zimm25 Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 I teach music at a high school and came in to school yesterday to find one of our Cornwall II's burnt to a crisp! We have a Phase Linear 400 Solid State Amp and have the unfortunate need to replace the CII's. Any suggestions? The room is quite large (at least 60x60 - with a 20ft ceiling) and we really need quality speakers to listen to classical and jazz recordings. Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Well they don't refer to Phase Linear amps as "Flame Linear" amps for nothing. My suggestion would be to get rid of the Phase Linear amp first! If the Cornwall II cabinets are not to severely damaged I would replace the burnt up drivers/melted horns and restore them to serviceability and use them with a different amplifier. If you are set on parting with the Cornwall II's I am sure that you will find some takers here on this BB. How bad are they? Can you get some photos of them that you can post or email? Where are you located? Hard to replace the sound of a Cornwall, maybe purchasing a used replacement pair would be an option. Cornwall I's would work just as well if not better. Please let us know what you decide to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Steve - Also, the Chorus I shares the same mid and tweeter as the Cornwall II. Here are their specs; Chorus: http://www.klipsch.com/products/cutsheet.asp?id=85 Cornwall II: http://www.klipsch.com/products/cutsheet.asp?id=88 The Chorus don't go quite as deep in the bass, but that may not be significant for you. Just an option, in case you have trouble scaring up a pair of used Cornwalls! Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Mark I don't know if you are being serious or not but FWIW I have seen it nearly happen with a little Lafayette Radio amp years ago. As near as I can figure the little POS humped a bunch of DC into a fortunately el cheapo speaker and burned out the voice coil. Luckilly once the VC went south the circuit opened and no fire resulted but that damned driver had gotten so hot that I found melted wire in the cabinet which was obviously the remains of the late lamented voice coil. Take a look at HDBRbuilder's Story Engineer Jim and the MCM1900 - It's a hoot ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnBob Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 A lot of the early high power solid state amps (Blaze Linear, SAE and Great American Sound come to mind) didn't have much in the way of speaker protection in case something went wrong. This could result, for all intents and purposes, in the output transistors shorting out and connecting the power supply directly to your speakers, with the speakers protecting any fuses by blowing first. The Flame Linear, in particular, was noted for being able to produce a high level of power, but not for an extended period of time. When they over heated, they could become distinctly anti-social. A lot of sound contractors found this out to their sorrow in the days of disco. Compare the surface area on the heat sinks of the 400 with those of its contemporary, the McIntosh MC 2100 with half the rated power. A long time ago, I used a Spectro-Sonic 500 amp (it had been donated to the school I was teaching at, ok?) to drive Cerwin Vega Earthquake folded horns. It worked fine until a disc jockey piled his albums on top of the amp. After the bottom two lps melted into the heat sinks, well, "Smoke on the Water" had a whole new meaning. An acrid haze came out of both the Spectro and the bass horns. An 18" Cerwin woofer had actually burst into flame, melting the aluminum voice coil former and the phenolic spider. Back to business. I'd get the woofers and tweeters rebuilt. You should be able to do that for less than $150 per side. Check the midranges too, although there is a good chance those are ok - they can take a lot of power. Have the crossovers gone over too as they may have "taken the heat" as well. Then lose the Phase Linear. There must be a rowboat somewhere you want to keep from drifting. Seriously. You don't need that kind of power, and the amp may display its destructive tendencies with other speakers as well. Call Mike Sastra at Audio Classics in Binghamton, NY (607) 766-3501. See if he can set you up with a McIntosh 752 or 502. These are good sounding amps with power limiters to keep this sort of thing from happening again. Finally, I'd see who has access to your sound system. It appears someone "partied too hearty!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 CaptnBob - ROFL! Cheers to a wonderfully written post. What a fun read!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Ya, that was almost as good as Dean's, speaker on fire story. By the way Dean what happened with the crossover project on your RF7s'. Love to hear how it turned out. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 FRZ, As I had seen in your signature in the past. That is more DBX stuff than I had seen in a recording studio 20 years ago. Quite an unique equipment list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Blame the person that put the wrong fuse in the Phase Linear. They come with ultra fast acting AGX fuses. Most likely you will find an AGC fuse that is way too big. Fix the Cornwall and buy a 100W~200W McIntosh amplifier with PowerGuard. It will sound better, can't be clipped, and can't pass DC. You should be able to get a MC2120, MC2150, MC2200 for about $500 or so. I own a pair of MC2120. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 Gee, I guess Mark is one of the lucky ones to never have experienced this. It begins with the wonderful full sonic howl of DC going to voice coils. Then the face of the woofer ignites. It's mesmerizing, putting one into an immediate holding pattern, trying to determine which response is appropriate -- fight or flight. I eventually came to my senses and dropped kicked my Advent into the front yard. Quite a spectacle it was. I'm sure the neighbors loved it. G.A.S. Son of Ampzilla. A lot of work to fix something like that. Crossover is probably toast as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnm Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 LOL Great description Dean. I could almost see it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 ---------------- On 2/12/2003 5:30:16 AM djk wrote: Blame the person that put the wrong fuse in the Phase Linear. They come with ultra fast acting AGX fuses. Most likely you will find an AGC fuse that is way too big. It definitley takes an AGX fuse. I can still remember to this day that some 23 years ago when I used to crank up my older brother's system using a Phase 400, Marantz 1150D integrated, JBL L300's w/ALtec 411A 16ohm woofs but original mid and tweet horns. One day before Paul got home from work I was crankin' away and heard the bass stop and a declining fuzz to silence. He was coming home in an hour and you should have seen me bustin' my butt by skateboard (and I was pretty good with one) to every hardware store to find one of these things (never did). I get back home and found another AGX lying on the floor behind the home made rack it was on. *** kicking averted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnBob Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 In the interest of fairness and accuracy, it was a Spectro-Acoustics 500 and not a Spectro-Sonic amp that flamed the Cerwin-Vega. Just thought I'd get that straight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Christensen Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Steve, I have a pair of Cornwall IIs for sale. They are in Mint Condition with factory mid oak finish and black grills. No scratches, nicks, damage, etc. I have been using them in a home theater but are now moving to a much smaller house and the speakers cannot fit any room we have. I also own 3 other pair of Klipsch speakers and know (knew) Paul Klipsch personally. He was a benefactor to our University and I go to know him as part of our alumni group. His designs were truely revolutionary. I only wish I could have afforded and had the space for Klipschhorns. They are the real deal. The Cornwall IIs are great for a standard auditorium all the way down to a medium livingroom (where I use them). In a room this small, you cannot challenge the range or output of these speakers though. Mine are great. If you are interested, I live in the Bay area of California and can ship them to you. I am asking $1000 for the pair. I can send pictures in order to show the condition or you could have someone come to inspect them if you want. Call at 925-245-1574 if you want to talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 Dana, notice the date on Steve's post? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted December 20, 2003 Share Posted December 20, 2003 It sure had me going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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