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Cornwalls vs Chorus 2


sammey

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This is actually a difficult question if you haven't heard each of these speakers. Hearing people speak of (or write, to be specific) their own subjective preferences is hard to interpret IMO.

The good thing, it's a can't go wrong decision. Both are excellent speakers. If it is at all possible to hear each of these, go for it. You'll probably have a preference after hearing them.

I'd think a huge consideration is appearance for your room. Some folks strongly prefer the tower type profile of the Chorus. The CW's are dinosaur types. If you like the retro cool Heritage factor, CW's are excellent.

If the CW's are original, they will need to have the crossover caps replaced to sound right. They will sound good as is, they will sound fabulous with caps restored which is essentially factory spec. Crossover caps have a life of about 20 years so that might be an issue with the Chorus as well.

Great decision to have before you.

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Twice now I've had the opportunity to compare Cornwall and Chorus II
side by side...one time I was doing the comparison for over a week.
Interestingly enough, I've still not been able to label either as a
clear winner.

The Cornwall definitely has a more punchy bass
sound to it, but the Chorus is tighter and more accurate. Basically it
comes down to the fact that the Cornwall has a huge bump in the
response around 70Hz (like 5dB). This tends to sound good on a lot of
older rock because they seem to be recorded a bit light in the bass
region. On new material where there is solid bass information, the
Cornwall leans a bit on the too boomy side and the Chorus will really
kick you in the chest. If you listen at low listening levels, I would
probably lean towards the Cornwall...but if you ever like to elevate
the listening levels, then I would lean to the Chorus.

The
midrange on the Chorus is definitely clearer and less honky than the
Cornwall, but there is a rather large impedance spike around 6kHz on
the Chorus that will rip your head off if you're using a high output
impedance amplifier (like most tubes). Many people talk about how
moving to a "pro amp" makes the bass shine on the Chorus, but it's been
my experience that the biggest (and most measurable change) is the
reduction in a 6kHz peak...reducing the output of the high mids
effectively makes the bass sound louder, but I would argue that it's
the reduction of the peak that is the source of the difference. Just
recently I redesigned the crossover on my Chorus to get rid of this
peak, which has dramatically improved the clarity of the mids. Moving
to an active crossover and tri-amping sounds even better.

As far
as the Cornwall, the midrange is better behaved with varying amplifier
topologies, but there is simply no way to reduce the honkiness without
moving to a different horn. That is not to say that the Cornwall
midrange is poor by any stretch of the imagination...just commenting on
some of the possible colorations that might be imparted. Out of the
box, the Cornwall is likely to be more palateable to a wider range of
music/listening habits/amps/everything else.

And just to round
it out, the highs on both speakers are essentially the same, because
the K79 and K77 are essentially the same driver.

Personally, I
own a pair of Chorus II's and there's no way I'd trade them straight up
for the Cornwall I and II. However, I wouldn't hesitate to trade them
with the new Cornwall 3.

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From previous posts: Been some time now since Mike Lindsay hauled his new Chorus IIs over to my old Palm Beach Gardens house to compare them to my super-sensitive walnut-oiled Cornwall 1s, with B2 crossovers. He graduated to LaScalas (now modified with ALK crossovers and Altec 511B horns) and I moved up, way up, to classic Klipsch corner Khorns. At the time, I remember thinking the Chorus shared far more similarities with the Corns than major differences. Since my Corns had a prodigious mid-bass and upper-end bounce, I would NOT be surprised if this problem was solved in the newer, slimmer Chorus models.

I do remember the more attractive looking Chorus were a few hundred dollars less than what Cornwalls sell for (about the same as now). I thought this lower price made Chorus models cheap to the market = undervalued for their capabilities. I think the Corns or the under-rated Chorus models give 65-75% of the classic Klipsch corner Khorn sound for less than half the price.

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From previous posts: Been some time now since Mike Lindsay hauled his new Chorus IIs over to my old Palm Beach Gardens house to compare them to my super-sensitive walnut-oiled Cornwall 1s, with B2 crossovers. He graduated to LaScalas (now modified with ALK crossovers and Altec 511B horns) and I moved up, way up, to classic Klipsch corner Khorns. At the time, I remember thinking the Chorus shared far more similarities with the Corns than major differences. Since my Corns had a prodigious mid-bass and upper-end bounce, I would NOT be surprised if this problem was solved in the newer, slimmer Chorus models.

I do remember the more attractive looking Chorus were a few hundred dollars less than what Cornwalls sell for (about the same as now). I thought this lower price made Chorus models cheap to the market = undervalued for their capabilities. I think the Corns or the under-rated Chorus models give 65-75% of the classic Klipsch corner Khorn sound for less than half the price.

Now that speaks volumes for the "Klipsch corner Khorn"!!! Got to give a conscious listen to, sometime soon!
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Its all apples and oranges, they are both fruit, but taste different .............. I have had here, KG2's, KG4's, Heresy II, Cornwalls, also short stays with La Scala's, and Forte II's, and 3 visits to hear Khorns, and I think they all sounded different, they all do different things well .... The wrong speaker in the wrong room, will not sound right, no matter which model it is .............

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I have extensive experience with both Cornwall I and Chorus I. IMHO, the Cornwall I is a much more exciting speaker to listen to with a great balance between raw and refined. The Chorus I is quite accurate, but to my ears lacks that Klipsch edge that makes the music really come alive (that live sound I am talking about is very abundant in the Khorns). (BTW, I do like the Chorus I and have owned a pair, so please don't get bent out of shape.) As stated earlier, the Cornwall bass can sound a little thick; in a small room this may be more of an issue, however in a large room it makes the bass truly wonderful (I had my Cornwalls in a 22' x 40' room with vaulted ceiling and it was a VERY impressive, clean, punchy set up indeed). Do not underestimate the importance of the room you will be using the speakers in. You will likely be happy with either, but I would choose the Cornwalls - the long term satisfaction with these particular speakers is truly amazing.

Andy

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Others with extensive experience with cornwalls and fortes think that cornwalls sound better at first, but eventually settle on fortes. You could go back and forth over time, so basically you cannot go wrong, get both, keep them for a while, if no room for both sell one pair. Above all, you really can't go wrong with these Klipsch. If you can't get both because one is sold, get the other. If one is cheaper and prettier, get that pair. If budget allows, get both and have fun comparing.

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I had a set of Chorus IIs in my house for a while. I liked them a lot better than the Cornwalls they had set up at Indy. They were really nice, and sounded more tonally balanced than the Corns. Maybe it was the boom in the Cornwall's bass I didn't like. The footprint of the Chorus IIs is easier to deal with.

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