taming the cornwall II harshness

[johnyholiday]

Take the football helmet off

[KCM]

Take the football helmet off

You funny, Indy....... []

[BiggerIsBetter]

sorry don't have much time to read this week.....

[Colin]

have you tried aiming the horn drivers directly at your ears or the back of your head as you sit in the sweet spot?

[Cal Blacksmith]

uh oh ...

klipsch police gonna get me..............

Nah, we will just help you get rid of that bright, crappy SS gear you have and get some good ol tubes in the gear rack[]

[m00n]

I have found that the Cornwall is a pretty lousy speaker for loud Rock or electric Blues --ESPECIALLY when "cranked up."

This is a bit disheartning to read. Rock is my primarly love. However, I do listen to a lot of ambient music as well.

[thebes]

I don't know where a lot of the cornies bashers are coming from but I

love mine and they are in a bad listening room indeed. Mids to

die for but with some harshness that I find in all my Klipsch

speakers. slight harshness is a good tradeoff when you consider

the detail and soundstage, though.

One thing jumps out at me and that is they are only spread about 6 feet

apart, with you sitting10 feet back. I know you said you don't have

much room for placement but pull them way out, shift your sweet spot

and try placement as an experiment to see if it makes a big difference.

Besides the great advice on checking for dips in the sound level, I

would start them out at least 7 feet apart, not toed in and about 1 and

1/2 feet from the walls and go from there. Actually 10 feet apart

and toed in should give you the triangle you need as a starting point.

After you get them imaging properly, I would also suggest trying

different taps on your amp/receiver etc. (4ohm vs. 8ohm) although this

will mostly affect the tightness of the bass.

[Chris Robinson]

My 2-channel system in the Man Cave is:

Lessard Pantheon pre-amp (tubes)

Lessard Horus 2A3 SET amps (tubes)

Njoe Tjoeb CDP (tubes)

Cornwall II's (mid-60's vintage with ALK networks)

===================================================

I can't even begin to see these as harsh in HF section.

HOWEVER, crummy source material is revealed in all its glory, even with the upsampling mod on the CDP. It is listenable (vs. unlistenable without the upsampling), but nothing will overcome a crummy recording. Unfortunately, a lot of rock recordings are heavily compressed and have little depth. To make matters worse, it seems like it's recorded "hot" to please the radio stations and sounds like h*ll through a quality amplification chain.

I love my 2-ch rig on vinyl and the better recordings that are available today. To my ear (75-85db), the music comes through live and clear. If I was going to go 105db all day, I'd have Klipschorns or LaScalas and a very fast sub.

And a helmet []

Edit: Oh yeah, I do have Klipschorns but prefer the Cornwalls for intimate listening rooms. Their bass is really different from the Klipschorns but has a lot of satisfying appeal for late night, low volume listening (70db).

[intotubes]

I don't know where a lot of the cornies bashers are coming from but I love mine and they are in a bad listening room indeed. Mids to die for but with some harshness that I find in all my Klipsch speakers. slight harshness is a good tradeoff when you consider the detail and soundstage, though.

One thing jumps out at me and that is they are only spread about 6 feet apart, with you sitting10 feet back. I know you said you don't have much room for placement but pull them way out, shift your sweet spot and try placement as an experiment to see if it makes a big difference.

Besides the great advice on checking for dips in the sound level, I would start them out at least 7 feet apart, not toed in and about 1 and 1/2 feet from the walls and go from there. Actually 10 feet apart and toed in should give you the triangle you need as a starting point. After you get them imaging properly, I would also suggest trying different taps on your amp/receiver etc. (4ohm vs. 8ohm) although this will mostly affect the tightness of the bass.

Mr. Thebes,

Would you explain the effect you get when using different impedence taps on an amp? How does the bass change vs. tap used.

Thanks,

Mark

[Duke Spinner]

will just help you get rid of that bright, crappy SS gear you have and get some good ol tubes in the gear rack[]

better look further at my profile

[IB Slammin]

Got my first decorator vert CW's in "73. The next set was walnut horz in '75.

Got rid of the "bright crappy" sound in 2003 with a better mid-horn and driver. Had nothing to do amps.

Still run big nasty SS power amps, but front with a sweet little JMA tube pre.

Terry

[thebes]

I don't know where a lot

of the cornies bashers are coming from but I love mine and they are in

a bad listening room indeed. Mids to die for but with some

harshness that I find in all my Klipsch speakers. slight

harshness is a good tradeoff when you consider the detail and

soundstage, though.

One thing jumps out at me and that is they

are only spread about 6 feet apart, with you sitting10 feet back. I

know you said you don't have much room for placement but pull them way

out, shift your sweet spot and try placement as an experiment to see if

it makes a big difference.

Besides the great advice on checking

for dips in the sound level, I would start them out at least 7 feet

apart, not toed in and about 1 and 1/2 feet from the walls and go from

there. Actually 10 feet apart and toed in should give you the

triangle you need as a starting point. After you get them imaging

properly, I would also suggest trying different taps on your

amp/receiver etc. (4ohm vs. 8ohm) although this will mostly affect the

tightness of the bass.

Mr. Thebes,

Would you explain the effect you get when using different impedence taps on an amp? How does the bass change vs. tap used.

Thanks,

Mark

I really don't know the technical explanation for the tighter bass by

using the lower tap. When I first got seperates about a year ago,

I was complaining here about boomy bass and in was advised that if I

lowered the impedence it should tighten things up. And it did!

The effect is more subtle on my KG speakers and also dependent upon

what I'm driving them with, but it was quite noticable on my

Cornwalls. This type of change, of course, may or may not please

everyone but IMO it's always a good thing to try and costs nothing.

[Cal Blacksmith]

will just help you get rid of that bright, crappy SS gear you have and

get some good ol tubes in the gear rack[]

better look further at my profile

Sorry[] I just assumed that you were using the "big gun" crown on

those poor little corns[] at something like take off power volume for

a jet aricraft[][]

[DrWho]

I have found that the Cornwall is a pretty lousy speaker for loud Rock or electric Blues --ESPECIALLY when "cranked up."

This is a bit disheartning to read. Rock is my primarly love. However, I do listen to a lot of ambient music as well.

No worries moon....cornwalls are amazing for the kind of rock you listen to.

Speaker choice is very music dependant so you gotta rely on those that enjoy and listen to the same stuff.

[D-MAN]

I USED to hold with the idea that a good speaker should reproduce ALL types of music with relative impunity.

I have found that it is NOT as easy to accomplish as it is to say it!

The issues of dispersion characteristics, frequency response and all that entails, and stereo effects (which are not easily pinned down) all impart a requirement on the speaker, differing driver efficiencies and optimum current levels, etc., placement, its listening environment, the equipment powering it, the desired SPL - all give the speaker its own "flavor" or "voice" at DIFFERENT SPL'S!

So you really cannot win. That's why I've changed my mind. Even if you had a perfectly flat speaker, it wouldn't be once it was in your room, or even once you changed the volume!

DM