| Audible Nectar |
06-13-2021 08:30 AM |
Interesting thread. Time reveals a lot.
What you are seeing with the Klipsch Heritage line is a "return to real value"; people rediscovering time tested designs that "fell out of favor" mostly for aesthetic reasons and none to do with sonic performance. While many have been sonic detractors of Klipsch, these were "real owners", dumping their speakers after years of ownership, most often from pressures from sig-other/family/dwelling etc. Add to it the popularity of Bose and similarly fashioned "compact types" which became all the rage by 1990, the Cornwall was out of production. And while Klipsch doesn't publish production numbers I would guess they weren't making very many Klipschorns either back then, although that speaker did manage to stay in continuous production since its introduction in the 1940's.
Back when I discovered their forum, about 20 years ago, I went searching for "Klipsch Cornwall" and ended up there. In. the mid 2000's solid clean pairs of Cornwalls were sub $1000 territory. If you paid four figures you were getting some seriously rare finish, or new veneer or other goodies that made them "special". I have two of the better pairs sold off of that forum and they sold for $950, which was a non-negotiated price that the respective sellers asked for, and knew they were worth. This was the higher side of the range, again rarely eclipsing 1K excepting for special/rare examples.
These were such a good deal that I built a whole theater room out of them. Why mess with "center channel speaker Klipsch model X" and even Klipsch Heresys when Cornwalls are under a grand???? My third pair was located in a Tradin' Times (yes, I spelled that correctly) flyer freely distributed in grocer entryways. $375. This included the custom risers, and custom sized decorator cabs taboot with custom grills.
Oh, and not only did I get three pairs for the theater, they are all the same vintage too, basically being findable enough through internet searches and patience to amass the sets in identical vintage. IOW, Cornwall B networked (or convertible to), same drivers, all identical timbre matching.All for less than ONE Cornwall would cost new, today.
Similar abounded a number of "collectible" gears. Mac tubes - who would buy tubes, in the 1990's, LOL??? Well, people who knew what they would be missing, that's who, and who never forgot of the benefits despite the size and inconvenience. Stuff was pennies on the dollar, or .15 cents in a lot of cases. People roaming hamfests picking up Mullard 5AR4 and other goodies......those were the daze.
ALL of this stuff was on the "backlash" side of the equation. Think people who would ask "Who would ever buy one of those Honda cars" - back when they had engines in them that looked like motorcycles, people thought those were a joke, but 20 years later the Honda Accord was the number one selling car in America. So this stuff swings, and for many with a recent history memory, the idea of Cornwalls being wotrth $6K at retail is insane.
Until you realize that in 1989ish, Klipsch sold Oil Oak Cornwalls in dealers for $1900 per pair. That's 32 years ago. So the idea that the price would triple and basically be of the same build quality isn't really much of a surprise. Add to that the changes.engineering improvements/redesign of some of the specifics, and that's easy to see how we get to 6K retail new.
It isn't that they aren't worth it - they are - it's just that they were so undervalued for all those years. I could never understand with the average U. S. dwelling increasing in size for all those years (1990-2015 to be sure) why such speakers ever did fall out of so much favor, as people made room for the 70" TVs at the same time, There's no accounting for taste or design fashion sensibilities (see 1970's avocado and current use of grey), but in a sonic sense, people are rediscovering the law that there truly is no replacement for displacement, and that means a return to Klipsch Heritage as being one of the most viable tools on planet earth available to reproduce sound.
It's really weird walking into local dealers and seeing Klipsch Heritage promo materials and LaScalas having their own demo room. Almost makes a guy wanna faint over the shock of actually seeing that again, like he walked back in time.
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