Need Some Answers Building My First Home Audio System, and using Cornwalls
I have a few questions for you audiophiles out there. I am new to this forum, and I am a music hound and vinyl collector, but as yet not exactly an audiophile, and I definitely lack much knowledge.
I just moved into my first/new home and, in a stroke of luck way beyond my wildest dreams, my new neighbor - in order to "empty out his garage" - gave me two very old, 60's looking 100-watt Klipsch Cornwalls (floor speakers) from their Heritage line (see pic). These are the ones that are 35.75" H x 25.25" w (15.5" deep) and have a titanium tweeter, 1.75" titanium squawker, a woofer and a front-ported cabinet.
My living room’s dimensions are very large, as we blended our kitchen and dining room into it, and took down all non-structural partitions - about 60 feet in length by 35 feet at its widest point.
First I wanted to check on a few things, such as whether these speakers work at all, and I can do that only once I get a receiver (right?). I also need new, less dated grill cloth - I did locate a guy/make a call about that, but I am holding off until I know whether/how I can remove the frame from the front of the speakers. The frames appear nailed in at the front, but the back looks screwed in.
*My turntable (technics 1200-MK2) will be going through this pre-amp (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007DB5IDS/ref=ya_st_dp_summary)
*It’s important you know a.) I don't yet want a tube amp and b.) what besides the speakers will need to be powered through the receiver:
-4K TV
-1 Turntable/Pre-Amp (mentioned above)
-4K Ultra HD bluray
-cable box
-iPhone lightning cable and 3.5 mm adaptor for phone/other sources
-2 Klipsch Cornwall speakers
Questions:
A.) I don't need tons of power. All floors are hardwood, with some rugs here and there but can anyone recommend something around 100 W? (I called Klipsch to ask their tech specialist about my speaker details, and the guy said staying at the speaker wattage will be smart, so as not to blow them out) and he said they are 100w. Would like to stay between $200-$500 and get something like a Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha... I suppose it could be used...I obviously want to optimize sound quality. Perhaps your suggestions are contingent on my remaining questions:
B.) Recommendations on a particular Bluetooth-enabled AVR? As much as I love hifi sound from a record on the turntable, there are times when I want to walk In the room and play a recent track from my phone. Also, this is not my private set up - it’s for the whole family, so needs to allow for a range of things, as well as efficiency/convenience. However, I don't use Spotify, Airplay, Sirius, XM, Pandora, DLNA, TuneIn, Tidal, etc. I would only play from actual files on my phone or laptop. (as noted, I will also have a jack coming out of one of the AVR inputs to for my phone to hardwire it sometimes also (in fact, 75% of the time, unless I'm not home for long between work/errands. If you have recommendations on those cables, please let me know.
C) My wife and I got an Alexa for Xmas. Any AVR's work with them? I've read about Smart Home automation and will eventually do the whole thing, but for now it's just music and movies.
D.) i - How do I remove the frame from the front of the speaker in order to replace the cloth? The guy I called about the speaker cloth (Bob Crites, got his name from the Klipsch forum) could tell from the pics that somebody custom made them.
ii- Does anyone recommend removing the cloth altogether and not replacing?
E.) i- Are XLR jacks better connections than just regular wire, or did I misread this?
ii- If so, would the difference in sound be negligible to average ears, or substantial? FYI, I did buy 16awg copper flat wire from Monoprice (pictured) and I imagine that can be connected to XLR's by myself, yes?
iii- speaking of which, how do I actually connect the wires to the Cornwalls? It's a very basic question, but I've never had proper speakers like this, and I don't want to screw it up. Is there a particular technique or nuance?
F.) We may eventually buy a whole-home bluetooth and/or wifi speaker system to bring to our master bedroom and two other bedrooms, so it will have to allow for that.
I think that's all. Sorry if I've overwhelmed anyone.
Thanks in advance and happy new year.
For the most part it seems you've had some pretty good advice- given that you don't want to use tubes. Here's something to think about though! The Cornwall was designed to be played with tubes (the speakers made in the 60s were the same as the original late 1950s design). If you use solid state, you may find that the crossovers don't work as designed. this is one of the reasons that older horns are often thought as 'honky' and the like; if the midrange driver is operating outside its proper frequency band honky is what you get when you turn it up. If you experience 'shouty' or any other unpleasantness at volume this is also an indication. You don't need much power- the whole issue with tubes since the beginning of time has been that tube power is expensive- so a tube amp of moderate power will be plenty. 30 watts will do the trick and if the amp is in good condition to begin with they really are not that hard to live with! If you are really set on solid state, you might experiment with a bit of resistance in series with the speaker- 1 or 2 ohms for starters. This will reduce the damping of the amplifier and may well help out in the bass. Its common with higher efficiency drivers that you can overdamp the woofers fairly easily (high damping factor is not recommended). You might get thump but no definition as a result. The series resistor may help with that. Keep in mind though that the resistor will be dissipating amplifier power so it should be rated for a few watts! The speaker has a good reputation. Its a lucky find- have fun! |
First of all @mesch, the turntable is grounded but I am pretty sure my speaker wire could look less messy and I'm quite sure the way I wrapped it around the posts is dead wrong. This brings me to last night. **Last night, I had two problems with my speakers. (Please see pics of wire terminals) The first one happened when I went from TV to turntable. I went from AUX (I picked up a cheap Insignia analog-optical adapter and cable for the time being; there is no analog out of my TV) to CD (my turntable is assigned to this) and there was a very deep bass wave happening. It was very powerful and a bit scary.The volume was still up, but not much. The second problem happened when I reversed the previous and went back to TV (optical). This is when the sound from the previous post happened again, a harsh, rapid oscillating sound. Perhaps I should POWER OFF when switching from one input to another. I hope these new speakers aren't broken. They do sound great.If you don't mind, please provide links and/or pics of things I need to fix this problem. The cords and everything looks like a rat's nest also, but I am also waiting on a proper media console to lay/conceal cords. Could someone advise on how much bare wire should be exposed and how I can better connect everything? Also, @atmasphere - interesting. When I called Klipsch, the man discouraged tube amps. Maybe that's because I prefaced our conversation with the word "affordable". (I'm still outside of year-long complete house remodel.) What does "clean" sound mean? Why is what a tube amp can do better than clean, or more desirable? P.S. I just found someone local who can come to my place and help me in person, but he is on vacation and won't be able to get here for a couple weeks. Thanks again. |
