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Dilemma: Klipsch Cornwall IV vs Tannoy Kensington SE

Mike Hanson said:
Thanks for that.

I've got a Pass Labs Amp Camp Amp here, although not yet assembled. I recall Steve Guttenbergs 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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I do still have the packaging for my Tubecube. Can't imagine it costing a ton to send there. Only downside is the amp is a bit dark sounding.
 
Thanks for the offer, but hold on that for now. I expect something should turn up here before too long. :)
 
Tony L said:
There are some speakers I just know I’d love before hearing, and those are firmly in that category!
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I'm headed to the Toronto audiofest tomorrow.

Hopefully Gershman Acoustics shows up. Heard a lot of amazing stuff.





@Mike Hanson I suggest asking around on the Klipsch forums as that's their specialty.
 
Tony L said:
Klipsch hate Naim IME. Really sounds dreadful; thin, flat, lean, hard and small. I say that as a fan of both. Some combos just don’t work.
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That flies in the face of my experience Tony. A friend uses his Cornwalls with a naim 82,250 and gets massive scale and thunderous bass..i would love to hear them with my 4wpc Mr Plank valve amp though.
Ian.
 
ian walker said:
That flies in the face of my experience Tony. A friend uses his Cornwalls with a naim 82,250 and gets massive scale and thunderous bass..i would love to hear them with my 4wpc Mr Plank valve amp though.
Ian.
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Interesting. It’s the smaller stuff I’ve heard; 62/140 level stuff, plus the modded system Lordsummit refers to above. Just horrible to my ears, and absolutely murdered by the relatively humble Prima Luna EL34 amp I had at the time, but I’ve been around audio long enough to know there are no absolutes, plus taste is a huge factor; a lot of folk love systems I can barely stay in a room with.

PS Also, being fair, I’ve no direct Cornwall experience. I’ve owned Heresys and LaScalas.
 
The Nap250 is one of naim’s warmer amps. The later ones especially so. I seem to recall the OP as being a regular on the naim forum & going pretty far up the ladder so he’ll probably not be going there;)
 
ian walker said:
That flies in the face of my experience Tony. A friend uses his Cornwalls with a naim 82,250 and gets massive scale and thunderous bass..i would love to hear them with my 4wpc Mr Plank valve amp though.
Ian.
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I absolutely get massive scale and thunderous bass from my solid state amps, but the texture is not as rich and full as I expect.
 
Tony L said:
Yes, I mean tubes. Don’t assume they are unreliable. Most valves last longer than electrolytic capacitors! Three of the ones in my preamp are older than I am, even power tubes should last years in any decent well designed amp. There are many old Quad IIs or old Fender guitar amps out there from the 1950s with most of their original tubes.

As I say just borrow one if you can. You will instantly see what I mean. Klipsch just love tubes. The Heritage Range remains very close to PWK’s original designs. This is tube-era kit. As I say I’ve heard it so, so many times. I’ve never owned Cornwalls (I suspect I’d love them), but I have owned Heresys and LaScalas and heard many others up to full Klipschorns. Just try it. That thinness and shallowness you get with the solid state will vanish and they’ll start to sound like real music. I’m not knocking solid state, it is fine with the right speakers. The right speakers aren’t classic Klipsch!
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The same applies to them there Kensingtons. You'll get the richness as well as the dynamics and immediacy with valves/tubes.
 
x21 said:
I'm headed to the Toronto audiofest tomorrow.

Hopefully Gershman Acoustics shows up. Heard a lot of amazing stuff.





@Mike Hanson I suggest asking around on the Klipsch forums as that's their specialty.
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I didn't know that was happening. I'm going to be in Toronto on Sunday, so I'll check it out. And yes Gershman is supposed to be there. I heard their Avantgarde model 25 years ago, before it had that box platform to control venting.
 
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Mike Hanson said:
I absolutely get massive scale and thunderous bass from my solid state amps, but the texture is not as rich and full as I expect.
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Milke

Have you thought about using a tube preamp to put in that richness you are looking for? Try the Schiit Freya offering perhaps. I know they have a try and return policy so you could buy and return if it didn't do the job. Thomas and Stereo suggested that when reviewing one of the Purify Class D amps to add the richness and I did try one of their cheaper Valve pre's (a Saga) which did add a certain degree of warmth to the tonality although I wouldn't recommend that one as I found it a little lacking dynamics.

Also I know you're using the SE230's and if you are using a standard Avondale build the SMD feedback caps do tend ever so slightly (and I men ever so slightly) towards leaness (I know as I've just build up a pair). If you have a 330uF wet tent to hand I would give that a try in the feedback position. Also I'm not a fan of the EPCOS input caps, I have them shorted in my builds. But of course you have to be confident there's no DC on the line before you do.

My gut feel is you don't have to abandon your Avondales SE's to get the sound your looking for with your Cornwalls.

Still envious of your Cornwalls btw. So ridiculously expensive here in Oz I think nearly 20K AUD now.
 
OzBrit Audio said:
Milke

Have you thought about using a tube preamp to put in that richness you are looking for? Try the Schiit Freya offering perhaps. I know they have a try and return policy so you could buy and return if it didn't do the job. Thomas and Stereo suggested that when reviewing one of the Purify Class D amps to add the richness and I did try one of their cheaper Valve pre's (a Saga) which did add a certain degree of warmth to the tonality although I wouldn't recommend that one as I found it a little lacking dynamics.

Also I know you're using the SE230's and if you are using a standard Avondale build the SMD feedback caps do tend ever so slightly (and I men ever so slightly) towards leaness (I know as I've just build up a pair). If you have a 330uF wet tent to hand I would give that a try in the feedback position. Also I'm not a fan of the EPCOS input caps, I have them shorted in my builds. But of course you have to be confident there's no DC on the line before you do.

My gut feel is you don't have to abandon your Avondales SE's to get the sound your looking for with your Cornwalls.

Still envious of your Cornwalls btw. So ridiculously expensive here in Oz I think nearly 20K AUD now.
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I get the lack of richness with both the SE230 and my Modulus-686. If it's an issue with the damping factor, then I think it makes more sense to address it in the power amp, rather than trying to inject it at the preamp stage.

I can still use the SE230 in my office system, where it sounds quite wonderful with the Ergo IX. :) Also, it's a prototype module, and has a wet tant in the feedback section, but I'm not sure of the value. It also has a Z-foil resistor and various other premium bits, so nicely populated overall.

Yes the Cornwall is quite special. I found it on the used market here for less than a third of your MSRP. I'm sorry it's so pricey there, but kangaroo meat is rather pricey here in Canada. :D
 
OzBrit Audio said:
Milke

Have you thought about using a tube preamp to put in that richness you are looking for? Try the Schiit Freya offering perhaps. I know they have a try and return policy so you could buy and return if it didn't do the job. Thomas and Stereo suggested that when reviewing one of the Purify Class D amps to add the richness and I did try one of their cheaper Valve pre's (a Saga) which did add a certain degree of warmth to the tonality although I wouldn't recommend that one as I found it a little lacking dynamics.

Also I know you're using the SE230's and if you are using a standard Avondale build the SMD feedback caps do tend ever so slightly (and I men ever so slightly) towards leaness (I know as I've just build up a pair). If you have a 330uF wet tent to hand I would give that a try in the feedback position. Also I'm not a fan of the EPCOS input caps, I have them shorted in my builds. But of course you have to be confident there's no DC on the line before you do.

My gut feel is you don't have to abandon your Avondales SE's to get the sound your looking for with your Cornwalls.

Still envious of your Cornwalls btw. So ridiculously expensive here in Oz I think nearly 20K AUD now.
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The richness generally comes from tbe power amp.
 
Take this demonstration with a huge pinch of salt as, apart from the fact that trying to acoustically capture the sound output from speakers is folly at the best of times, there isn't even consistency between the way the different models have been positioned. With that major caveat noted it is however still interesting to hear just how different the voicings are!

La Scala
Cornwall
Heresy
Forte
Klipschorn
Jubilee
 
ToTo Man said:
Take this demonstration with a huge pinch of salt as, apart from the fact that trying to acoustically capture the sound output from speakers is folly at the best of times, there isn't even consistency between the way the different models have been positioned. With that major caveat noted it is however still interesting to hear just how different the voicings are!

La Scala
Cornwall
Heresy
Forte
Klipschorn
Jubilee
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Cool coincidence. I was just listening through some of those this morning.
 
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