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I can pick up a pair of La Scalas (1988) for $400. The exterior, black finish, is a little worn but all drivers and crossovers work well enough. Before lugging these 125 lb. beasts to the third floor of my house, is there anyone with an opinion on the 'sound' of these speakers. I've heard both raves and rants on these speakers.
Right now I have a set of Vandy 1b and 2b's. I have an el34 tube amp, patek gainclone kit amp, modified battery-powered amp6 and charlize. The high efficiency would match better than the 90db/watt of the vandersteen 1 with the lower power tripaths. Amps are preceeded by a Blueberry, Quicksilver, or passive stepped preamp. I have Amperex OGs in the blueberry and I think these will bring nice midrange body to the La Scalas, which I heard can sound a bit weightless.
Follow Ups:
The passive crossovers limit Klipschorns, in my experience. Since LaScalas and Belles are identical except for bass extension I expect active crossovers will deliver a similar improvement.
The high frequency harshness and midrange glare disappeared. There's no need to choose blunt sounding electronics to compensate. A digital crossover enables inter-driver time alignment which is significant in this family of speakers with path length differences measured in feet. Imaging snaps into focus.
I appreciate this isn't advice easily accepted, but the speakers are in my opinion worth it. PWK knew what he was doing, but he did it 50 years ago and didn't have the advantage of microelectronics.
$400 for a set of 'Scalas, even in fair cosmetic shape, is a steal. You can always do cosmetic work on them, usual prices I've seen are between $700 and $1500.
I recently had the chance to do an A/B comparison with a set of Cornwall II's...while I liked the Cornies' deep bass, I liked pretty much everything else about the La Scalas. They just had a very airy top end, maybe it's too much for some but I loved it. You can always add a good sub or two to make up for the lack of very deep bass.
With the equipment you have in your signal chain, these should kick some serious ass.
That's a great picture!
If the LaScalas were in corners they would have stronger bass.
Hi, I also say go for it!
I have a pair that I enjoy, but with a room full of overstuffed furniture and carpeting, I found the best presentation to be found by elevating them by about 6 inches from the floor.
I got to chat with someone at Klipsch via the Klipsch forums (a nice group) and he mentioned that Klipsh had originally intended them as almost a PA sort of speaker (listened to while it was at proscenium level), and they ended up imaging best when listened to on the tweeter level, or even with the tweeter above ear level.
At my house, with them on the floor, the sound was slightly lifeless; but when I raised them they gained much in terms of subjective high frequency extension and "speed."
The midrange stayed about the same, imaging was quite "open" and airy. The bass perhaps gained a little speed, but I didn't really notice a loss of what bass it seemed to have.
So, get them, for sure, but if they don't impress you, cut up some 2X6's with an "X" brace from corner to corner and try that. It's a great 10 dollar tweak!
Best wishes.
The guy actually has two pairs and both look pretty bad cosmetically. He is the original owner but used one as a planter stand and another as a side table at some point. My wife thinks they look horrendous but would be fine if I refinished them. Also, the crossovers look as though they needs some attention...new caps at least. I'm just concerned about putting the work and $ into it and will not suit my taste. There is a very small market here in Hawaii for these audiophile-type items. I.e. VPI turntables, BAT amps, Quicksilver preamps and amps just won't sell, even for 30-40% below Audiogon prices. This guy has been trying to sell the La Scalas for over a year at around that price. I posted the quicksilver line stage on the craigslist for $375 and got lowball reply saying he'll take for $200. We are forced to sell on either Ebay or Audiogon when we make 'upgrades'. This being the case, if I buy them I'll likely be stuck with them forever (can't ship) unless I give them away.
Thanks again, I appreciate all your comments.
For that money. If there is not enogh base for you, you should be able to afford a subwoofer. Do you have a spare wall that you could put a couple line arrays of Dayton IB woofers up? It would be quite a satalite/subwoofer system!
Dave
Hi,
At 400 the pair I would grab them fast, and refinish them.
My impressions after having owned a pair that I paid 1200 for:
Tight realistic bottom end, but no really deep bass extension. Very wide soundstage with detail out the ying-yang. Nice open mids and treble. On bright recordings, the horns can grate on your nerves with anything but a small single ended tube amp. Even then on occasion....
I obtained very enjoyable sound in my room using a DIY 45 SET, and Bottlehead Paramour 2A3 SET amps. Preamp was Bottlehead Faoreplay. Sound best in a large room, Mine is 24' by 12' wide with 8' ceiling. Not quite big enough to get the full potential out of them I felt. I sold mine after 2 years, and kinda miss them now.
Regards,
MG16
I tried mine with the AA crossover and my FI 2a3 amp and foreplay and didnt get a controlled sound. The speakers needed more.
My Fisher x100 with 12 watts was great and my modded st70 rules
I was wondering if a different cross-over will make them more effecient and stabalize the imepeadance.
Hi,
Mine were bone stock. I did upgrade the Inductors to air core foil, and tried it for awhile. I didn't like them, and went back to originals.
mg16
you'd be a fool NOT to grab them immediately. That is about 1/3 the going price.
If you don't like them (unlikely) with very little sweat equity you could make a tidy profit.
The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.
Bertrand Russell
I cant $800 for mine
Some here like them, Tom does not. But man, for that price you really have nothing to lose.
Fine... Don't let Tom listen to them!
The dynaco has been modded with a VTA board and I use Seimans El34 tubes with a Mullard rectifier (That mullard makes a big difference) Mine are a few years older. I have rebuilt the crover with new poy caps and wired with monster cable then coated the horns with damping spray....I have them in a small room 13 x 13.
The sound- very articulate, great imaging and soundstage (no box sound here) they are very acurate and can play all types of music. They lack low bass, but have enough punch to knock you out when pushed with my amp. I find they can reproduce music at low levels but becuse they are so clean you just keep turning them louder and louder..$400 is a good price just dont invest to much if you dont plan to keep them you wont get back your money when you sell them...Just my experience..
at $400, I would grab them up! Even if you don't like them, they can't be horrible. At the very worst I'm sure they'd be useful for live music.
Also you could consider the djk port mod to extend bass response...lots more on this at the Klipsch forum
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