ImolaRed Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 I'm going to look at these speakers in the next day or so, https://reno.craigslist.org/ele/d/sun-valley-early-klipsch-cornwall/7122349245.html Any tips on what to look for or if these are a good deal, would be appreciated. I have a pair of Heresy II's right now and wouldn't mind something a bit fuller in sound but I've never heard the original Cornwalls so not sure if it's a major upgrade or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImolaRed Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 I get it, I'm a newbie so there wasn't much to offer here jk I'm the proud owner now of a pair of 1974 CDB15 in the ever so sexy fir plywood and black paint........ They've only had 1 owner and have their share of splinted wood in the corners but sound FANTASTIC. My wife almost kicked me out of the house when she saw them but then I put on some recordings of live Dave Mathews (she's not a huge fan but loves their live shows) and she just sat their in amazement, barely got away with this one. I'm no wood or furniture finishing expert but looks to me like these are just plywood that's been painted black? I think Klipsch called it "Theater Black"? So I should be able to fill the chipped areas and sand everything down to refinish? Might just paint black again. Now to research grills too since I have little ones running around. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coytee Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 I like your setup. I would think (had anyone made comment) that the consensus would have been that the Cornwall's would sound better than the Heresy's. You can leave them as is or as I understand, you can lay them on their side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImolaRed Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 Thank you! I'm going to flirt with the idea of flipping them on their side with risers but will probably leave them vertical. They for sure sound better than my Heresy II, not really close in the mids and seems like the highs are clearer without being as harsh as the Heresy can be. I love my Heresy but one thing I didn't like was that I had a hard time getting the soundstage right, so placement was tough. The soundstage on these is another level for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Klipsches Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 Nice! I’ve always wanted to hear, Cornwalls but never had the chance.Quick thinking on increasing their WAF, with a band she likes. If the scratches aren’t too bad, I’ve heard many have had good luck with Kiwi Black shoe polish. I’ve had good luck with crayons. It might be worth a try before a full repaint. Then again those could be beautiful with new veneer. I veneered brand new Walnut RP280Fs to Oak veneer to make my wife happy. They turned out really nice. Your Cornwalls are “Decorator” models (CDB = Cornwall Decorator Black) and didn’t come with Grills. so you’ll be on your own to fabricate them. Many will say you should renew the capacitors, as the old ones may be out of spec after 46 years. I’d say listen for a while then maybe open the backs and at least make sure the old ones aren’t leaking. I’ve recapped Heresys and had it make a big difference; I’ve done on La Scalas and I personally Couldn’t hear any difference. So YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImolaRed Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 58 minutes ago, M_Klipsch said: Nice! I’ve always wanted to hear, Cornwalls but never had the chance.Quick thinking on increasing their WAF, with a band she likes. If the scratches aren’t too bad, I’ve heard many have had good luck with Kiwi Black shoe polish. I’ve had good luck with crayons. It might be worth a try before a full repaint. Then again those could be beautiful with new veneer. I veneered brand new Walnut RP280Fs to Oak veneer to make my wife happy. They turned out really nice. Your Cornwalls are “Decorator” models (CDB = Cornwall Decorator Black) and didn’t come with Grills. so you’ll be on your own to fabricate them. Many will say you should renew the capacitors, as the old ones may be out of spec after 46 years. I’d say listen for a while then maybe open the backs and at least make sure the old ones aren’t leaking. I’ve recapped Heresys and had it make a big difference; I’ve done on La Scalas and I personally Couldn’t hear any difference. So YMMV. The black paint on these is faded pretty bad so something will have to be done, he had almost all the chips of wood in a plastic bag for me! So now I need to do some work there. I've thought about the veneer route, never done anything like it but was thinking of just doing the top and sides and make my own grilles. I'm going to open them up in the next day or so to see what I'm playing with but had planned on buying repair kits for the x-overs just to do a nice overhaul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 I would also urge you to listen to them placed on their sides. Maybe do this before you refinish them. BTW, congratulations on your new acquisition. Good luck, -Tom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Klipsches Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 On 5/18/2020 at 2:34 PM, ImolaRed said: The black paint on these is faded pretty bad so something will have to be done, he had almost all the chips of wood in a plastic bag for me! So now I need to do some work there. I've thought about the veneer route, never done anything like it but was thinking of just doing the top and sides and make my own grilles. I'm going to open them up in the next day or so to see what I'm playing with but had planned on buying repair kits for the x-overs just to do a nice overhaul. I’ll post a pic of the RP280Fs that I redid with oak veneer. It was my first try at veneer and they turned out pretty good. If your wife already likes the way they sound , she will really like them if they look a little nicer. A bit pricier than a repaint but they could look so nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 On 5/18/2020 at 1:31 PM, ImolaRed said: Thank you! I'm going to flirt with the idea of flipping them on their side with risers but will probably leave them vertical. They for sure sound better than my Heresy II, not really close in the mids and seems like the highs are clearer without being as harsh as the Heresy can be. tell you what , take your Heresy II and put them on top of the Cornwalls, and play the 4 speakers at once ------- and tell what you think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 My 1962 vertical Cornwalls have been in my main system for over 30 years. I will never replace them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImolaRed Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 On 5/19/2020 at 10:21 PM, RANDYH said: tell you what , take your Heresy II and put them on top of the Cornwalls, and play the 4 speakers at once ------- and tell what you think Ha! Was one of the first things I tried, loved it. My wife, not so much. I don't blame her really, if these speakers didn't sound so magical I would get rid of them as they look like horrible. I'll probably end up doing veneer on the tops and sides and cover the front with custom grills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImolaRed Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 Replaced the caps today, first time I've ever done anything like that. Trying to stay reasonable with what I'm hearing as the mind can play tricks but the soundstage finally came together on these and seems a lot more focused. Seems like my mids finally came alive too, tight and snappy. Replaced the squawker gaskets too, they were totally fine once I unscrewed them but might as well replace them while I'm there for $2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 5 minutes ago, ImolaRed said: Replaced the caps today, first time I've ever done anything like that. Trying to stay reasonable with what I'm hearing as the mind can play tricks but the soundstage finally came together on these and seems a lot more focused. Seems like my mids finally came alive too, tight and snappy. Replaced the squawker gaskets too, they were totally fine once I unscrewed them but might as well replace them while I'm there for $2. what kind of caps did you put in - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImolaRed Posted June 2, 2020 Author Share Posted June 2, 2020 3 minutes ago, RandyH said: what kind of caps did you put in - Sonicaps from Crites, ordered his kit. I'm sure I could have ordered them on their own but I didn't want to screw anything up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasD. Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 On 6/2/2020 at 3:42 PM, ImolaRed said: Sonicaps from Crites, ordered his kit. I'm sure I could have ordered them on their own but I didn't want to screw anything up. @ImolaRed Following this thread as I will be doing the same later this year with a pair of Vertical C-DR-15's. They'll be my winter project for upgrades & refinishing. Interested to hear your thoughts on Bob's x/o upgrades. Used his x/o's in both my KG4's & Quartets along with Ti tweets, major improvements. These CW's will most likely be my Klipsch 'end game' speakers due to room size constraints, oh and the fact that my wife has divorce paperwork ready if she see's another pair of speakers in the garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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