Wall mounted Cornwalls don't cut it.

[DizRotus]

The original post regarding these Cornwall IIs is at the link below.

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http://forums.klipsch.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=63579&sessionID={7C53B274-BA67-42A6-8C17-4FA84BB647A6}

Since creating that post, Ive exchanged emails with Grant Okamura. The Cornwalls are recessed into the acoustical tile. Look closely at the gap in the tile around the riser on the left. It is easier to cut acoustical tile than to saw plywood. What you see through the ports is the unfinished wood.

Ive attached part of the response from Dr. Okamura (typos intact). He explains how they came to be wall mounted, why it was a mistake and how much better they are when used properly.

The Klipsch Cornwalls don't sound very good in that configuration. Our AV guy just went in and placed them up there and I wished he had consulted with me before doing it. I've spent years as an audio consultant and have designed speakers and used to do modifications to amps and stuff. Have not done the amps stuff recently and advances in amp design has left me behind. I love tube amps and there are only a few transistor amps that I think are ok. But I still do a lot of audio work. The Cornwalls don't work very well in its present location. The tweeter and midrange fire way over the heads of the students and they sound their best standing in the percussion section. They are spaced too far apart for good imaging. Because its on the balcony face the surface area does not give enough reinforcement to the bass and they sounds really thin. On my equipment it has a roll off around 110 so it sounds more like a midrange speaker. I sometimes bring it a subwoofer that I designed and it sounds much better. We have another set of Cornwalls in a different room and it sounds very good there. It has a very exciting sound with a bit of resonances here and there but they seem pretty controlled.

The solid surface to which the speakers are attached is several inches behind the surface of the acoustical tile, i.e., the need to cut openings in the tile the shape of the speakers. The tile would never support the weight of the Cornwalls.

[jt1stcav]

You think that's a strange setup? Take a look at Wendy Carlos's 1977 studio where 4 Cornwalls hung by chains from the ceiling! Ms. Carlos by the way, had her claim to fame in 1968 with the album "Switched On Bach", a collection of little preludes and fugues performed on the now vintage Moog synthesizer. She's also done soundtracks for the movies "A Clockwork Orange", "The Shining", and Disney's "Tron", and made many other albums using today's latest MIDI keyboards. She's a pioneer in the synthesizer industry, but I'll never figure out why she has 4 Cornwalls suspended from her studio ceiling...it can't sound good IMO (then again, maybe she knows something we don't).

[Marvel]

Actually, her claim to fame was when she went from being a guy to a girl.

A peculiar world isn't it?

Marvel

[jt1stcav]

True, and her website mentions nothing about "Walter"...

[Marvel]

Do you mean Wendell?

EDIT: Oops, you are right. JT.

[jt1stcav]

No, "Walter"...the first few albums I bought of hers in the early '70s had the name "Walter Carlos" on them. Later ablums I bought had "Wendy"...I just assumed at first that Wendy was another family member or wife that got into the Bach synthesizer business (boy, was I ever wrong).

[howismydriving]

Ms. Carlos was one of the pioneers of surround sound recording. She first started using Quadraphonic, and that is why there are 4 suspended by the celing over the keyboard. In the early 1980s she worked with Dolby to create suround sound for music CDs. She has a very interesting article on her website about it. Can't say I like here choice in TOA amps though!

[j-malotky]

I would bet the quad hanging Cornwalls in her studio sound pretty nice. The gap between the ceiling and side walls looks like it would re-enforce the bass as well as a standard living room floor mount.

If you have ever put your speakers flat against the wall, I have tried, and the bass does sound much flatter than with a gap behind the speaker. I also heard systems where they have enclosed Heritage within a wall where the speakers soundboard is flush with the wall, and that too does not properly re-enforce the bass. That combined with the horns pointing out into space, like the Dr points out, must make them sound horable.

Its always best to leave some air arround the speaker cabinet, even the back, to let it breath.

JM

[ben.]

That room shows great attention to detail, and I'd bet the rig sound really good, especially for what Carlos was up to musically.

[arfandbark]

Cornwalls are best played unchained... Just my two cents worth.....

Woof!

[DrWho]

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On 4/4/2005 11:28:40 PM j-malotky wrote:

I would bet the quad hanging Cornwalls in her studio sound pretty nice. The gap between the ceiling and side walls looks like it would re-enforce the bass as well as a standard living room floor mount.

If you have ever put your speakers flat against the wall, I have tried, and the bass does sound much flatter than with a gap behind the speaker. I also heard systems where they have enclosed Heritage within a wall where the speakers soundboard is flush with the wall, and that too does not properly re-enforce the bass. That combined with the horns pointing out into space, like the Dr points out, must make them sound horable.

Its always best to leave some air arround the speaker cabinet, even the back, to let it breath.

JM

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Proper flush mounting actually gives a huge increase in the bass response...the problem is getting the speaker in the best location (kinda hard to move a hole in the wall). I don't have my charts with me, but I think you get a gradual increase amounting to +12dB at 20Hz (and starting the climb around 100Hz). It's a physical property of baffle design and works on the some of the same concepts as hornloading.

I personally favor the sound of a speaker sitting higher versus on the floor. One of these days I'm going to have some khorns or jubilees mounted upside down and pointing down from the cieling. Besides, just think of the floor space being saved by having them in the air.

[jt1stcav]

Another view in Wendy's studio, looking up towards the staircase. Would she have to lie down on the floor to enjoy their imaging?

[IndyKlipschFan]

and no pics of Wendy or Walter????

[ben.]

Nice 2 inch 16-track machine, too. Analog heaven...

[scriven]

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On 4/4/2005 6:23:35 PM jt1stcav wrote:

... but I'll never figure out why she has 4 Cornwalls suspended from her studio ceiling...

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Couldn't get a hold of 4 La Scalas?

[WMcD]

This is by no means the fault of the Cornwalls.

I learned this lesson in high school. I had put together a Heathkit system with a receiver and AR copies. They sounded very good in my bedroom.

Then I brought them to the school cafeteria. A volume of space at least 100 times larger. The result was very anemic.

Gil

[jt1stcav]

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On 4/5/2005 6:38:34 PM IndyKlipschFan wrote:

and no pics of Wendy or Walter????

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Only Wendy:

A quote from "Answers.com":

"Her first recordings were originally released under her birth name (being a transsexual woman), she changed her name to Wendy Carlos. She underwent sexual reassignment surgery in 1972, though she had lived as a woman for many years beforehand, and had been taking hormone treatments prior to that. The last release to be credited to her old name was "By Request" (1975). The first as Wendy was "Switched-On Brandenburgs" (1979). On her official site, there is an answer to the question of why original LPs "have a different name on them", suggesting that a male name on a classical LP would have been accepted more eagerly. Her transition is not discussed, beyond statements to the effect that she values her privacy on the subject."

[picky]

It would appear that Walter aka: Wendy left us all a clue on his/her first album as to what he/she/they were up to. Note the name of the production company: "TRANS"-Electronic Music Productions, Inc.

[jt1stcav]

Good one, picky! I also noticed on that pic that the name "Wendy" appears on the record jacket...on the original LP I first bought in '70 or '71, "Walter" was the printed name (same for the next few covers). "Wendy" didn't appear until about the forth or fifth LP.

[ben.]

Are some of us maybe a little too fixated on gender issues?