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Old Cornwalls


markw

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I've had my Cornwalls for quite a while and I'm trying to determine their age. I've been told 1968 by the previous owner - college roomate whose wife said they were too big. When did Klipsch stop "pairing" the speakers (i.e. one w/ tweeter/mid in upper left and one w/ tweeter/mid in upper right ? Everything I've seen has the horns mounted horizontally downn the center.

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thanks for the info.

Yes, this is the layout of my speakers (if this works)

/ = 77,

/

/ = 55,

/

------------- -------------

/// / / ///

/ / / / / /

/ / / / / /

/ -- / / -- /

/ / \ / / / \ /

/ < > / / < > /

/ \ / / / \ / /

/ -- / / -- /

/--- --- ---/ /--- --- ---/

------------- -------------

There's a PWK Logo in the same corner as the tweeter that is alwasys supposed to be up and out (if you want to lay them on their side.

BTW what's alnico? and 'B'?

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Mark, see attachment of sketch I did. Are your vintage Cornwalls similar to my sketch?

From what HDBRbuilder explained to me, you have a Special Order pair of CWs originally classified as Cornwall II that had verticle midrange and tweeter horns. Are the Klipsch nameplates on the same sides as the tweeters, and are they just the PWK emblems with a large "V" under the initials?

I think I saw an old black & white photo of these special order CWs a while back...do you happen to have any digital photos of your vintage CWs that you can share with us? I'd love to see what these CWs really look like!

Bet they sound great! 1.gif

I wouldn't trade mine in for the world. 2.gif

post-11084-13819246191348_thumb.jpg

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cw_compare.jpg

Allan Songer's 68 vert mounted horns with the aftermarket ALK crossover (Alnico woofer too). Crossover mounted on front baffle. The vert horns are purported to produce better imaging. The right Cornwalls are my unmodified 77 with original oil crossover, Alnico K55 and K77, and Mud Magnet woofer.

I always thought one good mod for the vert Cornwalls would be to move the crossover to the side or base to bring even less vibration. The front baffle placement brings the most vibration. This would necessitate a re-wire to the drivers, altogether a good thing. Still, bone stock, these are amazing speakers. The oil crossovers are VERY nice on their own with the ALK offering a different take. Last time I talked to Allan, he was running the oils again. They are very smooth and natural sounding.

kh

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So that's the innards to the Cornwalls. I never bothered to open 'em up since I got custody of them from my little brother (had to trade my Magnepans in for the CWs...now I know why my dad bought these Cornwalls way back in '79; wisest decision I ever made). 2.gif

So I assume, kh, that my all-original CWs look the same as yours (wow, we have something in common)...I like what I hear, even with my old Carver SD/A-450 CD player (not the tubed SD/A-490t), which I want to replace very soon. I love my 50 WPC McIntosh MC250...sure, it's solid-state, but it's the closest to sounding like tubes (to my untrained ears) with its Autoformers. In the near future, I'll purchase another vacuum tube preamp (just not from AMC), but for now, my system relaxes me, especially when I'm playing "Enigma³: Le roi est mort, vive le roi" like I...am...now...ZZZZZZZ! 5.gif

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That's pretty similar. I had forgotten they do say Cornwall II on the back. Unfortunately, they suffered smoke damage in my friend's apartment (window unit caught fire while he was out) and they were refinished, so original sticker is all but gone now. 8.gif I'll post photos this evening. Thnks for the info. I'll also open them up to find out about the insides.

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Thank for everyone's help & input (my wife's a little freaked by the way I've geeked out since I found this site) Here's a collage of some of the pictures I took today. I have better (bigger) versions if anyone wants to see them.

Clockwise from top left:

1)Front shot

2)Rear Shot (the blank square as I remember had arrows pointing Up and Out indicating how the speaker could be placed. (if the speakers were laid on their side, you switched right and left)

3)close up of QC label - I can make out the Model (C-HR-15) and "Cornwall II" - I could swear I see (and remember) a hand-written date of '69

Note: My college roommate had these at school in 1990. He bought them from a (much) older student who previously was a DJ. While he had them the labels were fine, and I'm almost positive they were dated xx-xx-69. Later, in grad school, his apartment caught fire while he was out and ruined most everything. The Cornwalls were just snoke-damaged and had to be refinished, which is why I can no longer read the labels. After he married in 93, his wife deemed the speakers too big and that is how I got them.11.gif

4)PWK logo (w/top view of K-horn at bottom)

5)Original K-77M tweeter from 2K291

6)Replaced K-77??? tweeter in 2K290 (replaced about the time I purchaed them)

7)Original K-55V driver (same in both)

8)Original K-33P woofer (same in both)

9/10) closeup of network components (can anyone shed light?)

11)Entire view of crossover network

12)Full inside view of speaker.

Anyway that's what she looks like1.gif Hope it helps someone and thanks again for your insight.

Cheers,

Mark

post-11417-13819246191688_thumb.jpg

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Mark,

Both of your tweeters have been replaced over time...they are K-77M (ferrite slurry ceramic magnets)models, whereas the originals would have been K-77 models(Alnico magnets). It also appears your woofers have been replaced sometime since the speakers were originally built...the original woofers would have been K-33 or K-33E woofers. These changes in no way take away from the performance of your Cornwall II models...it just means they were replaced by later tweeter and woofer models. It appears your midrange drivers are original though...in either case your midrange drivers are K-55V models with Alnico magnets. Be proud that your Cornwalls are mirror-imaged in their motorboards, because that was how they were intended to be sold in stereo pairs...for your Cornwall II models. Fact is...many folks bought these out of dealers, and never got the mirror-image match because dealers often didn't pay atention to this as for the consecutive serial numbering of MATCHED STEREO PAIRS...but instead only checked the match of the woodgrain to determine pairs when they sold them....causing some purchasers to end up with pairs of these with identical motorboard configurations, instead of mirror-imaged ones....as they were intended to be sold. Your logos are also the correct original "PWK pie-slice" logos for the period in which your Cornwalls were made...these are nearly impossible to find nowadays...and the company has not had them for replacement for a very long time now...so if they fall off, don't lose them!!...and get them glued back on as soon as possible!!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just wanted to send a thank you to all who helped.

a BIG thanks to Trey Cannon who dug through the log books for me.

The final tally:

Cornwall II's - 2K290/291 model C-HR-15

Date of manufacture: Feb 7, 1972

C- Cornwall

HR - horizontal (parallel to long edge) Raw finish.

Shipped w/K-33-p, K-55-v, and K-77

#17 grills.

So to date, both tweeters have been replaced with K-77M

all else is stock.

Thanks again for the help.

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