2. speakers
  3. 163399-2029

Tube amp Friendly Speaker That Sounds like Klipsch Cornwall

Hi All, 

I am shopping for a tube friendly speaker after a long time with Magnepan 3.6's and then Thiel CS5i's.

I was able to spend a couple of hours with a broken-in pair of Klipsch Cornwall 4's. These were in a dedicated dealer space with corner bass traps and some treble absorption. They were driven by an all McIntosh setup (7200 Receiver and T500 CD player).

The Cornwalls were dynamic, and I loved the palpable sound of the 15 inch woofer. Loud rock in roll was great with them. However, I was less impressed at lower volume levels and finally decided they were not very detailed and a bit too much in my face, at least in that setup.

When I left that room, I wandered over to where some Magnepan 1.7i's were playing in a casually set up open space. I thought the Maggies were much more resolving than the Cornwalls and a lot more laid back.

Any suggestions on a tube friendly speaker with good sized woofers that is dynamic but with good weight and detail to the sound?

Thanks for listening,

Dsper
dsper
vinylvalet
836 posts
 
+1 for Pi Speakers.

Anyone considering Tannoy should look into Fyne Audio, founded by ex-Tannoy engineers.
jayrossi13's avatar
jayrossi13
182 posts
 
Volti Audio--Razz and Rival--could be worth a look. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,167 posts
 
dsper, the Fyne F502SP is an excellent speaker for tube amps. It optimizes the British approach to speakers and creates a beautiful if small soundstage. Very detailed. It is not as efficient as the Cornwall and will not go quite as loud but plenty loud enough. It is for certain more detailed than the Cornwall and it's image has better focus. Bass wise they are about the same. The construction quality of the Fyne is a tad better. They are actually a great value.
Their big brother, the F1 is drop dead gorgeous in Walnut Burl Veneer. 
Pi speakers are great if you want to build them. The Fyne's are two steps above. Spatial Audio speakers are not my cup of tea and I am a dipole guy (ESLs).  Then there is the Tannoy Sterling. Very similar to the Fyne  it really needs subwoofers to shine but shine it  does. The JBL 4349 monitor is a great speaker designed as a studio monitor. It is certainly the loudest loudspeaker of the group and if Rock is your thing a real consideration. The JBL is solid state while the others are tube if you get my drift. There must be 100 others. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,574 posts
 
I'm guessing budget plays a role?
I run a pair of Classic Audio Loudspeakers model T-3. 16 ohms, response to 20Hz, 98dB 1 watt/1 meter. 60 watts is plenty of power on them in most rooms!

You might consider another alternative though. If you were to get a set of Audiokinesis Swarm subs to handle the bass, your main speaker would then only need to get down to 60Hz or so. There are plenty of speakers that are easy to drive with 60 watts that would then do the trick- a set of Devore O96s for example, Klipsch RM51s or Tannoy Eatons. You might also contact Duke at Audiokinesis as his speaker designs have always been easy to drive and tube-friendly.  
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,608 posts
 
I sold my spatial audio X3s, which were mighty fine speakers, for a pair of Cornwall IVs. I disagree about how revealing these speakers are.


ozzy

i have never heard a spatial x line speaker ... the new m sapphire series does have a different high freq driver... but i am quite surprised to hear you say the x series lacked resolution to your ears

i find my m3s to be plenty revealing... this coming from a user of quad esl 63s, proacs w ribbons and big maggies!

yes you are correct i don’t know all the ins and outs of the latest klipsch cornwall versions, so i may be speaking from memories of hearing past cornwalls (not in my system, i have never owned a pair)

anyhow... happy listening
More to discover