philtubes Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hello all, I picked up a pair of Klipsch Cornwall II speakers today, my first pair of Klipsch after a lifetime of going round in circles with traditional box speakers. They already sound very good, the pair I purchased are plywood with what looks like a picture frame around the edges of the baffle holding a piece of laminate in place used as the grille cover, I pulled a piece of the frame off and slid the laminate out, underneath is what appears to be a sheet of felt stapled onto the baffle. Has anyone seen a pair with type of grille setup, the laminate has openings in it but it cant be good for use as a grille. Any feedback is much appreciated. I added pictures, the first is with the grille on, the second is with the grille pulled out. Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Congrats and enjoy your new toys............Please post some pictures, which will help us see what your trying to explain............... Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtubes Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 This picture shows the Grille on, my original post shows the grille off. Thanks again. Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Congrats Phil. The big rascals sound good, don't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtubes Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 The wife loves them, she keeps telling me to turn it up, go figure. Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Nope. Looks like a prior owner did a DIY project. The grills should be a simple flat piece of 1/8" thick masonite (?) with cut-outs for the horn mouths & woofer covered in a woven fabric. The whole thing is attached with lots of little velcro dots. Unless they were "Decorators." In that case, I believe they came without grills. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtubes Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 One thing I forgot to mention is that there are remnants of a walnut vinyl veneer on the speaker in certain areas, what the hell do I have here? Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Phill: It would help if you gave us the three letter "TYPE" code off the tag on the back of the speakers. On yours, its probably something like CDR (Cornwall, Decorator, Raw) meaning that they were "raw" Birch (or possibly Fir) plywood (sanded, but unfinished). The idea was that the owner could stain & finish them to match the decor or other furniture in their home. Some Decorator models were furnished without grill cloths. COL translates to Cornwall, Oak, Lacquer. CWO means Cornwall, Walnut, Oil finish and so on. Oh yeah, if you give us the serial number we can date the speakers for you. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtubes Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hi James, thanks for all the great info. The model # is C.D.-15 , the serial # is 1G332. Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Phill: Yep, you've got a pair of "Decorators." The -15 was used for awhile (I have no idea how long, but at least as late as 1973). It indicates a 15" woofer. The G in your serial number dates them to 1968. Pretty amazing how good a pair of 40 year old speakers can sound, isn't it! People are probably going to jump in here and tell you that you need to upgrade & replace all the capacitors in your cross-overs right away, but I'd recommend that you listen to them as they are for awhile & only jump into the upgrades after you've established a baseline for how they sound "as is." Oh, by the way, welcome to the forum. There is a wealth of information here from some very knowledgeable, generous folks. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philtubes Posted June 10, 2007 Author Share Posted June 10, 2007 WoW 1968, I tore the black covering off and discovered they are Vertical Cornwalls, they do sound amazing but they do get just a tad course with some instruments but i can overlook this, I will try them with tubes next. Maybe some tweaks such as damping the horns will improve them even further. When I get motivated I'll give a shot at refinishing the cabinets. BTW I paid $450.00 for them, seams like a steal after dealing with the typical so called high end speakers. Now I can see how getting into the Klipsch sound can become infectious, I'm already thinking about which model to get next. Thanks for the info. Phill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Congrats on the vertical decorators! I think they image slightly better and with a larger sweet spot than the horizontal corns. I'm using a '73 vertical decorator for my center channel. "they do get just a tad course with some instruments " This may be from a 9kHz flair up that is known to be a problem with the mid horn on some Klipsch from that era. There is a simple fix to the crossover to trap that spike (one cap and one coil). I had to correct this on my Cornwalls. An easy finish would be to sand them and stain them black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwhaples Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Looks like a good deal to me! Congrats! Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Nice Score ....!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 WOW................BTW I paid $450.00 for them, That is a fantastic deal.............and I noticed how Clean the Original Birch Plywood looks!.............Beautiful ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted June 10, 2007 Moderators Share Posted June 10, 2007 The wife loves them, she keeps telling me to turn it up, go figure. Phill I am really glad your wife likes them. We have Cornwall IIIs and I think they are awesome sounding speakers. The size of the speakers in the Heritage line up is a turn off for a lot of women. I am so fond of Klipsch that I wouldn't own any other brand of speakers. We have 4 Forte IIs, 2 Fortes, 2 Cornwall IIs and a diy subwoofer in our living room.[] Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to The Forum!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jheis Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 WOW................BTW I paid $450.00 for them, That is a fantastic deal.............and I noticed how Clean the Original Birch Plywood looks!.............Beautiful ! Bill: I could be wrong on this, but I think in '68 they would probably be Fir rather than Birch plywood. James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 James, You are correct..............I was just blown away at the Pristine condition of the Wood!..........It looked like time and the conditions hadn't effected them at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Fir plywood. Excellent candidates for a full-on reveneer. Fir is ugly and can't really even be lacquered to any satisfaction. Great speakers! Congrats!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klipsched with Yamahas Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Another satisfied Cornwall owner......go figure (lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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