Driver Replacements for Cornwall

[boxer931]

I know that I've come to the right place to ask this question. I firmly

believe, unlike the venerable reviewers at Stereophile, that the

heritage line of klipsch loudspeakers are the best speakers ever

produced, bar none! When I was younger, my trip to a local audio store

cemented my opinion. While there, I listened to the famous Nautilus

801, and as sort of an afterthought, I played "Trees" by Rush through a

set of Klipschorns. My jaw hit the floor. From that point on I have

listened to many fine transducers, but ALL pale in comparison to the

Klipschorns. I have never heard the Cornwalls, but I WILL OWN A PAIR! I

don't want the III's, because I want the Plywood cabinets. Would my

best bet be to go with the new woofer driver created for the III's, or

go for a replacement made by Emminence, or similar manufacturer? Are

these woofers 4 or 8 ohm?

[boom3]

Your best bet, if I understand what you are asking, is to buy a pair of Cornwall IIs, which went out of production in either 90 or 91. The woofer did not change from the Cornwall I to IIs (and the unofficial 1.5s). If you search this forum the family tree of the Cornwalls has been discussed at great length.

Actually, the MDF cabs of the later Cornwalls are less resonant and better braced than the earlier plywood versions. Some of us also believe the midrange and tweeter drivers of the CW IIs are superior to the earlier models.

I have not heard the CW IIIs yet. However, a number of us feel that the new midrange driver, borrowed from the new Heresy, is a mistake, and Klipsch should have kept the K601 horn used in the CW IIs .That topic also has been chewed to a fine pulp on this forum. Cornwall IIs generally run 700-1,000 a pair on the usual auction sites. Expect to invest about $250 more in shipping if you can't pick them up. If you want them to arrive intact, they must have professional packaging. I strongly recommend Craters & Freighters

[Guest " "]

are you asking for advice on buying a replacment woofer or about buying cornwalls with a particular brand of woofer?

[colterphoto1]

Except the very very early CW's they are all the K33 woofer. There were slight changes in the crossover through the years, tweeter is same in I/II, different (cost savings ) in III. I'll agree with the gu ys in the horn dept, the Mid K600 (K601 composite in the II) should be preferable to the new one.

In earlier models, tweeter, mid driver and woofer were all the same. Only cabinet design, xover, and mid horn was different between Khorn, LS, Belle, and CW.

For around $700 you can get one of the smoothest sounding Klipsh speakers ever invented, imho. I love em (see pix)! They do take up a bit of real estate though.

Get a pair and welcome to the madness.

We have a Frapper map in the General Section. Find a couple members near you and perhaps you can audition a pair.

Michael

[boom3]

The later CW IIs used the K79 tweeter, the 1.5s and Is used the K77...

[DrWho]

I was under the impression that the "new" mid horn for the C3 was in fact identical to the old K-600...they just had a new mold made for the speaker. And didn't the cornwall and heresy always share the same squaker and tweeter?

[boom3]

Nope. The new CW III uses the same mid horn as the Heresy, crossed at 800 Hz. It is claimed that the K601 mold is lost and the K601 would be too costly to reproduce. I don't agree, but I am not in charge []

The mid for the Heresy I and Cornwall 1 (and maybe the so-called 1.5?) was the K-55 de jure until about maybe 85 or 86 (Klipsch product page says 86)...then the K57 was used in the CW II, don't know about the Heresey. The tweeter, again, the date is fuzzy, about that same time transitioned from the K77 to the K79. Both the K57 and the K79 were Heppner designs.

[colterphoto1]

I think the K57 is the number for the K52H Heppner driver mounted to the K601 horn.

Also the CWIII has a different tweeter, a gtractrix design called the 107 I think. It might have been done for economy reasons, the K77F which is much more costly is still used in the LS and Khorns currently. So the CWIII and HIII share mids and tweets.

[ironwoods]

Would my best bet be to go with the new woofer driver created for the III's, or go for a replacement made by Emminence, or similar manufacturer?

Will the ones that reside in them now be broken? [*-)][8-)]

[chops]

As Michael stated, they all used the K-33 woofer. However, I was told that all the pre-1985 K-33 were the only ones that met PWK's specs and the ones post-1985 did not.

Also, eventhough some of the Heresys and Cornwalls used the same K-55V and K77, the squawker horn itself was different. (K-600 vs K-700)

BTW, forum member BEC sells both the K-33 (post-1985) and his own CT1526 woofer which is custom made to PWK's pre-1985 specs by Eminence.

[Hardhead]

As Michael stated, they all used the K-33 woofer. However, I was told that all the pre-1985 K-33 were the only ones that met PWK's specs and the ones post-1985 did not.

Also, eventhough some of the Heresys and Cornwalls used the same K-55V and K77, the squawker horn itself was different. (K-600 vs K-700)

BTW, forum member BEC sells both the K-33 (post-1985) and his own CT1526 woofer which is custom made to PWK's pre-1985 specs by Eminence.

It's surprising that PWK would use woofers (the post-1985 ones) that didn't meet his specifications. Do you--or anyone else, for that matter--know which specifications the post-1985 woofers couldn't meet?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[DrWho]

C3 - http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=975&s=specs

C2 - http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=115&s=specs

C1 - http://www.klipsch.com/product/product.aspx?cid=111&s=specs

This is the snippet Bob sent me in an email describing the K-33 change in Fs:

Anyway, my CW1526 is modeled on the Pre-1985 K-33E. Before that time,  

Eminence made the K-33E with an FS of 26 hz. When the Cornwall

dropped from the line in 1985, Klipsch re-speced the K-33E to have an

FS of 34 hz. I think the lower FS is only needed in the Cornwall

since the Khorn bass bin cuts off at 34 hz anyway.

I just wanted to comment that the Cornwall II ran from

1985-1990. The change was probably due to the fact that PWK kept

dropping the Fs of the K-33 to try and get it to work better in the

limited rear cabinet volume of the khorn (in the very early years). As

the research developed he probably realized that a higher(?) Qts was

more advantageous than a lower Fs. Subsequently the higher Fs would be

more beneficial for the cornwall (and thus the higher quoted

sensitivity in the specs). The tradeoff for both speakers being a much steeper rolloff

below the F3.

Though this is mostly speculation I have no doubt Klipsch knew what it

was doing when the changes were being made. Really, pre/post PWK

doesn't make a world of difference - especially when all the cornwalls

sound so similar to each other.

Btw, the new C III is still using the K-33E, but it specs out

slightly better yet again - which is probably due to tighter

manufacturing specs and a stronger magnet. I know the earlier K-33's

were all using much smaller magnets.

Anyone know what the original cornwalls were crossed over at? Wasn't it 600Hz?