Klipsch Cornwall III or Tyler Acoustics PD-15

The Cornscala can be a very, very good speaker, depending on who built it and how much thought they put into the process. If you look carefully at Crites' site and read the many comments on Klipsch and other sites, it's apparent that this is very much a roll-your-own experiment.

The positives include that, properly constructed, the Cornscala can deliver a different (not necessarily better) sound than a stock Cornwall. Some would describe it as smoother. To me it's just different. The other advantages are that a Cornscala has almost certainly been modernized and cleaned-up with new crossovers and wiring. Also, you have choices in components (horns, high range drivers and crossovers) that will allow you to tailor the speaker for the room and listening distance to some degree, IF you have a builder who is savvy and will build you a unit to your specs and not sell you a pre-built pair of garage toys.

The negatives: it's still a friggin' huge Cornwall cabinet. Doing it right means that the original cabinet needs to be reinforced with bracing and/or thickened (1.5"-2" seems to work best for resonance control). And, to my ears, the Cornscalas I have heard and sounded somewhat less coherent at near listening distances than the stock Cornwall. I think that Cornscalas are better for larger rooms, but I'm sure that there are those who will disagree.

Thanks Br3098. So despite my intial skepticism about horns I decided to build myself the Wayne Parham Four Pi speakers with the upgraded drivers and stock crossovers. And I am not a skeptic anymore. The midrange and dynamics of this pair absolutely kills the Quad 22L2 that I am replacing. Very coherent sounding in my 18' x 22' living room. I have just been listening to them for a few days. The 4 pis are designed to be pretty flat from 16kHz to 50Hz after which they roll off quickly. F10 = 30 Hz. There is good usable extension down to 40 Hz in my living room even before the woofer break in. The speakers are seeing probably less than 1 watt most of the time. After the 2226 woofer breaks freq response from 50Hz to 30 Hz is supposedly to increase by as much as 10 db. So they are best when used with a couple of subs crossed over high (~ 100Hz) and barely audible to slightly augment and smooth out bass response. WAF in the living room is preventing me from getting subs currently. I have to figure out a way to awaken the JBL 2226 woofer by pumpimg ~ 60 watts or so. I am estimating that would be ~ 110 db at my listening position! Have to do this when the wife and kids aren't home!

Here's a cool way to mitigate the WAF re: a subwoofer:

Altec Lansing Universal Coffee Table Subwoofer

I have always wanted one of these, but always seem to just miss them on eBay and craigslist.

I think it might be an error to presume how speakers will sound based on just the "size of the room"; I think it's the dimensions (ie, the relationship (the ratios) between length, width, and height) of the room (plus the the shape of the room - if it's not all 90 degree angles) plus the surfaces/finishes (which absorb or reflect) that dictate the sound more than just the size (small, medium, large, etc.); and of course the quality of the sound will also depend on where/how the particular speakers are placed in the room, and also the location of the listening position. Some of these things can be easily fixed (by moving the speakers or the listening postion), or somewhat easily fixed (by adding treatments to the surfaces), but changing the dimension relationships and the angles of the surfaces relative to one another is generally difficult/expensive. In the end, you either have to be very good with calculations or you need to listen to the system in the room to really know what you are going to get.

The Cornwall speakers are very classy in a traditional way. Nice finish on the cabinets. And the sound is smooth and detailed. Better resale. While some people do not like the horn sound I find that horns are realistic. Klipsch speakers do provide a lot of detail. Too much for some. What is this bass, bass, bass obsession in the American market place? Whenever I have heard live music in an intimate setting, or small stage I have never noticed the bass being in the front and overpowering everything else. It is background, backbeat, keeps a beat. Cellos are nice, and so is a string bass, but neither should overwhelm a piano ,especially the upper notes of a piano. I think the Cornwall and La Scala speakers are excellent speakers. A great value too with all things considered.