Tarheel

George....you may want to talk with Bluesboy who has made new tophats for his Khorns and has taken a few orders recently as a result of his post on my hybrid La Scalas that he built. See the thread on Tarheels Hybrid La Scalas. He uses the 511b horns, Altec drivers and Beyma or JBL tweeters. Chuck

Rich....the Beymas came from usspeaker.com and are model #CP25 and cost $149 each. I can't speak to the Cornwall build but if you decide to go with the LS bass bins consider using 1" mdf like in the new LS ll. I am happy with the bass. Chuck

Thanks Dean....high praise indeed! Chuck

Thanks Rob. The credit goes to Bluesboy. Chuck

Indy....Thanks for the kind words. .I remember our connversation about the toe-in problem and that problem has now been eliminated without changing the cabinets on either side of the bass bins as I was about to do. I am very pleased with the looks and the sound of the hybrids. As Bluesboy said I still have to order new xovers or xover kits but the bass difference and midrange clarity alone was worth the effort. I like the look and practicality of leaving the components exposed on top of the bass bin and you can fine tune the toe-in all you want. The african wood Paduak was 1/3 less expensive compared to Rosewood and the grain pattern is a good contrast to the horns. Could it be I am finally at the point I want to be with my system? Not just yet. I have the Teac reel to reel problem to resolve and the tubes in my Quicksilver preamp are at least 5 years old. Maybe then. Anyway...if you are in the neighborhood stop on buy and we will take a listen. Chuck

I replaced the fuses (3) this morning. I moved the deck to another wall plug away from all other equipment. I have checked the breakers. No luck. I can buy an ohm meter to check for continuity first or replace the plug with an afer market replacement first. I called Kevin and he said to check continuity. If that is not the problem it could be the transformer. When I go home at lunch I will look for hidden fuses though the others were very visible at the top of the unit. Thanks for the help guys. Chuck

After installing my new La Scala hybrids Sunday I was on top of the world. Then I had to unplug the Teac X-10 to plug in a lamp to hook up the xovers. Later I decided to play a tape. I plugged the Teac back in and pushed the power button and nothing happend...no power, no vu meter lights...nothing. My reel to reel technician lives in Florida so its not conveinent to send it back except as a last resort. I called Kevin Kaask, my tech and a former trouble shooter for Dokorder, and he said it was most likely a fuse but unlike my Teac 3300S the fuse is on the inside of the case. He gave me the most direct route to the fuses and I removed them. I did not see any blown fuses. One fuse is a 250v-2a and the other two are 125v-7a. I tried different outlets in the room with the same result. I then suspected two other areas....the power cord and the power switch. I wiggled the cord and sprayed the power switch with contact cleaner....nothing changed. When I leave the office in about 15 minutes I will try to buy new fuses though they still look good. Any suggestions appreciated. Can the fuse be bad if the filament is not broken? The power cord ends are soldered on to the power switch so changing that would be difficult for me to rule that out. Chuck

Thanks Spongeworthy.....they came out better than expected. The trim on the bass bin was an afterthought when we couldn't get the end grain on the mdf to quick sucking up paint. I am very pleased with the solution. Chuck

Phil....the Heels are looking pretty good the last few games....we may have a contender! Chuck Back to the La Scalas....what I needed to do was have a 2 piece speaker that we could rotate the top (midrange and tweeter) to toe it in. Bluesboy already mentioned that my previous speakers were wedged in and fired staight ahead so this was our goal to correct that problem. A top section that was basically a rectangle didn't look right so we started thinking of designs that softend the edges and looked less cumbersome A bell shape with a more gentle slope was the final result. The Paduak is really a beautifull wood and we used three coats of tung oil using 0000 steel wool and tack rags between coats. Early Sunday morning we met at Don"s shop and finished assembly .....I wanted to get the new speakers installed in my music room before my wife got home and realized that Don and I had built a second set of LS in 2 years! I had not got around to telling her about our project other than we were making a few changes to my existing speakers. She came home just as we finished hooking everything up. She loved them!. She liked the looks and the sound so I put on one of her Andre Bocelli cds for her first listen. Don and I had already listened to Sonny Rollins "Saxaphone Colossus" a favorite of mine for our audition. What can I tell you about the sound other than I was grinning ear to ear. What an amazing improvement. First the bass was much better either from the woofer change or the 1" mdf or both. The 511b horn/902 drivers are so clear and the Beymas added the sparkle I had not heard before. I enjoyed this build and I loved the finished product. Bluesboy is very meticulous and does beautifull work. I handled some of the unskilled sanding, painting and finishing work but Don is the cabinet and speaker builder and really enjoys his work. I think I am finally done with the speaker tinkering but then again I said that last time. BTW my 2005 LS clones are still for sale with or without xovers. Chuck

A thread discussing xovers lead to an exchange between Al and a forum rep resulting in Al deciding to end his association with the forum. This is the version I heard and may not be all of the story.

Definitely a sad day and a great loss to the forum[]. As a relatively new member I appreciate the time Al took to answer all of my questions no matter how elementary they must have seemed to him. I usually considered his comments as the final word in most discussions. I hope Al will reconsider after some time has passed....but if not... all the best in the future. Chuck

An update on the new Scalas. The Beyma tweeters came today from US Speaker. I am using the 511b and 902 drivers and new k-33s as planned. I will be using the BEC xovers for now and have changed the tap position as recommended. We are mounting the horns and tweeters in a piece of Paduak I bought Saturday at a hardwood import shop. Very nice looking grain pattern. The facade will look a little like a bell shape with a more gentle slope with the baby cheeks on top and center. These will sit exposed on top of the bass bins. I will be able to toe in the top part without moving the bass bin and this should solve my restricted corner problem. I think the black bins and the natural finished ( think rosewood color) top should look okay. The bass bins are built and have all but the final top coat of black laquer. One problem we are having is trying to seal the edge grain of the 1" mdf. The edges keep soaking up the paint. At this point I am a little concerned about the finish. We used semi gloss which is not looking too much like a black lacquer piano finish I am use to so we may go to high gloss for the next coat or two. Any tips appreciated. I still have my LS clones with the Altec 416 woofers if anyone is interested. Bluesboy will post pics later.

Joe...We used 1" MDF and I couldn't find any locally already veneered or I would have gone natural. The speakers now have the third coat of piano black and only the end grain needs another coat. Bluesboy came up with the idea of framing the edges of the bass bin in natural to tie it in with the top but I want to see a mock up of that before deciding. John and Intotubes...I will pass that along to Bluesboy...my speaker builder. I am all in favor of saving the $300+ for tweeters. Thanks for the suggestion. Chuck

I need 2 Beyma CP25 tweeters in good shape for the LS rebuild project. Please call if you have some you are willing to part with. 910 200-1225 or 395-0825 nights. Chuck

Thanks Carl for the reply. Primered and sprayed first top coat of piano black on the new bass bins yesterday...Bluesboy will post some pics today. Decided to frame the horn and tweeter in a natural finished wood possibly rosewood to go with the black bass bins. I think it will look good. Good luck with your project and post some pics. Chuck

You are right Dean...mine are BEC's type A. I guess I have been on the keyboard too long today. Thanks for catching that and for the modification info. Chuck

Speakerfritz....just curious... how did the tube swap go for you? Any thoughts on the kt-77s? I did the same swap in Quicksilver Horn Monos with good results. Chuck

Thanks Carl for the info. Definitely interested in your used Beymas. Let me know if you want to sell them. I will be away from the pc for the weekend after 5:00 pm today but if you want to call.... my number is 910 395-0825 or 910 200-1225. Know anyone with xovers for the k-33, 511b, 902 Altec (8 ohm), Beyma combination? Chuck

I am using it as a 3 way but this is a very temporary set up just so I could listen to the horns. Don has already told me I need to go to a different xover so that we could experiment a little with different settings. Dean...I am pretty ignorant about xovers so I will defer to Don with your suggestion. At this point the k-77 is firing straight ahead while the 511s are toed in. I know this is a problem but the tweeter-511 face frame should correct this. Don has the Beymas and they do sound good. I like to follow what others have tried rather than recreate the wheel. It sounds like you have already done all this so any suggestions appreciated. Don is working on the bass bins this morning and has mounted the k-33s. I was hoping to make do with the xovers for awhile but it sounds like I need to go ahead and change those to. I guess I can sell my Altec woofers, k-400 horn and drivers, my k-77 tweeters and the AA xovers since I won't be using them. Thanks for the info. Chuck

DeanG...sorry I missed the sarcasm, my apology. My last post is a tongue tied smiley face. Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts....I was very excited about the improved sound and all the invaluable information I have gathered has been from this forum or from Bluesboy directly. I continue to be amazed that you can buy used or after market components, have a friend that is a master carpenter, steal other peoples ideas and have a wonderful end product for such a low price. LOL back. Joe....Beyma tweeters for now but I wonder has anyone heard the Visaton tweeter mentioned in Stereophile review of the La Scala ll? I haven't ordered the Beymas so any imput appreciated. I don't know about the xover point other than we changed to a different tap on the BEC xover to compensate for my 8 ohm drivers. Maybe Bluesboy can shed some light on this. BEC had responded on an earlier thread about the mod needed and we did as he said. As I said earlier...I love what I am hearing! Chuck

I called another forum member before I responded and asked what he thought of the post by Dean since I had never known him to be negative. The reply was "I think he is serious". If he was joking as you suggest it went right over my head and my apologies to him. Thanks Marvel for your imput.[:S] Chuck

Speakerfritz...thanks for the encouragement. I am excited about the project and the sound so far. Will do pics later. Chops....the bass bins are sealed and just like the 1977 klipsch factory drawings except that we are using 1" mdf like the La Scala lls. Terry...I guess you are right... they may be ugly but the number of problems it corrects in my set up makes me happy. I think when we are finished it may look better than you think. I am a little concerned about the boxy appearance especially with the tweeter mounted on the face frame like a little box. Like you said...when the lights are off.... DeanG....I don't know what to think about your post...it caught me off guard. I really wasn't expecting the negativity...maybe I caught you on a bad day. No testing was done other than the test Bluesboy and I did with our ears and that is the important one to me. Believe me when I say that I am not trying to get anyone to believe anything about this project or the sound it produces. The modifications or "bastardized" top section as you called it is purely for my enjoyment and the statements I made are only my impressions. As for the heritage top section sounding so good...I would say that there are many on the forum who have complained about the harshness/ringing of the k-400 and many who are using Beymas and BEC's tweeter rather than the k-77. I will make a deal with you....you do your charts, curves and graphs and plot everything just so.... and I will listen to music

Bluesboy came over last night with his 511B horns bolted to a temporary frame and we hooked them up to my Altec 902 drivers. We changed the BEC xover as suggested by Bob and wired everything up. Because I don't have room in the corners to toe in my speakers this arrangement worked out fine. I was able to hear the new components and to toe them in for the first time. What a difference! I am very pleased with the results...the horns and drivers are so much clearer as most of you already know. The nest step is to build the bass bins and Bluesboy has already cut the parts. We have the woofers and I will be ordering Beymas. We will paint the 1" mdf with piano black lacquer and make a new frame that will let the tweeter sit on top of the 511B face frame. There will be no top cabinet. I will sit the xover under the back of the horn...so in other words everything on top of the bass bin will be exposed. I can then move the horn and tweeter as often as I like and try differents placements. Thanks to BEC and Bluesboy! Chuck

By the time I change out tubes or interconnects I can't recall what the previous component sounded like ( too much time has elapsed) or what the specific difference is. I recently swapped out el-34s in my horn monos to some JJ KT-77s and thought there was an improvement but couldn't put my finger on it without putting the el-34s back. I think you need to A-B components very quickly or the change is not as pronounced. I recall psychological theories from my college days about "two point threshold" and "just noticeable difference" that tried to explain these concepts. I just got a catalog in the mail with all these product tweaks for audio such as high dollar cables, maple blocks, cone feet, isopads, spay on electronic enhancers, line conditioners, electrical receptacles and the like and just wondered how much of it is snake oil. One claim was that getting your speaker wire off the carpet was like taking a wet blanket off your speakers. They offered a product that looked like 3 sticks with a rubber band that forms a tripod to lift your speaker wire! I also read a cartridge review recently that stated that the Clearaudio Maestro Cartdidge($1000) was a big improvement over my Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood cartridge($800) and I thought to myself that I doubt the reviewer could pick one cartridge from the other in a blind test. But if they said this no one would be buying their new products. The illusion that there is an improvement or the possibility that there could be sells a lot of gear. Chuck

Thanks for the reply Bob. I will take a look at the xover and hopefully just plug and play. Chuck