"new" cornwalls on board

[sprocket]

Hello all. I've been reading this BB for a time now and looking for some more efficient speakers to try with my Decware Zen se84cs amp. So when a pair of Cornwall's became available in my area I decided to give them a try. I've been listening for about a week. From reading this great BB I surmise them to be Cornwall I's from 1984. They're very pretty and astonishingly large.

Now I know the Zen amp is of very low power output. It was not able to drive my B&W 805's above a wisper (my acrus A150 performs high caliber work in this regard). The Zen sing sweetly with the Cornwalls however and goes to remarkable volume levels. If others are using this speaker/amp combo, I'd like to hear your comments and if anyone has tried 2 Zens in a mono block arrangment with cormwalls, please report also.

My take on the Cornwall/Zen combo is very very pleasant. Dynamics are the clear winner on the plus list even when played at low volume. I'll happily list more: velvet vocals, tuneful bass, soundstage that spins my head. The speakers disappear nicely and never seem to strain with the volume pumped. So all and all I can report a massive release of serotonin (look it up) and big warm smiles. I'm thankful for all the info avalible on this forum and for all the enthusiasm.

I suspect with time I may find a small fault or compromise (audio is full of compromise) and may ask for help from this fine forum membership.

Thanks for listening...

[eq_shadimar]

Woohoo!!! Welcome to the Cornwall club (I hope I am allowed to do that...I just got mine yesterday hehe). I too love these speakers. They have been playing ever since I got them

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Main System -

CORNWALLS (circa '79 yippe)

RC-3

RS-3's (white)

SVS 20-39CS

Harman Kardon AVR 510

Hafler P505 (running bridged 800W/4 ohms for sub)

ProMedia 4.1 for PC

Bedroom -

KG4's or RF-3's (haven't decided yet)

Harman Kardon AVR 20 MKII

[Randy Bey]

I had Zens for about 29 days with my Klipschorns. I think the Cornwall is nearly as efficient.

Anyway, the Zen couldn't hit 5 watts if it were going downhill with a wind behind it's back. I would put it's output at closer to .5 watts.

But yes, those 500 milliwatts are nice. Just not enough to listen to anything except little-girl-playing-acoustic-guitar music.

You could buy another pair, and maybe a few more pairs and biamp them. Then maybe you'd be at about the level of a good 2A3 or so -- 3.5 watts.

I have 8 watt 300B amps. I gotta say, a REAL 8 watts is louder than a solid state 30 watt amp I had earlier.

[sprocket]

Thanks for your reply Randy. Some say the Zen has aprox 1.8 watts (still painfully low output I agree). However it can energize my 13x24' room to levels that match my taste (allways more is still better) and it is sweet sounding. Any thoughts about Bottlehead amps. I'm just now building their Foreplay preamp. I plan to try it with my solid-state Acurus amp but I hear good stuff about thier power amps also but I don't think they have any 8 watt amps anylonger, I'll double check.

On a secondary matter:

The grills on these Cornwalls are a "cane like" material. The grills are in great shape, however some of the velcro has remained stuck to the front of the speaker (detached from the back of the grill). I've been thinking some epoxy might be a good choice to secure them back to the rear of the grills. Any thoughts on this. I bet this is a common problem and would think many have experienced success with a fix. Let me know what works.

Thanks.

[boa12]

sprock, same prob on my corns til i got the grilles recovered. for me, a few drops of crazy or super glue worked fine. that epoxy really smells. at least the brand from home depot does. if u get that, get instant

epoxy.

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Klipsch KLF 30 (front), KLF C7, Cornwall I (rear)

Velodyne HGS-18 sub woofer

Monsterbass 400 sub interconnect & Monster CX-2 biwire & Z1 cable

Marantz SR-8000 receiver

Sony DVP-C650D 5-disk cd/dvd player

Sony Trinitron 27" stereo tv

Toshiba hi-fi stereo vcr

Technics dual cassette deck

Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2100 digital cable box

Boa's Listenin Lounge:

Klipsch RF-3, RC-3

Monster MCX Biwires

Sony STR-DE935 a/v receiver

Kenwood KR-9600 AM/FM stereo receiver (vintage 1975)

Russound AB-2 receiver switch to RF-3

Teac PD-D1200 5-disk cd changer

Technics SL-1950 turntable/AT LS500 cartridge

rock on!

[sprocket]

Hey thanks Boa....good point

This message has been edited by sprocket on 08-10-2001 at 08:57 PM

[Colin]

Sproketman, do you have a sub? becuase the microwattage of the Zen might be okay if you have a sub-woofer to push out the lowest notes ...

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big old Cornwalls, Bottlehead 2A3 Paramour tube amps, Dynaco series II tube pre-amp, Rotel CD player, KSW200 & LF10 subs

[sprocket]

Thanks for your response Colin

Well yes I kinda have a sub but it's from the early days I mean years of the audio illness that has stricken me . It's a passive sub that hasn't been used since, well I don't remember.I Should have thrown it away years ago but part of the illness, as you may know is that old members of ones audio system can not be thrown away, only put into some closet or retired to the garage ect. So anyway as a passive sub uses the amps power (flea power in this case) it will not work.

Colin, this brings up a good point to talk about anyway. The point being that I like the bass performance of this speaker for its ability to follow many different textures of low frequency notes. Some speakers seem to just have one low frequency kind of sound regardless of what CD you listen to. Granted this Zen amp has not been able to give me more than a polite bass volume but it is very tunefull with this speaker, rich in texture and personality respective of the percussion instrument used.

Do ya think the construction of the bass driver cone has some responsibilty here. It does not have a typical surroud (foam, rubber) but instead the outter area of the cone is corrugated to provide flexibility. The problem of foam deterioration is absent in this speaker and therefore these old speakers can perform so well even in their old age. What do ya think? Do others find this speakers bass yummy as I do?

[boa12]

sprock, corn I('84) bass yummy here too. they have much better extension than my klf-30. sweep shows great output & no real drop-off til about 32hz.

don't have the speace in room to put 'em in front. i myself wouldn't use a sub (even my velo hgs-18) w/ them for stereo music listening. they're good to go on that

flyin solo. on HT or 5/7 channel stereo, enter sub.

jmo.

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Klipsch KLF 30 (front), KLF C7, Cornwall I (rear)

Velodyne HGS-18 sub woofer

Monsterbass 400 sub interconnect & Monster CX-2 biwire & Z1 cable

Marantz SR-8000 receiver

Sony DVP-C650D 5-disk cd/dvd player

Sony Trinitron 27" stereo tv

Toshiba hi-fi stereo vcr

Technics dual cassette deck

Scientific Atlanta Explorer 2100 digital cable box

Boa's Listenin Lounge:

Klipsch RF-3, RC-3

Monster MCX Biwires

Sony STR-DE935 a/v receiver

Kenwood KR-9600 AM/FM stereo receiver (vintage 1975)

Russound AB-2 receiver switch to RF-3

Teac PD-D1200 5-disk cd changer

Technics SL-1950 turntable/AT LS500 cartridge

rock on!

[sprocket]

Hello again Boa 12 .

Here's some fun. Today I swaped my solid-state amp for some giggles (next best thing to a powered sub I figured). Well "slam my foot in the car door and drive up town"... I Spun some Erica Badu, Sleeping dragon-squatting tiger, Pink Floyd, Boney James, Aerosmith, Turrentine and Davis on and on. I couldn't stop. "Ay Captin Kirk, There Be Wales (Of Bass) Down Here".

Musical bass, powerfull bass. It was great fun. But here's the rub: sound-stage somewhat collapsed and a sometimes annoying shrillness at the high end of the mids (esp with vocals). What gives? How do I have my cake and well, you know eat it too.

[boa12]

sprock, now how'd u manage to get cornwalls to lose their soundstage & sound shrill?

for my cake & eatin 2 i've found them at their best w/ a good high power/current amp or receiver.

the marantz or even the old '75 big ken am/fm receiver work(ed) great for me.

[Stu Pidass]

Sproket: I must agree with Boa. This Marantz SR 8000 is one remarkable match for my Cornwalls. All hints of harshness are gone. The sound is warm, well defined and detailed. It has single handedly brought my Cornwalls back to life. Even at VERY VERY loud levels, this amp is a pleasure to listen to and cranks out any music style effortlessly. Bass is tight and well defined, human voices are believeable and real. Instruments sound clear without sharpness and piano is absolutely remarkable. Seperation and definition are superb. Detailing, realism and musicallity is very VERY impressive. Even during instumental "outbursts" individual instruments remain well defined (anything but chaoitic). Dimenionality (depth of soundstage) could be better, however, speaker placemnt and the listening environment have a dramatic effect on this. I found slight adjustments in spekaer placement made all the difference.

Now I don't think Marantz holds a patent on good 2 channel audio and I'm sure there are other amps that are very fine matches for Cornwalls. The Combination of the Marantz SR 8000 and the Klipsch Cornwall is an a word "REMARKABLE".

[sprocket]

Thanks Stu P and B-12 for your advise..

I'm not up to speed on the Marantz sr-8000 but will check it out when I can. I think my next move however (kinda busy this week) will be to try another solid-state amp I have on hand (because afterall I have it on hand). Also I must revisit the cute little Zen amp. Remember it gives good sound-stage, real good with the corns and also I experienced the warm emotional stuff with that combo till I tried to go for the BIG BASS with the sant