Cornwall Garage Find - But What Are They?

[rickriley]

I had posted this in ‘General Questions’ but wasn’t getting much response, so I’m reposting here.

 

A friend of a friend recently passed away and since I’m the only one my friend knew that had worked on Klipsch speakers (recently restored some Klipschorns) he wanted to know if I’d be interested in what this person had in his garage.

 

Two sets of Cornwalls. Don’t know the date they were made as serial numbers on the newer ones were blacked out and tags for the factory on the older ones were pretty well gone.

 

I don’t need them. I would just be purchasing them to refurbish and sell. When I refurbished the corner horns I bought tweeters, mid-range drivers and crossovers from Bob Crites. I’ve been extremely happy with the performance and would be willing to update these as well, but should I?

 

What I would like to know.

 

·  What era are they are from?

·  What I should pay for the set of four or should I just get two?

·  What expense I should look at in updates?

·  What I would get for them on the market?

·  Is there is even a demand?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[dtr20]

They are Cornwall 1s. The ones with arrows on the back are "Cornwall 2s". They can be played standing up or on their side, the arrows designate this. The reason why I out Cornwall 2 in quotations is because they are really Cornwall 1 but they wanted a new designation when they made the Cornwall verticals. Years later, they came out with the true Cornwall IIs.

[rickriley]

15 minutes ago, dtr20 said:

They are Cornwall 1s. The ones with arrows on the back are "Cornwall 2s". They can be played standing up or on their side, the arrows designate this. The reason why I out Cornwall 2 in quotations is because they are really Cornwall 1 but they wanted a new designation when they made the Cornwall verticals. Years later, they came out with the true Cornwall IIs.

 

Thank you!

In the condition they are in, since I can't open the box's up, any idea what you would offer this person for the four?

[dtr20]

It's tough to see the condition of the veneer on the speakers, but that has a ton to do with value. Also for value, do all the drivers work? The only thing that NEEDS to be updated is the capacitors. You can go the Crites route for all the drivers, but for the most part, original drivers tend to be more sought after. If the cabinets are in great condition and the drivers work properly, they can be worth around $1000 give or take a couple hundred per pair. I won't get into the debate on which brand capacitors to get or whereto send the crossovers.

[JRH]

156 and 157 shipped April 10, 1961, and are a couple of the first to have the new style grill (no Shorthorn-esque picture frame), and still have the vertical slot rear port.  To clarify, the "first" Cornwall II designation occurred when the K-1000 horn was replaced with the K-600.  If these still have a horn with the small mouth dimension in the 1 1/2" range, that is the K-1000.  

 

My guess on the newer ones is 1970's based on the signatories.   They clearly have the K-600, but by that time the Cornwall II designation had been dropped.