d_dempsey4477 Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Just bought refurbed Cornwall's, great clarity and presence. I am running them with a new mid priced Yamaha receiver. Pushes out 120 watts in "Pure Direct" mode. Is this enough power to drive the Cornwall's to max their effectiveness? They do sound great but I have to turn the volume knob up very high to get good clear sound that has concert like impact. Any recommendation on an Amp that could possibly work in conjunction with my receiver to give greater depth or should my receiver be ok? Any comments would be appreciated! Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 You should be fine. Which receiver are you using? RXV or HTR series? Congrats on your Cornwalls, the only thing better is MORE CORNWALLS! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flason Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Your Conwalls will drive you out of the room on 10 watts so 120 is pleanty of power. I'm in the minority on this board as I do like Yamaha with Klipsch. Keep reading and you will soon be buying some tubes to make those CW's really shine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 A 120 watt receiver and you have to turn it way up? Something must be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 8:44:05 AM Piranha wrote: A 120 watt receiver and you have to turn it way up? Something must be wrong. ---------------- Yup something is wrong or you have a hearing problem. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazytubepower Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Yeah, I would ditch that yamaha. Your a drasticaly underminding the potential sq of the cornwall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 8:25:56 AM d_dempsey4477 wrote: They do sound great but I have to turn the volume knob up very high to get good clear sound that has concert like impact. ---------------- Dan: Assuming your refurbished Cornwalls are in perfect working order (Crossovers included), you must be having serious problems with your amps. 10W will be enough power to make your Cornwalls rattle the walls with crystal clear, ear drum blowing music. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 8:52:44 AM crazytubepower wrote: Yeah, I would ditch that yamaha. Your a drasticaly underminding the potential sq of the cornwall---------------- Yeah, it's Yamaha, it must be JUNK! Hey, lets get to the bottom of it before we trash an entire line of good home electronics, okay? I'm so SICK of people trashing the Yamaha name. Perhaps this new Forum member has a unit that needs repair, doesn't understand watts rating, or has bizarre SPL expectations. That doesn't make all Yamaha amps unworthy of driving Klipsch speakers, does it? Personally, (that is, speaking from EXPERIENCE- got any of that Crazy?) My Yamaha RXV2400, rated at 130 wpc (yeah I know, probably doens't really put that out) will drive a pair of CW's to 120 db+ before distortion sets in. If you do the math, that means that they must be getting pretty darn close to 120 watts at least. If that's not what you're getting, there is an amp problem. If that's not loud enough, you have a hearing problem. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTA Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Although that Yamaha can certainly drive those speakers to high levels, I believe the question is if the user is getting the maxium potential out of their speakers with it. The answer is most asuredly no; not from a reciever and very likely not from most amplification from Japan. A seperate amp will of course, depending on what it is, be a substaintial upgrade. It is all a matter of what you are willing to spend. I had a Sony DA777ES reciever which is probably pretty close in power and sound to the Yamaha, over time I pre-amped it to a pair of Crown D150s. The sound change was pretty dramatic, especially in the low end. After the Sony I went with a Denon 5803, which sounded pretty good for a reciever. I then later pre-amped it to my Crowns again, with a minimal improvement. After I swapped out the Crowns for a McIntosh MC207. The difference was huge. Far more dynamic. Recently, I replaced the Denon with a McIntosh MX119 preamp. The clarity improved tremendously. The all McIntosh setup made everything I had previously sound absolutely laughable. Obviously one can only spend within their means, but the sound quality and output potential to be had over a reciever is absolutely huge. Those who have only listened to their speakers on something like this Yamaha in question have not even begun to realize their potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 8:25:56 AM d_dempsey4477 wrote: Any recommendation on an Amp that could possibly work in conjunction with my receiver to give greater depth or should my receiver be ok? Any comments would be appreciated! ---------------- Most will tell you you're fine with 120 watts. That's cool, except you've already discovered the obvious... 120 watts is just 'get by'. If you want to bring your speakers alive, buy a truckload of POWER. The most you can afford. Next to speakers I now think it's the best thing you can do to your stereo. My choice at 400 watts is the Carver ZR1600 (google it for a look see). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmjrt Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ----- If you want to bring your speakers alive, buy a truckload of POWER. The most you can afford. ------ I have to say that I most assuredly do NOT agree with the above statement. I use a tube amp of 40wpc (MC240) to drive my Cornwalls and I have a lot of headroom and can play them very loudly. The Cornwall is a very efficient speaker and can be driven by very low powered amps. Some people here use SET amps which might only have a couple of wpc. I haven't ever tried an SET but someday am sure that I will give it a go. I have run my Cornwalls with quality S/S power and that was good until I heard them with a tube amp. Now I run tubes. The 40wpc from my tubes is better (to me) than the 200+ wpc from the S/S that I had. It's always good to try things out for yourself if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilbert Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 10:40:21 AM jpm wrote: ---------------- On 8/17/2005 8:25:56 AM d_dempsey4477 wrote: you've already discovered the obvious... 120 watts is just 'get by'. ---------------- My living room is approx. 25ft x 30ft and the system in that room can crank out about 2500 watts of SS Class A power. I can guarantee your ear drums will blow-up and bleed red before my system chokes. There are 6 cornwalls and 2 khorns providing the sound. In the master bedroom, the size is approx. 20ft x25ft and the system cranks out a total of 120 watts tube power (2 60watt mono's). There is only a pair of cornwalls in this room. I can guarantee the exact same results without even beginning to stretch the legs on my amps. When I started out, I was under the impression that I needed gobs of power (which, overkill aside, I still belive more is better), but after owning and still running several systems on the same speaker line (Klipsch Heritage), I know I was very wrong. 120 watts is significantly more than just "GET BY" for a pair of cornwalls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 hahaha, that's what all the tube guys say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 It's True ..... tube watts beat S/S watts, probably by a factor of 5 now i run 500 S/S wpc, but i also enjoy good performance wih 60 tube wpc just not the same Bass performnce outta the tube set-up, however Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 If you guys wanna run tubes, that's cool. I prefer SS with it's superior bass response. Different strokes. Let's be honest about SS though, more power rules... admit it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 12:08:02 PM jpm wrote: hahaha, that's what all the tube guys say. ---------------- I'm not a tube guy. But I also know that -20 dB on a 50W per channel receiver is closer to 0.5W than to 100W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpm Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 I can't argue with what my ears hear. I don't care what the specs say. Is it Miller time yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 no Miller 'round here Labatt.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 ---------------- On 8/17/2005 8:25:56 AM d_dempsey4477 wrote: Just bought refurbed Cornwall's, great clarity and presence. I am running them with a new mid priced Yamaha receiver. Pushes out 120 watts in "Pure Direct" mode. Is this enough power to drive the Cornwall's to max their effectiveness? They do sound great but I have to turn the volume knob up very high to get good clear sound that has concert like impact. Any recommendation on an Amp that could possibly work in conjunction with my receiver to give greater depth or should my receiver be ok? Any comments would be appreciated! Dan ---------------- Regarding the comments that 120 watts are not enough, the source is going to play a huge part in that equation. What are you listening to (CD, LP, tape, etc) when you need to turn up the Yamaha that far to get concert level sound? I have friends who only feel they are hearing concert level sound when they hear just a touch of distortion comming from the amp and room interaction, regardless of the decibles being produced. Many people confuse high volume/concert level with distortion. I think in many ways its logical in that 90% of the rock/blues, etc live concerts you see, will be loud with loads of distortion. Obviously with a low power tub amp, many of the tube proponents, when they listen to "concert level" enjoy that, because tube distortion is much more musical. While in SS it does not take much to really sound bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 "I prefer SS with it's superior bass response." Depends on the amp, some cheap-assed receivers are pretty worthless when it comes to bass. "Different strokes." That's right....I tend to prefer the more natural bass that tube amps seem to pull off, other than gobs of thump thump. "Let's be honest about SS though, more power rules... admit it." I dunno, the power thing and gobs of headroom is cool I suppose. But usually with SS you turn it up for awhile, then turn it down, and then get bored with it and turn it off. By that is just in my experiences. Whatever floats one's boat is all that matters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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