edster00 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 After much searching I found a pair of '73 "veritcal horn" Cornwalls and got them home Sat. morning. I couldn't wait to get them set up and give them a listen so I plopped them down in front of the K-horns for a quick listen: The last Cornwalls I had were horizontal horns (~a year and a half ago)...I am really impressed with the sound of these Cornwalls! Part of the difference may be the amp I have them hooked up to, but these baby's really sound good. I'll be doing some serious listening as time permits and try to do a meaningful review. I would love to have someone with ears better than mine share their impressions too, so if anyone is planning a trip to Atlanta shoot me an email! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robforst1 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Those K-Horns look amazing! What finish are those? Let me know how the K-Horns compare to the Cornwalls. I have a pair of Cornwalls and was thinking about adding a pair of K-horns to the collection. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robforst1 Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 One other quick question: What did you do to 'build-in' your horns (what kind of material, what angle did you use, etc.)? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Ed, were your prior Cornwalls alnico?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mace Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 That set-up looks awesome. Great looking picture. Congrats on the great speakers. Look forward to the review and comparison. Mace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Ed, beautiful system, and the verticle Cornwalls are a great addition! Are you using the "new" Cornwalls for your HT, or for another 2-channel system? Looking forward to your review. If I was up near Atlanta, I'd take you up on your offer (what a chance to hear an audiophile system with classic Heritage horns)! Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Damn Ed, that looks like an incredible setup. Your ears must love you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Nice vertical Corns...those are aren't too easy to find...I'd be interested in how they sound vs regular Cornwalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyKubicki Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Ed, that's a gorgious set up! Awsome finish on the Khorns. You did a nice job with the false corners too...everything blends...awsome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Ed -you need a personal home page with all of your pics and descriptions of your set-up ... beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShapeShifter Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Congrats on the Cornwall II's. Your speakers, equipment and home looks GREAT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scipio80 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Just one question, with that setup how is the ornamental plate still in one piece? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 Thanks everyone for the kind words regarding the gear and the room. It is still a "work in progress" but there isn't quite as much progress to be made as has already been made (does that make any sense?). First impressions of the vertical Cornwalls have blown me away. I know I liked my previous Cornwalls but these seem to throw a wider soundstage or better imaging or something...I don't really know the proper words to describe the difference. Of course the room is totally different than it was and the positioning of the speakers in the room is quite different and the amp is totally different etc. etc. I don't feel I can do a good comparison between the K-horns and Cornwalls until I get my ailing Moondog fixed. If you look at the photo there is one Moondog on the wall to the left of the TV but not on the other side. Right now I am powering the K-horns with a Monarchy SM-70 that is on the right side Moondog shelf. The cdp and amp on the floor in front of the equipment stand are hooked to the Cornwalls. The amp is a Jeff Korneff built 6bq5 integrated that sounds really good-the amp puts out ~5wpc. When I get the one Moondog fixed and hooked back up I plan to power the K-horns with the Moondogs and the Cornwalls with the SM-70, all being fed by the same components going through the Syrah preamp (it has dual outputs). That way both sets of speakers will have the same upstream components, only the amps and the speaker cables will be different. It should make for an interesting comparison. In answer to your questions: robforst1, The K-horns are rosewood (lacquer) circa 1978. The Cornwalls are walnut (lacquer). If I were forced to choose between one pair of speakers it would easily be the K-horns as long as I had room for them and either real corners or false corners. The false corners were built following the "Dope from Hope" plans with the addition of a plywood floor for the K-horns to sit on. The false corners were then painted to match the walls of the room. The false corners are free standing, they are not built in. I can move the corners (somewhat-I wish the room were a foot or two wider) in or out to better "aim" the K-horns towards the seating area. Positioned as they are now, the sweet spot is ~13'-14' from the speakers. I can move my chair forward or backward to have the axis of the speakers cross in front of me or behind me. Dndphishin, My first Cornwalls were 1981 (I think), I have never had the backs off so I am not sure if they were alnico or not, but I think they were. jt1stcav, The basement room is 2 channel only, even if I am watching a dvd. I do have it wired so I could hook the Cornwalls up as rear speakers if I really wanted to. I may just set the Cornwalls up on the rear wall with their very own amp(s) for a 2nd 2 channel system. Scipio80, The plate did fall over once but it didn't break . I rarely have the volume up over 100dB, my normal listening levels (when the wife isn't home) are in the high 80 low 90 dB range. I am normally running the Moondogs @ 3.5 wpc. I think I'll do a 114dB test while I have the Monarchy hooked up, I am sure it will hit that no with no sweat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Bey Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Jebus! That's the first time I've seen cornies in a context that makes me understand their size. Dey be big! Maybe your imaging has improved from the toe-in, but it sounds like many many things have changed. If they are like other vintage Klipsch, every improvement upstream from the speakers is noticable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 ---------------- On 4/1/2003 9:35:15 AM Colin wrote: Ed -you need a personal home page with all of your pics and descriptions of your set-up ... beautiful! ---------------- YES YES YES! Once I can get back online I would LOVE to put pictures and whatnot of your setup on www.soundwise.org! I started the translation from the old site design to the new and then my internet went down (for a month now). But email me pics and once I get back online I will start building you a site. YOU HAVE GOT TO SHOW THIS OFF! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 Randy, I had the first Cornwalls toed in also, but they were positioned close to the rear wall and further into the corners of the room. I am not sure how the K-horns proximity affects the sound of this pair. I did have this pair closer to the side walls at first but I prefer the sound with them pulled away from the side walls a bit. I haven't really done much tweaking of the positioning yet, they sound pretty good right where they are. Justin, I'll take more photos and send them to you. Just let me know when and where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 "Dndphishin, My first Cornwalls were 1981 (I think), I have never had the backs off so I am not sure if they were alnico or not, but I think they were." Ed, if I'm not mistaken, the Cornwalls were no longer alnico at that time, if I remember correctly. This was during that period of time that the changeover to ferrite was taking place (when klipsch was still using the removable backs but beginning the magnet change). It's possible they were - but if I were betting on this, my guess is that the change had already begun. This was a topic of much discussion a while back - we were never able to actually pinpoint precisely when this change took place, but '81 is very close to that time. Also, the driver change was driver by driver (some Cornwalls of this period were called "1 1/2" by those on this board, since they were part alnico and part ferrite drivers). If you old Corns were ferrite, this explains the change in sound. The alnicos are preferable to my ears - especially in 2 channel. Smooth, the alnicos are, jedi friend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Edster: Beautiful setup as I know I've said before! Can you comment on the sound contribution of the false corners? How does it compare to when you were using "genuine" corners? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted April 1, 2003 Author Share Posted April 1, 2003 JMON, I didn't have available corners in my unfinished basement. I had put temporary plywood covers on the back of the bass bins but I found out that they didn't really do much. I couldn't believe the increased volume and tight focused bass the false corners have provided. I have ALK networks in the K-horns and before the false corners I had attenuated the squawker a few dB because they were really overpowering the bass. When I started using the false corners I increased the squawker level back to the "stock" ALK setting. The ALK's are really useful in this ability to tailor the sound. If my room was several feet wider I wouldn't be using false corners. If I were building out a room of proper width I would re-inforce the natural corners and stuff them with insulation or other similar material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazman Posted April 1, 2003 Share Posted April 1, 2003 Ed, I love the setting and the sweet Khorns. Great job on the "corners". And the vertical Cornies, quite an ambush! How long did it take to find them, and from where? When do you expect to get your ailing Moondog back on line? Looking forward to the "REPORT". Klipsch out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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