Eric B Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Hi everyone, I'm (obliviousy) new to the forums and more so to the world of Klipsch... I've always been an audio guy, have some reasonably good pieces and some leftovers from a DJ business many moons ago. But enough about me... ...So I'm driving home from work through the country and there is a big pile of 'stuff' at the end of a farmhouse driveway. It's clearly the remnants of an unsuccessfull garage sale with a 'free' sign on it. I see kids books. I think, the kids would like some, and I stop. Now, under this pile of stuff are these 2 ominous black boxes. They aren't pretty. Look like they've been stored in a barn for a couple of years. Then I see the little Klipsch logo. Hardly containing my excitiment I pick up these monsters myself, throw 'em in the back of the wagon, and drive away. ...I've picked up freebie speakers before... they usually need cones or other repairs, and these looked pretty rough. A quick gentle vacum and removal of the grill revealed the speakers and horns to be perfectly intact. I dug out my old NAD 2200 and plugged in my Sirius radio just to see if they would come alive. ***** I understand why you are all here now... even in my garage the sound blew me away, the highs, the lows... the singing guitar in the mids. I tried to run the 2200 up to the clip. I couldn't. It was just 'too much music' I've never heard anything so loud, but so clear. ***** I am a believer. Fate brought me to a pair of unwanted Cornwall II's on the side of a road, and now I must follow the path. ...ok enough about that... now I need some help to get started. At the moment I don't have any tube equipment, or 10k for a McIntosh but I do have the NAD which makes them sing. I know <some> Crown amps are highly praised, so after looking around I have found a couple of Crown CT-410's hxxp://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/legacy/128418.pdf (I don't know if live links are allowed here so change hxxp to http) They were from a commerical application but the numbers on the specs look like clean sound, they will run 8 ohm (stable to 2).... and the price is right. Will these get a guy started? Or am I wasting my time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Welcome to the forum. I hate you[] I could never find something like that. Why not stick with the NAD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Free CWII!!!! You lucky SO.....! Stick with what you have until you figure out where you want to go. The NADs should sound good until you learn a bit more about tubes and what each sounds like. Congrats on the good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capo72 Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Welcome, from another member of the "free Cornwall" club. Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric B Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 Welcome to the forum. I hate you I could never find something like that. Why not stick with the NAD? The NAD currently serves to drive a couple of Yorkville Elites via an old Inkel mixer for my guitars. It's taken me a long time to get that 'just right' I'd prefer to leave it alone if I can get these Crowns to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 You are a lucky dog......free is the best...and Cornwall IIs are one of my favorites!!!!! You don't need to spend a fortune on an amp to drive those puppies....20 clean watts will deafen you.. A lot of us swear by certain crown amps...although I have no experience to the model you refer to.........I've used 5-6 different amps on my cornwalls from $200-$3000 with only degrees of difference....running mine with a cheap vintage Sansui at the moment( as a $$$$ tube amp is being overhauled) and they sing sing sing..... If those crowns are the right price they should do fine other wise there are a ton of low cost , high quality options.... *****The biggest favor you can do for the Cornwalls is to have them RE-CAPPED.....that will by far improve performance significantly over what a high cost amp will do. BEC aka Bob Crites on the forum bobcrites@mac.com as well as others here do great work at very fair prices! Welcome to the forum....hope you stick around, good bunch of folks here.......keep us updated and share some pics.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtnfoley Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 And whatever you do, DON'T post your location until we all have a chance to forget your roadside freebies... Odds are a member is a (near enough) neighbor. Nothing stings so much as an opprotunity missed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric B Posted September 3, 2008 Author Share Posted September 3, 2008 These are the amps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 Eric, You Suck! Just kidding, but I've prayed to the Klipsch Gods, the Craigslist fairys and the eBay angels to smile upon me with a reasonably priced pair of CW's and then you get yours for free. Some guys have all the luck. Welcome aboard. And I agree with fenderbender, no need to spend big money for amplification on Klipsch. Get the crossovers updated and then look at your sources next. Good luck...but then you don't need any do ya? [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 I know <some> Crown amps are highly praised, so after looking around I have found a couple of Crown CT-410's hxxp://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/legacy/128418.pdf (I don't know if live links are allowed here so change hxxp to http) Live links are allowed. I'm setting this to open on a new window, too. http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/legacy/128418.pdf Welcome to the forums. Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 i have 5, or 6 com-techs .. they will work fine, you will notice the difference from the consumer grade stuff you have now ..[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Top Notch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric B Posted September 4, 2008 Author Share Posted September 4, 2008 Thank you for all the kind welcomes, Hopefully I don't annoy too many of you with silly neophyte questions. I knew I'd find a lot of smart folks in here. Let's start with this: Recapping. Is it as simple as replacing the cap? I have a pretty extensive electronics background, so that I could do, or is there more to it? Can I access the electronics by removing the rear panel with the binding posts, or do I have to remove the 15"? (Cornwall II) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 The only way to get to the network in the Cornwall II is to take the woofer out. The crossover in those speakers looks like it was put together by playschool. They are really, really cheaply setup compared to their precessors. Amazingly the speakers still sound incredible. There is also not one piece of acoustic foam in those speakers and they resonate like crazy if you rap your knuckles on the side. Start but just replacing the aging capacitors, search the forum the schematic diagram for the Cornwall II network has been posted a number of times. I would invest some money in some spray adhesive and some 1" thick acoustic panels from Parts Express and at least do the back panel and portions of the sides it will improve the overall tightness of the bass response. What a lucky score, I always look at garage sales when I am riding around hoping to spot some large wood boxes that they are looking to sell cheap. Free is much better though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenderbender Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 If you can do simple soldering it's a breeze ....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss53 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 I did it the caps in my cornwalls with out much experience and some on the phone guidance from Bob Crites. Here is a pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkside Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Welcome to the Forums! I hope everything has worked out for you. About the amps though. I have used a Crown CL1 with varying speakers for about 3 years now and I love it. I had in on some RF-15s a while back before I moved it to a subwoofer and it sounded great. It's now on some Infinities I scored for real cheap (100 bucks like new, though I agree, free is better) and it sounds fantastic. You will love the bass for sure out of the CWIIs with teh Com Techs. Good luck and enjoy your free CWs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 can I just step in here to say Welcome to the Madness ominous black boxes, I just love ominous black boxes The Crowns are intended for commercial use but no reason they can't be applied here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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