Cal Blacksmith Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 It is getting late so this will be short. The Cornwall 2s came on Saturday. They are 1986, oiled walnut. The grills and every corner and edge are perfect. There is one place on the top of one of them that had a stain of some sort and the old owner tried to sand it out. Yep, through the veneer! The two spots are about the size of a $0.50 piece and are just a little darker than the veneer around them so they are visible if you look. The other speaker has one spot where a lamp or something was placed on it. It looks like a fine felt pen mark and is about 3 inches long but he wisely left it alone! The pictures I took do not properly show how HUGE these things are! The base for one of my Forte speakers is in front of the left speaker and even that dose not do justice of the size of these things! You can see, they JUST fit against the wall there is about ½ inch clearance for each speaker! How do they sound? Well, there is definitely more top end and upper mids to them, almost too bright after getting used to the Fortes. I had the Fortes toed in a bit to enhance the sound stage and there is no chance of that with these monsters! There is at times, depending on the material, a slight hole in the center of the sound stage. The sound of these guys does fill the space. They are definitely smooth and the bass digs deep when needed. I have played Rock, Classical, Instrumental and Blues and Jazz and they SHINE on Blues and Jazz!! More later as I settle in with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 Congrats CB. What's that EQ doing there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 5, 2005 Author Share Posted June 5, 2005 ---------------- On 6/5/2005 11:53:42 PM Guy Landau wrote: Congrats CB. What's that EQ doing there? ---------------- LOL!!! It is there to make badly mixed CDs sound at least good enough to not throw out the window Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodog Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Congratulations on those speakers! Now, you have *GOT* to make room to toe in those babies! peace, Woo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan krajewski Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Congratulations! Please post a follow up with your impressions after you have had them for a while. Are you selling the Heresys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Congrats! I agree with Woo though. You MUST be able to toe them in, just slightly. Makes a huge difference. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Nice score. Toe in and pull them out from the wall(back and side). It will change your life. Again very nice score and do report back after a couple weeks for a review between the Forte and Cornwalls. Danny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastlane Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 In your first photo, it looks as if your Cornwall blew your poor Forte right off its base! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 ---------------- On 6/5/2005 11:38:34 PM Cal Blacksmith wrote: How do they sound? Well, there is definitely more top end and upper mids to them, almost too bright after getting used to the Fortes. ---------------- I do not like bright speakers. I will keep my FORTE 2 speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 A B&K Pre and Main amp will cure that brightness. The pre amp comes with an awsome hand held remote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 ---------------- On 6/6/2005 6:01:26 PM aviserated wrote: ---------------- On 6/5/2005 11:38:34 PM Cal Blacksmith wrote: How do they sound? Well, there is definitely more top end and upper mids to them, almost too bright after getting used to the Fortes. ---------------- I do not like bright speakers. I will keep my FORTE 2 speakers. ---------------- Cornwalls aren't bright. If they are, you have serious issues with your amp and/or your preamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Wayne, Congratulations! I agree with Gary and the others. You should toe the CW's in. It will make a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Bright? Cornwalls? "Bright" is just about the LAST adjective I'd use to describe the sound of a pair of Cornwalls being driven by proper amplification. "In your face" I would accept, but NOT "bright." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sputnik Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 I just replaced a pair of Forte IIs with Cornwall IIs that Rick Thumpelstiltskin pointed out in the forum. I noticed a much fuller bass right off and only found one CD (Bob Marley Legend) so far where some of the lowest bass caught by the Fortes was missed by the Cornwalls. In all of the other comarisons so far, the bass is just way stronger with the Cornwalls. I haven't noticed any annoying highs yet. In fact, on the part of DSOTM ("Time") where all the bells and chimes ring, the effect is not nearly as ear splitting on the Cornwalls as it was on the Fortes (but still very realistic) and the bass effect that immediatly follows the bells is much more powerful on the Cornwalls than it was on the Fortes. With most deep bass, where the Fortes would pleasingly shake the room, the Cornwalls fill it. I have more to add. If it's alright, I'd like to join in here to compare notes with Cal some more since we just did the same upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Congrats on the Cornwalls. Is that a printer stand in the photo? Move that to another wall and you will have plenty of room for a little toe in . The Corns in my HT are 11 ft apart, and a toe in of only about 6 to 8 inches makes a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Congrats Cal, I LOVE my Cornwalls. But I concur with the other writers. It is critical that you toe these speakers in to get the horn sound off of the side walls. Maybe about 6-8 inches on the far sides should do it. Enjoy, Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted June 6, 2005 Author Share Posted June 6, 2005 Well, after the severe keyboard lashing I took for them being in the corners, I moved them out to the position shown below (the image is slightly distorted but the size of the cornwalls is true to the FEEL of the size that they have!). They instantly developed a much richer mid range and bottom end. The sound stage from them is now HUGE; the music just comes from everywhere in front of you. I have now discovered that yet another layer has been removed from the music and yet again I need to go through my music as to which is mixed better and worse. I played several different LPs and CDs in the new configuration so I placed the best recorded and mixed LP I have on the TT and gave it a spin. WOW the brass was clean and clear, the bass was well defined and rich and the violins were sharp and defined the cymbals hang in the air forever. You can almost count the wires on the brushes on the drums. The Forte is a very good speaker and I really did not expect such a difference but there was a marked improvement over the Fortes. I still think the Fortes are better specifically for Rock but the definition and spaciousness of the Cornwalls is fantastic. Klipsch makes some awesome modern designed speakers but I think these monsters give them more than a run for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Much better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heresy2guy Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 I too have noticed a huuuuge difference in sound down through the years...you've gotta toe those babies in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted June 7, 2005 Share Posted June 7, 2005 Because of space constraints, I can't toe my Cornwalls in (wouldn't be able to get past them to get to the bathroom). However, I was able to compensate by adding a pair of La Scalas in front and using the Cornwalls for rears. I don't think the soundstage suffered too badly. Oh, by the way, backing up La Scalas with Cornwalls pretty well compensates for any preceived lack of bass "slam" in the La Scalas. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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