tonyb Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Hi - allow me to introduce myself... A year ago, just to do something different, I started teaching myself electronics by building some Bottlehead tube amp kits. Of course, I needed sensitive speakers to go with these kits so I picked up a pair of SB-2s that were on sale locally. These mated quite well to my Bottlehead Foreplay and Paramours. 4 months ago I bought a pair of Heresys (or Heresies?). There were OK - until I updated the crossovers with BEC autotransformers, Audiocaps and Erse inductors. After about 100 hours of play time these speakers really began to sing everything except bass. But I knew they would be light on bass when I bought them. A month ago I located a pair of Cornwalls for sale in Northern Vermont (Hi Charles!) and picked them up last week. At the same time I hooked them up to my system I also upgraded the 2a3 power tubes in my amps - new power tubes take about 30 hours to break-in and typically sound bad until they do. Thursday I noticed that the bass portions of the music were coming thru quite nicely. Yesterday everything else started appearing. Bells chimed, cymbals crashed instead of thunked, brushes sounded like brushes instead of static, and the bass is tight and defined. These speakers are it! And did I mention that the attenuator on my pre-amp has 11 volume positions and we have yet to turn it past position 5 because at that point you can't hear yourself think. Pretty cool for a 3 watt amp. Anyhow, just thought I'd say, "Hi!" TonyB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwhaples Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Tony, Welcome to the Forum! Thanks for sharing. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Welcome to the Celestial Cornwall Club. I have 4 CW IIs from the mid-80s. There are many of us who rank them second only to Klipschorn. I built a variety of speakers over the years and, partly due to the requirements of HT, dismantled what I had and acquire 4 Corns within the space of 6 months. Not everyone has a 24 x 16 living room to accomodate Corns (or K-Horns), but if you do, the results can be very satisfying indeed. I am using a Yamaha HT receiver, with the active processing, and it sounds very good. I sometimes turn off the processor and use the Pure Direct mode as well. One of these days I'd like to try tubes with the Corns, although a tube HT set-up would not work in my present environment. I am also blessed to have a spouse who is thrilled with the Corns in the HT set-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuned4life Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 welcome and congrats on the cornwall's. im new to cornwalls also. picked up my first pair a couple months ago. i just love them. i have mine hooked up to marantz 4400 solid state receiver and they sound out of this world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormin Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Nice Marantz tuned4life. I bet it does sound good. My old 2325 sounds sweet with my chorus II's as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Welcome, tonyb, to the official Cornwall Club! Many owners here who also feel the way you do. I have enjoyed my '79 Cornwalls with 6V6 and 6BQ5 power amps, and also with 300B SET power! Cornwalls and tube amps/preamps go so well together, you'd think everyone would own 'em. I was also pleased with my classic SS McIntosh amps as many here can also attest. If you've got plenty of room for Cornwalls (and Klipschorns), these should be the last loudspeakers you'll ever own! Enjoy, and happy listening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 Welcome to the forum Tony. I've been enjoying my cornwalls since I bought them new in 1980. They are the real deal! I own Khorns also but enjoy the cornwalls just as much. Congrats on your purchase. There's lots of useful info along with a great group of folks that hang out here. Stick around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 As Gary noted, Welcome to the Forum. I have heard his and they indeed do what's needed. I have the pleasure of two pair of Cornwall IIs, in addition to Heresys. They get the job done. In one room I have Heresys atop the Cornwall IIs and as my CD Player has a variable and also a fixed set of outputs, I use two different Receivers, Pre-Amps / Amplifier combinations as the mood strikes me. I find that to be a very pleasurable set-up. Stick around, and keep sharing - I'm flexible, one set-up is McIntosh Tube, the other is Solid State. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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