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Primaluna & Klipsch Cornwall frustration HELP

Well this is a little frustrating. I have a Primaluna preamp and Primaluna Dialogue 5 power amp. Found a great deal on some Klipsch Cornwalls. Heard Klipsch and tubes were made for each other. Hooked them up and it had very little bass. I was expecting a BIG sound. Sounded almost anemic. Hooked them up to a class D audio amp through the Primaluna preamp and it was fantastic. Lots of slam. A great rock and roll sound. These are very efficient speakers so I don't get why they don't sound good through the tubes. 42 watts per channel at 8 ohms. Happened to talk to a Primaluna guy and he told me I needed a more powerful Primaluna amp. That has got to be BS. Do I have bad or weak tubes?? These are KT88's! Maybe they are going out. Who knows. Tried to call Kevin Deal at Upscale but he is out of town. I am not buying a bigger Primaluna amp. Kind of offended that I was even told that. Would the KT120's make a difference? Could it be something else wrong with the amp. Thanks for any help. By the way the amp sounds sweet with small monitors where I don't expect much bass. Thanks for any direction.
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dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
I am using it with a Primaluna Premium preamplifier. Thanks for the advice stmadphere. I will reverse the phase of one speaker when I get home over Labor Day. This amp hardly gets played because I travel so much. I would like to just go home, turn it on for the little bit of time me I am home and enjoy it instead of trying to figure out why it doesn't sound right.
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
08-22-15: Dylanfan
By the way the amp sounds sweet with small monitors where I don't expect much bass.

08-24-15: Dylanfan
It sounds good just missing the low end. Not as clean as my LS50's or Dynaudio speakers but will probably be a great rock and roll speaker when I get the bass added in.
FYI, in addition to causing a lack of bass a polarity inversion in one speaker (i.e., + and - being interchanged, either due to a connection error or due to a wiring error in the amp), would result in imaging that is vague, diffuse, and hard to localize, and would probably also cause the midrange to sound a bit strange.

I suspect that going to the 4 ohm tap will strengthen the bass at least a little. But to what degree, and with what other effects, are hard to predict. It's definitely worth trying, though, as several of us have suggested.

Regards,
-- Al
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atmasphere
11,784 posts
 
If the amp has not been played much, it may also need some break-in time. Filter capacitors don't like to sit around discharged; its best for them to be played and as they are played they get more efficient. As this happens, they become more effective at their job (power supply bypass) and one of the results can be better bass.
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dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
It has not been played much at all.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
Talked to Kevin Deal at Upscale. Really nice guy. We talked for quite some time. He is sending me some new tubes to try first and see if that makes a difference. He knows his stuff. Give him a try. Great customer service.
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