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Dilemma: Klipsch Cornwall IV vs Tannoy Kensington SE

It would be worth trying a tripath amplifier, like an Amptastic. They're relatively cheap, but they do have a warm tonal quality and it just so happens they really need to be partnered with high efficiency speakers for them to deliver all that they can deliver.
 
If i upgraded from the eatons the kensington would be a natural route but i do hear mixed things about them

I wonder how run in the ones you have are ,my legacy took a good 3 months before they really come on song and sound pretty good at low volumes
 
windhoek said:
It would be worth trying a tripath amplifier, like an Amptastic. They're relatively cheap, but they do have a warm tonal quality and it just so happens they really need to be partnered with high efficiency speakers for them to deliver all that they can deliver.
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I actually have one of those really cheap ($25) Tripath amps kicking around. I never thought to try that. It always seemed rather anemic, though.
 
hifinutt said:
If i upgraded from the eatons the kensington would be a natural route but i do hear mixed things about them

I wonder how run in the ones you have are ,my legacy took a good 3 months before they really come on song and sound pretty good at low volumes
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These are the earlier SE model, so definitely broken in by now. :)
 
Very odd. I have the Kensington GRs which I decided on precisely because they were significantly more exciting at low volume than the alternatives I auditioned.

I suppose that the SEs could be different but I wonder if it is worth trying another amp if it is possible to borrow one (I normally use Sugden).

On the other hand I have never heard the Klipsch but I did listen to quite a few other speakers when I was looking.
 
Hi Mike,
First I'll talk about speakers. I had Tannoy Canterbury SEs and had very similar experience to you: not convincing unless they were pumped up, and somewhat honky. Also, and probably distinct to yours, they were a complete bugger to drive needing an amp with mid damping factor and reasonable current drive, the best being a Tresham SR402 Mosfet (so good Tannoy bought the company!), or a Radford sta 100.

I progressed from these to some JBL S2 9800SEs. Much better all round (and should be with a list price of £35k!) but really had to be too far out in my room to sound their best.

I tried Klipsch Fortes, which sounded great in my room, with arguably more bass than the Cornwalls, but bought the Cornwalls, as it's hard to move away from 15ins drivers once bitten, and they provided that mid band richness.

The Cornwalls work superbly in my room, outperforming the Canterburys and JBLs with ease on every metric. My room has a bass suck out, so with all these speakers bass is tuneful but not as strong as in my studio, which has much better acoustics.The Cornwalls are also used for my home cinema set up and again perform wonderfully stereo only. Once I was convinced by the speakers I upgraded the crossovers with V Cap ODAMs (bypassed with Teflons) and Path resistors and that took them to another level. These are definitely end game.

Amplifiers
I currently drive the Cornwalls with some upgraded Mastersound 845 monoblocks and my own brand DAC/streamer and preamp to get these superb results. I also have Radford sta 15 and 25, Arcam A60 and the aforementioned Tresham. The speakers work very well with all of these, but best with the Mastersounds, a Cayin 845a I have, or either of the Radfords. They sound very good with the Tresham 200 watts a channel into 8 ohms (warm MOSFET) and pretty decent with the A60 but as Tony says come to life with the valve amps-SE or push pull. I did own a pair of Silvercore monoblocks but didn't try with the Klipschs. Whilst beautifully built and a great party piece, the sound was disappointing with the JBLs vis a vis the Mastersounds. I had previously heard 833 amps with serious levels of HT and these had sounded much better, while the Silvercores run their 833s very coolly.

So, I agree with Tony's advice to try some valve amps. If you can get your hands on a Radford sta 15 or 25 or a Dynaco, great! if not, Cayin make a range of very well built valve amps from EL34, KT88 and the 845a I have which all sound very good, have low maintenance and are freely available in Canada. It's not something you'll sort with interconnects or changing valves in a pre.

Hope that's helpful
David
Show quoted text
 
sortof said:
Good point, there should be SS amps around with lowish damping factors. What amplification does Mike use to drive the Cornwalls?
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I've run the Cornwalls with various Avondale amps (QUDOS Voyager, NCC300 Voyager, SE230) and a Neurochrome Modulus-686. None of these have low damping factors. ;)

I've been convinced that I should try them with tubes, so I'm working on making that happen now.
 
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Juancho said:
Hi Mike,
First I'll talk about speakers. I had Tannoy Canterbury SEs and had very similar experience to you: not convincing unless they were pumped up, and somewhat honky. Also, and probably distinct to yours, they were a complete bugger to drive needing an amp with mid damping factor and reasonable current drive, the best being a Tresham SR402 Mosfet (so good Tannoy bought the company!), or a Radford sta 100.

I progressed from these to some JBL S2 9800SEs. Much better all round (and should be with a list price of £35k!) but really had to be too far out in my room to sound their best.

I tried Klipsch Fortes, which sounded great in my room, with arguably more bass than the Cornwalls, but bought the Cornwalls, as it's hard to move away from 15ins drivers once bitten, and they provided that mid band richness.

The Cornwalls work superbly in my room, outperforming the Canterburys and JBLs with ease on every metric. My room has a bass suck out, so with all these speakers bass is tuneful but not as strong as in my studio, which has much better acoustics.The Cornwalls are also used for my home cinema set up and again perform wonderfully stereo only. Once I was convinced by the speakers I upgraded the crossovers with V Cap ODAMs (bypassed with Teflons) and Path resistors and that took them to another level. These are definitely end game.

Amplifiers
I currently drive the Cornwalls with some upgraded Mastersound 845 monoblocks and my own brand DAC/streamer and preamp to get these superb results. I also have Radford sta 15 and 25, Arcam A60 and the aforementioned Tresham. The speakers work very well with all of these, but best with the Mastersounds, a Cayin 845a I have, or either of the Radfords. They sound very good with the Tresham 200 watts a channel into 8 ohms (warm MOSFET) and pretty decent with the A60 but as Tony says come to life with the valve amps-SE or push pull. I did own a pair of Silvercore monoblocks but didn't try with the Klipschs. Whilst beautifully built and a great party piece, the sound was disappointing with the JBLs vis a vis the Mastersounds. I had previously heard 833 amps with serious levels of HT and these had sounded much better, while the Silvercores run their 833s very coolly.

So, I agree with Tony's advice to try some valve amps. If you can get your hands on a Radford sta 15 or 25 or a Dynaco, great! if not, Cayin make a range of very well built valve amps from EL34, KT88 and the 845a I have which all sound very good, have low maintenance and are freely available in Canada. It's not something you'll sort with interconnects or changing valves in a pre.

Hope that's helpful
David
Show quoted text
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Thanks for that substantive reply. Several of those amps are available on the used market here in Canada, including the Mastersound.

I'm also interested to hear about your changes to the Cornwall crossover. There are a few tweaks that people do to improve them (crossover, damping the enclosure and horns, etc.).
 
Yes, I should have mentioned I damped the horns too. I havn't damped the enclosure yet, as any resonance is more intrinsic to the sound, but may try it later
 
Steven Toy is a well respected chap when it comes to matters Hifi and he does his research before buying anything and you can trust his opinion.

He runs a pair of Tannoy Kensingtons so it may be worth while contacting him.
 
Hey Mike,

If you put a half ohm resistor in series with the speaker you should be able to lower the damping factor significantly. The downside is you'll lose some power as heat and you'll need around 10w resistors.

If by any chance you have some classic naim it might also work due to it's fairly low damping factor.
 
I slept on it and came up with a few possible amps. First off the Decware Zen Triode. If you want something cheaper just to try tubes there's the Tubedepot Tubecube 7. For a high end option there's the McIntosh MC275.

Side note: I believe Steve Guttenberg didn't mind the Pass ACA on his cornwalls but iirc he prefered the decware
 
x21 said:
I slept on it and came up with a few possible amps. First off the Decware Zen Triode. If you want something cheaper just to try tubes there's the Tubedepot Tubecube 7. For a high end option there's the McIntosh MC275.

Side note: I believe Steve Guttenberg didn't mind the Pass ACA on his cornwalls but iirc he prefered the decware
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Thanks for that.

I've got a Pass Labs Amp Camp Amp here, although not yet assembled. I recall Steve Guttenberg's comments about that, so I'll eventually do that project and give it a try. Doesn't help in the short term, though. :)

I'm trying to arrange an audition of a Dynaco ST-70 not far from me, but I haven't heard back from the seller yet.

There's a guy selling two McIntosh MC275 MK IV amps here in town, and I may break down and ask him to visit with one. It a fair chunk of change, but many comments I've heard in various reviews make me think this may be the best option (assuming I like the way it sounds in my own setup).
 
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