Klipsch Cornwall IV

last time i got to listen to them [cornwalls] was in 1980, i remember their sound to be bombastic, the bass shook my innards on the bass drums, not so much on the organ pedals. contrasting them was an early large mirage tower [forgot the model] which in comparison was a breath of musical fresh air, they just sounded "right" to me whereas the cornwalls sounded loud and visceral. i really would love to be able to audition a modern pair of IVs. i know the composer wendy carlos liked 'em, used 4 of 'em in her studio. 

I have owned a pair since August of last year. I am alternately thrilled and disappointed. They sound great with great recordings and lame with lame recordings. I guess that’s the sign of a revealing loudspeaker. Whether that is a good thing or not will depend on your recordings and system. My system is all class AB solid-state, fed primarily by CD and streaming. And since a lot of my music is pop, I sometimes hear more than I really need to. Ymmv

@jdmccall56 I would suggest two things.

Placement. I'm sure you already know this, but attention to detail here will reap huge benefits. I've found that not listening on axis but having the speakers firing well behind the listening position gives the most natural presentation with a huge soundstage. On axis and bad recordings get even worse.

Tubes. I know a lot of people listen to horns with SS amps, but I am a firm believer in the match of a good tube amp and a good horn speaker. I am able to enjoy 95% of all my music with the CW IV and a lot of these are not what I'd call stellar recordings. Pop music is, how shall I say it? It's Pop music, that's about as generous as I can be.

Oz

I couldn't agree more with Ozzy62. I had very similar feelings about the Cornwalls. Really honing placement made a significant improvement (Mine cross about 12 inches in front of me) but moving from all solid state  to a great tube amp made an ENORMOUS improvement.  

I have crossed them in front of the listening position with good results too. But it was only when I fired the axis behind me that I got what I would describe as excellent results.