Klipsch Cornwall 4 Speakers, $6600 Per Pair (Cherry, Black or Walnut)

(38H, 25.3W, 15.5D, 96 lbs, 8 ohms, 105dB SPL)

Klipsch’s famous Cornwall speaker has been updated and is now dubbed Cornwall 4. The new Cornwall has an improved Mylar midrange driver to go with its Titanium tweeter and 15” Pulp Fiber woofer. The cabinet size/shape has been improved, as have the horn dispersion flares. The crossover has been upgraded with improved parts and connections. Cornwall has been back ordered for months during C19, but now it’s back in da house!

Cornwall is built first and foremost to give you LIVE dynamic impact in your music. To play at similar to LIVE SPLs you need a speaker of significant size- that is also very efficient so you don’t need an uber expensive amp to drive them.

There are plenty of large, HUNGRY, audiophile speakers that won’t wake up until you hit them with massive power. Cornwall will work well with LOW power. Cornwall rewards you for the quality of your amp. Large amounts of horsepower aren’t necessary.

Cornwall is a beefy speaker but it CAN go near the back wall. While it is wider than your average tower, it isn’t any taller and because it is happy near the back wall, it’s actually easy to PLACE this big boy.

For a lot of people music is polite and in the background. Cornwalls are for music fans who want lifelike scale sound in their living rooms.

In crazy audiophile systems you see racks of gear including ginormous monoblock amps on stands out by the speakers- which usurp a power plant of wattage. Cornwalls can be driven beautifully by an affordable integrated amp.

If you want the sound in your room to be as big and bold as the Real McCoy, have a listen to the Cornwalls on your favorite music. Make no apologies about the size. Let ‘er rip!

NAD M28 Power Amp $5500 (7×200)

(6 1/4h, 17 1/8w, 17 1/8d, 48 lbs)

NAD’s M28 power amp is a versatile power house! It runs seven channels times 200 watts of Ferrari like power due to its Eigentacht amplifier design. It is 7 channels of NAD’s killer M23 stereo power amp, for not a lot more- if the extra channels make sense for you.

Because of its 7 channel design you would be forgiven for thinking this is only a home theater amp. Well, it is indeed usually used for home theater. But… it is also a magnificent, cost effective solution for a state of the art STEREO system as well.

First of all, NAD doesn’t cheat with its 200×7 rating. Most multi-channel amps deal sleight of hand when they claim specs. NAD is honest. M28 runs 200w times 7, 20-20k, all channels driven, with THD of .003%.

Most theater amps claiming 200×7 actually only do 200×1, at 1Khz, at 1% THD. If the other guys claimed their specs honestly as NAD does, they would spec at under 100×7!

You can read extensively about the Eigentakt design at Dave’s Faves, NAD M33 integrated amp. M33 runs $6000. It’s a wonderful integrated amp! M28 is actually 7 channels of M33’s power amp on one chassis! That’s a lotta octane that runs clean, quiet and cool under the hood.

In addition to home theater, you would do well to consider M28 in a multi-amped stereo system. Many speakers have bi-amp capability. If you run the mid & top drivers with a stereo amp, and the woofer section with a different stereo amp, the speakers have more dynamics and control. They sound significantly more lively.

Right now you might be running your preamp into a stereo power amp. That’s fine. Yet your speakers would WAKE UP quite a bit more if you could run a bi-amped config- which would require you buy an additional power amp.

This topic is complicated by the fact that it’s often better to buy one GREAT stereo amp instead of two lesser amps. Well, in M28 that’s not an issue. ALL of its channels are pushing the best stereo amps out there.

Please consider buying M28. Two channels of M28 are likely to sound better than whatever your stereo amp is now. And with M28 you’re ready bi, or even tri-amp! Many speakers are ready to accommodate bi-amping. A few, will even allow tri-amping.

NAD’s brand new M23 is the stereo version of this amp. It runs $3750 and is quite possibly all you’ll need in a state of the art stereo system. Yet if you bought a pair, to bi-amp, you’d spend $7500. You might consider taking advantage of the fact that M28 is built on one chassis. You are paying for just one chassis and bank of connections. Once you’ve paid for that, the cost of additional channel modules is less than you’d expect.

I’ve had customers say, “But I’m wasting 3ch if I’m using 4.” Not really. M28 is built on one chassis, it is tremendously more cost effective than any multi amp arrangements. It is cheaper to buy one M28 than two M23s. Unless you need to bridge, the M28 is a better choice.

Stevie Wonder

Did you know he’s a talented DRUMMER?!

KLH Three $1800 Per Pair

Price Includes Stands

The 3s themselves are 19h, 12.25w, 10.5d, 30 lbs, 6 ohms, 88dB SPL. They are 28.25h on their stands.

The 3s have an 8” Cast Frame Pulp Fiber Woofer & 1” Aluminum Dome Tweet. They sound solid and open.

The success of VINTAGE speaker designs is alive and well. I like the formula. Take a speaker from the 60s that was iconic, like the KLH 5 or Klipsch Heritage models, and build it to LOOK the same, but have modern components within.

KLH has done this as effectively as anyone. Part of its success is due to the fine speakers they’re making in the KLH 5 and now KLH 3. Both are acoustic suspension (sealed) vs ported. But the other secret to its success is that the pricing is fair. Big secret, A?

KLH 5 runs only $2500 per pair. The new KLH 3 runs only $1800 per pair. Contrast this to JBL who is singing from the same hymn book. The JBL100 runs $4730 (!) per pair and JBL 82 runs $3025 (!) per pair with stands. And by the way, those spongy grills may look cool and retro, but they muffle the sound. But I get it. Some people are buying retro over sound.

KLH 3 is small, not tiny. KLH chose this size specifically for the 3 because designer Kerry Geist still wanted to deliver impressive bass. When you consider the 3 can deliver tight, fanny kicking bass in this smallish cabinet- that’s quite an accomplishment. Further, remember that the KLHs are sealed cabinets to deliver TIGHT bass. Ports loosen the bottom end and that’s not kosher with KLH.

The 3 is like a free safety that hits hard, vs the 5 which is a middle linebacker.

Both have:

*3/4” cabinet construction with reinforced bracing bars

*Real Walnut cabinet finish with stonewashed linen grills

*Acoustic suspension=sealed enclosures

*Three position balance control: Mid & High Contour curve adjustment

*High quality crossover with Mylar caps

*Metal stands are included, slant design with rubber on places

where they’ll contact the speakers

*Magnetically attached grills

*TEN year warranty!

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MoFi UltraGold Moving Coil Cartridge $1500

MoFi has made MM carts since it got in the turntable hardware biz. They have been warmly received.

The MasterTracker ($800) cart immediately became the best tracking phono cart I’ve ever worked with. What a pleasure!

UltraGold lets you attain what moving coil carts can do best, which is to reveal thrilling dynamics, deft details and layers of vocal colors that moving mags cannot.

UltraGold has a body comprised of aluminum and brass. It uses a boron cantilever and Shibata stylus. It has fairly high output for a low output MC at .4mV, hence it will be more forgiving of your phono pre than a cart with less output. It tracks at 2g and is easy to work with at 7.3g in weight. It likes a load of 100 ohms. Its color coded pins have good spacing for easy logistics.

If you want the sound of a $3-5k MC but would rather spend $1500, UltraGold is your new cartridge. Don’t be bamboozled by overpriced carts that have holy water sprinkled on them to justify a mega price. MoFi has very deep pockets and makes great products in quantities. That’s why UltraGold is $1500 instead of $5k!

Consider buying the Mofi UltraDeck turntable as well. You get a break in buying UltraDeck with the UltraGold for $3500!

The table alone runs $2500. The cart alone is $1500. Save five bills and get as good a record playing combo as is sensible.

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Sinead O’Connor

When you think of singers who throw 100% of themselves into every performance, Sinead is very high on a short list. Singers like Sinead and Joe Cocker literally did damage to themselves by pouring so much emotion into every song they sang.

You can’t beat “Nothing Compares To U” or “Don’t Give Up” for going to the wall in duty to her craft.

I just read her bio and she’s more hilarious than she is “crazy.” She insists you can break a window with anything she cooks. She recounts being invited to visit Prince who asked her not to cuss in interviews. She said, “I’m Irish, F off.” Prince tried to lighten her up with a pillow fight. But he had a billy club type implement in his- so it turned dangerous, instead of funny. She ran out of the house in the middle of the night and evaded him through the darkness and trees of his property as he tried to find her. She got away successfully!