Klipsch Cornwall IV

I did indeed swap out the caps except the big 60 uF one between woofer + and ground. VCap ODAM. It is not a trivial job as the VCaps are larger physically, but with a little planning it can be done. I managed to glue cable tie bases to the board and mount caps. You have to insulate leads because cap body is conductive. Also put some double stick tape between cap body and inductor to make sure there is no contact. I didn’ t like caps so close to inductors and was worried it might sound worse. No. The difference is not subtle. The speaker goes up to the next level after about an hour. For the first 15 minutes you think you have destroyed them, but I know those caps and how good they are and that they need to run in. I use them in all my amp, preamp, and phono builds because they are just amazing caps. After 15-20 minutes you can hear the difference.  After the 50+ hours I have on them now, wow.  Slightly more 3D, but it is the tone and timbre of things that changes strikingly. That little hint of brightness in the speaker is gone and the vocals and instruments sound much more realistic. Yes, it is a very good speaker stock, but it improves considerably with the ODAM caps to my ear.

Again, I am not telling anyone to do this. It will undoubtedly void your warranty! I am also about to swap in pathaudio resistors. There is a 30 ohm and 8 ohm basic sand resistor. The 30 ohm is directly in series with the midrange driver so it will matter. The 8 probably not as much, but I will do it anyway. I will probably swap them next week. As I said, the speaker is now much better at all the hifi stuff, but it still has the same punch and drive and all the horn things going on. It just images a bit better and the portrayal of everything is better. Sound stage is massive, but it was pretty good before. The little hint of brightness is now gone and only detail remains. A trumpet sounds more like a trumpet. A piano more convincing. Vocals to die for. I know those of you who love the stock version will think I am nuts, but if I could flip a switch on your speaker so you could hear the ODAM caps I bet you would notice right away. To my ear you don’t lose any of the thing things you love about the Cornwall IV, it just gets better. But that is MY ear and again, I am not telling you to do this. It isn’t that hard, but I have built 1000 pieces of tube gear and modded many a crossover, so my concept of not that hard is different than that of a novice.

My significant other came into the house about an hour after the cap swap and she immediately noticed things sounded better. God bless that woman:)

Amazing how many posts on the Cornwall IV....  anyone who has heard the III or IV properly set up has to admit they sound great even if they are Klipsch haters.   I bought my Forte IV based on the sound of the Heresy IV and Cornwall IV.   I could not hear the IV in person but bought them sight unseen after hearing the were voiced like the Cornwall.   I could have easily justified the Cornwall if I had the room , maybe some day.

I haven’t heard the CW4 and wish I had before getting the Volti Razz which is of similar midrange horn design. CW4s were only 1k more but there’s no place near me to have a listen. However, I did the Greg Roberts show and tell and fell in love with the Razz. Build quality is superb and they sound awesome driven by my Pass Int 60 SS amp. Choice of DACs though makes huge differences in musicality. No turntable yet, only streaming and cds ripped by Innous. 

Cap changes are frustrating because it should not need done. I swear every speaker at even crazy prices come with crap internals.

Cornwalls were MUCH cheaper than the Volti Razz (I have both). Not so much now with the price increase at Klipsch starting this week.  Think my IV's cost a little over 4K (Picked up in person) and the Volti's were more 5-6K with shipping.  If your happy with the Razz (Which has superior quality parts) why would you regret purchasing them vs something you havent heard??