Pounding deep bass, crisp highs

I'm not going to say size because that's one of the things that makes these speakers sound as great as they do. If you don't like there size buy a pair of the smaller Herseys or KG2s and quit ya whining :)

I had wanted a pair of these since I was about 20 years old. Im' 34 now. I saw a pair locally advertised for $550 used and went to hear them. Made in 1980. They were as sweet sounding as I had remembered 14 years before. I bought them, trucked them home, hooked them up to my 10 year old Sony STR-D611 reciever and was blown away when I fired them up! I heard crystal clear sounds in Michael Jacksons "Thriller" that I have never heard before. Footsteps, breathing etc. etc. I am hearing my music in a whole new light now. I've dug through my CD collection looking for all my old favorites to play again.

These speakers are efficient but they really do require a decent amp to produce the low, low bass that sounds like you are talking into a fan when you speak. The 15 inch woofers take some current to push. I found this out the hard way by buying a cheap Kenwood VR 407 from ubid thinking it would power my cornwalls sufficiently. It's 100 watts PC didn't even come close to my old Sonys 100 watts PC. I sent it back and am currently searching for a quality reciever now.

If you can find these speakers in good shape, for under $1000, locally, I'd say buy them. I've watched them go for $1200 a pair on ebay. That's before the shipping costs! They are worth it. Watch and listen for blown tweeters as this seems to be a somewhat common problem for these giants.

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Nothing is similar to the cornwalls baby!

I picked up a pair of these beauties about 8 yrs. ago. I had the cash to put into a nice system and really liked the Klipsch line. They sounded so sweet in the store that I had to have them. I believe I paid $1600 for a pair of the unfinished birch models. At that time they were built to order and I waited about 2 mos. for them. My impression after they arrived and were set up was how big they were! Seriously, these speakers are not made for a small room. I remember thinking that they looked much smaller in the showroom!
I originally installed these speakers with a Carver setup, a CT-17 pre-amp and a TFM-25 amp with 225 watts per channel. With this much power, these speakers will indeed shake the house (and the neighbors!) This was the first amplifier I owned that had analog power meters on the front, so I could actually see how much power I was putting into these boys. What is truly amazing is how efficient these speakers are. I think these are rated around 93db and you would not believe the volume you can get with only 10 watts of input. Even with this high efficiency, these speakers will still handle 100 watts of continuous power.

As far as sound goes, these speakers truly produce the "big" sound. I don't know of any other way to describe it. I'm not talking about loudness, just the total quantity of sound. I believe it's something you just can't get from smaller speaker cabinets. The bass just thunders, mids and highs are spectacular. Really the total package. I suppose the biggest problem these speakers have is their lack of spacial dispersion. They definitely have a narrow sweet spot. But if you sit in the proper location, with the right music cranked up, well, what can I say, I just love 'em. I just moved back from Boston after 3 yrs, and my place up there was too small for these speakers. After getting them set up again, I almost forgot how good these speakers sound.

I don't believe they make these anymore, so if you can find a pair, and you have a good place to put them, snap them up. You won't regret it.

everything sounds brand new. Smooth, clean, dynamic--wonderful REAL deep bass w/out a sub.

Really? I DON'T THINK SO! My room isn't large enough---and I have a large room. NO WEAKNESSES.

These speakers shine! I have wanted a pair for many years (they haven't been made for many years), and purchased a pristine pair of Cornwall I's in beautiful oiled walnut from an audio enthusiast that just got a pair of Klipschorn corner speakers.. These were manfactured in 1976. Powered by a 150W Tandberg amp (solid state). The first thing I noticed was that VERY LITTLE power is needed. One or two notches (about 7 o'clock) for normal listening level. The sound? Well, the first thing I noticed was the clarity--cleaness of the sound. And, even at very low listening levels (one notch) the sound is full from top to bottom without having to engage the "loudness button", or boost the bass. The sound is "full"--(DYNAMIC RANGE that I've very seldom heard before). Details instead of muddiness (smear). I LOVE THESE SPEAKERS!! Smooth highs-LOW bass--great soundstage-realistic sound! Paul Klipsch created a masterpiece. They sound like speakers costing many, many, many thousands of dollars. I have heard speakers costing more money than you would believe, and Klipsch Cornwalls sound as good as the very best--sometimes much better---and SO much better than the rest. They are true classics that have a sound that is very hard to beat. Have a chance to get a pair in the future?--Just do it!! Very highly recomended--Thank you PK. Just Listen!

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MANY--Macs, maggies, legacy, B & W, etc., etc., etc.

Extraordinarily efficient. Terrific for PA use, like all Klipsch horns. Easy for DIY'ers to tweak/repair.

Extraordinarily strident, canned sound. Not high fidelity. No sense of spaciousness to the sound. Ridiculously huge, heavy, and overpriced for home use. Only available used, and often have been quite abused.

Nobody with a normal-sized listening room needs this kind of efficiency, and the trade-off in sound quality definitely isn't worth it. Infinitely better sound quality can be had from any number of normal-efficiency speakers.

Anybody who is trying to fill an ampitheatre-sized room with sound is likely to have a budget which will allow them to skip this mid-fi solution and spend what it costs to get true high fidelity sound.

Klipsch horns are impressive to people who have never heard a true high-fidelity loudspaker. When I first heard 'em as a teenager, I was wowed too.

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- Megaphones -- similarly efficient at similar expense of sound quality!
- Virtually the Klipsch line of horn-loaded & acoustic suspension speakers
- Zillions of traditional hi fi speakers from $200 - $10K.

I've owned many "audiophile" speakers over the past 20 years to include those from Thiel, Spica, Legacy (Focus), Carver Amazings, NHT, Infinity, etc...but they ALL lacked the dyanmics and emotional impact of the Cornwalls. (and all cost many times their cost!). The Cornwalls are so open with a balance a bit bass heavy (which I like) that they draw you into the music, especially on acoutic guitar and vocals. They use the same mid and tweeter horn as the famous Klipschorn, but with a 15" woofer which provides solid bass. The look is a bit "retro" by todays standards (with a rich looking interwoven grill) and square large footprint. I think they look great. I've always been a fan of horns and believe these are the best speakers Klipsch ever made (the the 'possible' exception to the K-Horn, which requires corner placement and is even larger than the Cornwall. Highly recommended (if you can find a pair. They stopped production in the early 90's) The finish and quality control of these are much better than the current crop by Klipsch, in my opinion. One other benefit of having horn speakers...No other type of speaker can provide the impact on home theater movies like a good horn system. A great speaker for "double-duty" (audio/video). Just my .02. I give them 5 stars.

I picked up a pair of these old warhorses for $350, they are the birch plywood utility cabinets that the original
owner had done a somewhat shoddy job of finishing. They
have a 15" vented woofer crossing to a mid horn at 600hz
crossing to a horn tweeter at 6500hz. The f3 is 32hz and
the highs go out to 17khz,sensitivity is 98db.
These are great speakers. They have hair-trigger
transients and explosive dynamics, awesome dynamic range
and a sense of clarity and presence that puts the music in
the room with you. The bass is clear and very powerfull.
The mids are strong and realistic, brass is reproduced with
the blatt intact. Trumpets and trombones are right there.
The highs are detailed and crisp. The timbre is properly
rich and full, none of the reediness so popular now. The
stereo image is solidly presented. These speakers are for
music lovers. As for movie listening they are unmatched,
dialouge has great clarity and explosions and such are
reproduced at great volume with no strain. These speakers
are always just cruising, no distortion or strain.
For the last several years I'd been listening to proper
audiophile speakers like Maggies and B+Ws with great
imaging but lousy timbre and dynamics. Now I think I'd
rather hear the orchestra than the hall.
These speakers have been discontinued and replaced by
one with more modern styleing called the Chorus.

My dad bought a pair of Cornwalls back in '78 for $1000. I was only 3 then, soI didn't know what they were. About 6 or 7 years down the road, I started
getting into audio in a big way building my own loudspeakers out of cardboard
boxes and blown drivers. Anyway, I never really liked the sound of the Klipsch
because my dad always used an EQ with the sliders in a "U" shape. So I figured
they always sounded boomy with no midrange and shrilly highs, plus he never
really had them set up right in the room. Just for the heck of it, I tried them
on my system with no EQ and all tone controls bypassed. Boy, was I wrong about
these monsters! These things sound excellent! They have awesome mids and highs
with tight, detailed bass. One thing I always noticed was that they lacked real
low bass, from around 35Hz on down. Luckily for me, a few years ago I went and
bought an 18" Klipsch Professional raw driver and designed and built a box for
it. To make a long story short, my system now plays flat from the upper limits
of the Cornwalls all the way down to 10Hz! All of this is done with the signal
being split with a fully adjustable dbx pro x-over at 50Hz to a Carver Pro PM-
700 amp to the sub (700 watts mono), and a 200 watt p/c SAE amp to the Corn-
walls. This spicey combo plays very acurate and clear all the way up to 130+dB!
If I could, I'd give the Cornwalls a rating of 10 stars.

Sound reproduction quality

Size

These speakers are classic. Home theater or music sounds great. I have them coupled with Pioneer Elite Reciever, LD, and DVD. Frequency response is awesome all the way up the range. Provides pleanty of Bass output for my movies without an additional sub. The horn mids and highs provide a clear and concise reproduction of the source audio. (So if the source is a poor recording ...it will sound poor, but if it is a great recording it will sound great.) Jazz and classical recordings sound as if you are in a performance hall. Dolby Digital and DTS movies (coupled with my M&K center and surround speakers) sound as good and most of the time better than the movies. These are very musical speakers that do not sound like their age would suggest. I rank them with the very highest quality speakers out today.

I have nothing but good things to say about my cornwalls. They provide such a positive listening environment that I want to play all my cd's and watch all of my movies over and over. If you can find a pair I would recommend going for it.

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M&K, newer model Klipsch, and Pioneer

Amazing Sound, Full range, Like listening to a wall of sound

Size Maybe...But who cares

Bought my first pair (Cornwall 1) after going to the factory and meeting Paul Klipsch and getting the walk around. That was back in the early 70s'. Moving around due to business made me sell them, and I regretted that day for many years. In 1990 I settled down and wound up getting a pair of Cornwall IIs' from a friend that was moving. Never will we part ways!!!

My system is set up with the Cornwall IIs', a KSW 200 Subwoofer, KLF C7(center channel), and Heresey IIs' for the rear. It is a musical immersion experience when you listen to anything from Classical, Blues, Rock, whatever. Also we utilize this system with our theatre sound system. The beauty of this system, is that you don't have to have the volume turned up to physically feel the audio / visual experience before you. As a matter of fact you don't want to!

In closing I can only say that I have called and written Klipsch on several ocaasions to get coaching from them on compatibility issues, speaker placement, and other questions. Twice including my visit personally with Paul Klipsch he responded to my questions and comments. Last time Mr. Fred Klipsch sent me a letter of response. Always the response has been cordial and adequate. When was the last time you had Mr. JBL or Cerwin Vega answer you back????

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Cornwall series 1, LaScala, Klipschorns

They have it all.

Nothing other than size

It's all been said! The Net is new to me,could someone
e-mail me with the horn mods.Also I am going to build
new cabinets and use 2-8's instead of the 15's[I am using
amped 12's for sub-bass in my 5.1 setup]in each inc.
Does anyone have any ideas?
llplpl@crunet.com

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Nothing compares