Capitalcityguy Posted February 8 Author Share Posted February 8 If I get Cornwalls, it will be the 4. Thanks tough, 001 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted February 8 Share Posted February 8 gotcha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalcityguy Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 (edited) I found a deal on a used CW4. Black Ash. So I will have them in my home soon. Excited! I know I know, I should never buy without listening. But looking forward to the discovery. I know that tubes are probably the best amp option, but I love the look of the McIntosh MA8950 integrated amp in my rack, and the 200 watts is probably overkill. I suppose at some point I will just use the preamp section of the 8950 and put a tube amp in the system. Again thanks for the input everyone. Edited February 10 by Capitalcityguy 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Congrats. I bought the CWIV w/o hearing them. But I owned cornwalls before so I knew the general idea of what I was getting. But I wasn’t prepared for how much better they are than what came before them. You are in for a treat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I've purchased all my speakers without hearing them first... probably because once you are sure about what you are looking for it's fairly easy to shop for that thing. Capitalcityguy, you are going to be extremely happy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KT88 Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Congratulations. I would listen to and enjoy the Macintosh at my leisure. You can always buy another amp, a tube amp. But what's wrong with your amp? Even if the CW4 has high sensitivity, it will still thank the amp for its good bass control. So first listen to what you have. And the SQ in all frequency ranges is proverbial with Mcintosh, whether solid state or tube. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalcityguy Posted February 11 Author Share Posted February 11 9 minutes ago, KT88 said: Congratulations. I would listen to and enjoy the Macintosh at my leisure. You can always buy another amp, a tube amp. But what's wrong with your amp? Even if the CW4 has high sensitivity, it will still thank the amp for its good bass control. So first listen to what you have. And the SQ in all frequency ranges is proverbial with Mcintosh, whether solid state or tube. Nothing wrong with my amp, I quite like it and enjoy how it drives the Polks. It should be fine and as I said, I love the looks. Here is an interesting video, Mac mono blocs driving the Cornwalls. Those have way more than 200 wats that mine has. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Cool... That Mac SS should work well. Let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschtastic Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Congrats on the purchase! I love the black with silver grills. I’ve been wondering how the R700 would compare. Waiting for your take on it. No pressure. lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalcityguy Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Cornwall IVs arrive tomorrow. I'm not sure how many hours on them so I don't know if they need more run it time or not. I will post an update in a few days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 7 minutes ago, Capitalcityguy said: Cornwall IVs arrive tomorrow. I'm not sure how many hours on them so I don't know if they need more run it time or not. I will post an update in a few days. Yes man, thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschtastic Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Looking forward to hearing your impressions. Bump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalcityguy Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 (edited) I'm my third night with the CW4s. For starters, they look ***** cool in my room/system, with the grills off. I think my grills are ugly, they are brown or a caramel color. I thought these came with silver grills? Maybe the new ones do, I was going to see if I can buy a set somewhere. I bought this pair used from The Music Room, so I am going to assume this pair has had enough run in time When I first set them up, I roughly plopped them down where I had the Polk R700s. When I started playing tracks I started to immediately get depressed about my purchase. The sound was shouty, hard, clean, bright, hardly any soundstage depth, kind of thin sounding. I was looking for more extension on the guitars, it was there but there was a trade off. For example, on the Beatles Come Together, when the guitar comes in on the part where Johns sings "Come Together Right Now Over Me" it was more forward in the mix on the CW4, but on the Polk,it was thicker and warmer. Darn, I would like to have the the forwardness of the CW4 combined with the thickness and warmth of the Polk. Track after track, I was confirming the Polks are just flat our better speakers for me. Warmer, thicker, better bass and bass texture, more 3D or stage depth. The speakers disappeared on the Polks. On the CW4, most of the sound was coming directly from the boxes and the stage was flat. I thought something had to be off, there is no way these speakers are this bad, I watched all the glowing You Tube reviews and read the forums. After about 30 tracks I got up and pulled the CW4s 1.5 feet forward from where they were and then I towed them in some. Boom! There it is! Now I get it, I see what everyone is excited about on these speakers. I got that alive sound, got the staging, the extension and thickness on the guitars, some decent texture on the bass. I was excited and happy. It was getting late so I lowered the volume for late night listening. They do indeed sound very good at low volumes, but so did the Polks. This morning I damped the midrange horns and the tweeters with dynamat extreme. Boston Audiophile has video on this and said this made them sound smoother and sweater, more natural. I wanted to try it because I have tinnitus. After that I played some tracks to see if the damping did make them sound "better". I honestly can't say for sure. Maybe I didn't spend enough time with these speakers before modding it to really tell a difference. But I will say, it certainly didn't hurt anything. These speakers can change some much with placement. So, I am still experimenting. No doubt I have had some glorious moments with the CW4s so far. I love their live sound, but I am finding with decent volumes I can't hang in there long. I may try perhaps some warmer speaker cables or mess with the equalizer on my McIntosh MA8950 integrated. I'm excited about these speakers potential, still early in the process of getting to know them and their chameleon nature. Are they better than the Polk R700s? I know a lot of audiophiles turn the nose up at Polk, but the R700s to my ears are darn good. At this early stage yes in some ways the CW4s are better and some no. If I can enjoy them turned up a little longer that would really help their cause. Oh, a little side note, I kept reading and hearing the CW4s sound horrible on bad recordings. Sure, but I think they do a better job than most other speakers I have had, the only exception may be the Wharedale Linton I had. Edited February 18 by Capitalcityguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipschtastic Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Interesting observations. I have at times fought with the horns being too much as well. I find that most of the time I need some bass eq for things to sound right. On a really good recording such as Fleetwood Mac ‘Dreams’ or Warren Zevon ‘Werewolves of London’ they sound just right with flat tone controls. I hope you can find what you’re looking for with some more experimentation. If not I may have to get my ears on some Polks. lol. Edit: I just looked your amp. Very nice. 5 band eq will do wonders for the Cornwalls with small tweaks. Maybe try a mild u shape and see what that does for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Not only are horns sensitive to placement, but also to the equipment you put in front of them. Yes they can sound good with most gear, but really shine with a good source and low powered tubes. This is when you will experience the magic you have heard about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capitalcityguy Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 As I get to know the CW4s, it is evident at this juncture my take on these speakers is mixed. It is really recording dependent. They sound great a low volumes on pretty much all recordings. But juice the volume and some recordings, even at mid volumes, the sound is hard, shouty, thin etc... On good recordings they sound amazing, warmish and smooth even. And because of there is not hardness in the great recordings, I turn up the volume and get little carried away. It sneaks up on me that maybe I'm listening a little too loud. I think I have placement dialed in, my room is well treated so there is not much else I can do. I know everyone say a tube amp are the way to go with these speakers, but darn it I love the looks of the McIntosh in my rack so I was hoping there was a way I can make these speakers work out. One thing I have done that might make a difference is I ordered a tube DAC (Black Ice Audio FXGlass DAC) and a pair of NOS Mullard tubes from Upscale Audio. Right now I am just using the DAC that is in the McIntosh MA 8950. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Ditch the Mac and put some tubes in front of the cornwalls. Thank me later..... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWelsh Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 On 2/7/2024 at 6:05 PM, Capitalcityguy said: I'm in Des Moines, Iowa. No dealer here, but there is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Omaha, Kansas City and Minneapolis. So yeah, I'll try to make it to one of the places. Hey, neighbor, I'm in West Des Moines! The only Klipsch dealer I'm aware of in the state is Hawkeye Audio. I bought mine from their Cedar Falls store, but they also are in Iowa City. Worth the pilgrimage. And, you're welcome to come listen to my Fortes some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananas and Blow Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 On 2/21/2024 at 5:51 PM, Capitalcityguy said: As I get to know the CW4s, it is evident at this juncture my take on these speakers is mixed. It is really recording dependent. They sound great a low volumes on pretty much all recordings. But juice the volume and some recordings, even at mid volumes, the sound is hard, shouty, thin etc... On good recordings they sound amazing, warmish and smooth even. And because of there is not hardness in the great recordings, I turn up the volume and get little carried away. It sneaks up on me that maybe I'm listening a little too loud. I think I have placement dialed in, my room is well treated so there is not much else I can do. I know everyone say a tube amp are the way to go with these speakers, but darn it I love the looks of the McIntosh in my rack so I was hoping there was a way I can make these speakers work out. One thing I have done that might make a difference is I ordered a tube DAC (Black Ice Audio FXGlass DAC) and a pair of NOS Mullard tubes from Upscale Audio. Right now I am just using the DAC that is in the McIntosh MA 8950. Mac is the perfect amp for the Cornwalls. How many hours do you have on the CWs? What source are you feeding the amp? If you have good sources and you don't like the sound with your wonderful mac amp the reality is you may just not like the Cornwalls. As the hours passed with my Fortes I just grew to love them more and more. To the point they are my favorite all time speaker I've owned. I only listen to well mastered music though. Horribly compressed music is unlistenable so I'm curious about what music sources you are feeding them. You say they sound wonderful on some recordings and lousy on others. That could be the music source you are feeding them. A revealing system won't sound great on a shitty source. It will sound shitty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 revealing system won't sound great on a shitty source. It will sound shitty. So true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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