Cornwalls and CF3's Making Nice Music Together

[zoran13]

Well, picked up the CF3's recently and have them set up along-side my Cornwalls and all I can say is wow .. they sound fantastic together. Seperately, great .. together .. amazing.

Had thought perhaps of offering the Corns for sale after acquiring the CF3's but hearing them together (along with Colter's directive to "never ever sell the Cornwalls":) has put that thought to rest.

Now, to the big question .. I am currently powering them both with a Harman Kardon 730 (the 1975 twin-powered one). This actually sounds fine, but I know Tube is the way to go eventually. I need advice on a very good sounding "budget" tube amp.

Cayin and Jolida have been mentioned.

Is there any tube amp that would allow me to power BOTH sets of speakers as I am doing now with the HK730? Or am I dreaming here?

The more inputs of course the better (phono/2 or 3 aux would be nice for CD and DVD)

Have never owned a tube amp so would really appreciate some good advice/suggestions.

What kind of money .. approximately .. are we talking here?

Thanks!

[colterphoto1]

Thanks for the mention and glad to help. Get yerself a RC7 for the center(yeah, you can mix em up okay) and YOU'LL BE SET!

For the real reason why the Cornwalls are one of the best speakers ever designed for any price, read the following review:

http://www.belgaudio.com/kcmap.htm

I find if very illuminating reading!

[Dflip]

Use the search engine and you will find this question has been asked and answered at least ten times this month and every month for the past three years. I might be slightly exaggerating, but not by much.

For value on the dollar look at a vintage (used) tube integrated to get you started, Scoot 299 B,C or D, Eico HF-81 are decent bets or if you are looking new, there are some Chinese options. For not a lot of money, any of these options will give you good sound at least until the bug bites and you go the monoblock route and a separate preamp. The used integrateds are in the $5-600 range, refurbished, while the monoblocks and preamp will run you a minimum of $800 and upwards of $4500 for a VRD and a Blueberry. All prices quoted are not the Canadian peso, but the US greenback.

There are many options, but if you are just experimenting, look at a used unit because it can always be sold to upgrade or try something else and all it has cost you is shipping and maybe a $100 if you take a loss on the change. Buying new is like buying a car, once it leaves the lot, it is worth about half of what you paid for it, unless it is a collectors' item.

Do lots of reading and ask lots of questions. Nobody hear will try to steer you in the wrong direction or offer any strong opinions.

Good luck.

[ben.]

Words of wisdom, there. All true.

As far as running both sets of speakers at once, chances are that at some frequencies, the combined impedance will be too low for most tubes amps to run in a stable and safe fashion. This could easily be resolved by installing a resistor across the outputs or using a selector box that does this internally for you.

[edwinr]

Buy used tube first, either the Jolida or Antique Soundlab options. If you buy right you should lose very little if any money when re-selling for an upgrade. I don't know if you should run two pairs of speakers from a tube amp at the same time. If you wanted to hear both speakers from your tube amp, but not at the same time, perhaps a switch box might be an idea.