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what are the best year model(s) cornwalls?


avman

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thanks again,

i have moved the heresey 2's to rear surround duty, w/the corns up front in the corners. still have to play w/toe in/out and distance between the speakers and the speakers/walls, and imaging is good, but w/out a center channel, i need GREAT imaging, and i know from my ht room and tweaking the position of my klf-30's that i can get a solid 'phantom center' w/a wide soundstage as well.

also, it seems like the bass improves w/volume-actually these speakers seem to sound better a little on the loud side of 'medium volume' level.

p.s. i got them for less than the $600 he was asking9.gif2.gif

avman.

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  • 16 years later...
On 10/2/2003 at 4:42 AM, HDBRbuilder said:

What are the best year models for Cornwalls?

Answer: The best years for Cornwalls are the years I was building them, of course!!(1977-1983)9.gif


1980! Think they’ll honor the 5 year warranty if I fill out the card and send it in? 😎

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You sure drug out an old forum thread, didn't you??

2 hours ago, salbake said:


1980! Think they’ll honor the 5 year warranty if I fill out the card and send it in? 😎

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You sure drug out an old forum thread, didn't ya?  Face the rear of these Corns....then look at the rear edge of the side panel to your left...about an inch or so DOWN from its top, you should find one or more letters stamped into that rear edge.  If the letter "A" is one of those letters, then I built these.  It is WAY MORE likely than NOT, that you WILL FIND the letter "A" for 1980 CBR Cornwalls!...unless I had taken a day of vacation-time off when they were built.

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Dang they say “F” was he/she any good?! And am I correct on the year? First set of Cornwalls for me so definitely ignorant. The copyrights on the brochures/speakers say 1980 but the instructions and foldout say “Cornwall II”...? I’m the second owner, they’re nearly mint. I’m thrilled with them. The depth and height of the sound stage...I definitely catch myself smiling while listening! (Also looks like someone wrote a “1” on back of speaker to say “Cornwall I” 🤷‍♂️

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33 minutes ago, salbake said:

Dang they say “F” was he/she any good?! And am I correct on the year? First set of Cornwalls for me so definitely ignorant. The copyrights on the brochures/speakers say 1980 but the instructions and foldout say “Cornwall II”...? I’m the second owner, they’re nearly mint. I’m thrilled with them. The depth and height of the sound stage...I definitely catch myself smiling while listening!

OK...look CLOSER..."F" is Frances...she sanded your speaker(s)...the builder initial(s) may be filled with wood putty and very hard to see.  When the sanding room got the Corns, just like on Heresys...the first thing they did was slather thinned-down "plastic wood" putty in the plywood edges...to fill-in small voids in the plies (but that also filled the builder code letter(s) with the wood putty!)...then they put them aside to "cure"...then they sanded those edges...SOMETIMES to the point of sanding the builder initial(s) completely off....once the sander was completely finished with the speaker, they stamped their own initial into that edge..that is WHY the sander initial code is almost always deeper than the builder code!...mine should be JUST BELOW that "F" a bit....

 

The labels on your Corns have a "W" in the serial number, which is for 80 or 81....can't remember which....getting late here for me...LOL!  Terry Willis (who tested your Corns) is still working at Klipsch, btw!  I trained him on building Heresys and Cornwalls way back when... just a couple of years or so before yours were built!  He was only in the cabinet shop for a couple of years or so, before he went elsewhere in the plant.

 

 

 

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14 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

OK...look CLOSER..."F" is Frances...she sanded your speaker(s)...the builder initial(s) may be filled with wood putty and very hard to see.  When the sanding room got the Corns, just like on Heresys...the first thing they did was slather thinned-down "plastic wood" putty in the plywood edges...to fill-in small voids in the plies (but that also filled the builder code letter(s) with the wood putty!)...then they put them aside to "cure"...then they sanded those edges...SOMETIMES to the point of sanding the builder initial(s) completely off....once the sander was completely finished with the speaker, they stamped their own initial into that edge..that is WHY the sander initial code is almost always deeper than the builder code!...mine should be JUST BELOW that "F" a bit....

 

The labels on your Corns have a "W" in the serial number, which is for 80 or 81....can't remember which....getting late here for me...LOL!  Terry Willis (who tested your Corns) is still working at Klipsch, btw!  I trained him on building Heresys and Cornwalls way back when... just a couple of years or so before yours were built!  He was only in the cabinet shop for a couple of years or so, before he went elsewhere in the plant.

 

 

 

 

Looks like ol’ Frances puttied and sanded over you 😕

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1 hour ago, salbake said:

 

Looks like ol’ Frances puttied and sanded over you 😕

It happened...actually the initials/codes were for quality control purposes...if an issue was found, it was sent back to whom-ever built/sanded it.  Since the  sanders already knew who built it once they got it, it wasn't really any big deal, since they first inspected it before working on it.  If there was an issue with "BUILD QUALITY", then they took it back to whomever built it!  "Can you please fix this?"  I never had that happen, though!  On occasion the sander might have a "This tiny chip in the rosewood veneer came loose while I was working on it...please fix it if you can...it goes right here" issue...which I gladly repaired for them!  Rosewood and ebony are dense and brittle veneers...all it takes is a very minor clothing snag  or whatever for an unrealized  chip in the edge of the veneer miter cut  or elsewhere to come loose...easy repair, ESPECIALLY if  the chip is found and brought back to me!  It would never be noticed as a repair, either!  Foreman:  "What the hell are you doing?"  Me: " Whittling on the underside of this damned rosewood chip so I can glue it back where it goes and it will lay flat!"  Foreman:  "Oh OK, just wondered!"   If the repair is done correctly, nobody else will ever know there ever was a repair!  My Exacto knife was a great friend to me!  The sanders liked me! 

 

Frances ("F")and Ola Mae ("OD") were best friends...both worked side-by-side in sanding....jabbering away at each other while working!  Watching them harass each other all day was like watching a Laurel and Hardy routine!...Ola Mae was extremely thin and wiry, and Frances wasn't!  When I was getting ready to build my first pair of speakers for myself, I had already picked them to do the sanding...one for each of them  They, along with Judy("J"...or "JC) were, IMO!,  the three-best sanders in the department!  One day at morning break-time, I caught Judy as she headed for the break-room and let her in on my plan...she grinned real big and said "OK!"  Later, that day,  just as the lunch buzzer went off...I walked back and told them I was gonna be building my birch Heresy speakers soon...Frances and Ola Mae immediately started mutually-harassing each other about which one of THEM was the best sander....while Judy hung around, digging around in her purse!  I told them to quit fighting or I would let Judy (who already knew what I planned to do!) sand my speakers....and I began to turn away towards Judy...They stopped harassing each other and started their pouting routines...so I turned back towards them and said  "Each of you two nut-case women gets one of them, OK?"...then Judy popped-up said "What about ME??"  I said "I am only getting a PAIR, not THREE!  I'll let you sand the next pair I get...BOTH OF THEM, OK?"  Everybody was happy!...especially JUDY!...who started into her "I get to SAND BOTH of his next pair of speakers, when it happens!", as she twirled around in her party dance routine!  Then I went to the break room to eat my lunch!   I knew EXACTLY what would happen even BEFORE I walked back there!  It was hilarious!  Judy already knew that my next pair would be kept for a year and sold!  I still have that first pair of Birch Heresys...never gonna let THEM go!  One is stamped "F", the other "OD"!😀  BTW, afterwards, Judy came into the break-room laughing her butt off and high-fived me!🤣

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I'm predicting that whatever year the respondent happens to own will likely be his pick (sigh). 

 

Unless you've heard each side by side while blindfolded, you're likely just letting your confirmation bias lead you to a predictable conclusion.

 

Now who would be in the position to listen to each side-by-side, volume-matched, and blinded??  Probably the people who design them, as in the team of engineers at Klipsch 

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Actually, the current Cornwalls very much out-perform the earlier versions!, IMO!  And I've heard them all!  I still wish they were veneered plywood though!  I would just be afraid to see a kitchen leak or other event, which could happen and that would turn MDF substrate into oatmeal consistency...along with the additional hassle of having to have new boxes built at my own expense!. Certain materials can be relatively easily repaired, others NOT!  Y'all keep in mind that this entire thread was very old and just brought back to life the other day...I still don't know why, though!

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1 hour ago, HDBRbuilder said:

Actually, the current Cornwalls very much out-perform the earlier versions!, IMO!  And I've heard them all!  I still wish they were veneered plywood though!  I would just be afraid to see a kitchen leak or other event, which could happen and that would turn MDF substrate into oatmeal consistency...along with the additional hassle of having to have new boxes built at my own expense!. Certain materials can be relatively easily repaired, others NOT!  Y'all keep in mind that this entire thread was very old and just brought back to life the other day...I still don't know why, though!

 

i’ve asked this before, and I will ask this again:  why should speakers be any more water resistant than any other component in our HIFI systems?
 

Last I checked, no amplifiers, R2R tape decks, cd players, turntables, tuners, flat-screen TVs, etc... were engineered with water resistance in mind. Why on earth do speakers need to be?  i’ve had all of these for many many years and none of them have ever fallen victim to water damage.  I find this obsession to be quite hilarious.   It's like you're offering a solution that is in search of a problem.  I've had probably 20+ pairs of hifi speakers over my lifetime and NONE has ever been water damaged.  ..So for me to ever factor that into my selection criteria would seem patently redic.

 

I’ve  Notice that some of you have your system set up in your garages.  Well,  maybe that’s the problem.  Set your Wi-Fi systems up in your house and maybe you won’t need to worry about water resisitance.  

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2 hours ago, ODS123 said:

 

i’ve asked this before, and I will ask this again:  Why should speakers be any more water resistant than any other component in our HIFI systems?

 

Last I checked, no amplifiers, R2R tape decks, cd players, turntables, tuners, flat-screen TVs, etc... were engineered with water resistance in mind. Why on earth do speakers need to be?  i’ve had all of these for many many years and none of them have ever fallen victim to water damage.  I find this obsession to be quite hilarious.   It's like you're offering a solution that is in search of a problem.  I've had probably 20+ pairs of hifi speakers over my lifetime and NONE has ever been water damaged.  ..So for me to ever factor that into my selection criteria would seem patently redic.

 

I’ve  Notice that some of you have your system set up in your garages.  Well,  maybe that’s the problem.  Set your Wi-Fi systems up in your house and maybe you won’t need to worry about water resistance.  

WELL....Floor speakers tend to be standing on the floor, right?  Whereas all the other stuff you mentioned tends to NOT be on the floor, right?  Ok, we agree on this.  Gooood! 

 

So...SOMEDAY, when you come home after being away, even being away for a short time, only to find that a washing machine or faucet flexible water line burst while you were away, or somebody flushed the toilet and left the house quickly after doing it, without ensuring it totally successfully flushed, and it ended up not flushing and over-flowing instead... trust me! YOU WILL KNOW THE ANSWER TO YOUR OWN QUESTION!... And don't even go there on braided stainless steel flexible water lines, because they can do it too!  Trust me!  Sooner or later, it WILL HAPPEN!  And when that water gets to carpet, it spreads rapidly and just sits there...slowly soaking anything on the carpet...and MDF sucks it up like a sponge, too!  MDF also swells up with that water like one of those dry sponges do when you put them in the water!  Trust me!  And after that happens to MDF it is impossible to repair!

 

There is a REASON that wall electrical outlets tend to be installed at least a few inches up from the floor!  Trust me on that, too!

 

Sometimes problems come searching FOR YOU!    The best way to deal with problems which come looking for YOU is to do your best to keep them from happening!  But if something CAN HAPPEN it probably WILL HAPPEN!  It's called MURPHY's LAW!  BEWARE OF MURPHY'S LAW!  And no matter how well-prepared you think you are, Murphy will find a way to eventually get you! Trust me on that, too!

 

Any more questions??

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1 hour ago, HDBRbuilder said:

WELL....Floor speakers tend to be standing on the floor, right?  Whereas all the other stuff you mentioned tends to NOT be on the floor, right?  Ok, we agree on this.  Gooood! 

 

So...SOMEDAY, when you come home after being away, even being away for a short time, only to find that a washing machine or faucet flexible water line burst while you were away, or somebody flushed the toilet and left the house quickly after doing it, without ensuring it totally successfully flushed, and it ended up not flushing and over-flowing instead... trust me! YOU WILL KNOW THE ANSWER TO YOUR OWN QUESTION!... And don't even go there on braided stainless steel flexible water lines, because they can do it too!  Trust me!  Sooner or later, it WILL HAPPEN!  And when that water gets to carpet, it spreads rapidly and just sits there...slowly soaking anything on the carpet...and MDF sucks it up like a sponge, too!  MDF also swells up with that water like one of those dry sponges do when you put them in the water!  Trust me!  And after that happens to MDF it is impossible to repair!

 

There is a REASON that wall electrical outlets tend to be installed at least a few inches up from the floor!  Trust me on that, too!

 

Sometimes problems come searching FOR YOU!    The best way to deal with problems which come looking for YOU is to do your best to keep them from happening!  But if something CAN HAPPEN it probably WILL HAPPEN!  It's called MURPHY's LAW!  BEWARE OF MURPHY'S LAW!  And no matter how well-prepared you think you are, Murphy will find a way to eventually get you! Trust me on that, too!

 

Any more questions??

 

Like the time we came home to Oakland after the Bay Area's Loma Prieta earthquake and found that 3/4 of a tall 70 gallon aquarium had emptied itself on the floor.  It hadn't fallen over, just sloshed about 55 gallons of water on the floor.  The fish were all huddled at the bottom, keeping a low profile.

The carpet was soaked, and a subwoofer was wet (not our "good" one).  The place smelled like fish water for few days.  Luckily, the main speakers in that room were not floor standing, and the Khorns were in another room, far away from fish tanks.  The Monster Cable interconnects I had cursed because they were so tight that they could hardly be pushed in came in handy.  An expensive Luxman and an expensive Lexicon were hanging from them.

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5 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

WELL....Floor speakers tend to be standing on the floor, right?  Whereas all the other stuff you mentioned tends to NOT be on the floor, right?  Ok, we agree on this.  Gooood! 

 

So...SOMEDAY, when you come home after being away, even being away for a short time, only to find that a washing machine or faucet flexible water line burst while you were away, or somebody flushed the toilet and left the house quickly after doing it, without ensuring it totally successfully flushed, and it ended up not flushing and over-flowing instead... trust me! YOU WILL KNOW THE ANSWER TO YOUR OWN QUESTION!... And don't even go there on braided stainless steel flexible water lines, because they can do it too!  Trust me!  Sooner or later, it WILL HAPPEN!  And when that water gets to carpet, it spreads rapidly and just sits there...slowly soaking anything on the carpet...and MDF sucks it up like a sponge, too!  MDF also swells up with that water like one of those dry sponges do when you put them in the water!  Trust me!  And after that happens to MDF it is impossible to repair!

 

 

If I had a catastrophic flood in my house my speakers would be the least of my worries as such a flood would likely destroy drywall, every appliance, my hardwood floors, my furniture, etc.. Ugh!   And rather than having plywood speakers re-finished - which I'd have neither the time nor energy to do after a flood  - I'd likely have them replaced along with everything else under my homeowners insurance policy.  ..And my speakers have a 2" riser, so it would have to be an epic flood indeed.  Less than an 1" or so I could probably get alway with just replacing the riser.

 

Besides!!  The Pro Series Speakers many here praise (partly) because of their plywood construction STILL HAVE MDF BAFFLES, so what then??  ..Seems to me they'd still be destroyed.

 

 

Screen Shot 2019-10-15 at 5.27.16 AM.png

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11 hours ago, HDBRbuilder said:

Actually, the current Cornwalls very much out-perform the earlier versions!, IMO!  And I've heard them all!  I still wish they were veneered plywood though!  I would just be afraid to see a kitchen leak or other event, which could happen and that would turn MDF substrate into oatmeal consistency...along with the additional hassle of having to have new boxes built at my own expense!. Certain materials can be relatively easily repaired, others NOT!  Y'all keep in mind that this entire thread was very old and just brought back to life the other day...I still don't know why, though!

 In another Galaxy somewhere in Tennessee where MBAliens do not run things, where Obie-wan  Kenobe chooses the wood for Luke Skywalker, 25mm Baltic Birch prevails against the Dark Side and the only sawdust present is on the floor and in the dust collector.

Dust Free as Free as the sound be No MDF ee.jpg

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2 minutes ago, Dave A said:

 In another Galaxy somewhere in Tennessee where MBAliens do not run things, where Obie-wan  Kenobe chooses the wood for Luke Skywalker, 25mm Baltic Birch prevails against the Dark Side and the only sawdust present is on the floor and in the dust collector.

Dust Free as Free as the sound be No MDF ee.jpg

MDF vs. Plywood...the decision matrix between the two is primarily based on budget/production costs, in almost all cases.  PERIOD!  GOOD Baltic Birch has just as good of a sonic quality to it as MDF, and will hold up better for a lifetime when compared to MDF...but it is much more expensive!  Pretty much everything else between the two gives the nod to Baltic birch, hands down.

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Just now, HDBRbuilder said:

MDF vs. Plywood...the decision matrix between the two is primarily based on budget/production costs, in almost all cases.  PERIOD!  GOOD Baltic Birch has just as good of a sonic quality to it as MDF, and will hold up better for a lifetime when compared to MDF...but it is much more expensive!  Pretty much everything else between the two gives the nod to Baltic birch, hands down.

Not so bad here in the alternate universe. $48 per 5' x 5' sheet including tax. I am betting that someone with significant buying power probably gets it for a fair amount less. Just finished reworking my last KPT-456 bass bin. It had been toppled forward at one time and the only thing that happened was the motorboard at the top shifted forward to meet the floor it had fallen onto. A splash of glue back into the split joints and some clamps and a rubber mallet to get it all back in place and good to go. I really doubt MDF would have survived intact. For under $100 a new set of Cornwalls could have been built with superior material.

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26 minutes ago, HDBRbuilder said:

MDF vs. Plywood...the decision matrix between the two is primarily based on budget/production costs, in almost all cases.  PERIOD!  GOOD Baltic Birch has just as good of a sonic quality to it as MDF, and will hold up better for a lifetime when compared to MDF...but it is much more expensive!  Pretty much everything else between the two gives the nod to Baltic birch, hands down.


No, it is not much more expensive. It is more expensive, yes but not prohibitively so.  If the likes of Vandersteen, Dynaudio, KEF, PSB, Paradigm, Legacy, and so on and so on could gain any sort of competitive advantage by using seven ply Birch, they certainly would. But they don’t. Today’s MDF has no voids, It’s easier to cut accurately, can be more easily routed to accommodate recessed drivers, and is easier to apply laminate’s, then PLY.
 

Speakers that are going to be suspended and mounted in bus/ train stations, etc... like Klipsch pro series Can benefit from being ply because of the irregular stress is placed on the cabinet. Apart from that they’re only downside to a ply cabinet. That is, except it gives those who make speakers in their garage something they can seize upon and claim they do better than all of the brand names.

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It's amazing. You push a button and up pops OD just like magic!! 

 

 

      On a serious note some are builders with knowledge and some are consumers with opinions. Some consumers are informed ones and others are not.

 

    I always like to watch cnc run equipment and the big router table these motorboards were cut on was fun to watch. Up cutting router bit for through cuts so no splinters on the bottom and down cutting for the recessed sections to prevent splintering on the top. Cutting whole pieces was down cut for the first 1/8" and up cut for the through cut and like a hot knife through butter the router does not care what the wood is and the dimensional tolerances are the same for anything. It's a bit amusing to read your diatribes and then think about how things really work while I watch it done before my very eyes.

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42 minutes ago, ODS123 said:


No, it is not much more expensive. It is more expensive, yes but not prohibitively so.  If the likes of Vandersteen, Dynaudio, KEF, PSB, Paradigm, Legacy, and so on and so on could gain any sort of competitive advantage by using seven ply Birch, they certainly would. But they don’t. Today’s MDF has no voids, It’s easier to cut accurately, can be more easily routed to accommodate recessed drivers, and is easier to apply laminate’s, then PLY.
 

Speakers that are going to be suspended and mounted in bus/ train stations, etc... like Klipsch pro series Can benefit from being ply because of the irregular stress is placed on the cabinet. Apart from that they’re only downside to a ply cabinet. That is, except it gives those who make speakers in their garage something they can seize upon and claim they do better than all of the brand names.

What do you do for a living?  You sound just like the MDF salesman!  Expensive refers to more than just the material itself...labor time to putty up voids and other things requiring a bit more labor time. cutting tools changing, lots of things.  SONICALLY, Baltic birch PW is about equal to MDF!  I've only been a wood-worker for 50 years or so and I've used pretty much everything during that short time...I choose Baltic birch...you get whatever you want!  You haven't convinced me of anything other than you just DO NOT have a clue!

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