putty.  Yes, the sanders sanded the rear edges of the panels...sometimes totally removing the codes for the builders.  Did you check both speakers??  I was the primary builder of all the Cornwalls and also the birch Heresy speakers from early 1977 until I left in September 1983.  Other people also built them, normally when I was taking a day of vacation off!  I also built some of the miter-jointed finely veneered Heresy speakers at times...if there was a need they threw me over there, since I was normally way ahead of the sanding room...with lots of speaker cabinets waiting to be sanded.  In early 1977 mitered Heresy cabinets were still assembled using chain clamps.....mitered Cornwall cabinets were assembled using chain clamps until well after I left.  In 1977, if I was not there on a workday, the Cornwalls were generally built by Ronnie Barham or Charles Horn or both at once.

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3 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

I have no idea who MS code belonged to...maybe that was one of the sanders in the sanding room.  There should be a pair of initials either above or below those two initials, but sometimes they got aggressive in the sanding room and they will be very faint....or filled-in with wood putty.  Yes, the sanders sanded the rear edges of the panels...sometimes totally removing the codes for the builders.  Did you check both speakers??  I was the primary builder of all the Cornwalls and also the birch Heresy speakers from early 1977 until I left in September 1983.  Other people also built them, normally when I was taking a day of vacation off!  I also built some of the miter-jointed finely veneered Heresy speakers at times...if there was a need they threw me over there, since I was normally way ahead of the sanding room...with lots of speaker cabinets waiting to be sanded.  In early 1977 mitered Heresy cabinets were still assembled using chain clamps.....mitered Cornwall cabinets were assembled using chain clamps until well after I left.  In 1977, if I was not there on a workday, the Cornwalls were generally built by Ronnie Barham or Charles Horn or both at once.

I will check again to see if I am missing something, it was a bit dark and I looked quick before work, let me see if I can find out for you. You can text me if you like and I can send some pics of them, Tom 716-361=1667.

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I think caps should be changed. There is no way the originals are even close to spec. its not that hard to do. You can keep the originals if you think you might want to put them back in but I bet you wont after you hear how much better they sound. Do one then do a mono comparison test then just turn the balance knob back forth to hear each one.

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1 hour ago, ricktate said:

I think caps should be changed. There is no way the originals are even close to spec. its not that hard to do. You can keep the originals if you think you might want to put them back in but I bet you wont after you hear how much better they sound. Do one then do a mono comparison test then just turn the balance knob back forth to hear each one.

Thanks, do you think that would de value the speakers at all by not being 100% original?

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