Klipsch with PSA gear

Any klipsch owner here care to share their setup and impressions?

I got the Cornwall III coming and curious if any fellow PSA and Klipsch owners out there.

Will be pairing the Cornwall III with BHK250 and First watt SIT-3.

I’ve been enjoying my DSjr --> McIntosh C48 Pre --> Mcintosh MC58 Amp --> Klipsch LaScala II speakers (with CT120 tweeter upgrades) for quite some time now. I think a preamp is a must given the sensitivity of the speakers. I ran the DSjr directly to the amp for a while but prefer the preamp in the chain. The amp also has input voltage adjustments that is very helpful with sensitive speakers. Upgrading from a Schiit BiFrost 4490 Dac to the DSjr RedCloud two years ago was immediately noticeable - better soundstage, smoother midrange, more realistic highs.

I also have Heresy 3’s upstairs with the Schiit dac and a McIntosh integrated. I love their sound.

I got the BHK Pre, agreed definitely a must, going DAC into BHK250 produces noise since volume needs to be such low level on the DAC. I am hoping BHK250 won’t be noisy with the high sensitivity Klipsch.

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I just got a pair of Klipsch Forte 3’s to use with Stellar GCD and Stellar s300. I’m very happy with the combination. Very dynamic with tight bass.

Got my Cornwall III yesterday, tuning now for best placement

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I have a few pair of Klipsch Heresy’s, one pair have been through a Super Heresy 1 (Baby Cornwall) mod. I currently run these with a McIntosh MA 5100, a PWD and Bridge II. I have used Tidal and Qobuz but find the NAS works best for me and the sound is very satisfying.

The Cornwall and Iscala’s should really come alive, if I can ever find a used pair local…

Can you share some impression from the Cornwall? I’m thinking to get a pair as well for my BHK250.

I like the BHK250 pairing, great sound staging, great instrument separation. One thing I wish was a bit more bass, bass is tight and deep, but a bit light on the quantity. I’m work to roll some tubes to see if I can get a bit more out of the amp with respect to the bass department.

A note though, you’ll hear noise coming out of the Cornwall with the BHK250, this didn’t bother me, as I can’t hear the noise at listening position, but if you’re OCD on noise, this pairing may not be for you.

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Thanks, especially about the bass.

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Just got my Cornwall 4’s yesterday. I have Stellar GCD and S300 amp. I think the combination is excellent. I am initially going with corner placement. Bass is tight and deep and a big step up from previous Fort 3’s.

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Very cool! Is that walnut?

I’m curious on III to IV changes, Cornwalls have always have more substance on the low end compared to their Forte brothers. How’s the sound stage and imaging?

They are in walnut. As far as sound stage and imaging I would say marginally better than the Forter 3 which I thought to be outstanding. The big improvement is in both bass and lower midrange giving them a fuller sound-more like live music.I actually tried adding subs to my Forte 3’s and the Corwalls with no subs are much better. I think I have finally found my endgame speakers. Of course I have said that before :-).

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Which sub did you try, I’m actually thinking of adding sub to my CIII. Mainly because I’m curious since Paul is a big sub for music advocate, the other reason is for movies

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Have you tried moving them around? Maybe a bit closer together?
And how do they work with the SIT3?

I tried the SVS SB3000 and the improvement was fairly subtle. Not exactly what I was looking for. I only use for music so movies are not a factor. I could totally understand a sub (or two) for movies. As far as the sub goes, my wife is pretty sensitive to bass frequencies so I would rarely be able to use them.

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I had the previous Forte 3’s closer together and that did help with side wall first reflections. I do like the wider soundstage so I am going to try some wall treatments on side walls near the speakers. If that doesn’t work I will move closer together. They sound great with the Stellar S300 amp. Very punchy and very low distortion.

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When I was playing with positioning of my Cornwalls, I tried the traditional way first away from the front wall, but noticed that the bass response was loose and wooly. When I moved them closer to the front wall and now around 3 inches to the front wall the bass tightened up, became deeper and with more midbass slam. I guess that’s why they call them Corner-Walls.

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I tried moving them… I am OK with the bass actually didn’t have any complain, mainly this is to fill my curiosity :slight_smile:

SIT3 is pretty good, at onetime I was thinking about selling the BHK250, but I have since changed my mind after switching out the stock tubes for the Amperex 7308 gold pin that I bought from you. My recent preamp changed from BHK Pre to Pass Labs XP10 also made a better pairing with BHK250. Probably will sell the BHK Pre and SIT3 soon.

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Let me know about the SIT3

Thanks for the suggestion. I moved them away from the walls and the imaging is much improved. I tried treating the side walls but moving away and a little more toe in sounds better. They sound great with the Stellar S300 amp.

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