Review: Cornwall III (mfg. 2017)

First of congratulations on the system,

I have been told the Cornwall is the heritage speaker, for those who cant get what they want out of "big Klipsch". I have been on the hunt for the Klipsch synergy you have found but finally gave up for the time being. I still wonder what I missed. I have a pretty good sized converted garage, I first tried Heresys, then the LaScala and finally a set of Belles. The Belles went through a complete transformation with new wire, Crites crossovers. tweeters and yet I could not get them dialed in. I tried tubes, solid state a couple different preamps, vinyl, digital ... there were moments the Belles were like you described and the rest of the time I just couldn't get comfortable with them. That being said, I had heard Cornwalls a few years earlier with a set of Quicksilver mini mites and holy cow! I was instantly hooked on the sound. I was actually auditioning the mini mites from the Cornwall owner and purchased them on the spot. I found out the fellow sold off his Cornwalls because he couldn't get that sound back and the Quicksilvers just didn't have enough power for his huge room. I have heard K-horn systems that took my breath away, I have also hear K-horn systems I didn't really care for. Many folks in the Klipsch forums seem to mate SS McIntosh and Klipsch Heritage with great success. I'm also very intrigued with the new LaScala - it looks like its undergone a major transformation but the price is way out of my comfort zone.

Hat's off, sounds like you found a fantastic combo. I haven't given up yet - ultimately I think I will put K-horns in the corners of the garage and pick up an older McIntosh SS amp.

Cheers!
 
Congrats on a great speaker . When I bought my new Klipsch last year , it was either the Chorus or RF7II's . I desperately wanted to hear both , but that was not an option . I still had Forte II's and 5.5's and always liked the 5.5 so I went with the RF7II's .
 
That is a very handsome system. There's definitely something to be said about the "life-like" sound of high efficiency speakers.

And not to derail the thread, but your wood floors are beautiful too.
 
You and I have the same taste in speakers, I have the exact same Cornwalls. Mine were manufactured in 2016. I Love them, hardly listen to my K-horns anymore. I found that tilting mine back slightly (3/4 inch lift on the front) opened the sound up more. Enjoy them and welcome to the children of the Corn club.
 
You and I have the same taste in speakers, I have the exact same Cornwalls. Mine were manufactured in 2016. I Love them, hardly listen to my K-horns anymore. I found that tilting mine back slightly (3/4 inch lift on the front) opened the sound up more. Enjoy them and welcome to the children of the Corn club.
I've found the same benefit by tilting back my Quartets 1/2". The bass response was improved at the listening position.
 
Again, thank you all for your replies. ..I'm thoroughly enjoying the sound of these. ..As I said in the review, I've never been more eager to sit down to listen to music. It's incredible, even when I'm playing them early in am and forced to keep the volume low, they still sound lifelike. ..All of my previous speakers sounded a bit lifeless until the volume was turned up a bit.
 
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Fantastic! My last three speakers these past 15 yrs have been PSB Stratus Minis, Vandersteen 3A Sigs, and Paradigm S8 v2's. Though I loved each, I enjoyed none of them as much as I do my Klipsch Cornwall III's.

I feel kinda stupid for not giving horns a chance before now. I pretty much accepted, without hearing for myself, the claims that horns sound shouty and harsh. This couldn't be further from the truth as far as the Cornwalls go; there is nothing bright or forward about them. They have Incredibly lifelike sound at ANY volume from a whisper to a hair raising holler. And though they sound clean and undistorted at ear-bleed volumes, it's how they sound at quiet levels that most surprises me.

To summarize some pros, cons:

Pros

Build quality. The fit/finish is beautiful. The wood veneer is flawless and the grill cloth has a super cool feel - like something from a Marshall guitar amplifier. At first I thought the grills weren't removable. But they are - they're held in place with 6 small, but powerful, earth magnets.

Efficiency:
I first powered the Cornwalls with a 50w Arcam integrated amp I was lent while my McIntosh MA6600 (200w/ch) was being repaired. At 50% volume the modest Arcam drove the speakers to shockingly loud levels, without a hint of strain or distortion. The sound was perfectly smooth, clear, and effortless. I assumed the little Arcam must have been pumping out nearly all of it's 50 watts to achieve this. To my surprise, when I got my Mac MA6600 back - which features wattage meters - I found this wall-shaking volume was barely 10 watts!! Again, this is CRAZY loud. So, you don't need an exotic, pricey amp to drive these - any high quality NAD, Rotel or other quality moderately-powered amp will suffice. My usual listening volume, which most people would argue is still too loud, is barely 2 watts!

Bass:
Very tight and effortless bass. I thought the big 15" woofer would sound muddy compared to the 3 6" woofers of the Paradigm's, but not so. ..The bass is tight and deep at ANY volume.

Cons:

Size:
Obviously, you'll need a big room and a spouse/partner who is willing to put music ahead of aesthetics. Though they're beautifully built, there's no getting around the fact that they are massive, hard to move around, and very boxy looking. Personally, I very much dig their retro-look. Within my friend and family circle, it seems the millennials dig their badass size, and throw-back appearance, whereas the older crowd preferred the sleek, Scandinavian furniture-like appearance of the S8's I had just prior.

Imaging:
While the Cornwalls do a solid job of placing the instruments within the stereo soundstage, I would not say this is a relative strength. Maybe it's the way the horns disperse sound, or maybe it's that I haven't spent nearly as much time adjusting their placement, but I have had speakers that do this better. Personally, I feel imaging is a bit over-rated anyway. Yes, it's cool hearing instruments floating in air, but it doesn't really correlate with how much I "feel" and dig the music. I've heard speakers that image beautifully that were not otherwse very enjoyable.

Cabinet bracing:
Is this a "Pro" or "Con"? The first thing I do when checking out speakers is knock on the cabinet to gauge how hollow the speaker sounds. I had been told (and read) that this helps predict whether the cabinet will resonate while playing music. Well, the Cornwall III's indeed sound a bit hollow when you rap on them, but they don't resonate at ANY volume. No matter what kind of music or test tones I played, I could not detect any blurring or buzzing from the cabinets. So I guess this isn't a con at all. Perhaps Klipsch feels that since these already weigh 100lb ea. why needlessly increase their weight with lots of internal bracing if there isn't a problem w/ resonances.

Again, after years of owning many great loudspeakers, I have never enjoyed a pair as much as I enjoy these. More than ever, I look forward to listening to music each and every night. If you have room for them, you'll love them.
Great review. What are the dimensions of your room?
 
Mids at ear level is preferred.

:beerchug:

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If you have a designated listening spot, you can gain a similar effect by just raising the front of the speaker enough to "point" the tweeters toward your ear level.
 
If you have a designated listening spot, you can gain a similar effect by just raising the front of the speaker enough to "point" the tweeters toward your ear level.

It's the mid horn that's recommended to be ear level.
 
Very cool! ..Thankfully, my sofa is quite low so my ears are already pretty close to mid-horn level. Are the boxes the speakers are sitting on hollow? ..Do you lose any bass response?

And I should have chimed back in earlier. ..The imaging has improved since I've spent more time positioning the speakers. ..A little more toe-in is required that was w/ my Paradigm Signature 8 v3.'s. ..Now, they image just as well as the Paradigms
 
Very cool! ..Thankfully, my sofa is quite low so my ears are already pretty close to mid-horn level. Are the boxes the speakers are sitting on hollow? ..Do you lose any bass response?

And I should have chimed back in earlier. ..The imaging has improved since I've spent more time positioning the speakers. ..A little more toe-in is required that was w/ my Paradigm Signature 8 v3.'s. ..Now, they image just as well as the Paradigms

They're speakers, so they have drivers in them. But they are heavy speakers, and insulated. Bass response lost is minimal, if that. At this level, the presentation is brighter, with the mids really bursting. That's probably the biggest difference. Sorta like being in the front couple of rows of a concert instead of toward the middle or back. Sorta.
 
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