J Harris Posted June 13, 2001 Share Posted June 13, 2001 Installed them both and played music overnight to break them in. First impressions (I've only been able to listen for an hour or so): -- treble is much less tizzy, cymbals are clear but not shrieky -- the 9KHz "hump" is gone, and the mids are far less blare-y -- voices are lovely and sweet, real and in the room, classic Klipsch sound, but never honky -- bass is very similar, still somewhat boomy in the Cornwall tradition, perhaps slightly better defined There is an overall slight dullness to the sound that may have to do with the caps needing to break in. Also, I'm running the Cornwalls from the 8 ohm tap on my Paramour SET amps, on the advice of the Bottlehead board. I'm also going to experiment with the 4 ohm tap, since Al's crossovers lower the nominal impedance of the Cornwalls to 4 ohms. Finally, it seems to me the left-hand speaker is now louder than the right-hand one. I built the crossover for the right-hand speaker first, and I definitely learned from my mistakes when building the second one. So it's possible I need to go back and check some solder joints on the first crossover. I also managed to melt the exterior of a couple caps on the first crossover (on the cylinder, not the ends) -- just tiny soldering iron marks, but I'm told these can damage caps. We'll see if that's the problem. Overall? Very nice modification, and I had a great time building them. The sound is more balanced across the frequencies. Still forward in the Cornwall tradition, but forward in a balanced way. It makes listening to music more pleasurable. I'd recommend these to others. Al is a great help and keeps the advice coming to DIY newbies like me -- emails returned almost instaneously! I just hope I never have to strip the varnish off Solen coils ever again... :-) I'll post more impressions as I listen more and look into the potential problems with my current setup as described above. Definitely a big YES right now. J! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted June 13, 2001 Share Posted June 13, 2001 J, Thanks! Enjoy! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKlipsch Posted June 14, 2001 Share Posted June 14, 2001 And they are purdy.....Any kit builders out there need a couple of AA and one AB crossover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Fred, Put 'em on eBay! Al K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKlipsch Posted June 15, 2001 Share Posted June 15, 2001 Under what category? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Harris Posted June 17, 2001 Author Share Posted June 17, 2001 Getting better and better! I took out my first crossover and examined all the joints. Then I restripped and resoldered the squawker coil. Then reinstalled the board. Now both speakers sound equally loud. Absolutely feather-smooth midrange... no sense of three drivers, just music! Less bass... which really means less bass boom. I'd moved the Cornwalls pretty far away from the back wall to tighten up the bass. I may now experiment with new speaker positioning. But that's really not a big deal. They sound so good right now I'm not getting too involved with making further changes. Thanks again Al for a great design and a fun project! I recommend this to all of you Klipschead Cornwall owners out there. J! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted June 23, 2001 Share Posted June 23, 2001 Most of us can't tell when were playing music thru speakers that are either out of phase or the mid-range is blown or disconnected or one channel isn't even hooked up. pray tell--what does a capacitor that needs to be "broken in" sound like?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted June 25, 2001 Share Posted June 25, 2001 Well, John, if you can't tell when your speakers are out of phase or if one channel is dead, then why do you bother hanging out here? And do you really believe that most of us can't hear these things, or are you using hyperbole just to make fun of someone who believes he CAN here a capacitor "breaking in?" Lighten up, man! There's no room for this kind of nastiness here--go hang out at the Audio Asylum if you wan't to make fun of people in order to make yourself feel superior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted June 25, 2001 Share Posted June 25, 2001 I am embarrassed to admit the number of times I thought the sound was "off" or needed improvement only to find out that one cable was not connected properly or the speakers were not equidistant from the walls ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d syn Posted June 26, 2001 Share Posted June 26, 2001 my friend recently found a pair of "Cornwalls" laying by the side of the road in sonoma,ca. they are in relativley good condition for a ground-score, except when we removed the back panels we noticed that the CN's were pretty rusty and delapidated. {not to mention the huge black widow that reluctantly crawled out of the disintigrating damping foam in one of them! if anyone could please inform me as to how i should replace them and where i can get the parts that i should use to do so. this would be very much appreciated. thank you very much. e-mail me at - dsyn8@mynetscape.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyp Posted June 26, 2001 Share Posted June 26, 2001 Allan S: Go back and read the posts under the topic "My Terrible Secret" (06-20-2001) in this forum. Then read John Warren's comments again. I interpreted his comments as humorous at least and mildly sarcastic at the most! I, for one, would enjoy reading a discussion here from those who believe (and don't believe) the need for "breaking in" of esoteric, mega-buck capacitors. Is there any empirical before-and-after evidence to support this arcane phenomenon? ------------------ John Packard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Warren Posted June 27, 2001 Share Posted June 27, 2001 thanks john! good to see that a few of us around here still know how to have a few laughs! "the world belongs to the unsatisfied" C. P. Steinmetz (General Electric CR&D, Schenectady, NY) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q-Man Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 I for one enjoy John Warrens comments. They give me a laugh & also serve to keep us on are toes. Sometimes they make you view things a little different. Q. ------------------ Q-Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spider124 Posted June 28, 2001 Share Posted June 28, 2001 Actually, true audiophiles know that once a capacitor is 'broken in', it is actually ruined! They should be replaced every 100 hours or so... I'm starting a new business to cater to the needs of the discerning audiophile, and have a deal on packs of 10 capacitors.... he he ------------------ "What's that noise?" "It's the carpet, it kinda mutes the speakers." "No, it sounded more like the chandalier falling." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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