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Will de CF-4 epic surpass the Cornwall 4?


Flevoman

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I see a pair of CF-4s for sale in Belgium. I've never heard these speakers, but from what I read on this forum, they seem to be amazing speakers and rare. My brother is using my old Cornwall 4, and his music style is quite diverse. He definitely enjoys jazz and acoustic music, but it leans mostly towards pop and metal. Will the CF-Epic outperform the Cornwall 4? Or should he better stick with the CW4?

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3 hours ago, Flevoman said:

 Will the CF-Epic outperform the Cornwall 4? Or should he better stick with the CW4?

 

 There's only one way to find out for sure, pick them up and try them out. My instinct says the CW4 should easily take the win but too many variables to be so sure. I'd expect more bass but less treble from the CF- how that balances out with the room, matched electronics, how loud you listen, selection of music all sprinkled with personal taste makes it difficult to predict.   

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I am on my second pair of CF4. I have not owned the Cornwall IV, so I haven't ABed them.

A couple of thoughts:
The CF4 is less sensitive, so it can't be a watt for watt race
The caps in the CF4 might need to be refreshed to get the detailed sound that they should have
The Cornwall's woofer is ~ 176"^2 and the CF4s' are ~ 226"^2, so fed enough watts, the CF4 should be louder
3,000 clams sounds high, but I'm not there

Invite the seller over (with his offerings) to experience the Cornwall IV and you can all AB them.

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In any case, I would recommend following Woofers and Tweeters advice to listen to both speakers in comparison. My guess is that I would prefer Cornwall 4, an almost 30 years newer design with a very smart and well integrated tweeter, but that's just my humble guess. On the other hand, the CF4 seems to be a D'Appolito design which is very close to a point source.

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Comparing the speakers side by side won’t be possible.
Listening to the speakers on location is an option, but then you're listening to a different setup in a different acoustic space. Of course, this will give you an impression of the speakers, but at home, they will sound different. In other words, the purchase will remain a gamble.


By the way, the link you shared, @KT88 is interesting.
This is just the opinion of one individual and not a definitive fact, but it was certainly interesting to read.
My brother is a bit less adventurous when it comes to buying and selling speakers. However, he is intrigued by the CF-4.

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6 hours ago, Flevoman said:

Comparing the speakers side by side won’t be possible.
Listening to the speakers on location is an option, but then you're listening to a different setup in a different acoustic space. Of course, this will give you an impression of the speakers, but at home, they will sound different. In other words, the purchase will remain a gamble.


By the way, the link you shared, @KT88 is interesting.
This is just the opinion of one individual and not a definitive fact, but it was certainly interesting to read.
My brother is a bit less adventurous when it comes to buying and selling speakers. However, he is intrigued by the CF-4.

 

If your brother is enthusiastic about the CW4, then he should definitely keep them for a longer period of time in my view. In my opinion, the aim of a good speaker is to make you forget about this speaker more and more and to open the window to the music more and more. That's why I've had my main speaker sets for 30 years in some cases.

If your brother just got used to the CW4 a year or two ago, then everything would start all over again, all the brain work of listening and empathizing.

What would he get instead when now changing gear in the phase of becomming more and more familiar with it? A short-term show effect of the “different again” impression. It can go well, but it can also end very badly. In my experience, either the love for a speaker increases with longer and longer listening (a paradoxon because you „forget“ the speaker more and more at the same time) or when changing again you feel “entertained” at the beginning because of the short-term show effect, or you talk yourself up about the new speakers because you have to justify spending the money. But...a strange feeling creeps in that something is not right. Just as you learn to love one loudspeaker, you can experience certain disturbances with another loudspeaker that become more and more noticeable and absolutely annoying over time.

To be honest, it's not worth the experiment. BTW Buying new CW4s again after a dissappointing experience with other speakers would always be more expensive for your brother, or they would be second-hand speakers that don't come from the same family. Just my two cents.

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2 hours ago, Idontknow said:

Just looks like a reconfiguration of the KLF series.

Totally different woofers and everything else. The CF4 has much larger horns and drivers. The KLF30 is a 3 way TMW vs the CF4 is a two-way WTW arrangement. The KLF30 has been known more as a party speaker and the CF3 and CF4 are known to be in the HiFidelity arena. 

I have owned pairs of both and have ABed them. I still have a pair of each and I should AB them again. 

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2 hours ago, KT88 said:

If your brother is enthusiastic about the CW4, then he should definitely keep them for a longer period of time in my view.

This ^^^

If your brother is not chasing the what ifs, then he can rest assured that he has all that he needs. With the new, bigger and better everything, Roy and his team got the CW4 right. 

I'd still have to listen to them. 

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