What year Cornwalls are best?

[Budman]

i guess what i really want to know is what different kind of veneer do you have. when i was collecting i had walnut - teak - rosewood - mahogany - cherry - rambling rose.

[Audible Nectar]

I am also partial to the pre '80s Heritage models.....I have '68 vertical Cornwall IIs in Walnut, '74 Cornwalls in Walnut (I use these as the mains in my all Cornwall HT as well as 2 channel in that kit), and a pair of '76 decorators, custom finished in Cherry. I also have a pair of '76 Belle Klipsch. If I had it to do over again, I would do the same.

I very much like the build materials and techniques used. Rock solid construction from an era when most everything was "overbuilt" - which I really appreciate.

As for the Belle vs. others in the Heritage lineup, there is only one speaker I would have preferred over the Belles, realistically - the Klipschorn. But as I did not have proper corners for them, I went to the next best solution for my 2 channel needs, which was the Belle Klipsch. I also found them a bit lacking/imperfect, that is until I bought new networks for them (V-Cap AAs) and started driving them with tube gear (in this case, MC30s). While it is true that you do lose a bit of depth in bass with the Belles vs. the Klipschorn, that's not enough to distract me from all of the good stuff happening sonically with the Belle Klipsch from 60hz and above. And FWIW, I don't find the 500hz horn on the Belle to be that problematic - not enough to go out and swap my Belles for LaScalas, for example.

Now my main pair of Cornwalls ARE better than the original poster's, because I drive them with VRDs[]

[oldbuckster]

That's it ...... Time to order a pair of Crites Tweeters for my Cornwalls ........ dam, modding my speakers, the voices won't leave me alone !!!!

[soundbound]

Corvette6769,

Why do you own so many speakers?

[Allan Songer]

Corvette6769,

Why do you own so many speakers?

Collector. Why do I have 3000 jazz LPs? I like buying them, I really like owning them and I really, REALLY like listening to about 30-40% of them!!!

I know I guy who collects NOS Stewart Warner automotive gauges, intake manifolds and mag wheels. He must have about 50 Halibrand wheels in his garage and over 100 intake manifolds and at least 150 gauges new in their boxes. He's been doing this since the 70's but ever since EBAY came about it's kinda gone out of control. He's a collector.

[Bill H.]

For the Price he paid....................rdl65 :: got his for only $20.00....................What a Steal.

[oldbuckster]

got his for only $20.00

What a rip-off, huh ??????????????

[arfandbark]

Now my main pair of Cornwalls ARE better than the original poster's, because I drive them with VRDs

You are correct! I am the original poster.

I wish I had VRDS!

[Richard Labonte]

THIS IS AN ANSWERTO A QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED 4 YEARS AGO..WHATWAS THE BEST YEAR FOR THE CORNWALLS....THE ANSWER IS 1980!! ITS THE ONLY YEAR KLIPSCH OFFERED THE K-55V WITH RARE WIRE TERMINALS SOLDERED INSTEAD OF THE PUSH BUTTON

[Richard Labonte]

THIS IS AN REPLY TO AN OLD POST...DUDE,CHORUS II'S WILL BLOW THE DOORS CLEAN OFF THE BELLES!! IVE HAD 76 PAIRS OF KLIPSCH,ALL TOP NOTCH,AND MY TWO FAVS ARE,THE CORNWALL I'S,AND THE K-HORN'S!!! MY THIRD WOULD BE THE CHORUS II'S!! BELLES???? JUST A SAD EXCUSE OF A LA SCALA!! ITS THE LA SCALA IN A DRESS!! I STILL WOULD RATHER HAVE MY 1ST GEN CORNWALLS,THAT I HAVE ALL DONE UPGRADED,THEN EVEN THE K-HORNS!!! C-YAA

[Richard Labonte]

THEN,CRITES WOOFERS,CROSSOVERS, THE BIGGEST UPGRADE YOU CAN DO TO A PAIR OF CORNWALLS IS CHANGING THE MID HORN TO A "VOLTIAUDIO" MY BUDDY OWNS THAT LINE,AND HES KNOWS HIS STUFF!!!! HE IS THE BIGGEST SPEAKER,AND STEREO NUTT BESIDES ME!! CHECK OUT THE "SUPER CORNWALL" @ VOLTIAUDIO.COM!!!! NIT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY...NOTICE THAT THE UPGRADED CORNWALLS ARE 1980'S..LOL!! THATS WHAT IVE GOT.

[Richard Labonte]

NEED TO GET THE "VOLTIAUDIO" UPGRADES FOR THE CORNWALL MID HORN..IF YOU GET THE COMPLETE PACKAGE,THE CORNWALLS WILL SOUND ALOT BETTER THAN EVEN THE "ALLMIGHTY K-HORN"

[neo33]

Well, since I own two pairs of Cornwall between 1977 and 1982, my Cornwalls are vastly superior to most you peeps here! []

If you study this forum for a while, you will learn that the best years for all Klipsch Heritage Series speaker cabinets including the Cornwall model were those cabinets manufactured between mid 1977 and 1982 due to their superior craftsmanship, materials, & more attractive furniture grade cabinetry and fine hardwood veneers.

Prior to mid-1977 (when Klipsch started using the much higher-quality void-free Baltic Birch solid lumbercore plywood which was vastly superior acoustically), Klipsch just used standard-grade Fir plywood for cabinet construction.

Furthermore, the drivers and especially the crossovers Klipsch installed during this same time period were the best to date, especially those with the AlNiCo magnet drivers.