brnt99 Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Hello-A month ago I purchased a pair of Cornwall 11's.I love them.Nothing I would rather(almost nothing) do after working all day is come home and relax with good music.I have tried a few differant amp/pre-amp combinations and am presently useing a Marantz Esotec PM-4 integrated amp.I believe it pushes 30wpc in class a and 60wpc in class a/b.It is actually a very nice sounding amplifier which I dont think I have fully realized its potential because of my sources--a tweaked Thorens 160; Harman/Kardon TU 615 tuner; Sony X55ES cd player.I have a few questions: -I have them set up in a 21ft x 12ft room. One end of the room is my living room and the other is my dining room.My couch/listening position is only about 8ft from front wall(where speakers are)and 13ft from back wall.What are the ramafications of being so far from the back wall in speaker placement?or, any suggestions on maximizing speaker placement? -I am presently useing ordinary lamp cord speaker wire.Is it worthwhile investing in fancy speaker wire? -I am intrigued by the general suggestion that Cornwalls are best with tube amps, but have some tried both and prefer SS amps? Thanks Brent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricktate Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Brent,welcome to the forum....if your Cornwalls are on hard floor i would try grippers from wal-mart put in place of metal sliders,and you might think about trying an HK 430 reciever.....just a thought rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Welcome, You say you prefer ss, but have you listened to your cornwalls with tubes? I think that you owe it to yourself to try tubes again I think you wil be amazed at the improvement . On the wire...I was always very skeptical on claims of dramatic improvements by virtue of cables or speaaker wires. I am now a convert. Not that you need to spend outrageous amounts of money, but quality speaker wire and interconnects make a dramatic difference...at least with my tube equipment. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 I ran thick speaker cables, like they sell at Home Depot for over a decade. With ultra-sensitive big ole horns, like the Klipsch Cornwalls, I certainly noticed a different difference; something on the order of a 1 or a 2, where Stereophile magazine recommended speakers are 8s, 9s and 10s. I finally upgraded to basic Monster cable, found at Tweeter, and again noticed a different difference. A few years ago, I invested in another set of the same Monster cable, but with better terminal connections, in order to experiment with running a double set of wires from speaker to amp. Again, I noticed a pleasing different difference for the money invested. I was asked last year to review Coincident Technologys thick gray rattlesnakes, the CST loudspeaker cables from Israel Blume in Canada, for EnjoyTheMusic.com. He then cancelled the request (I didnt drool over his Triumph Signature loudspeakers), but I loved the smooth feeling, increased detail and bargain price of his cables and kept them. Although several times more expensive, they too made a different difference, especially with Klipschs big ole corner horn, the classic Khorn. I would certainly investigate tubes and explore the soundstage potential with pulling the big ole horns out from the front and side walls. My Cornwalls ended up some 3 to 4 feet away from the walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 have you guys ever read the indepth CW test? http://www.belgaudio.com/kclisttest.htm For those who have actually tried tubes and SS with cornwalls I think you'll agree with the testers results. I prefer SS with my CWs also. Here's an exerpt ... Short Comment on transistor v.s. tube listening evaluation experience Listening to the "tubes" was very impressive at the first hearing, but on the long-term it left me somehow unsatisfied. I was missing something, without knowing precisely what it should be. Perhaps just a simple, linear and uncolored sound. A pure and clean vs. nice and sweet, this was obviously the dilemma. What to choose, natural water or cola, bread or delicate sweet, REAL natural woman or NICE coquette. Hmm, sometimes I like to drink cola, I enjoy eating sweets, yes frankly sometimes I would opt for coquette too, but actually, there was no real dilemma for me at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 BigBusa, just curious, what tube amp(s) have you heard at length with your Cornwalls? As I remember, I have only seen you using a receiver and the Dynacos. I would be interested to know what you sampled tube-wise. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 There have been many. The one I used the longest was an HK A300 13wpc amp. I was always happy with the SS sound but since I heard so many people say "you gotta try tubes" I tried them ...I sold it on ebay after a month or so. I know immediately after hooking something up if it is to my liking or not. The HK A300 did sound nice ...and sweet but it wasn't the sound I liked. Since then I have tried many dynacos, eicos, sherwoods, heathkits and a scott 340b. Since I buy and sell a lot of vintage stereo items I get a chance to try many different pieces with my system. I agree with the testers that pure and clean is what an SS powered CW sounds like and nice & sweet is what a tube powered CW sounds like. The tube amps do color the sound. There's no way around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Dont make the mistake that many do here. I cant count how many times someone samples one product or uses narrow parameters, only to draw sweeping conclusions across the board. I have lived with some very nice solid state amps of both the low and high watt variety, in stereo and monoblock form. I will say that all AMPS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL, either tube or solid state. It's a simple observation that many forget when making assumptions. I have yet to hear a solid state amp that I really find preferable to the best tube designs/options. Based on the solid state options you have mentioned over the time I have been on this forum, I am surprised you have come to this conclusion. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Here's the HK A300. It was like new all the way around. It sounded great but tubes not my cup of tea. MH you obviously like your music "nice and sweet" while I prefer mine "pure and clean". Tubes color the sound. That's what all this "warmth" is that I hear so many times when people are referring to tube amps. IMO warmth = colored sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 I see the point struck home... The A300 is a tube amp. I dont like the A300 that much; therefore, I dont like tube amps Makes sound sense to me. Good luck on your mission. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 MH your putting words into my mouth and quoting incorrectly. Don't take offense because I don't like the tube sound. I'm not taking offense that you prefer the tube sound over ss. I have really tried a number of amps / preamps with my cornwalls. Take a look at this truckload. Nearly everything there is tube and of decent quality. Many items you can't even see. Those items were almost all tried in my system searching for the musical nirvana. Those components in that pic are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the different amps I have hooked up to my CWs. I will say that the two fisher amps I tried I absolutely loved. (A 3rd ...an sa100 wasn't all that.) Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until a lot more experimentation went by. They were an SA300 and "the 200". The SA300 was stereo. "the 200" was a mono block. I should have kept the SA300. That's a great amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Christ, haven't you drowned yet? "For those who have actually tried tubes and SS with cornwalls I think you'll agree with the testers results. I prefer SS with my CWs also." I did. I prefer tubes. I had Chorus II's with a Yamaha MX-1 and a CX-1 amp and pre. I prefered tubes with the Chorus II's, The Yamaha was a great SS amp, I hated losing it, but it wasn't a very good match with the Chorus's. The NAD power amp I still have, I have used with the Cornwalls. Again, a terrible sonic match. The horns burn me out with SS pretty quick. But it's all about preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 mike maybe it does. You can't tell me you're satisfied with your current system? I doubt I'll ever be satisfied with mine. There's always something better out there. Something different. Something someone says might be better than what you have. Something you think might sound different ...warmer ...cleaner. That's what's great about the hobby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Anyway... I would love to try tubes with my Cornwalls (had a sweet taste before with my tube preamp). But I'm not complaining with the McIntosh SS amps I've used thus far, and neither are my Cornwalls. As far as speaker cables go, my dad originally used 18 guage lamp cord. When I aquired the Cornwalls, I used the "original" Monster Cable (clear 16 guage), MIT Terminator 2, Kimber Kable 8TC (originally bought for my Magnepans...was too bright with the CWs), and now Orbeck Stratti 11 guage cables, which to my ears is the best combination with my Mac amps. Very neutural sounding, and seems to tame the midrange a bit. At only $69 for a 10' pair, I'm satisfied. Now if only my brother will let me try out his new JoLida tube amp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 ---------------- On 9/18/2003 7:40:22 PM BigBusa wrote: mike maybe it does. You can't tell me you're satisfied with your current system? I doubt I'll ever be satisfied with mine. No, I can't. I dunno where the hell I'm going half the time with my system to even ponder satisfaction! There's always something better out there. Something different. Something someone says might be better than what you have. Something you think might sound different ...warmer ...cleaner. That's what's great about the hobby. Yep. ---------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshnich Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 I have not read the CW test . I go by my ears. I have some solid state amps that I quite liked with my paradigm monitors. But with the Cornwalls and the kind of music I find myself listening to the majority of the time (acoustic, Jazz, Classical - all for the most part without amplified intstruments) tubes sound more like I am really there. Much closer to the way a real instrument sounds. My cornwalls are in the same room with my 7 foot Schimmel and my 69 D28 and I can tell you its hard to tell the record form those fine acoustic instruments. I am sure there are great sold state amps. My point to Brent was to try out some tubes with his new speaks, if he hadnt already done so. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Brent, Gotta chime in with the "Tubies" here. I've tried several SS amps and it was a lowly little Decware Zen (1.5 watts, maybe) that showed me the light. Last night for fun I hooked up my Marantz SR8000 to the CW's. Yes, there was definitely something there that wasn't there with my tube amps. Trouble is, I didn't like it. Tonight I have my NOS Valves Scott 299(A) as the horsepower and it sounds GREAT! I'm getting caught up listening to some vinyl I hadn't opened yet. So far it's been Wes Montgomery "Full House", Cannonball Adderley with Bill Evans "Know What I mean?" and John Coltrane "Soultrane" all on 45rpm heavy vinyl. I am in heaven! Do yourself a favor, try some tubes. Chris PS Craig, I'm selling my Cary. The Scott is front and center for the time being until I make up my mind on what to try next. If only I had room for a pair of Cary 805c's..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 another vote for "nice and sweet" I see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 Chris, I liked the 300se Monos better than the 805c Monos, just to cloud your mind a bit more. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBusa Posted September 18, 2003 Share Posted September 18, 2003 and if mobilehomeless says it's so then you better damn well believe IT IS SO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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