Need some new speakers...

[Rubycon]

I have Nakimichi AV-10 pushing a Tanberg 3003 A amp. According to the tech that fixed my amp 15 years ago, the 3003 A could be mistaken for a McIntosh amp on the inside. Both are considered fairly laid back and still I find myself dragging out vinyl when I really want to enjoy my music. Maybe one day when my ship comes in I'll venture into tubes

Ah yes engineering genius Vebjørn Tandberg will always be remembered. I like their open reel decks.

I'm sure that amp is plenty musical.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I have Cornwalls too. I can't imagine what you would have to do to them to wear them out. I have to think mine sound as good as when I bought them. I definitely would think about repairing them.

However, if I was buying speakers today I would probably not buy them. When playing back CDs they seem a little too bright (I don't do the mp3). Back when I bought them the center piece of my system was a turntable and maybe a cassette once in a while. With this as a source they sound plenty warm still today.

Its not your speakers being too bright, its the music industry sound engineers trying to compensate for the fact that the vast majority of speakers on the market are utter crap and thus the engineers are monkeying with the signal "eq" to compensate for the fact that the POS out there have no high end and steep droppoffs on the low end.

 

[PM650]

Horn speakers are often criticized for being harsh. Many times this is the fault of the amplifier not the speaker! Some amplifiers produce highest distortion at lower levels (only to increase rapidly at the onset of voltage/current clipping as their power supply reaches its limit). Since horns are so darn efficient operating at comfortable listening levels puts some amps in the range where distortion is apparent. Switching to a direct radiator (i.e. cones and domes) speaker with much less efficiency results in the amplifier operating at a higher level (and outside of the range of producing audible distortion) and thus the sound is more pleasing to the ear. The listener immediately places the blame on the speaker!

I'm curious what amplifiers you've experience this with. I could understand crossover distortion leading to high thd with a class B amplifier at low levels, but class AB amplifiers, much more widespread today, will operate in class A at very low levels.

 

[Rubycon]

Its not your speakers being too bright, its the music industry sound engineers trying to compensate for the fact that the vast majority of speakers on the market are utter crap and thus the engineers are monkeying with the signal "eq" to compensate for the fact that the POS out there have no high end and steep droppoffs on the low end.

Newer mastering is utter crap as well particularly with gains and average levels. It's about as un-musical as one can realize!

I'm curious what amplifiers you've experience this with. I could understand crossover distortion leading to high thd with a class B amplifier at low levels, but class AB amplifiers, much more widespread today, will operate in class A at very low levels.

I've never experienced it personally. When AB switches it can be heard too. Again most speakers produce far more distortion than MOST amplifiers but a trained/experienced ear knows. Being around pro audio/live music I'm biased as well.

 

[iGas]

To add to the din; YES, fix your Cornwalls! Follow Ruby's links to Bob Crites store.

There's also lots of help here:

Linky

and spare parts abound here:

Linky

Over the course of the last 16 months I bought my La scalas, Crites CT-125 tweeters, and the Crites A/4500 crossovers there. Good folks.

Nice.

I wanted a set of La Scala during my audio phase (mid-late 80s) and they were way out of my price range.

 

[Tiamat]

Quite frankly, I would highly consider calling up klipsch and asking them if you can buy a replacement woofer for their Cornwall speaker. You are just gonna be underwhelmed by Klipsch's current offerings at the local Bestbuy. The NAD amp probably is fine. It hasn't broken yet, so it has most likely stood the test of time.

BTW, for horn speakers, brightness in sound can be of several factors. Three of the more major factors are:

1. Room acoustics. You have too much glass or flat parallel surfaces that are not damped (especially at first reflection points).

2. The amplifier is not mated well with the type of load the horn tweeter presents. For example, depending on the reactivity of the tweeter (ie the impedance is significantly higher in the treble than in the midrange/bass), a tube amplifier (having relatively high source impedance compared to SS amps) will cause the upper frequencies to be tipped up quite a bit.

3. Horn distortion. The physicality of the horn causes audible interference problems at high frequencies. This depends widely on the design of the horn.

 

[Rubycon]

Room treatments and incorrect signal processing are the two sore spots that can make a horn loaded system sound bad. Too many times emphasis is placed on loudness levels and frequency response of the room.