Klipsch Cornwall IV

Quick update. I’m now some 4 months into my Cornwall IV adventure and they continue to surprise and delight. Amp pairing has been interesting. I’ve used 100w Class A solid state, 36w EL84 push-pull, 18w 6L6GC push-pull, 10w EL84 push-pull, 3.5w 2A3 SET, and now 300B SET. All have been various shades of good to great, but the winner by several lengths... 300B! To my ears, in my room, with my ancillaries, this is the tube. Only 8 watts but it’s more than enough to fully energize my challenging 650+ sq/ft space while giving me everything I want in timbre, tonal richness, layering, and other SET beauties. Dynamics are superb. Bass is visceral. All the technical audiophile stuff there, plus the emotional engagement with the artistry of the musicians that I found lacking just a bit with other tubes and topologies (except the 2A3, but it simply did not have enough power). This is where I’ll stay. It is some of the best sound I’ve had, which I did not expect from a $6K speaker, let alone one made by Klipsch! Live and learn.

Thanks to all, but especially @jayrossi13 and @dbarger , whose posts about their success with 300B amps and these speakers nudged me down this road.

@wrm57 very cool, thanks for sharing! Could you let us know which 300B are you using? I’m guessing not all 300B are equal:-)

I picked up a used Luxman MQ-300, an unusually good incarnation. But I think most well-designed SETs using this tube would be suited to the Cornwalls. I’d been skeptical that 8 watts would be adequate but it’s just right; and the rich midrange textures of the 300B are ideal for the Cornwall. These speakers can do nuance and delicacy as well as they do dynamics, and that’s a wonderful combo--right up SET ally. One of the things I like most about SET amps is they way they release the music to you rather than push it at you. I think the Cornwalls tend to push a bit, themselves, so amps that mitigate that tendency work best, at least in my survey of various amps. I’ve never tried a single-ended pentode amp but I’d assume it would behave similarly to a SET and sound pretty great on these speakers, too.

Thanks! I was SET on the Decware SE84UFO25, but still not sure. It uses neither of those typical tubes. The Audiophiliac liked it with the CW4. The Feliks 300B seems also quite good. Hard choices:)

I thought about both those amps, read a little about them. Personally, I don't think 2 watts is enough for the CW. I have a good 2A3 amp that puts out 3.5w or so. It sounds great at low volume but can't fill my space. Steve G thinks the CW4/Decware is a great combo, though. You might, too.