The Heresy is a significantly smaller speaker. The volume of the box is about 1/3 of that of the Cornwall (that's a guess). The midrange horn in the Cornwall is larger, as is the forward firing woofer. The horn drivers themselves are similar to those used in the Heresy. The crossover is different to accommodate the different designs. The Heresy will not give you the low end extension of the Cornwall, but is a fun speaker in its own right. The Terminals of any of the older Klipsch Heritage series left a lot to be desired from a design standpoint when compared to modern speakers. At one point I think they used simple screw terminals. There's nothing wrong with that unless you need to have something that accommodates spades or bananas. They're very easy to swap out with something more beefy if you care to do a bit of work on them. Left as-is, they get the job done, and deliver the sonic goods when paired up with the right amp/system...big bang for the buck. Paul Klipsch's goal, or a good part of it, was to make high-end performance affordable to most people. If you are seeking speakers with immaculate finish and all the nice bits and pieces to be machined and refined you are probably barking up the wrong tree. The brand new versions that Klipsch is pushing, that are held over from the Heritage line, probably conform a bit better to modern audiophile expectations in this regard, but I wonder if the performance is any better, or worse than their predecessors.