Jeff Matthews

Who, help me out. Here's the math I would have used: 20kHz = 20,000 waves per second. Sound travels 600 mph or 913 ft./sec. (roughly). I guess you'd have to fit 20,000 waves into 913 ft. That would be one wave per .04565 feet. That's a wavelength of .5478 inches for a 20kHz sound. Where is the math wrong?

I just read the materials posted by PaulN containing much of the Dope from Hope articles. Bi-amping was discussed as not particularly helpful and with more propensity to damage tweeters. It was preferred to just stay with a single amp. Seeing the amps you describe, I can't imagine needing anything more than the MA 1200 by itself. What would you hope to accomplish that the MA 1200 can't do alone?

Okay, no takers. Shake up the box, Ray.

Correct. This recommendation was for those who enjoy concert-level volumes.

Blood-curdling!!!

This is straight out of the DFH materials PaulN posted: "Although we do not recommend it (either for the customers ears or his equipment), the all horn-loaded systems, KLIPSCHORN, LA SCALA, and BELLE KLIPSCH can reproduce blood curdling high levels in the 115 to 120 dB SPL range when driven by an amplifier of 100 to 300 watts per channel. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> To achieve these rather high average SPLs without amplifier clipping requires the use of a power amplifier with a continuous output rating some one to five times the continuous power rating of the speaker system." So, there you go. If you're playing concert volumes or louder, at least 100 watts per channel is recommended so you don't clip your amp. It seems the best way to test the required power is to use an SPL meter and see what the average is. If approaching 115 dB sometimes, we should use amps with sufficient headroom. On a similar topic, it was said that SPL meter movement lags actual sound peaks and that actual sound peaks should be expected to be some 13dB greater than shown on the SPL meter.

That's why you need a 200 wpc watt amp! Trust me.

Yes, it can have that effect if you take this forum too seriously. Me? I love my system. Though everyone has urged me to do this, that and the other - telling me all the time tubes are better than my SS, my Crown is "pedestrian," get a top plate for my KHorns, try ALK xovers, don't use potato sacks for grills, etc. - I have not let it bring me down at all. How can they? My system is great, and anyone who doubts it needs to come by for a test drive.... I'm sure that's the case with yours, too, and that's why you came here. Take all the forum stuff with a grain of salt as you sift for something that might really interest you. The rest is just entertainment and a sounding board. You should stick around. PS: In the end of the day, after all the hundreds of pages, did anyone see me rush to the pawn shop with my Crown? Nope. Yet, if I wanted I could easily blow $5k on tubes from hell. But alas, nobody was able to prove I should. Stick around and have fun, JPM. I like being in your camp on the LS debate - because I find it humorous that anyone could "dis" such fine speakers. My brother has LS's, and he's the reason I got Cornwalls. (because I couldn't afford LS's back then).

Because it's Fun, that's why. Amen, Bro! Nuff said. This forum is all about the fun. Too bad people get mad as opposed to keeping it in jest. I'll still defend LS owners. They get beat on so much. The LS is how I learned about Klipsch.

JPM!!!!! Stop reading this and get back to work!!! []

Except where the point of diminishing returns makes it not desirable to worry about. Doesn't sound like PWK was all too worried about it and thought it good enough to command a higher price than the Cornwall, which "scientifically," is less limited.

The Klipsch website describing the LaScala under "Products/Heritage:" "When the La Scala first launched in 1963, audio pioneer Paul W. Klipsch made it for Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Winthrop Rockefeller to use as a public address speaker." The DFH interview: Interviewer: "I heard you designed the LaScala for use at Winthrop Rockefeller's gubernatorial campaign." PWK: "No, it wasn't." He then goes on to say how the LaScala was offered for use to Rockefeller, who declined. He continues by saying the idea for the LS design came to him when hearing crappy speakers at an outdoor concert. I don't know about "lie," but one thing that would make both of these statements accurate would be if he came up with a design for a better PA speaker, took the speaker home, and re-designed its aesthetics for home use. So, maybe he intended a PA speaker could be desirable for home use. Hmmmm.... Legend PWK thinking a PA speaker would be good for home use..... What do you think?

I just covered this in reply to Who's post in the LaScala thread. But, let's go a little further, since actions speak louder than words. He took the LaScala home to put in his system. Okay, maybe he was curious to see what a PA speaker sounded like in his home system. His wife said it was ugly. He made it prettier by taking the same essential design and creating the Belle, which was a furniture-like speaker - apparently to make his wife happy or convince her it was suitable to be used in their home. It would seem from these actions that he might have had initial thoughts about LaScalas as PA speakers (maybe), but his efforts were to make them suitable for home stereo. I do not see these circumstances as suggesting the general public took his PA speakers and decided to use them in their home. I see him actually designing the speaker for people to use in their homes. Maybe someone will come up with a DFH interview to suggest the opposite, but why would he have tried to please his wife with a PA speaker in their home?

Well, he took it home and had to make it prettier and name it after his wife for use in his home. He did not say "I made it for use in a home." But the fact that he took it home to use it there suggests something made him design it for home use - especially having essentially taken the same speaker and given it a prettier, furniture-like appearance to it. Why would he do that? Had he had no purpose for in-home use for the speaker, I can't possibly fathom why the Belle was ever made. To suggest that the public took his speaker for design in outdoor PA and put it to an unintended use appears, at this point, to be untrue. He modified it specifically to be pretty in a home.

He's got me confused with Bullwinkle. []

Dale, the cold must be getting to you. I can't see a single thing that I aimed at you. Talk about wearing your emotions on your sleeve? Where did I ever take anything as a personal attack against me? I don't own LaScalas. Dood! Get real.... I'll watch for the tree. You watch out for that yellow snow!

What to see? Not much. Galveston is 45 min. south. Great Seafood on "The Strand." If you're curious about Texas history, the San Jacinto Monument and Battleship Texas are a neat little excursion. You can take an elevator up to the top of the monument. Johnson Space Center was already mentioned. We have the Museum of Natural Science, which is not all that shabby. I'd recommend it. Neaby is the Museum of Fine Arts if you're into art. Our zoo sucks. So forget going there. If you are into the party scene, they've begun a few years back to really make an effort downtown. It's a hopping evening place to go restaurant/bar-hopping. Definitely not a New Orleans by any standard, but FYI. Other than that, you'll find just about everyone is very friendly. Prices are generally cheap. If you sort of quietly study about our cost of living down here, you'll know why we have it made. For a moderate-to-nice Mexican restaurant, we have Pappasito's. It's a local chain. Pappadeux's is Pappas' version of seafood. For more upscale in the seafood dept., you can try Willie G's on Post Oak. If you are a shopper, the Galleria is a mall of international recognition. If you like Chinese food, you'll be in the right town. I would highly recommend Kim Son downtown. There are many, many others that are very good, but due to the numbers they can be hit and miss. I hear you all don't have spicy food up there. Bland Steak and Potatos. Be sure to get hot sauce, jalapenos, and chili con carne with your Mexican food. Yum! Yum! And finally, if you want to experiment just for once in the Chinese Food area, try a Vietnamese dish. We have a large Viet population. Kim Son also serves Viet dishes. My all-time favorite is called "Com Thit Nuong." It is char-broiled pork barbecue strips over white rice with fish sauce on the side, as well as a few tomatoes and cucumbers on the side. You MUST request that they add on the fried egg, sunny side up, the Vietnamese quishe (sp.) and the shredded pork. Not many of us red-neck Houstonians know about this dish, but all my friends who have tried it have like it alot. Don't be afraid of the fish sauce on the side. Go for it. Just pour it on. It is like a spicy vinegar (which is probably what it is).

Aside from misquoting PWK, let's see.... Hmmmmm. Thinking....... Teflon was invented for use on spaceships, but it seems to have been great for pots and pans. Cat litter was not designed to soak up fluid spills from cars in driveways. The internet was designed for military defense. And don't forget, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were the result of a freak collision between 1 kid with a chocolate bar and another with a jar of peanut butter! [] I think the intent of PWK is marginally relevant, regardless of how accurately or inaccurately he is quoted. If they work well with stereo at a price of $3,000 less than KHorns, that ought to be quite enough reason for many folks to use LaScalas and like them. No matter what, they are better than Bose and alot of other so-called high-end speakers. You guys! 40% admit to Schaddenfreude. 5% listen to rap. And 10% don't have KHorns and were only told about the horrific inferiority of LaScalas. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/676409/ShowPost.aspx That's 55% who either don't know for themselves why LaScalas allegedly can't do enough bass, listen to the WRONG kind of music ([]) or love the thrill they get by trying to excite and depress LaScala owners. Of this group, the vast majority admit to having a mild to moderate inferiority complex. As for the other 45% (who sail the KHorn flagship), come down off the mountaintop. Okay, your KHorns are the flagship - as if nobody knew. You don't have to beat "Number 2" to death to be proud of your KHorns.

From rectifiers to rectal smears! []

No, it sounds like it was inspired by what PWK saw of some crappy speakers playing at an outdoor concert. And so......???? Maybe he designed LS's to replace those at outdoor concerts. Maybe he designed them to have qualities he figured worked well with home stereo, too. Maybe what he saw at the outdoor concert inspired him to make something that worked with home stereo that would sound like an even better outdoor concert. The story is incomplete based on these couple of sentences alone. There's no point in going down this road.

Let's look at it from the other way around. I, for one, have wiped my butt on the sheets many times. []

The pre in front That looks like something that ought to serve ice cream out the front portal. It does...LOL,that creamy tube midrange as well as the cone in the form of rock solid bass..for tube gear. Yeah, and the 2 electrodes in front could pass the blue lightning back and forth like the old "Frankenstein" movies. That fancy piece of equipment just offers alot up for imagination.

They look like they were scavenged from a Katrina victim and moved to California.

The pre in front That looks like something that ought to serve ice cream out the front portal.

No, they were never in a flood. [] My dog pees on the same spot and evenly distributes his shower from right to left.